Monday, 6 April 2015

CS Exams - How to prepare & present - Tips by Ms. Sanofar -All India 3rd Rankholder

Sanofar is a young girl from a modest family in Erode, Tamil Nadu. She completed CS course exactly in 2 years and secured All India Third rank in Professional exams held in June 2014. Currently Sanofar is working with a Practising CS firm in Coimbatore.  She is sharing her experience on preparing for the CS course with us.

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It gives me immense pleasure in sharing my experiences and tips with my fellow CS friends through this very useful and highly reaching forum. I thank CS. Mohan Sir for giving me this opportunity and highly appreciate his efforts for the welfare of CS students. I am witnessing a dynamic improvement in communicating updates and guiding students which is a good sign of progress for our Profession. Kudos Sir !!

1. When did you start your CS course? How long the journey took?

Graduating B.Com (Honours) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University in 2012, I enrolled for CS Executive Programme in August 2012. It took me exactly 2 years to become a Qualified CS. I cleared my executive Level in June 2013 writing all papers and in June 2014, I appeared for all the Modules of Professional Programme and Qualified as a Company Secretary with All India Rank 3.



2.       Did you attend any coaching or studied yourself?

 I attended coaching as well as studied myself. I personally feel coaching classes guide you how to understand, prepare and approach exams, but it’s equally every student’s responsibility to follow the guidance, capitalize the knowledge gained through coaching and to plan and work analyzing his/ her own ability and best suited personal learning methodology.

3.       How would you differentiate Executive level and Professional level?

Differentiating executive and Professional level, Executive level was more of learning basics of Various Laws for the first time, facing exams of a Professional Course for the first time. Hence, I had to put in efforts to present my answers as a budding professional rather than an amateur college student. Where Executive was more of studying the law, Professional level was more of interpreting and learning the practice aspects of the law. The standard and expertise knowledge required to be a Qualified CS demanded more sincerity and conceptual understanding of Professional level papers. 

4.       What was the subject that you felt was very tough in Professional level?

I found Tax tougher than the other subjects. ICSI study material for the theory papers had made the concepts simple and clear to understand. But for subjects like FM and Tax, I personally feel our study material is not comprehensive or easy to understand for a non CA, non CMA student like me. Seeing the difficulty level of past Question papers of Tax, I felt it required arduous work than the other papers. I feel it will be very helpful if our Chapter would start classes by best faculty to guide students in these 2 subjects.

 5.       What were the materials/ subjects that you used in Professional for various subjects? Particularly FM, Tax and Corporate restructuring?

For FM, I used my college book by Dr.R.P.Rustagi and my coaching notes. Past Question papers helped me to know the type of Questions asked and I practiced them to manage time and gain confidence to attempt practical problems. I personally feel FM paper needs Practice rather than last month rushed-up preparation from mere scanners.

For TAX, Bangar & Bangar was a good book to prepare along with some notes. I went through Latest amendments in Direct Taxes too from few CA Materials.
For Corporate Restructuring, I studied from ICSI study material. It was clear and sufficient. A student must also go through past question papers to strategically plan and prepare.
For other subjects, Institute study material is more than sufficient. But as it is voluminous, you have to plan which parts to concentrate more. Past question papers and the marks weightage for every chapter will give you an idea regarding time allocation. 

6.       Did you use Institute study materials for any of the subjects? Were they useful?

Yes, I used Institute study materials for all the theory subjects. Though it looks humongous, it’s simple language and clear description gave me conceptual clarity. I was able to attempt all the questions asked in exam preparing from ICSI study material.

7.       How long did you prepare for Professional exams

 I prepared for Professional exams for 4 Months. 3 Months of relaxed Study and 1 month of revision. For June exams, I started my preparation in January. First 2 months I studied for 4 hours per day. In March, I increased my study time to 6 hours. By April, I had completed 60% of my preparation and completed the remaining as soon as possible and started going through the past Question papers in order to plan for revision. Revising all 8 papers in May demanded a solid dedicated study time of 10-12 hours per day.

8.       You are hailing from a small town; how did you manage to do well academically?

I attended coaching for Company Secretarial Practice, Drafting, FM and Tax in Chennai; However papers except FM and Tax are easy to prepare by self-study. For fellow friends from towns where good coaching is not available, I would suggest to start preparing right from the time of enrolling in Professional level. You will get an idea whether u can manage studying by yourself or you need coaching classes. This will help you plan before it’s too late.

9.   Why many students struggle in FM & Tax; how can they overcome it?

Personally I feel FM & Tax requires practice and constant touch with the subject. Tax is vast. There are too many provisions which you need to remember. So practice and revise well before exams. FM needs conceptual clarity. I used to make short notes while studying a chapter. Just jot down very important Formulae, the logic behind using it and where we use it. This will help you revise quickly before exams.

10.  Is there any most important chapters in FM & Tax? If so, please share.

Don’t skip any chapter at any cost. For old syllabus students, Concentrate on Indirect Taxes and Transfer pricing chapters well as it will cover a certain 70 marks. The other portion of Direct taxes is vast, requires brushing up the syllabus studied in Inter, latest amendments and Advance tax rules.

In FM, first prepare all the basic chapters like Leverages, Cost of Capital, Dividend policy. Then you may do the other chapters. Concentrate the theory questions in Treasury management.

11.   Can you share your ideas on how to present in the examination

Good Presentation doesn’t need a beautiful handwriting. Just write legibly and let your answers be crisp and to the point. Dragging an answer for pages doesn’t fetch you marks but is a waste of time.

For theory subjects: - For every question, Give a suitable heading. If there is any Section No., relevant case law involved, Write it clearly and visibly. You can use bullet points rather than monotonous paragraphs. Any key word in a sentence can be differentiated by writing in Capital letters (As ICSI doesn’t suggest using different colour pens).

For practical Papers: Write the formulas in a separate Line. Present the table or statement neatly. For eg., if you are going to calculate Weighted average cost of capital. : -1) Give a heading – Statement of Calculation of Weighted Average Cost of Capital. 2) Present the table with sufficient gaps for different columns– Particulars; Amount (Rs.) or Proportion (%) 3) Let your working notes be understandable. 4) Present the final answer Separately (You can box your answer)

 12.   Is there any change of approach required from old syllabus to new syllabus for the Professional exams point of view?

 I feel students have to concentrate more on case law type of questions rather than mere theory. As there are only a few past question papers available for new syllabus students, don’t go by preparing with past question paper’s question pattern alone.

13.   Any other general advise or tips to students…


I suggest fellow CS friends to prepare atleast for 3 months dedicatedly to clear in the first attempt. Those who are working or undergoing training should make it a habit to learn everyday rather than rushing up with everything in the study holidays. Manage your time properly. Make short notes, jot down important case laws and formulae to revise easily. 3 hours of what you write in exam and 3 months of smart preparation is going to determine your career. Be optimistic that you are capable of clearing. Believe in yourself. No subject is very difficult if you plan and do smart work. All the very best. 

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Questions by : CS Mohan Kumar, Chennai.
Answers : Sanofar Akbar; All India Third Rank, CS Professional exams - June 2014
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