CS Foundation Syllabus 2026: Legacy Papers and Topics
The CS Foundation syllabus is the set of four papers that ICSI used for the Company Secretary Foundation Programme before it closed fresh registration on 3 February 2020. It still matters in 2026 for two reasons: students who registered earlier follow it, and most of its accounting, law, economics and management topics carry over into the CSEET papers that now lead into CS Executive.
This page lists the Foundation syllabus paper by paper with marks per part, then shows how those topics map to the restructured CSEET. Honesty note: the Foundation Programme is closed, so this is a reference syllabus based on ICSI's 2017 scheme, not a live syllabus for a new session. The CSEET topic list below is a summary, so confirm it against ICSI's official CSEET syllabus before you finalise your plan.
Table of Contents
CS Foundation syllabus at a glance
Key changes to know
Paper 1: Business Environment and Law
Paper 2: Business Management, Ethics and Entrepreneurship
Paper 3: Business Economics
Paper 4: Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing
Overlap with the CSEET syllabus
How to cover the syllabus
CS Foundation syllabus at a glance
Paper | Subject | Marks | Parts |
|---|---|---|---|
Paper 1 | Business Environment and Law | 100 | Business Environment (40), Business Laws (60) |
Paper 2 | Business Management, Ethics and Entrepreneurship | 100 | Management (40), Ethics (10), Communication (25), Entrepreneurship (25) |
Paper 3 | Business Economics | 100 | Economics (80), Elementary Statistics (20) |
Paper 4 | Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing | 100 | Accounting (70), Auditing (30) |
All four papers were computer-based multiple choice. The full pattern, including duration and passing rules, is on the CS Foundation exam pattern page.
Key changes to know
Foundation is closed: No new registrations are accepted, and CSEET is the entry test for CS Executive.
CSEET was restructured: From the June 2026 session it has four papers of 100 marks, including three subjective papers.
Older pages are outdated: Many pages still describe the remote-proctored, MCQ-only CSEET or treat Foundation as an open course. Follow the official ICSI notices.
Paper 1: Business Environment and Law
This paper has a basic level of knowledge. It introduces forms of business, business functions and the core business laws a company secretary works with.
Part | Marks | Topics to cover |
|---|---|---|
Part A: Business Environment | 40 | Business environment (internal and external, micro and macro); forms of business organisation (sole proprietorship, partnership, company, HUF, cooperatives, LLP, OPC); scales of business (MSMEs, large and public enterprises, multinationals); emerging trends (franchising, aggregators, BPO and KPO, e-commerce); business functions |
Part B: Business Laws | 60 | Introduction to law; elements of company law; partnership and LLP law; contract law; sale of goods; negotiable instruments; Information Technology Act; role of a company secretary |
Business Laws carries more marks than Business Environment, so give contract law, company law and negotiable instruments the first block of revision.
Paper 2: Business Management, Ethics and Entrepreneurship
Part | Marks | Topics to cover |
|---|---|---|
Part A: Business Management | 40 | Nature of management, planning, organising, human resource management, direction and coordination, controlling, recent trends in management |
Part B: Business Ethics | 10 | Business ethics |
Part C: Business Communication | 25 | Business communication, essentials of good English, business correspondence, interdepartmental communication, e-correspondence |
Part D: Entrepreneurship | 25 | Entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, growth and challenges of entrepreneurial ventures, social entrepreneurship, government initiatives for business development |
Paper 3: Business Economics
Part | Marks | Topics to cover |
|---|---|---|
Part A: Economics | 80 | Fundamentals of economics; demand and supply; theory of consumer behaviour; theory of production and costs; analysis of markets; Indian economy overview; money and banking |
Part B: Elementary Statistics | 20 | Descriptive statistics; mathematics of finance and elementary probability |
Four-fifths of this paper is economics. Start with demand, supply and market structures, because later topics build on them.
Paper 4: Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing
Part | Marks | Topics to cover |
|---|---|---|
Part A: Fundamentals of Accounting | 70 | Theoretical framework; accounting process; bank reconciliation statement; depreciation accounting; final accounts for sole proprietors; partnership accounts; introduction to company accounts; accounting for non-profit organisations; computerised accounting environment |
Part B: Fundamentals of Auditing | 30 | Auditing; audits and auditor's reports |
Accounting is the heaviest block in the whole programme. Practise numerical questions daily, because speed in journal entries, ledgers and final accounts decides this paper.
Overlap with the CSEET syllabus
The restructured CSEET papers are Business Communication, Fundamentals of Accounting, Economic and Business Environment, and Business Laws and Management. The table below shows what you can study once for both.
Area | CS Foundation (legacy) | CSEET (from June 2026) | How to plan |
|---|---|---|---|
Accounting process, bank reconciliation, depreciation, final accounts, partnership and company accounts, non-profit accounts | Paper 4, Part A | Paper 2: Fundamentals of Accounting | Study once, then practise writing full working because CSEET is subjective |
English and business correspondence | Paper 2, Part C | Paper 1: Business Communication | Add timed writing drills in place of MCQ practice |
Economics and the Indian economy | Paper 3, Part A | Paper 3: Economic and Business Environment, Part A | Core concepts are shared. Add national income, the Union Budget and financial markets |
Business environment and entrepreneurship | Paper 1, Part A and Paper 2, Part D | Paper 3: Economic and Business Environment, Part B | Revise current government institutions and corporate governance basics |
Company, contract and partnership law | Paper 1, Part B | Paper 4: Business Laws, Part A | Shared topics, so one set of notes can serve both |
Management | Paper 2, Part A | Paper 4: Business Management, Part B | Add management knowledge relevant to company secretaries |
Auditing and statistics | Paper 4, Part B and Paper 3, Part B | Not listed as separate topics in the summary we reviewed | Treat as optional extra practice and check ICSI's CSEET syllabus |
For the official CSEET scheme, see the restructured CSEET page on icsi.edu.
How to cover the syllabus
Weeks 1 to 4: Finish accounting concepts and the economics fundamentals, solving problems after every chapter.
Weeks 4 to 7: Cover business laws and management, then business environment and entrepreneurship topics.
Weeks 6 to 9: Start topic-wise tests and short written answers. revision.
Final phase: Take full-length mock tests that educators publish on Testkart, review them the same day, and revise weak topics from an error log.
Frequently Asked Questions
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