Chartered Accountancy Final

CA Final is the last stage of the Chartered Accountancy course run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). It has six papers in two groups, and clearing both groups, along with the training requirements, leads to membership of ICAI. This page gives you the 2026-27 picture: the November 2026 schedule, the new twice-a-year cycle, eligibility, pattern, syllabus, passing rules and a preparation plan.

Facts here come from ICAI announcements and notices as reported at the time of writing (21 October 2026). Where a point could not be confirmed from an ICAI document, it is marked tentative or indicative, so check the ICAI website and your Self Service Portal (SSP) login before you act on it.

Table of Contents

• CA Final at a glance

• Current status and what changed in the cycle

• Important dates

• Eligibility in brief

• Exam fee and application

• CA Final exam pattern

• Syllabus summary

• Passing criteria, exemption and results

• What happens after you pass

• How to prepare for CA Final

CA Final at a Glance

Current Status and What Changed in the Cycle

CA Final is conducted every year and is not discontinued, renamed or merged. It follows the New Scheme of Education and Training that ICAI notified in 2023, and the Final syllabus under this scheme applies from the May 2026 examination onwards.

The biggest change for the 2026-27 cycle is the number of attempts. ICAI announced in April 2026 that the Final examination will be held twice a year, in May and November, from the May 2026 examination onwards. Earlier, Final was held three times a year, in January, May and September. January 2026 was the last January attempt.

Older pages may still show three attempts a year, or a September Final attempt, so follow the official ICAI announcements.

CA Final Important Dates

Papers 1 to 5 run from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and Paper 6 runs from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Tentative dates come from ICAI's schedule and can change. Track the examination section of icai.org and your registered email for the admit card and any revision.

CA Final Eligibility in Brief

To appear in CA Final you must have passed CA Intermediate, registered for the Final course, and met the practical training (articleship) and course requirements that apply to your scheme. The details differ by training stream and by exam session, so the full rules sit on the CA Final eligibility page.

• Qualification: Pass both groups of CA Intermediate under the applicable scheme.

• Registration: Register for CA Final through ICAI and keep your SSP profile active.

• Practical training: Complete the prescribed articleship, or complete it by the date ICAI sets for the session.

• Courses and modules: Advanced ICITSS and the applicable Self-Paced Online Modules (SPOM), as notified for your batch.

• Age: No upper age limit is reported.

Exam Fee and How to Apply

The fee for the November 2026 attempt, as reported from ICAI's fee chart, is below. Confirm the final amount on the examination portal before paying.

A late fee applied in the late window (reported as Rs. 600 in India). Fees are paid online and are generally not refundable except for payment failures.

1. Log in to the ICAI SSP and check that your registration and training status are correct.

2. Open the CA Final exam form when ICAI announces the window.

3. Choose your group or groups, centre and medium.

4. Pay the fee online and download the confirmation page.

5. Download the admit card when it is released.

The forms for November 2026 have closed. For May 2027, read the official ICAI announcement on icai.org for the form window.

CA Final Exam Pattern

Each paper carries 100 marks. Papers 1 to 5 are three hours long, and Paper 6 is a four-hour open-book case-study paper. There is no negative marking reported for MCQs. The full breakdown is on the CA Final exam pattern page.

CA Final Syllabus Summary

ICAI publishes the Final syllabus as paper-wise modules in its study material, not as a single topic list. The CA Final syllabus page lists the modules paper by paper.

• Paper 1: Ind AS, consolidation, business combinations, financial instruments and analysis of financial statements.

• Paper 2: Treasury, risk, derivatives, valuation, portfolio management and restructuring.

• Paper 3: Auditing standards, audit process, specialised audits, digital auditing and ethics.

• Paper 4: Income tax and international taxation, including transfer pricing and treaties.

• Paper 5: GST, customs and the Foreign Trade Policy.

• Paper 6: A multidisciplinary case study that draws on the other papers.

For Paper 4, ICAI has said the Income-tax Act, 2025 will be tested only from the May 2027 examination onwards, so check the ICAI notice for the law that applies to your attempt.

Passing Criteria, Exemption and Results

CA Final does not use a merit-based cut-off. You pass a group by scoring at least 40 out of 100 in every paper of the group and at least 50% of the group total, which is 150 out of 300. If you score 60% or more in a paper but fail the group, you may get an exemption in that paper for the next three examinations, subject to ICAI conditions. A candidate who passes at one sitting with 70% or more may qualify for the distinction mention.

Pass percentages move a lot from one attempt to the next. In the May 2026 result, reported from ICAI data, the pass percentage was about 12.00% for Group 1, 20.49% for Group 2 and 14.07% for both groups together. The CA Final cut-off and passing marks page has the full history and rules.

What Happens After You Pass

Clearing both groups, together with the practical training and course requirements, makes you eligible to apply for ICAI membership and to be called a Chartered Accountant. Some modules, such as certain SPOM sets, may still have to be completed before you apply for membership, depending on your batch. Result details are published on the ICAI results portal, and you need your registration and roll numbers to view them.

Chartered Accountants work in audit and assurance, taxation, financial reporting, treasury, corporate finance and consulting, or start their own practice. Pay depends on the employer, role and city, so treat any salary figure you see online as indicative.

How to Prepare for CA Final

Six papers across two groups reward steady, paper-wise planning. The first question is whether you are taking one group or both groups in the attempt, and that decides how you split your time.

Plan by group

• Both groups: Keep the heavy conceptual papers, Financial Reporting and Advanced Financial Management, early in the plan, and keep a fixed weekly slot for each tax paper.

• One group: You can take a deeper pass through the study material and add more full-length practice before the exam.

Use ICAI material as the base

Start with the ICAI study material, Revision Test Papers and past question papers, because the exam is set around them. Add amendments for the tax papers as the attempt approaches.

Practise in the exam format

Write papers by hand, in the real time limit, with the MCQ and descriptive mix. For timed practice in the current pattern, you can attempt CA Final online tests on Testkart and use the paper-wise analysis to plan your revision, then pair them with the CA Final mock tests guide for how to schedule and review them. Notes and structured plans are covered under CA Final study notes, CA Final courses and CA Final bundles.

Revise with an error log

After every paper, list the questions you missed because of concept gaps, time or silly errors. Revise that log before each new test. In the last three weeks, revise short notes and the amendments rather than starting new topics.

Keep the official sources open while you plan: the ICAI examinations page for September and November 2026 carries the schedule, fee chart and guidance notes.