Sharing the journey of Lekhanshu Bawne from Bhopal, who took up the challenge of going in for self-study for the CA Final.
He scored 82 marks in SFM (CA Final) through self-study.
Back Story
I began my academic career in Multai, District Betul, Madhya Pradesh, where I stayed until the tenth grade. I secured a place in district merit in class 10th. On the basis of the above percentile, I got selected for the very first batch of the Super-50 scheme governed by the government of Madhya Pradesh in the stream of commerce.
Madhya Pradesh’s government has launched the Super 50 scheme.
Let me share a little more about the Super-50 scheme . It’s a scheme started by the government of Madhya Pradesh in the academic year 2011-2012 that offers three merit holders from each district of Madhya Pradesh the opportunity to come and join Subhash School for Excellence, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, for the classes of 11th and 12th.
The scheme offers free of cost education along with accommodation and food for 150 students (Math’s, science, commerce stream 50 students each). The main purpose of the scheme was to provide free of cost education for competitive exams like IIT-JEE, AIPMT, CA-CPT along 11th and 12th with reputed coaching institutes.
From here, my real academic journey started.
It was the first time that I stayed in a big city like Bhopal. I was very nervous, shy, and fearful. For the first time, I met state merit holders in the super-50.
I was a very average student among them, with an 89%, while most of them had well over 93%.But that did not allow me to get demotivated.
“If They Can, So Can I,” I reasoned. So I doubled my efforts right from the start. After two years of hard work, dedication, and support, the time had come—it was the day of our 12th board result. With 94%, I was the Madhya Pradesh (MP) State Topper in the Commerce Stream.
I just want to say that nothing is impossible if we believe in ourselves.
My CA Journey
I had decided to become a CA since grade 11.Following my 12th grade results, I passed my CA-CPT (June 2013) and IPCC (May 2014) exams on the first try. I joined a renowned CA firm in Bhopal for my articles. I spent most of my time on outstation audits within MP. I was overjoyed because I enjoy traveling.
I visited so many famous tourist places in MP during my audit trips, like Khajuraho, Gwalior Fort, Bhedaghat, Patalkot, Ujjain Mahakal, Amarkantak, Bandhavgarh, Bansagar Dam, Bavangaja, and many more interesting places. After the very first year of articles, many big clients were handed over to me as my seniors went on leave.
The Reason I Chose to Self-Study for the CA Final
- Articleship and attending classes would get difficult. I would have been under constant pressure to attend class. This gave me the liberty to travel for audits and explore different places.
- CA Studies, in my experience, ultimately comes down to self-study.
- During IPCC, I experienced that the coaching institutes are not efficient enough to increase our knowledge; they only guide us from an exam point of view by sharing limited things.
- Also, we get so dependent on them. So I decided to drop coaching for IPCC three months before my exams. Some of the guidance was useful, but after that, I studied all the subjects again by myself from the ICAI’s materials. Only then did I get the confidence I needed for the exams. As previously stated, I passed the IPCC on the first try.
- I’m not blaming any coaching class, but as per the idea of the ICAI, it is like a distance learning process where we should study all these subjects during our articles and try to apply them while working.
- The coaching classes only guide us; we should not rely wholly on them to pass CA exams. I had made up my mind that it would be okay if I cleared the CA Final in 2–3 attempts, but I’d do it by myself through self-study.
Here’s How My CA Final Exam Ended
- CA 1st Final Attempt: Failed In May of 2017, I only gave Group 1.It was my first attempt at the CA Final and my first failure ever. As said, failure is not the end, but just an experience for success.
- CA Final second attempt: passed group 1 with 82 points in SFM but failed group 2.I doubled my efforts in this attempt. How did I study SFM? For the concepts, I referred to ICAI study material and some reference books. For practice, I used ICAI study materials, the Practice Manual (PM), the Report on Test Progress (RTP), and at least six previous attempts at examination papers. It was all self-study.)
- CA Final, 3rd attempt, will air in May 2018.
- CA Fourth and final attempt: cleared
In Conclusion…
I recommend the following for those considering self-study:
- Start your CA Final preparation from the very first day after clearing the IPCC, unlike me.
- Get the books To understand the concepts, read a little here and there for an hour or so every day. While working, we always have our seniors who can guide us if we need to understand concepts.
- I realized that if I had started studying earlier, I would have passed my CA Final on the first try. That was the biggest mistake I made, but keeping that mistake in mind, I planned my future actions accordingly.
- Mock Papers should be provided for practice. However, do not get demotivated by the results.
- CA is not an exam; it’s a destiny, so keep going.
- “Start believing in yourself, and nothing is impossible in front of our dreams, dedication, and hard work,” he concluded.
