What Study Material should be used by Students? How to order etc.?
CA Intermediate can be a tough beast to tackle especially given the vast syllabus that students need to cover. If you’re aiming to crack the CA Inter exams, the CA Inter study material can be one of the strongest weapons in your arsenal. Armed with the right resources to study from, you can save time, smoothen your prep work, and get a better grasp of the subjects.
In short, making use of the right CA intermediate study material effectively can pave the way for success in your CA intermediate exams
Whether you're creating your own CA intermediate self-study program or want to supplement your CA preparation with CA coaching lessons, you’ll probably have the usual doubts that cloud the mind of even the best CA inter students: Is the ICAI CA inter study material enough? What other material/books should I refer to? Where to find them?
This resource guide covers everything you need to know about CA inter study material. We’ll provide you with the guidance on what subject-wise study materials you need, how to download them (direct links for downloading the CA inter study material PDFs), and which other study materials you should look into. Finally, we’ll address some of the most common questions CA intermediate students ask.
Before diving into the nitty-gritty of CA inter study material, the full idea of your CA inter syllabus must be crystal clear in your head — the subjects you need to study, the groups they are divided in, the ICAI updates on what’s in and out of your CA inter syllabus 2021, and so on.
Let’s begin with the basics.
The table below sums up the CA inter subject-wise study material you’ll need.
GROUP 1 |
||
Paper |
Subject |
Sections |
Paper-1 |
Advanced Accounting |
NA |
Paper-2 |
Corporate & Other Laws |
Corporate Laws |
Other Laws |
||
Paper-3 |
Taxation |
Direct Tax Laws |
Indirect Tax Laws |
||
GROUP 2 |
||
Paper-4 |
Cost and Management Accounting |
NA |
Paper-5 |
Auditing & Ethics |
NA |
Paper-6 |
Financial Management & Strategic Management |
Enterprise Information Systematic |
Strategic Management |
For more details about the latest CA Intermediate syllabus, please click here
The ICAI provides the complete set of study material for the entire CA Intermediate course. The study material covers every topic from all 6 subjects in the CA inter syllabus in great depths. Along with the study material, the ICAI also provides a bunch of academic resources, which include:
Every year, the ICAI’s CA inter study material is made available to registered students via two modes: Physical and Virtual.
If you wish to get your ICAI study material in the form of physical textbooks, you can place the order for the same online via ICAI’s Central Distribution Store (CDS).
Here’s a step-by-step process to place an order for CA Inter study material.
4. Now it’s time to add your required CA inter study material to cart. You can select your study material for both groups 1 and 2 or only one, depending on how you wish to attempt your CA inter exams.
However, here’s something to bear in mind. All students enrolling for CA intermediate course are allotted one or two coupons — one for each group — based on whether they have registered for one or both groups. These coupons are activated from the moment you login to the CDS portal and are valid for one year, after which the delivery charges will be borne by the students. Therefore, it’s best if you order the full set of study material for one group in single coupon.
Once you’ve selected the study materials, click on “Add to cart”.
The virtual method of downloading the study material from the BOS of ICAI website gives you instant access and hence, is preferred by most students these days.
Students should also note that ICAI also sometimes makes mistakes in the study material; It is a good practice to check for corrigendum uploaded on ICAI BOS portal. In case the mistake is matter of law, students can refer to the exact text of bare acts of legal provisions - eg: Income tax act, GST, Companies Act, Accounting standards, Auditing standards
The ICAI provides additional support to CA inter students with helpful PowerPoint presentations, podcasts, CDs, while also hosting web classes and lectures.
To download the full study material, you can head over to ICAI’s BOS portal or directly download the complete list of CA inter study material PDFs from the official links below.
As the mainstay of the CA profession, the CA inter syllabus for Advanced Accounting takes the students through the depths of accounting standards, their applications, preparation of financial statements, special transactions, and special types of accounting. The syllabus is designed to enable students to practically solve various accounting related issues for different business entities.
The CA intermediate Accounting study material deals with the entire syllabus of paper 1 in 14 chapters divided between 3 modules.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for Paper 1 Accounting.
Other important resources:
CA professionals are expected to be knowledgeable about the laws governing the corporate and business world. The CA Inter syllabus aims at helping students build their knowledge and practical skills in relevant laws which can pave the way for a highly rewarding career in the corporate field.
This paper is divided into two parts — Company Law (part 1) and Other Laws (part 2). The ICAI study material covers the whole syllabus of Paper 2. While part 1 has 10 chapters, part 2 has 4 chapters in total.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for Paper 2 Corporate and Other Laws.
While it’s not necessary at the CA inter level, the Companies Act bare act handbook is a must-have for CA Final students. However, reading the bare act along with study material might be helpful even for CA Inter students. But you can totally skip it if you find it too overwhelming.
Other important resources for Paper 2:
The knowledge and skills of a CA can be extensively utilized in tax related matters for a business entity. They are actively involved in tasks such as preparation of returns, representing a tax assessee, offering valuable guidance, and performing complex auditing tasks, to name a few.
As such the study material of Paper 3 Taxation of the CA inter syllabus aims to equip students with conceptual understanding and practically applicable skills in both Direct taxes and Indirect taxes.
The CA inter taxation paper is split into two sections: Sec A and Sec B.
Sec A of the CA Inter Paper 3 Taxation deals with Income Tax laws. The ICAI study material for the same covers all the topics of in 9 chapters, grouped in 2 modules.
