CA Inter FM SM Combined Preparation Strategy by CA Chesta Chawla

FM SM is a subject in Intermediate Group 2 of CA Intermediate under the revised courses. FM SM combines two subjects: FM (Financial Management), which focuses on solving numerical problems, investment decisions, and capital budgeting, and SM (Strategic Management), which focuses on theoretical concepts, business policy, and strategic analysis. Both carry a 50-mark weightage.

Due to the combination of two methodologies, students often find difficulties in arranging time, strategy, and giving weightage to subjects. Thus, it places a huge burden on students' mentality.

Why a Combined Strategy Is Needed

Students mostly ask the question of why the ICAI made this combination. Here is the answer, as ICAI needs to look at the following aspects:

• Numerical and Theory Balancing: FM mostly carries mathematical formulas, calculations, and applications, whereas SM relies on conceptual frameworks, keyword retention, and scenario-based answer writing. To balance both topics, ICAI makes it a combination strategy.

• Managing the timing of the exam: students spend about 80 to 90 minutes on the numericals of FM and get very little time for the 40-mark SM section. So, a combined practice schedule trains you to arrange time effectively before an exam.

• Preventing Fatigue: Students often burn out due to only having a few days for studying. Also, reading only theory lacks engagement. Thus, FM SM keeps sessions productive and balanced for students.

• Reduce Pressure: Studying theory and practice together creates a smooth mindset for analytical and logical thinking without getting confused.

Best faculty for FM SM

The concern about the best faculty to choose as a mentor is CA Chesta Chawla, who is herself a chartered accountant. She is a faculty member for FM, SM, and DT at catestseries.org.

Before teaching, she worked in the corporate sector at Acuity Knowledge Partners. Her background clearly shows her as one of the best real-time market and academic supporters.

Some essential and quick points in her profile:

• Qualification: Chartered Accountant

• Faculty for: FM, SM & DT

• Specialization: AFM

• Platform: catestseries.org

• Teaching method: Concept-based, exam-oriented, practical examples

What is the strategy of CA Chesta Chawla for FM SM?

Quick revision strategy

The most used strategy by CA Chesta Chawla is quick revision. Also, she uses the same strategy while teaching the students. The strategy uses the steps as follows:

1. Scan and highlight: She reads the question, scans it for 5-10 seconds, and highlights the main points.

2. Recall: Close the book and recall all the main concepts.

3. Practice: Solve questions engaged with the same concepts.

4. Work on weak areas: Find the weak areas and work on them with practice.

5. Test yourself: At the final step, test yourself with a short timed mock and quiz.

1.5-Day Strategy

The 1.5-day strategy is to give 1.5 days to understand the basic concept of every topic. On day 1, you need to understand the weightage of the topic and mark all the points for revision. On day 2, only a one-minute revision and doing weak areas for the first half of the day are needed, and after that, complete the topic with final recall. Remember, "close" means not closing the topic for a long time; you just close the topic for a while, but you need to recall every 3-4 days.

Last-day revision

CA Chesta Chawla always does a practice revision and also conducts a practice session for students on the last day. Here, students do a revision→recall→main points→remind weak areas→close-up.

Chapter prioritization

CA Chesta Chawla always categorizes chapters into low (C), medium (B), and high (A) priority. With the help of this, she can give weightage of time as 10 to 15%, 30 to 40%, and 50 to 60%, respectively. This strategy works on managing time and weightage for every topic without making any specific efforts.

1:1:1 Model

This model identifies practice, homework, and mentoring with a specific mentor or teacher. However, taking many suggestions will mislead and confuse you on the path to your goal. So CA Chesta Chawla worked on this model so as not to make it hustle-bustle and also to recommend that students work on it.

Step-by-Step Study Method

1. Foundation: study basic concepts, definitions, and formulas.

2. Standard Models: practice several problems and case studies regarding the concept.

3. Previous Year Questions (PYQs) & Quizzes: Practice by attempting PYQs and quizzes to strengthen the concepts.

4. Timed Mixed Sets: Test your time so you can identify how effectively you can solve the questions.

What does CA Chesta Chawla do for students?

• Animated video lectures: CA Chesta Chawla works on visualization rather than only reading and scratch papers. Therefore, she personally made animated videos for a better understanding of concepts. Students can visit demo lectures on catestseries.org to see examples of how she teaches and her method.

• Test Papers: CA Chesta Chawla provides test papers on both chapter-wise & MTP (Mock Test Papers) for practice and gives evaluation to ensure their improvement. The test paper covers every concept of the chapter from basic to high level. Sometimes you can see more than one test on the same chapter, depending on the weightage and length of the chapter.

• ICAI reference study material: CA Chesta Chawla always makes updates regarding the ICAI study reference so that the students do not need to look separately on the changes that are taking place. You can see through the study material provided to students how effectively she routed the changes without causing inconvenience to the students. She personally looks at these essential points.

• Improvement Circle: As mentioned above, CA Chesta Chawla provides tests, analyzes the students' reactions, and gives comments to have a positive effect on the improvement in answering the questions. As such:

Test → Analysis → Improvement

She gives comments without hurting the students' feelings. She doesn't work to prove her teaching skills; she works on mentoring students to make a smooth path towards success and achieving their goals.

• Personal mentoring: CA Chesta Chawla holds a personal session weekly for resolving students' issues. There, she makes video sessions and listens to every minor to major issue of the students and gives her best to solve the problem. The issues can be regarding concepts, mentoring, or personal help in making efforts towards studies. Students feel independent enough to talk about their issues and feel satisfied after the session.

Batch: Pricing, Format, and Duration

Students having concerns about enrolling can directly check on catestseries.org, as their plan and fee structure are:

Batch Timing & Availability

Inspiring real stories

Rekha Singla

I am really very thankful to CA Chesta ma'am for her heartwarming nature. I used to have difficulty in FM SM due to time management. But ma'am helped me a lot with her personal experience and mentoring. I have no words to express my gratitude to her for giving me remarks when I achieved AIR 22 in the CA exam.

Ashish Mathotra

This was my second time as an aspirant for CA. I am totally confused and making efforts to find where my studies lacked. But when I joined catestseries.org on the suggestion of my friend, I was totally surprised by how effectively they helped me whenever I needed it. They even helped me in areas where I never thought before. I am very thankful to all mentors, especially CA Chesta ma'am, for their guidance.

Conclusion

CA Chesta is no doubt the best mentor with their experience, strategies, and business platform. She is a fully satisfying mentor whom a student wants. The FM and SM combined strategies can easily be achieved by choosing her as a mentor. The cost-friendly batch and package helped students in every field. Many inspiring stories also lead many to believe that her strategies are best for cracking FM and SM in the CA exam.