ICAI CA Foundation 2025: January Exam Dates, Registration, Admit Card, Result

ICAI CA Foundation is the first level of the course. This level may be considered the easiest of all the courses. The syllabus of ICAI CA Foundation includes the following topics:

• Principles and Practice of Accounting
• Business Laws and Business
• Correspondence and Reporting
• Business Mathematics
• Logical Reasoning and Statistics
• Business Economics
• Business and Commercial Knowledge

Candidates need to clear all the papers relate to these subjects in order to move to Intermediate level. The minimum score requirement id 40 per cent in every paper.

Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) and Deloitte are the top private companies that hire CAs. They are known as The Big Four. CA professionals can seek employment in these companies as well as other enterprises if they don't want to practice independently.

The ICAI has its own placement cell to, through which it provides placements to candidates who complete the Chartered Accountancy course. Some of the top companies that participate in the campus placements are Infosys, Pankaj Somaiya Associates LLP, Prism Johnson Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Bandhan AMC Ltd, Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited, Hindalco Industries, Ford Motor Private Limited, LIC Housing Finance Ltd, Axis Bank among others.

The criteria for shortlisting candidates for placements is determined by the participating organizations themselves. The maximum number of shortlisting by recruiting entities cannot exceed 10 times the number of vacancies they declared for Chartered Accountancy.

Also, the participating organisations usually shortlist candidates depending upon overall educational qualifications, number of attempts, other attributes, Completion of Articleship training and in case a greater number of candidates qualify the selection criteria companies may choose on random basis as per their choice.

Organisations participating in the Campus Placement Programme prefer that the candidates selected by them should be ready to join the organisations immediately and should not claim that their Articleship training is pending and require more time to join.

The starting salary of a Chartered Accountant in India is minimum INR 7 Lacs per annum. With experience of four-five years, the annual earning potential rises up to INR 24-25 Lacs per annum. The top notch CAs charge greater amount for their services. One can join a financial auditing company or start their independent practice depending on their choice of career path.

The prospects of a Chartered Accountancy as a career is very high in India as well as abroad. Since, the ICAI certificate is globally recognized, aspirants can seek career opportunities in the foreign countries after completing the course.

The difficulty level of CA Foundation papers is usually easy to moderate as compared to Intermediate and Final levels, as Foundation is the initial level of the Chartered Accountancy course. However, CA Foundation is a tough course in its own. In CA Foundation December 2022, only 25 percent of the total test takers could pass the exam. A large percentage of candidates re-take the exam. The passing marks in 40 per cent in aggregate, but even that is a tough task in Chartered Accountancy course. Thus, it is important to join a coaching institute for pursing CA course. Self-study for this course is not enough.

The ICAI follows a fair method of evaluation of exam papers of candidates. Be it CA Foundation, CA Intermediate or CA Final exam papers, the ICAI checks the paper on merit of the arguments made. In theory paper, the points are given on language of the answer, clarity of the argument and presentation. In practical papers, marks are awarded if the answer is supported by working notes. If the answer is presented well, clearly in tabular format with working notes (showing calculation), it is sure to get marks. Students say that working notes help in getting grace marks.

Online application forms are accepted for CA examinations. Only the exam agency's official website may be used by candidates to complete and submit their ICAI CA exam forms. The exam form is only hosted by the ICAI on their website. In order to prevent fraud, candidates must refrain from completing the exam form using any other method or platform. Students need to have active Self-Service Portal login credentials in order to complete the CA Foundation test form (SSP). Moreover, candidates need to have a current course registration. The registration has to be revalidated if its validity has expired.As necessary, complete the following details: Examination (Final: Old and New, Intermediate: IPC-ATE_Old, Intermediate: New, and Foundation). 

The ICAI CA test centres are available in more than 180 Indian cities for applicants to choose from. To express their preferences, they may select a maximum of three cities. They are able to rank those cities from top to bottom. If there are enough seats available, the test center's location will initially be determined by the candidate's preferred city. The allocation will then be taken into consideration for the next preferred city if the seats in the intended first city are already taken.

Question paper observation is a process through which candidates can raise query with the ICAI examination authorities regarding the question paper for the exam they have appeared for. The process usually starts from the next day of the examination and candidates have to submit their observation via email. No fee is charged for the same. Dates of submission of question paper submission vary for CA Foundation, CA Inter and CA Final exams.

Yes, candidates can change their test city preference after submitting the CA exam form but they can do so only when the examination authority opens the form correction window. The form correction facility is opened for 2-3 days in every exam phase.We do not accept manual requests for changing exam center, group, or medium. To make any corrections or modifications, you must submit an application online. This digital option is available exclusively to candidates who originally filled out their exam application forms online. Candidates can edit their examination city, group and medium by logging into their ICAI accounts. No other field of the CA exam form is editable.

In the CA course, candidates can make any number of attempts until they clear a particular level. They will be eligible to register for the next level only after clearing the previous level. For example, a candidate needs to clear the CA Foundation level to be able to register for CA Intermediate. For appearing in CA Final exams, a candidate needs to clear both Foundation and Intermediate levels.
Since, the level of difficulty of this course is very high, a maximum percentage of students make multiple attempts. Candidates who decide to pursue CA course, need to make sure that they are well prepared to a marathon of studies, preparation and exams. 

Candidates need to score 40 per cent in each paper of every group/course level and 50 per cent in aggregate in all the papers of a group/course level. This minimum mark criterion is applicable to all three courses - CA Foundation, CA Intermediate and CA Final. Candidates cannot move to the next level of the Chartered Accountancy course until they clear the previous level. A very few percentage of candidates get a high score as the scores of All India toppers are usually below 75%. Candidates can take any number of attempts to clear a course level. The process includes practical training as well.

The fees for registration of CA Foundation course is INR 9,000 for single group and the exam fee is INR 1500. Candidates have to pay the CA exam fee at the time of form submission. They must do so before the deadline set for the CA Foundation exam of a particular phase to avoid penalty of late fee of INR 600. The fee is non-refundable. The fee payment is to be done through credit card, debit card or net banking. Unless the fee is paid, the course or exam application form will not be submitted. Upon successful payment of fees, candidate will receive the intimation.

The exam pattern of every CA course is prescribed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The agency is responsible for designing the CA courses and conducting the examinations as well as awarding the CA certification in India for professional practice. They also decide the exam mode, duration, timing, questions, marking scheme, passing marks and test process. Once the candidate completes the CA course from ICAI, they are ready to practice Chartered Accountancy professionally. 

The paper-wise pattern of CA course levels is different from each other. Some papers are of 2 hours duration whereas some are of 3 hours duration.

You will have to wait until the following exam cycle to apply if you missed the deadline for paying the exam fee for the current CA exam cycle. The local accounting body in your nation (ICAI in India, for example) sets the exam schedule. The CA exams are normally held twice a year, in May and November.