How to Become a CA in India: Steps, Eligibility and Exams

Steps to become a CA

ICAI's Prospectus lists the route in this order. Graduates and other direct-entry students skip steps 1 and 2.

1. Register for the Foundation course with ICAI's Board of Studies, at least 4 months before the exam month.
2. Pass the Foundation exam (four papers). You can sit it only after appearing in your Class 12 exams.
3. Register for the Intermediate course after passing Class 12 and Foundation, at least 8 months before the exam month.
4. Pass both groups of the Intermediate exam. You can take one group at a time.
5. Complete ICITSS, ICAI's four-week course in information technology and soft skills, before practical training begins.
6. Complete 2 years of practical training (articleship) with a practising chartered accountant. The last 9 to 12 months can be spent as an industrial trainee.
7. Register for the Final course any time after passing both Intermediate groups, and qualify the four Self-paced Online Modules.
8. Complete Advanced ICITSS after practical training and before the Final exam.
9. Pass both groups of the Final exam, taken at least 6 months after your practical training ends.
10. Apply for membership of ICAI. Once admitted, you are a chartered accountant.

Older guides, including an earlier version of this page, describe the previous scheme with 3 years of articleship. That no longer applies to students registering now.

Eligibility for each level

Foundation

• You can provisionally register after passing Class 10 (allowed since ICAI's 2020 amendment).
• To sit the exam, you must have appeared in Class 12 and been registered for at least four months before the exam month: by 1 January for the May exam, 1 May for September and 1 September for the following January.
• Your registration is valid for 4 years from your first eligible attempt and cannot be revalidated.

Intermediate

There are two ways in:

• Foundation route: you have passed Foundation and Class 12.
• Direct entry: you are a commerce graduate or post-graduate with at least 55% marks (having studied at least three of the subjects ICAI lists, such as accounting, auditing, law, economics, taxation or costing), a graduate or post-graduate in any other stream with at least 60%, or you have passed the Intermediate level of ICSI or ICMAI.

Students in the final year of graduation or post-graduation can register provisionally. The registration is confirmed when they submit a mark sheet with the required marks, and cancelled if they don't have those marks before they apply for the Intermediate exam.

When can you take Intermediate after Foundation? Register as soon as you have passed Foundation and Class 12. You can sit the Intermediate exam once you have been registered for 8 months: register by 1 September for the following May, 1 January for September, or 1 May for the following January. You register for both groups even if you plan to take one group at a time. Registration is valid for 5 years and can be revalidated once for another 5 years (fee ₹400).

Final

You can register for the Final course any time after passing both Intermediate groups. To sit the Final exam, ICAI's FAQ (Q 4.5) says you must:

• be registered for the Final course;
• "have completed Practical Training six months before the first day of the month in which the examination is to be held";
• have completed Advanced ICITSS; and
• have qualified all four Self-paced Online Modules.

Final registration is valid for 10 years and can be revalidated every 10 years (fee ₹500).

Registering with ICAI

Steps to register

1. Open ICAI's Students Services page and choose Entry level forms (Foundation and Intermediate (Direct Entry)).
2. Fill in the OTP-based form with a valid email address and mobile number, and upload self-attested soft copies of the documents asked for.
3. Pay the registration fee, which is due at the time of registration.
4. ICAI verifies your documents and confirms the registration. You also receive details for ordering printed study material from the Centralised Distribution System portal (icai-cds.org).

Everything after that, including Intermediate registration through the Foundation route, practical training, Final registration and exam forms, is done on ICAI's Self Service Portal at eservices.icai.org.

Registration and exam fees

Registration fees are from ICAI's FAQs on the New Scheme and its Prospectus. Exam fees are from ICAI's fee chart for the September and November 2026 exams, which adds a ₹600 late fee; check the fee chart for your own session. ICITSS is charged separately: ₹6,500 for the IT course and ₹7,000 for the Orientation Course, according to the Prospectus. Students registering from Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the eight North-Eastern states get a 75% fee concession at all three levels until 31 March 2028. For coaching and other costs, see the CA course fee structure.

Papers and exam pattern

Every paper carries 100 marks. The detailed syllabus for each level is on ICAI's New Scheme of Education and Training page.

Foundation papers

1. Accounting
2. Business Laws
3. Quantitative Aptitude (Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Statistics)
4. Business Economics

Papers 1 and 2 are subjective; Papers 3 and 4 are objective, with 0.25 marks deducted for each wrong answer. You pass by scoring at least 40% in each paper and 50% in aggregate, in one sitting.

