Auditing & Assurance is one of the most fundamental subjects of the CA course. It being a theory paper, it is quite difficult to score marks, and getting an exemption in the CA Final Audit Paper is as rare as scoring a century in your first cricket match. With this premise, let me tell you how to study Audit for CA Final to score good marks. Read on...
The Challenge called Auditing
Auditing is such a subject that how many books you refer to, the marks you score is totally based on your way of answering that particular question. What do you do in such a case? The basic strategy is to write in your own words, with sufficient use of professional language, in a clear and logical manner. Now many students realize that the entire subject of Audit is just based on logical reasoning. No amount of words can replace just 1 short paragraph of sound logical content. This is what makes Audit tough.
Preparation Strategy
I will divide the Preparation Strategy into 3 parts:
Standards on Auditing
Professional Ethics
Other Chapters (equally important as the 2 above)
Standards on Auditing
However much you might dislike reading the Standards on Auditing, I bet you will find it very difficult to clear the Audit paper if you skip this section. Yes, it is that IMPORTANT.
Most people prefer to read the SAs from books - and there are all too many of them. So it is best that I do not go into who is the best author and who isn't. I'll tell you what I did. As unconventional as it may sound, I studied SAs straight from the Auditing Pronouncements Book of ICAI - the one which you just don't want to open and read. My funda was simple - when you know that SAs are so important, why take the chance with any other author than the ICAI itself?
To know how to study SAs, please read this post --> How to Study Standards on Auditing?
Professional Ethics
This Chapter is undoubtedly the most scoring and the most interesting part of the entire subject. The best way is to supplement the ICAI study material with the Practice Manual or any other Scanner and read them both together. You can divide the entire chapter into smaller sections of 15 pages and read them slowly enough to retain the provisions of the Code and the Schedules.
The trick in scoring high in this area is in the way you memorize the Clauses. Make short keywords for every clause and by-heart the entire sequence of keywords. Ensure to write these keywords in your answer in the exam.
Many students feel that they can study Professional Ethics just from the Scanner itself. This is an absolute NO-NO. You must also remember that Audit has MCQs in CA Final, and you can be asked ANYTHING from ANYWHERE. Most scanners only have past papers, and majority of that too, of the CA Final Old Syllabus. So please ensure to have 100% coverage of the Code and the Schedules.
For the day before the exam, just quickly go through the Clauses and revise the Clause numbers. Read important questions from the Scanner and any important points marked in the Study Material.
In the exam, please make it a point to write the Clause numbers. AN ANSWER WITHOUT CLAUSE NUMBER AND SCHEDULE NUMBER OR INCORRECT CLAUSE NUMBER OR SCHEDULE NUMBER IS EQUAL TO ANSWER WITH 0 MARKS.
The scoring here is simple - Write the correct Clause number and Schedule number. If you do this correctly, that itself will give you 50% of the marks. And if you can present your answer in a logical manner as in the Institute Study Material illustration questions, you will get full marks.
Other Chapters
Remember that your paper is not just Standards and Professional Ethics, there are still a lot of important chapters So preparation of the other chapters is of equal importance. I would suggest you to strategize as follows:
Read the Study Material thoroughly. Ideally, you need to start studying Audit at least 12 months before the exams. Yes, it is that time-taking a subject.
The worst part is that now you also have MCQs in this paper. So this demands an in-depth understanding of the subject. Read this article to know How to Score 30/30 in MCQs
To score well in this paper, it is imperative that you write answers in a professional language, like an expert. So the use of some technical terms and jargons is very beneficial.
While studying, make it a point to prepare summary notes and mark important portions. This will enable quick revision.
Try to mix Audit with practical subjects while studying to reduce boredom
Do go through the Scanner questions (I personally recommend Pankaj Garg's Scanner) to know how your prep is and what is the level of questions asked in the exams.
Do stress and invest more time in important chapters like Company Audit, PSU Audit, Auditing in Automated Environment, etc. which are very relevant in this day and age. For such chapters, you need to do both the Study Material and the Scanner very thoroughly.
Exam Day Strategy
I understand that revising the entire syllabus of Audit in 1.5 days is not possible for everyone (Once again, I was an exception here :p). Hence, it is essential that you have a strong exam day strategy in mind...
Audit will require revision at a good pace. So don't waste time at all.
Read the important chapters first. You now know what the most important chapters are.
Use your summary notes for fast revision. Study only the highlighted portions in the Study Material.
Make sure to go through the Standards on Auditing Mind Maps. You won't find the time to read up all the Standards all over again.
Quickly browse through all the Important-marked questions in the Scanner. Cover all the small chapters too.
Lastly, quickly browse through the RTP to know if there is any Amendment to study or any new or important question which you might have marked earlier.
Before you end the day, do a quick speed test. Pick up a piece of paper and pen in your hand. Set up a timer for 5 minutes. Open up any page of the Study Material and just copy down everything on that piece of paper. The target is to fill up one entire page (one side) in 5 minutes. Don't worry if you haven't been able to finish off one side of the paper in 5 minutes. If you are able to fill up more than 70% of the page, it's good. You'll need some good speed in the Audit exam if you intend to attempt more than 80 marks of the paper. I remember filling up 34 pages in the Audit exam in 3 hours, which comes down to a speed of about 5.3 minutes a page. But my personal best in the Audit paper was 4.1 minutes a page (in the 3rd year of College... Scored 84/100)
Other Common Points
Don't forget to read the RTP relevant for your term on the morning of your exam date. One four marker is guaranteed.
For MCQs, read RTPs from May 19 to your attempt and ICAI released questions. Be strong conceptually. No need to panic about MCQs
Complete your MCQs first within 20 minutes to half an hour. Then go for answering your main paper.
Be sincere in your efforts and be thorough with your attempt and previous attempt RTP at least. Read all applicable amendments.
Revise Auditing at least twice apart from your first reading. The more you revise, the more is the chance to score good marks.
Always answer with heading, Introduction to the case, Facts of the case, Analysis and Interpretation followed by Conclusion.
Conclusion
Audit is not that difficult subject to read and understand, but it is definitely a difficult subject to score good marks from. I hope I have addressed all the points.
If you have any queries, feedback, comments or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to me through the Comments Section below.
Thanks for reading:)