The Chartered Accountancy course is one of the most prestigious and in-demand professional courses for students with aspirations to develop a career in finance, accounting, and auditing. CA Subjects embrace topics relating to accounting, financial management, business law, taxation, auditing, and assurance. CA subjects consist of the body of this program which has wide subjects meant to take up expertise in the areas of taxation, auditing, financial reporting, and strategic management. This article covers the in-depth CA syllabus, which ranges from core to electives, along with books and top colleges and facts a student might need for an effective preparation process.
CA Subjects
There are three levels in the Chartered Accountancy course: CA Foundation, CA Intermediate (shortly known as CA Inter), and CA Final. The curriculum for each level includes special CA course subjects and results in an extensive knowledge structure for the student. From accounting principles to advanced auditing and strategic financial management, the CA subjects list is devised to address the needs of aspiring finance professionals.
Chartered Accountancy focuses on the theoretical as well as practical aspects. The student must master subjects from tax laws and financial reporting to business communication and corporate governance that are required to succeed professionally.
Core Subjects in CA Courses
Core subjects make up the core of the CA subjects at all three levels. In the CA course, candidates have to gain the knowledge and skills that are needed to carry out the function of a chartered accountant effectively. Below is the table showing the subjects that are part of the Chartered Accountant syllabus.
| CA Level | Subject title | Description |
| CA Foundation | Fundamentals of Accounting | The aspects of accounting include record keeping, which is the main role of accounting. A company should use standard methods for information storage and maintenance so that the information can be retrieved at the time it is needed. |
| Quantitative Aptitude | This section is included in almost all the major competitive tests to judge the applicants’ numerical skills. It involves the study of problems that are presented in the form of word puzzles, graphs, or data interpretation. | |
| Mercantile Law | Mercantile Law is a collection of all the laws used by a company to manage or oversee its commercial operations. | |
| General Economics | General economics deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics can be divided into two branches: macroeconomics deals with the economy as a whole, while microeconomics focuses on individual individuals and enterprises. | |
| General English | Tests knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and the fundamentals of the English language. | |
| CA Intermediate | Accounting | Accounting is the recording of an organization’s financial transactions. Accounting financial statements are a concise description of financial activities that sum up a company’s operations, financial position, and cash flows during an accounting period. |
| Cost Accounting and Financial Management | Cost accounting includes developing a vast number of reports needed by management to run the business. Financial accounting involves creating a consistent set of reporting for an outside audience. | |
| Advanced Accounting | Accounting activities, patterns, mergers of public holding corporations, foreign currency operations, and modifying financial statements issued in foreign and local currencies are all covered. | |
| Corporate and Other Laws | Various laws come into force relating to different types of transactions a business concern undertakes, such as raising capital, loans, purchases of products, and so on. | |
| Information Technology and Strategic Management | It means deep analysis of organizational, economic, regulatory, and socio-technical difficulties that may appear in adopting IT in both the industries and governments along with the success procedures of these problems. | |
| Taxation Auditing and Assurance | The subject focuses on the concept of independent financial statement inspection, which is something that a Chartered Accountant excels at in his professional career. | |
| CA Final | Business Laws, Ethics, and Communication | Business ethics is the study of appropriate business rules and procedures that pertain to potentially contentious issues like corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility, and fiduciary obligations. |
Elective Subjects in CA Course
The elective subjects at the CA Final level give students the ability to specialize in their area of interest. Such subjects are provided to give students a deeper understanding of specific areas. Candidates have the option of choosing an elective subject in the Final level of the CA course. There is only one elective paper in the CA Final course. Check the table below for details of elective subjects included in the CA final subjects:
| Subject Title | Description |
| Risk Management | Focuses on discovering, analyzing, and managing risks to an organization’s capital and profitability. |
| International Taxation | Covers the determination of tax for entities subject to multiple countries’ tax laws or international aspects of a country’s tax laws. |
| Economic Laws | Behaviorist in nature, these laws include the law of declining marginal utility, the law of equi-marginal utility, and the law of demand, relying on human behavior. |
