CA Inter Advanced Accounting: What Five ICAI Papers Asked

Advanced Accounting is a 100-mark, three-hour paper: 30 marks of case-scenario MCQs and 70 marks of descriptive questions. ICAI sets this split for all six Intermediate papers, with no negative marking on the MCQs. A 15-minute reading period precedes the paper, per ICAI's January 2027 exam announcement.

In the January 2026 and September 2026 papers, Part I had three case scenarios with five MCQs each, at 2 marks per MCQ, so 30 marks. Part II had six questions of 14 marks each. Question 1 is compulsory and you answer any four of Questions 2 to 6, which gives 14 × 5 = 70 marks.

ICAI's syllabus page lists 15 chapters in three modules:

• Module 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) covers the framework and the presentation standards.
• Module 2 (Chapters 5 to 10) covers the other Accounting Standards (AS), ending with consolidation.
• Module 3 (Chapters 11 to 15) covers company accounts and branches.

Our CA Intermediate syllabus guide covers the full paper list.

Question 1, amalgamation and consolidation together carried 210 of the 420 marks on offer, which is exactly half. "On offer" means all six questions, 84 marks per paper, before you choose which four of Questions 2 to 6 to answer.

How we counted: we read the Part II questions in ICAI's suggested answers for May 2025, September 2025, January 2026, May 2026 and September 2026. We assigned each question or part to one topic using the marks printed against it. The topic labels are our classification, so a reviewer could move a part and change a cell by a few marks.

Schedule III of the Companies Act, 2013 sets the format of a company's balance sheet. Amalgamation is one company's business being taken over by another. Consolidation is combining a parent company's statements with its subsidiary's. Internal reconstruction is restructuring a loss-making company's capital.

Three things stand out:

• Amalgamation was a full question in all five papers. Consolidation was Question 5 in all five papers, at 10 to 14 marks: it was 10 in May 2026, because the remaining 4 marks of that question were an AS 24 part (discontinuing operations).
• Buyback appeared once as a descriptive question. Reconstruction appeared in four papers but at very different sizes, from 4 marks to a full 14.
• Question 1 keeps returning to a few standards. By our count of its parts, AS 10 (property, plant and equipment) appeared in three of the five papers. AS 15 (employee benefits), AS 16 (borrowing costs) and AS 20 (earnings per share) appeared in two each.

This is a pattern across five sittings, not a forecast of the next paper.

Question 1 is compulsory. Of Questions 2 to 6, skip whichever has the topic you have practised least, but never the consolidation question (Question 5 in all five papers) or the amalgamation question (Question 4 in four papers, Question 3 in September 2026).

Both appeared in every paper, so we would treat them as the core of your preparation.

Question 6 follows one pattern in all five papers: an either/or part worth 4 marks, a second part worth 4 marks, and a branch accounts part worth 6 marks. The second part was reconstruction twice, dividend out of reserves twice and a change in accounting policy once.

This is our recommendation, and it holds for the pattern in these five papers. ICAI can change it.

A topic missing from the descriptive part is not a topic to skip. Cash flow had no descriptive question in January 2026, yet four of the five questions in that paper's third case scenario (Questions 11 to 14) were cash flow figures, worth 8 marks. The September 2026 third case scenario tested Schedule III and the Capital Redemption Reserve.

You need 40 of 100 in the paper, and 50% of the aggregate across the papers of your group. ICAI's FAQ on the new scheme sets this rule. It also says that if you fail a group but score 60% or more in a paper, that paper is exempted for the next three attempts.

Because the MCQs are 2 marks each, your total is: 2 × MCQs correct + descriptive marks. That is our arithmetic from the paper's structure.

Forty is the floor, not the target. The group needs an average of 50 across its three papers, so aim for 50 or more in Advanced Accounting to leave room for a weaker paper. For the wider pass rates, see our CA Inter pass percentage page.

As of 7 November 2026, ICAI's Paper 1 study material page lists editions only by May cycle, "applicable for May 2026 exam onwards" and "applicable for May 2027 exam onwards", and does not state which applies to the January 2027 sitting. Check with ICAI's Board of Studies (bosnoida@icai.in, the contact in ICAI's new-scheme FAQ) before you buy. Do not use IPCC-era notes.

ICAI's May 2026 and May 2027 syllabus pages both list the same 15 chapters in three modules. The text inside the chapters may still differ.

The new scheme launched on 1 July 2023. Notes from the earlier IPCC scheme predate this chapter list.

As of November 2026, ICAI's announcement of 23 September 2026 puts Intermediate Group I on 2, 4 and 6 January 2027, from 2 PM to 5 PM. Our CA Inter registration page covers the form and fees.

Spend your first weeks on Question 1 standards, then consolidation and amalgamation, then the rotating topics, and leave the last two weeks for timed papers. The order follows the tally above. It is our recommendation and assumes you have read each chapter once. If you have fewer weeks, shorten weeks 1, 2 and 6 first.

Time is the real constraint. 180 minutes for 100 marks is 1.8 minutes a mark, so a 14-mark question deserves about 25 minutes (14 × 1.8). The paper instructs that working notes form part of the answer, so show them: they are where partial marks come from.

Our CA Intermediate coaching is the way to turn the plan above into a routine: it costs ₹50,000 as of November 2026 (see iProledge course fees), and you can attend a free demo class before you pay. Classes run in blended, live online and onsite formats. Study materials, recordings, practice questions and mock tests are included, and you also get doubt clearing, study planning and mentoring.

The mock tests are where the pass arithmetic above gets tested: you sit timed papers and see where your marks come from. Our study planning helps you adjust the eight weeks to the time you actually have.

We ask you to speak to our Career Advisors before joining, and fees once paid are not refunded, so use the demo class to decide. We have enquiry centres in Jayanagar and Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, and live online classes for learners across India. You can also look through our courses list.

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