Intermediate papers

Group I

1. Advanced Accounting
2. Corporate and Other Laws
3. Taxation (Income-tax Law, 50 marks; Goods and Services Tax, 50 marks)

Group II

4. Cost and Management Accounting
5. Auditing and Ethics
6. Financial Management and Strategic Management (50 marks each)

Final papers

Group I

1. Financial Reporting
2. Advanced Financial Management
3. Advanced Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics

Group II

4. Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation
5. Indirect Tax Laws
6. Integrated Business Solutions (a multidisciplinary case study with Strategic Management)

Question pattern and passing marks

• Intermediate and Final: papers have 30% case-scenario multiple-choice questions and 70% descriptive questions, except Final Paper 6, where MCQs make up 40%. There is no negative marking for the MCQs. Final Paper 6 is an open-book exam; the other five Final papers are closed-book.
• Passing a group: at least 40% in each paper and 50% in the aggregate of that group, in one sitting. You can pass the two groups in different sittings, or both together.
• Exemptions: if you fail a group but score 60% or more in a paper, you are exempted from that paper for the next three exams.

When the exams are held

Foundation and Intermediate exams are held three times a year, in January, May and September. CA Final exams are held twice a year, in May and November, from the May 2026 exam onwards (ICAI announcement, 6 April 2026).

You apply for each exam separately, online on the Self Service Portal. The Foundation exam form usually opens about two months before the exam. ICAI publishes the dates, fee chart and eligibility requirements for each session under Examination on icai.org.

ICITSS, articleship and online modules

Alongside the exams, ICAI requires two training courses, practical training and four online modules.

ICITSS

The Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (ICITSS) has two parts, an IT course and an Orientation Course. ICAI's FAQs describe it as a four-week course; the Prospectus schedules each part for six hours a day over 15 working days. You must finish it before your practical training begins.

Practical training (articleship)

Practical training lasts 2 years and starts only after you pass both Intermediate groups and complete ICITSS. This applies to every route, including graduates and ICSI or ICMAI Intermediate-qualified students. You train under a practising chartered accountant, and may spend 9 to 12 months in the last part of the training as an industrial trainee in an approved organisation. ICAI allows 12 days of leave in each year of training; extra leave has to be made up. The CA articleship guide covers finding a firm and registering your training.

Self-paced Online Modules

You register for these together with the Final course and study them at your own pace:

• Set A: Corporate and Economic Laws (compulsory)
• Set B: Strategic Cost and Performance Management (compulsory)
• Set C: one elective from ten, such as Risk Management, International Taxation, Forensic Accounting or Valuation
• Set D: one from four multidisciplinary subjects: The Constitution of India and Art of Advocacy; Psychology and Philosophy; Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Ecosystem; Digital Ecosystem and Controls

You need 50% to qualify each module, there is no limit on attempts, and the marks are not added to your Final exam marks.

Advanced ICITSS

Advanced ICITSS combines an Advanced IT course with a Management and Communication Skills course and also takes four weeks. You complete it after practical training and before the Final exam.

How long it takes to become a CA

ICAI does not state a total course length. Its minimum periods add up to 42 months from Foundation registration to the Final exam (4 months + 8 months + 2 years of training + 6 months), or 38 months for a direct-entry graduate. Waiting for results, the fixed exam months and any re-attempts add to that. The CA course duration guide works through the timeline after Class 12 and after graduation.

After the CA Final

After passing both groups of the Final exam, you apply for membership of ICAI; on admission you qualify as a chartered accountant. ICAI issues a Certificate of Practice to members who want to practise.

If you have passed both Intermediate groups, completed practical training and Advanced ICITSS, and qualified the Self-paced Online Modules, you can also apply for ICAI's Business Accounting Associate (BAA) certificate by paying the prescribed fee, without having passed the Final.

What chartered accountants do

Chartered accountants keep, audit and advise on the finances of businesses and individuals. Their work covers accounting, auditing, taxation, financial management and business strategy. ICAI, set up by an Act of Parliament, regulates the profession, and several laws require an audit or certificate from an ICAI member for specific purposes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which official websites do CA students need?

Use icai.org for announcements, syllabus and exam notices; the Self Service Portal (eservices.icai.org) for registration, exam forms and articleship; the BoS Knowledge Portal (boslive.icai.org) for study material, revision test papers, mock test papers and suggested answers; and icai-cds.org to order printed study material. Our guide to self-study for CA at home shows how to build a routine around these resources.