Amendments made in the provisions of the Income tax law and GST laws covered in Paper 4 feature in the form of inclusions/exclusions in its syllabus. The changes in the syllabus may also arise due to the changes made in the annual Finance Act.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for Paper 3 Taxation Sec A.
Sec B of the CA Inter Paper 3 Taxation offers insights into Indirect taxes and puts a special emphasis on the laws pertaining to the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The ICAI study material for Sec B coveres 15 chapters, divided between 2 modules.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for Paper 3 Taxation Sec B (Indirect Taxes).
Other important resources for Paper-3 Sec A&B:
A business needs to navigate its way through the competition and remain profitable. Cost and management accounting gives aspiring CAs the ability to understand the concepts behind management initiatives, the creation of organizational policies, and decision-making that enable a business entity to achieve optimum financial performance. The skills gained through this paper are valuable in the practical environment.
The CA intermediate study material for Paper 4 Cost and Management Accounting breaks the entire syllabus into 15 chapters divided between 2 modules for the convenience of the students.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for Paper 4 Cost and Management Accounting.
Other important resources:
To perform the role of a Chartered Accountant, one must have the training, proficiency, and specialized skills in auditing. They are required to have the requisite knowledge of auditing processes and the ability to apply the same in various audit engagements.
CA Inter Paper 5 comprises the key auditing concepts.
The ICAI study material for Paper 5 Auditing and Ethics deals with the entire syllabus in a total of 11 chapters, divided between 2 modules.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for CA intermediate Paper 5.
Other important resources for Paper 5:
In today’s digital era, it’s increasingly vital for CA professionals to have a thorough understanding of financial management strategies and finances as applicable to the overall functioning of an organization, among other concepts that, as CA professionals, they can utilize in consultancy, tax and auditing related roles.
Playing a key role in business management and operations, a CA lends their expertise in assisting business entities in optimizing resource utilization, improving profitability and performance, and meeting business objectives.
CA inter Paper 6 aims to build the knowledge and skills of students in the above areas and more.
The paper is divided into two sections: Section A - Financial Management and Section B - Strategic Management.
The ICAI study material for Paper 6 covers the entire syllabus in a total of 9 chapters divided in 2 modules for Section A and 5 chapters in Section B.
Here’s the direct link for downloading the ICAI study material for CA intermediate Paper 6
Other important resources:
As you can see, the CA inter study material provided by ICAI is quite exhaustive and gets to the depth of every subject. It’s perfectly possible to crack your CA intermediate exams by studying the ICAI’s study material only, but if you wish to check out supplementary materials from other sources, there’s a ton of CA inter books and tests out there.
Be warned, however: Not all of them are very high quality or will help you in your CA inter prep. Dabble with too many CA inter books and you risk losing precious hours on stuff that isn’t very helpful. So think twice before picking an additional resource for studying and be judicious with your choice of books.
As you can see, the CA inter study material provided by ICAI is quite exhaustive and gets to the depth of every subject. It’s perfectly possible to crack your CA intermediate exams by studying the ICAI’s study material only. For added benefits, you can sign up with us and gain access to a wealth of helpful resources on our website, some of which are available to CA Inter students for free.
ICAI study material, MTPs, RTPs, and suggested answers along with our resources, that are carefully crafted and curated by seasoned CAs and industry experts, are more than sufficient to pass your CA Inter exams with a good score.
While there’s a ton of CA inter books out there, be warned: Not all of them are very high quality or will help you in your CA inter preparation. Dabble with too many CA inter books and you risk losing precious hours on stuff that isn’t very helpful. So think twice before picking an additional resource for studying and be judicious with your choice of books.
Any amendments made in the provisions of the Income tax law, GST laws or Companies Act, or changes made in the accounting or auditing standards often reflect in the form of inclusions/exclusions in the CA Inter syllabus. Therefore, students should keep their eyes on these amendments from the time they get the study material till the exam date. Such amendments are announced in RTPs / statutory updates released by ICAI before exams and also soft copy study material available on ICAI website
For subjects prone to amendments like Income tax and GST, the assessment year changes or change in regulations make the study material related to these subjects irrelevant. Hence, after one attempt, the study materials don’t remain as reliable because ICAI isn’t prompt at incorporating the latest amendments in their study materials. But the exam questions demand students to answer per the latest changes.
Though ICAI tries to keep the study materials error-free, mistakes have sometimes been spotted in their study materials. Therefore, students should use corrigendum to fact check and in case the mistake is matter of law, refer to the text of bare acts of legal provisions.
Is ICAI study material enough for CA Intermediate?
Yes. The CA Intermediate study material along with RTPs, MTPs and Suggested Answers provided by ICAI is good enough for a student to pass the CA inter exams. But, if your goal is to ace the exams with flying colors or you wish to secure a rank, you might want to take classes and mock tests.
Is ICAI study material free?
You can download the ICAI study material for CA inter-level from their BOS Knowledge Portal for free of cost. You can get the physical books when you register for CA Inter. But if you wish to get the study material again in the form of physical textbooks, you’ll need to buy them.
How do I download ICAI materials?
You can download the ICAI study materials from the BOS Knowledge Portal or simply click on the direct links to the CA inter-study material PDFs for all papers that we have provided above.
How many hours should I study for CA Inter?
Your CA intermediate preparations can require anywhere from 8 to 12 hours (or more) of study per day. We have covered the CA inter prep details including study plan, sample timetable, and other helpful CA inter preparation tips in our comprehensive CA inter-study plan guide.