TFS Gulf 
- CA Preeti Dalal failed 4 times to take her CA Final exam before eventually passing with 4 exemptions.
- She is an example of – PERSISTENCE, DETERMINATION, and most of all POSITIVE THINKING.
- At many students’ request, she has made a detailed log of her study plan.
My study schedule
I made a timetable for my CA Exam preparation in a register and used it to measure my progress every day by rating my performance as follows:
- Excellent (12 hours or more)
- Good (for studying 90% of 12 hours)
- Average (for studying 75% of 12 hours)
- Poor (for studying below 75% of 12 hours)
Now many of my friends studied just for 6 hours and cleared the exams. But that did not work for me. I needed extra effort. Also, I used to study with great dedication.
PCC (Now known as IPCC)
In PCC, I contributed 4 hours to one subject and thus used to study 3 subjects per day (Studying 3 subjects per day used to work well for me as I get bored studying only one subject.
Many of my friends used to study 1 or 2 subjects a day and they also cleared. I am just sharing what worked for me!)
In PCC, I used the following approach other than the institute’s Revision Test Papers (RTP) and scanner from the market:
- Audit – I took coaching plus self-study
- Law – I studied the Munish Bhandari Law Handbook
- Accounts – Referred coaching study material
- Taxation – I studied from Dr. Girish Ahuja for DT and VS Datey For IDT
- Cost FM – Referred coaching study material
- ITSM – I referred to Dinesh Madan’s Book
My mistake while preparing for PCC was I took coaching for Accounts, Taxation, Audit, and Costing FM.
My accounts portion was not getting completed on time and thus I left the tuition and studied by myself.
It was then that I decided that I would take coaching only if really needed. In my 1st attempt, I failed miserably. However, on my 2nd attempt, I cleared PCC – Group 2, and on the 3rd attempt I cleared PCC – Group 1.
I also realized that for PCC, the institute’s books, RTPs, and practice manuals are sufficient for a good score. Anyway, I used the above-mentioned approach and passed.
CA Final
- By August 2012 I completed my articleship and started a job in a CA Firm for Rs. 7,000 and supporting my family, although not completely.
- I didn’t want to discontinue my money flow so I took only 1 month’s study leave for CA Final Exam.
- Also prior to my CA Final 1st attempt, I used to study randomly because I was working full-time. I used to get really tired and could hardly study.
- On my CA Final 1st attempt, I gave only Group – 1 and failed with just 1-month study leave.
- For my CA Final 2nd attempt, I took 3.5 months of study leave and gave both groups. This time I cleared only Group – 1 with an exemption in Financial Reporting.
- I did not take coaching for FR (Financial Reporting) but went for self-study with the help of the Institute’s books, Practice Manual, and RTP.
- For my CA Final 2nd Attempt with 3.5 months of leave, I aimed to study 12 hours per day. I dedicated 3 hours per subject, to read, understand, and memorize 4 subjects every day along with giving a remark to myself about my performance.
- There were only a few days where I could study for 12-14 hours. On average, I used to study for 8 – 11 hours a day.
- For CA Final 3rd attempt I had only Group 2. I cleared Costing with an exemption, however because of ISCA I failed the group.
- For CA Final 4th attempt I had only 3 subjects to prepare for but failed again due to ISCA.
- For CA Final 5th attempt I decided to take coaching for ISCA and cleared the paper with 67 marks, thus passing Group 2.
Details of which study material I studied and how much I scored are as follows:
Financial Reporting: Institutes Books, RTPs, Practice Manual
SFM: Institutes Books, Practice Manual
Audit: Institutes Books, Practice Manual
Law: Manish Bhandari’s Book
Advanced Management Accounting: Institutes Books, RTPs, Practice Manual
ISCA: Coaching, Institute’s Practice Manual, and RTP
DT: Girish Ahuja Book
IDT: Datey V S
Financial Reporting
- I cleared CA Final Group 1 on my 2nd attempt with an exemption in FR.
