Tuesday, 31 March 2015

ACS Final - How to clear FM & Tax - Interview from Rankholder Balaji

June 2015 will be the last opportunity for CS Students doing under Old syllabus. (Then they need to switch over to new syllabus) 

To help the students for better preparations, we intend to share some articles on " How to approach exams". 

Mr. Balaji who secured All India third rank in CS Professional program in December 2014 has answered the questions that we asked. He is currently doing his CA Articleship in Grant Thornton India LLP in Chennai. 

Over to Balaji : 


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I take this opportunity to thank you for the chance given to me in sharing my experience in tasting success with fellow friends who are going to appear for exams this June 2015. Hope this experiences will be useful for the students in clearing the final exams & wish to contribute further to the students in the best way possible in coming years.


1. How much preparation (in terms of time) is required to clear CS Final? 
  • Ideally 3 months of full fledged preparation with effective studying of 12 hrs a day and one month for revision of all the papers is enough to clear final exams with flying colours for those who is appearing in all the papers. However, A student may adjust the preparation timing provided he / she spends at least 1100 hrs in studying.

2. What are the books that you used mainly for Problem oriented papers (FM, Tax, etc)? Which one you will recommend?



  • For Tax, I would recommend the book by Bangar which covers most of our syllabus in a comprehensive way along with Institute's study material and scanner.
  • For FM, I referred institute study material and scanner along with the practice manuals of fellow institutes i.e. ICWAI and ICAI which worked very well for me giving a broader outlook about concepts.



3. As per you, what are the reasons students struggle a lot in FM & Tax and how  can they overcome it?



  • The main reason as to why students struggle in FM and Tax is due to lack of conceptual clarity and skipping of chapters that are tough to understand by them. Students are not provided with proper guidance with regard to these subjects. I personally feel that if the Institute can come up with classes of good faculties for these subjects, this problem can be sorted out to a great extent as students will capitalise the opportunities provided for them.

4. Is doing training with a Company or Firm an obstacle for completion of the course? If not, how do you manage to work and study? Any tips??



  • The hard truth is a big "YES". The reason being shortage of time for preparation attributed by the fact that many PCS and companies give only 15 days leave for appearing in Final exams citing various official reasons. Even, I ended up getting only 15 days leave for the final exams. However, time management is the only way by which a student can overcome these obstacles. If a person makes it a habit that he will study 3 hrs a day regardless of his work pressure, I hope passing shouldn't be a problem. 



5. Will group study work out? (If not for you, for any of your friends)?



  • Group study has its own plus and minus. Plus being sharing of knowledge and minus being chances of getting distracted ending up gossiping and chit chatting. Success of group studies depends upon the people in the group, the most sincere will always succeed.



6. Is the Institute study material useful? If so, for which subjects they can be relied upon?



  • For all company law related papers, Institute study material is the best source available. However, for other problem oriented subjects like FM, Tax, etc there is room for improvement for Institute to update the study materials. I personally relied upon Institute materials for all papers and referred some additional books for subjects like Tax, FM, etc.

7. How much the past question papers were useful?



  • Past question papers gave me the idea of what level of expertise Institute expects from me as a final student. It made me prepare in a wholesome way making myself ready to face even the worst of the question papers. 




8. What are your specific tips to clear FM?



  • Study material for theory  - proper reading will surely fetch 35 Marks out of 55 to 60 marks asked from theory.
  • Scanners and other institute's materials along with study material for problems - passing FM should be a cake walk then.



9. What are your specific tips to clear Tax?



  • Studying from bare act for indirect taxes and Bangar textbook along with material will suffice to pass Tax with 50 to 60 marks comfortably. 
10. Ideally how many days leave will be required before exams for full fledged preparation?
  • In my personal opinion, a minimum of 45 - 60 days leave is required for full fledged preparation.



11. Do you think that the valuation in exams is very strict?



  • I should nod for this question in a assertive way backed up by the fact that Final pass percentages are in single digits :) 



12. Why people take long time to clear ACS Final nowadays? How can it be overcome?



  • I believe lack of preparation and lack of conceptual understanding are the main reasons which attribute to long time delays to clear CS final exams. This can be overcome only by proper planning and time management in preparing for the exams.



13. Did you study entire material/ book or did you leave any chapter or portion?



  • I did not take any chances in skipping any chapters from the study materials. I always cover the study material completely before proceeding to read any other reference books which ensures that I have a clear idea of what is there in the syllabus and what I should read.



14.How many times you revised? How many revisions are required to clear?



  • Due to paucity of time, i was left with only one revision before exams. However, I feel it is pertinent to have at-least two revisions and two mock tests before exams which would ensure in better presentation skills and time management skills during exams. After all, how much ever we study, how we manage time in those crucial 3 hrs is what decides our results.



15. How can Institute/ SIRO support students to clear the exams?

  • Guidance for subjects other than Company law.
  • Workshops on how to present the paper in final exams and what is expected from a Final student in exams.
  • Mock exams conducted and evaluated before exams.
Last but not the least, I should congratulate you for the service you had been doing to the fellow students in shaping them as a qualified professionals. My heartfelt thanks to you for providing such a great service to the struggling students in overcoming their obstacles. I see our Chennai Regional Office in a dynamic mode nowadays which is a good sign of improvement. Hope the same will get transformed into great results.


Questions by : CS Mohan Kumar, Chennai. 

Answers : Mr. N. Balaji, All India Third Rank,  CS Professional exams - Dec 2014

Balaji can be reached at csbalajin@gmail.com

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