| Financial Services and Capital Markets | Encompasses topics such as global financial markets, capital markets (primary and secondary), money markets, institutions, intermediaries, mutual funds, private equity, and more. |
| Global Financial Reporting Standards | Topics include the conceptual framework for financial reporting under IFRS, the application of IFRS, and the differences between IFRS and US GAAP. |
| Multidisciplinary Case Studies | Covers case studies in financial accounting, audit, taxation, financial management, management accounting, corporate laws, and business strategy. |
Detailed Syllabus for CA
The Chartered Accountant syllabus deals with the aspects of taxation, finance, and business law. The below table mentions the CA syllabus for Foundation, Intermediate, and Final courses:
| Course Level | Papers | CA Subjects |
| CA Foundation Subjects | Paper 1 | Principles and Practices of Accounting |
| Paper 2 | Section A: Business Laws | |
| Section B: Business Correspondence and Reporting | ||
| Paper 3 | Part 1: Business Mathematics and Logical Reasoning Part | |
| Part 2: Statistics | ||
| Paper 4 | Part 1: Business Economics | |
| Part 2: Business and Commercial Knowledge | ||
| CA Inter Group 1 Subjects | Paper 1 | Accounting |
| Paper 2 | Corporate Laws and Other Laws | |
| Paper 3 | Cost and Management Accounting | |
| Paper 4 | Taxation | |
| CA Inter Group 2 Subjects | Paper 5 | Advanced Accounting |
| Paper 6 | Auditing and Assurance | |
| Paper 7 | Enterprise Information System and Strategic Management | |
| Paper 8 | Financial Management and Economics for Finance | |
| CA Final Group 1 Subjects | Paper 1 | Financial Reporting |
| Paper 2 | Strategic Financial Management | |
| Paper 3 | Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics | |
| Paper 4 | Corporate and Economic Laws | |
| CA Final Group 2 Subjects | Paper 5 | Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation |
| Paper 6 | Paper 6A: Risk Management | |
| Paper 6B: Financial Services and Capital Markets | ||
| Paper 6C: International Taxation | ||
| Paper 6D: Economic Laws | ||
| Paper 6E: Global Financial Reporting Standards | ||
| Paper 6F: Multidisciplinary Case Study | ||
| Paper 7 | Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation | |
| Paper 8 | Indirect Tax Laws |
CA Syllabus: Books and Authors
Preparing for CA exams is possible through the right books. Here are some of the best-recommended books for each level. CA is one of the most difficult exams to pass and to ace it one needs to put all his efforts at the right place along with the usage of appropriate resources.
| CA Level | Book Title | Author |
| CA Foundation Level | Fundamentals of Accounting for CA- CPT | Tulsian and Bharat Tulsian |
| CA IPCC Level | Practical Approach to Direct and Indirect Taxes: Income Tax and GST | Girish Ahuja and Ravi Gupta |
| CA Final Level | Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation: CA Final New Syllabus | B Saravana Prasath |
| CA Foundation Level | Mercantile Law | MC Kuchhal and Vivek Kuchhal |
| CA Foundation Level | CA Foundation Principles and Practice of Accounting | Taxmann |
Important Facts about the CA Course Syllabus
The CA course is a premium professional program wherein one can emerge as a financial expert and become the backbone of the business process with flexible entry options after class 12th or graduation that bring together strict academia, on-site training, and international job prospects.
- Not fixed semester course: The minimum duration of the Chartered Accountancy course for someone pursuing after Class 12 is 4.5 years. The minimum duration required for the CA course if applying after completing graduation (via the Direct Entry Scheme) is three years.
- Scope: The scope of Chartered Accountancy in India is immense and all around the globe as it serves to be the spine of any business organization’s financial operations. They can opt to operate independently for various clients and businesses or with any accounting/audit firms/financial organizations either governmental, public, or private sectors.
- General pattern of examination: The candidate is called a Chartered Accountant only after clearing all of these levels of the course and is registered as such. CA exams comprise the Foundation, Intermediate, Articleship (for 3 years), and Final level.
- Eligibility: CA Eligibility, After completing 10+2 or equivalent, one can register for the CA foundation level course under the ICAI. After the completion of the foundation-level course, candidates can register with the intermediate-level program even though he is an undergraduate student.
CA Subjects FAQs
How many papers are there in CA?
There are 7-8 papers in the CA course itself, which gets divided into core as well as electives, also categorized into 3 levels Foundation, Intermediate, and Final.
What subjects are covered by CA Foundation?
Under the CA foundation, the major subjects include Principles of Accounting, Business Laws, Business Economics, and Business Mathematics among others.
CA Final New syllabus papers-
The CA Final subjects in the new syllabus are Financial Reporting, Strategic Financial Management, Advanced Auditing, and elective papers such as Risk Management or International Taxation.
What books should I read for CA Inter subjects?
Recommended books include Advanced Accounting by M.P. Vijay Kumar and Taxation by Vinod Gupta.
Are there any electives in the CA Final course?
CA Final offers elective options like Risk Management, Global Financial Reporting Standards, and International Taxation.
