ICAI CA Exam 2024: Foundation, Inter & Final Dates, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, and Highlights

ICAI CA Exam 2024: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India conducts the CA examinations for candidates in India. The 2025 exam calendar for ICAI CA exam has been released on the official website, icai.org. The CA exams have three levels - CA Foundation, Intermediate, and Final. Candidates are required to clear all three levels in order to be eligible to get the certificate. 

Candidates who will register for the first time for the examination will be required to create a separate user ID, whereas those candidates who already have registered can log in and fill out the ICAI application form from the official website of ICAI. The examination is for those candidates who wish to become chartered accountants. 

Latest Updates:

• ICAI has released the mock test schedule for CA January 2025 exams. The mock tests will be held in two sessions. While mock test 1 will be held from November 18 to 23, 2024, mock test 2 will be conducted from December 9 to 14, 2024. 
• Registration window for ICAI CA foundation and intermediate exams is now open at icai.org. CA Foundation, Inter exams will be held in January 2025.
• ICAI CA foundation and intermediate exam dates for January 2025 session have been released at icai.org. 

Since the exam is conducted in three different levels according to the course and in order to be certified as a Chartered Accountant, candidates have to clear all the course levels. The three levels are - the CA Foundation course examination (four papers), the CA Intermediate examination (eight papers based on New Syllabus and eight papers based on Old Syllabus), CA Final examination (eight papers based on New Syllabus and 8 papers based on Old Syllabus). 

ICAI CA January 2025 Schedule

The ICAI has released the official schedule for CA foundation and intermediate exams for January 2025 session. Check exam schedule in the table below:

ICAI CA Final November Exam 2024

As per the latest notice issued by ICAI, the CA final November exams have been postponed on the occasion of Diwali. Check the revised exam dates for CA Final (November session) for Group 1 and 2 below.

ICAI CA Exam 2024 

Candidates who are aspiring to become CA professionals appear for the ICAI CA exams. The exam has three levels - CA Foundation, Intermediate, and Final. Candidates are required to clear all three levels to get the CA certification. The ICAI has released all the important dates for the examination. Candidates should know that the exam will be conducted in groups. In order to appear for the examination, candidates have to register themselves first. 

ICAI CA Exam Results 2024 

Candidates can expect the CA foundation results for June exams to be released on July 29, 2024. Meanwhile, ICAI CA results for inter and final exams (May 2024 session) were announced on July 11 at the official website. 

• The ICAI CA Inter & Final result was released on July 11, 2024 at icai.nic.in. The Inter and Final exams were held in May, 2024. 
• A total of 18.42% candidates have passed both groups in CA intermediate exam. 27.15% candidates have cleared group 1 and 18.28% candidates have cleared gorup 2. 
• In CA final result, 19.88% candidates have cleared both groups. Meanwhile, 27.35% candidates have passed in group 1, and 36.35% candidates have cleared the group 2. 

The CA results are important to document as it contains a candidate's necessary information including the candidate's name, roll number, address, date of birth, scores, and percentage. While the ICAI has declared all the important dates for the CA exam including the application registration form and result declaration form, the result declaration date is yet to be announced by the agency.

ICAI CA List of Toppers May 2024

ICAI has released the list of toppers for the CA intermediate and final exams held in May 2024. Candidates can find the toppers information below:

CA Final May 2024 Toppers

CA Intermediate May 2024 Toppers

ICAI CA Exam 2024: Highlights

Take a look below at all the important details of the CA examination here : 

ICAI CA Eligibility Criteria 2024

CA eligibility criteria is an important aspect for candidates as it will determine whether they are eligible to appear for the examination or not. Further, candidates should know that since the exam has three levels, the eligibility criteria are also different for all three levels. Take a look here : 

CA Foundation Eligibility Criteria

Candidates who have completed their class 2 or equivalent exam from the Central or State Board of Education before the examination.

In addition, 

• Candidates who have registered themselves with the Board of Studies on or before 30 June of the examination year 
• Candidates who have changed to the CA Foundation Course with the Board of Studies of ICAI on or before September 7 of the CA exam year are also eligible.

CA Intermediate Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates who have cleared the Foundation examination or equivalent examination
• Candidates who applied for the before Intermediate test in accordance with the curriculum under Schedule B, Paragraph 2 or 2A (Course-II)
• Candidates who have finished their undergraduate or graduate studies in any field from an accredited Indian institution

CA Final Eligibility Criteria

• Candidates may register for the Final Examination if they have completed the Intermediate Examination or the Professional Education Examination - II/PCC/IPCC.
• Candidates are also required to finish 3 years or 3½ years or be due to complete article training as of the date they filled out the application, as applicable.
• For Intermediate IPCC students, candidates must complete their third year of education by 30 April of the exam year, including any extra leave that may have accrued.
• Those candidates who have taken the termination are required to once again register for the balance period of training
• For students in the PE-II stream and PE-II stream who have been converted to the IPCC, they are also required to complete their last twelve months of articled training, including any excess leave that may have accrued, and must have three years left to go by October 31 of the examination year.