- Went for self-study with institute books, practice manuals, and RTP.
- Used to dedicate 3 hours to each subject but as per the requirement, I would adjust the time from 3 to 4 hours for FR, Cost, and Tax, due to the wide syllabus.
- I practiced the first questions of the Book and practice manual and thereafter did RTP.
Advanced Management Accounting (Costing)
- In my CA Final 3rd attempt I got an exemption but failed the group due to ISCA.
- I used the same procedure as above.
- Also, I used to take a maximum of 1/2 hour for 1 full-length question of Costing.
Information System Control & Audit (ISCA)
- Initially, I self-studied for ISCA with the Institute’s books, and read the Practice Manual, and RTP. But never practiced by writing.
- I scored 50 marks in my CA Final 1st attempt in ISCA but failed in other subjects.
- However, this strategy did not work for my CA Final 2nd attempt, 3rd and 4th attempts where I kept failing Group 2 because of ISCA.
- On my 5th attempt, I joined coaching and practiced by writing answers for ISCA. Even in class, our teacher used to give exams on a regular basis. I did not skip a single class or the tests. I appeared for the tests even when I did not revise and was sure that I would fail.
- I attended class and thereafter practiced at home. After coaching I gave a minimum of 2 hours for ISCA and practiced by writing answers mostly. The only way I could memorize ISCA was by writing as it is difficult to remember only by reading. At times it seemed like I had forgotten but in actuality, it was not so.
Direct Tax
- I used to take 5 minutes to read and understand one page of DT.
- Reading at least 100 pages in 1 day is what I aimed for. Sometimes I did study more than 100 pages. But reading 100 pages of Garish Ahuja’s DT is something that used to take time but it was worth it.
- The maximum I could study was 130 pages of DT in one day but on average it was 90-100 pages a day.
- I took a little while to complete the DT portion as I used to get fed up, and frustrated and could not study at all, so used to take breaks.
Need to mention here that I used to complete my syllabus once and hardly had any time left for revision so could get an above score. But if one revises twice, thrice then, of course, one can score very well. I also used to write inspiring quotes and some self-made quotes to motivate myself.
Questions I get asked most often:
Q: From whom did you take coaching for ISCA?
Ans: From R. M. Jha Classes, Laxmi Nagar. I was also honored by him along with other students for good marks in ISCA.
Q: Any tips on how to write papers?
Ans: It is highly advised that you practice RTP and sample question paper to get an idea of how to write in the actual exam. Practice mock tests and try to practice how to complete the exam within the limited time, otherwise you may end up with an incomplete paper.
Q: How did you memorize the material for ISCA? How did you study ISCA exactly?
Ans: I practiced a lot. Along with coaching notes, I turned to Practice Manuals, RTP, and previous question papers. I even had RTPs and Questions about all my previous 4 attempts.
Q: How did you manage with the high-end English in ISCA? Did you revise ISCA daily? Some people face problems in remembering ISCA so how did you memorize it? Was it a daily revision? Also, did you go over all the chapters or skip a few?
Ans: By writing one will be able to memorize and understand the way of taking an exam. I first read the coaching book, then the Practice Manual and RTP. It took me approximately 3 days (10 to 12 hours per day). Then I started practicing by writing. Even our coaching teacher used to make us write in class and take a test.
As it was my 5th attempt I did not want to give any excuse. So, I followed the instructions and recommendations of the teacher very sincerely. When I was taking coaching I was also doing a job. So could not practice daily. My class was on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
I was alert in class as I knew I would be tired in the evening and would not be able to revise. On Sunday I used to read as per the available time.
When the exams arrived, I took leave and made a timetable for the exam. I kept 2 hours for ISCA every day for around 2 months.
Sometimes I studied ISCA the whole day. Because when you are concentrating on one subject and then changing that subject and concentrating on another subject sometimes it becomes difficult.
So, one can adjust according to their preference. The coaching notes, the practice manual, and RTP had some common questions so I practiced them 2-3 times. But I practiced by writing a lot.
