CA Inter Syllabus 2026: The Complete Paper-by-Paper Guide to What You Are Actually Preparing For

Before you build a preparation plan, buy a test series, or block your revision calendar, you need to answer one question clearly: what exactly does the CA Inter syllabus for 2026 contain, and what does each paper require from you?

This guide gives you that clarity. It covers the full CA Inter syllabus for 2026 under the new ICAI scheme, explains what each paper is actually testing, and helps you map your preparation resources and test series practice to the specific demands of each subject.

CA Inter 2026: The New Scheme at a Glance

ICAI introduced the new CA curriculum with significant structural changes. CA Intermediate under the new scheme has six papers across two groups, reduced from eight papers under the old scheme. The consolidation is designed to eliminate subject overlap and ensure each paper covers a cohesive body of knowledge.

Group 1

• Paper 1: Advanced Accounting
• Paper 2: Corporate and Other Laws
• Paper 3: Taxation (Direct Tax and GST combined)

Group 2

• Paper 4: Cost and Management Accounting
• Paper 5: Auditing and Ethics
• Paper 6: Financial and Strategic Management

Each paper is of 100 marks and three hours duration. Students can appear for Group 1 only, Group 2 only, or both groups together in a single attempt.

Paper-by-Paper Syllabus Breakdown

Paper 1: Advanced Accounting

Advanced Accounting at CA Inter covers financial reporting standards and their application to complex business transactions. Key topic areas include:

• Application of Accounting Standards (AS) to specific scenarios
• Financial statements of companies, including final accounts under the Companies Act
• Partnership accounts including admission, retirement, and dissolution
• Amalgamation, absorption, and reconstruction of companies
• Accounts of banking, insurance, and electricity companies
• Accounting for hire purchase, lease, and investment transactions
• Consolidated financial statements at an introductory level

What this paper demands in an exam: Clean working notes, correctly formatted financial statements, and traceable calculations. Evaluators penalise correct numbers presented without auditable workings.

Paper 2: Corporate and Other Laws

This paper covers two major law domains:

Company Law (Companies Act, 2013): Incorporation, types of companies, memorandum and articles, share capital, debentures, meetings, audit requirements, and related provisions covered under ICAI's prescribed scope for CA Inter.

Other Laws: Limited Liability Partnership Act, Basic concepts of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the FEMA provisions included at the inter-level, and other allied statutes within the prescribed scope.

What this paper demands in an exam: Structured scenario-based answers following the four-step format of provision, explanation, application, and conclusion. Students who skip the application step consistently lose marks even when their legal knowledge is accurate.

Paper 3: Taxation

Paper 3 combines Direct Tax and GST into a single paper.

Direct Tax Laws (Income Tax Act, 1961): Heads of income, computation of total income, deductions, residential status and incidence of tax, and basic international taxation concepts within the scope prescribed by ICAI for CA Inter.

Goods and Services Tax: GST levy and collection, supply concepts, time and value of supply, input tax credit, registration, returns, and assessment provisions within the prescribed CA Inter scope.

What this paper demands in an exam: Current amendment accuracy for the finance year applicable to your specific exam attempt, and structured application of tax provisions to business scenarios. This paper changes with each Finance Act cycle. Confirm that your test series covers the applicable amendments by checking the Syllabus for Test Series before enrolling.

Paper 4: Cost and Management Accounting

CMA is the core technical paper of the CMA domain at CA Inter level. Key topic areas include:

• Cost concepts, classification, and cost behaviour
• Material, labour, and overhead cost accounting
• Marginal costing and its applications
• Standard costing and variance analysis
• Budget and budgetary control
• Job, contract, batch, and process costing
• Operating costing and activity-based costing at an introductory level

What this paper demands in an exam: Speed and precision in cost calculations, combined with a clean presentation of cost statements. Timed full paper mocks are essential for this paper because time pressure reveals calculation shortcuts that cost marks.

Paper 5: Auditing and Ethics

Auditing and Ethics covers:

• Auditing concepts, objectives, and standards (Standards on Auditing as applicable at the Inter level)
• Risk assessment and internal control
• Audit planning, sampling, and evidence
• Company audit, including appointment, duties, and audit report requirements
• Bank audit and concurrent audit at the introductory level
• Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants

What this paper demands in an exam: Applied scenario-based answers that demonstrate how you would apply an auditing standard or ethical principle to the specific situation in the question. Answers that recite standards without application consistently underperform.

Paper 6: Financial and Strategic Management

Paper 6 covers two major domains:

Financial Management: Time value of money, capital budgeting, working capital management, capital structure and financing decisions, dividend policy, and financial analysis and planning.

Strategic Management: Business environment analysis, competitive strategy, strategic implementation, and strategic control frameworks.

What this paper demands in an exam: Both calculation accuracy (FM component) and analytical reasoning (SM component) are assessed independently. Students often lose marks consistently on one component while performing adequately on the other. Analytics from evaluated mock tests identify which component is the consistent underperformer.

How Your CA Inter Syllabus Maps to Test Series Practice

Understanding the syllabus is useful. Mapping it to a structured preparation plan is what converts that understanding into exam performance.

For Foundation students building toward Inter, the CA Foundation Video Lectures and Books page shows resources that establish the conceptual base that Inter-level test practice builds on.

For CA Inter students ready to begin test series practice, the CA Test Series for 2026 page shows current plan options, including chapter-wise, full syllabus, and MTP/RTP plans by group.

For full plan pricing across CA Inter at both single-group and both-group levels, visit the Fee Structure of Test Series page before selecting your plan.