ICAI CA Exam Process 2024

There are four main steps for the CA exam process which include online registration, admit card download, and appearing for the exam. The result is announced for candidates level-wise. Take a look at the CA exam process. 

Step 1: Fill the Application Form

On the ICAI website, candidates should register for the course. Freshers need to sign up for the CA Foundation course. Those who have already registered can use their previous login information to register for Foundation, Inter, and Final courses.

Step 2: Download ICAI CA Hall Ticket

Candidates who will successfully register for the examination will be eligible to get their ICAI CA admit card which will be issued by the ICAI itself. Candidates who will appear for all three stages of the examination will get their admit card separately.  All these admit cards will be issued on different dates on the official website.  

The ICAI CA admit card is issued by the ICAI. The hall tickets are an essential document, and candidates have to carry them with them while appearing for the exam. If in case, a candidate forgets to bring their admit card to the examination hall, then he or she will not be allowed to enter the examination hall. The release dates of ICAI CA hall tickets are yet to be notified by the exam conducting body. 

Step 3: Download CA Result After Declaration  

The CA results for all three levels will be released about a month after the examination. Candidates who clear the foundation exam will have to register for the Intermediate course, and candidates clearing the Intermediate course have to register for the Final course. Candidates who clear all three levels will be certified as professional CA by the ICAI

ICAI CA Exam Fees 2024

Candidates can pay the exam fee online by using VISA or MASTER or MAESTRO Credit / Debit Card / Rupay Card / Net Banking / Bhim UPI. 

CA Foundation Course Examination

• Indian Nationals: INR 1,500
• Overseas students Excluding Kathmandu Centre: USD 325 (Approx INR 26,744)
• For Students form Kathmandu: INR 2,200

CA Intermediate Course Examination

Indian Nationals 

• Unit 4A to 10 (except Unit 8A & 9A)/ Single Group  : INR 1,500
• Unit 8A / Unit 9A/ Both Groups  : INR 2,700

Overseas Students (Excluding Kathmandu) 

• Unit 4A to 10 (except Unit 8A & 9A)/ Single Group: USD 325 
• Unit 8A / Unit 9A/ Both Groups : USD 500 

For Kathmandu Centre 

• Unit 4A to 10 (except Unit 8A & 9A)/ Single Group  : INR 2,200
• Unit 8A / Unit 9A / Both Groups : INR 3,400

CA Final Course Examination

For Indian Nationals 

• Single Group : INR 1,800
• Both Group : INR 3,300

For Overseas Centre(s) – Excluding Kathmandu Centre

• Single Group : USD 325
• Both Groups : USD 550

For Kathmandu Centre

• Single Group : INR 2,200
• Both Groups : INR 4,000

ICAI CA Exam Syllabus 2024

The ICAI CA exam syllabus is based on the syllabus prescribed by the ICAI. With in-depth knowledge of the ICAI CA syllabus, candidates can easily prepare for the accountancy exam, and there are also chances for the candidate to score well.  

ICAI CA Syllabus: Highlights

Check the table below for key highlights of the ICAI CA exam syllabus for Foundation, Intermediate and Final courses.

ICAI CA Exam Pattern 2024

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India lays out the CA exam pattern for students who are willing to appear for the accountancy exam. The exam is conducted by ICAI and takes place twice a year. Candidates who are preparing for the accountancy exam are advised to go through the exam pattern in order to do proper time management for the topics which contain higher weightage. 

As per the ICAI, the final paper 6 of Integrated Business Solutions will be an open book and case study based exam, under the New Scheme of Education and Training. 40% of the paper will carry MCQs, while 60% of the paper will consist of descriptive questions (case study). The paper will be of the duration of four hours. There will be five case studies of 25 marks each. Candidates will have to attempt any four out of them. 

Candidates who belong to the English medium school are provided with the English syllabus, whereas candidates who have studied in the Hindi medium get CA question papers in a bilingual language. Though the question paper for the following subjects Accounting, Taxation and Advanced Accounting is in English. However, candidates are allowed to attempt them in Hindi as well.

Candidates must know that there are four papers in the CA foundation exam. While papers 1 and 2 are subjective types, papers 3 and 4 are objective types. The total mark for the CA exam is 400 where each paper is for 100 marks.