CA Foundation is the first step towards becoming a Chartered Accountant (CA), and it is followed by the other two levels to complete. The CA Foundation syllabus is set by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which has separate key subjects like taxation, auditing, and business law.
In this blog, we have covered detailed info on the CA Foundation syllabus 2025 and other exam patterns that CA students appearing for the CA exam 2025 must be informed of.
CA Foundation Syllabus 2025 and Course Overview
The CA foundation course is the entry-level gateway for the Chartered Accountancy profession offered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). With the release of the new scheme of education in training, ICAI has restructured the CA foundation syllabus, reflecting the current industry demands, Global standards and skills requirements in the current market scenario. Here are the detailed key features of the ICAI syllabus update:
Total Papers
Under the new syllabus, the number of papers remains the same. There are four subjects for the CA foundation exam, and there are no changes made under the new syllabus structure. The four main subjects are as follows:
- Accounting – It includes financial statements, transactions and fundamentals of business accounting.
- Business laws – This subject introduces students to important commercial laws and ethical business conduct.
- Quantitative aptitude – This subject helps the student to deal with business maths, logical reasoning and statistics to help them develop analytical skills.
- Business economics – This subject majorly focuses on economic concepts, market demand, and supply dynamics, to help the student to make them aware of the Indian economy.
Mode of exam
There is no change in the mode of exam as well. The CA foundation exam will continue to be conducted in offline mode, which means:
- Exams will be held thrice a year in May, September and November.
- Students will be manually allotted exam centres as per ICAI.
- The student has to give the exam in a pen and paper format for better focus and a fair evaluation process.
Pattern of the exam
The exam pattern is a blend of return and objective questions, allowing the student to get tested for their writing, logical, and numerical accuracy skills. Here is the breakdown of all papers along with the weightage of marks:
CA Foundation Marking Scheme
| S. No | Paper Name | Marks | Type of Questions |
| Paper 1 | Accounting | 100 Marks | Objective |
| Paper 2 | Business Laws | 100 Marks | Objective |
| Paper 3 | Quantitative Aptitude:Part A: Business MathematicsPart B: Logical ReasoningPart C: Statistics | 100 MarksPart A: 40 MarksPart B: 20 MarksPart C: 40 Marks | Subjective |
| Paper 4 | Business Economics | 100 Marks | Subjective |
CA Exam Overview
| 3-level examination | Level 1 – CA Foundation Level 2 – CA Intermediate Level 3 – CA Final |
| Exam type | National level exams |
| Language of the exam | English and Hindi |
| Frequency of exams as of 2025 | Thrice a Year |
| Registration window for sitting in exam | Open throughout the year |
Detailed CA Foundation Syllabus 2025
Here is the CA subject list 2025 is listed below in detail:
| Paper | Subject Name | Key Topics Covered |
| Paper 1 | Accounting | 🔹 Accounting Principles & Concepts 🔹 Journal Entries & Ledger Posting 🔹 Subsidiary Books 🔹 Trial Balance & Errors 🔹 Final Accounts of Sole Proprietors 🔹 Bank Reconciliation Statement 🔹 Depreciation Accounting 🔹 Bills of Exchange 🔹 Accounts of Non-Profit Organisations 🔹 Intro to Partnership & Company Accounts |
| Paper 2 | Business Laws | 🔹 The Indian Contract Act, 1872 🔹 The Sale of Goods Act, 1930 🔹 The Indian Partnership Act, 1932 🔹 The Companies Act, 2013 (Basics) 🔹 Business Ethics & Role of Professionals 🔹 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 🔹 Moral Values & Professional Conduct |
| Paper 3 | Quantitative Aptitude(Earlier known as Business Maths, Logical Reasoning & Stats) | 🔹 Ratio & Proportion, Indices, Logarithms 🔹 Equations (Linear, Quadratic, Simultaneous) 🔹 Time Value of Money 🔹 Permutations & Combinations 🔹 Basic Probability 🔹 Logical Reasoning (Series, Coding, Puzzles) 🔹 Measures of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Mode) 🔹 Dispersion, Correlation, Regression 🔹 Index Numbers and Time Series |
| Paper 4 | Business Economics | 🔹 Introduction to Microeconomics 🔹 Theory of Demand & Supply 🔹 Elasticity of Demand 🔹 Theory of Production & Cost 🔹 Revenue Concepts 🔹 Market Structures – Perfect Competition, Monopoly, 🔹Monopolistic Competition 🔹 Business Cycles 🔹 Overview of Indian Economy 🔹 Economic Reforms in India 🔹 Role of Government in Economic Development |
CA Foundation exam eligibility criteria 2025
Here is the checklist of eligibility criteria to check through for the CA Foundation exam 2025:
- You must have passed Class 12 from a recognised board.
- You are eligible to register before your class 12th completes.
- There is no minimum percentage required for registration.
- Students from any stream can apply for the CA Foundation exam.
A Quick Comparison Between the Old Syllabus and the New Syllabus
Here is a quick snapshot of the differences between the syllabus:
| Aspect | Old Syllabus | New Syllabus (2025) |
| Name of Scheme | Revised Scheme (2017) | New Education and Training Scheme (2023–25) |
| Number of Papers | 4 | 4 (No change in number, but revised structure) |
| Paper Titles | 1. Principles and Practice of Accounting2. Business Laws & Business Correspondence and Reporting3. Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Statistics4. Business Economics & Business and Commercial Knowledge | 1. Accounting2. Business Laws3. Quantitative Aptitude4. Business Economics |
| Paper Structure | Mix of subjective and MCQ | Same, but Business Correspondence removed, Ethics added |
| MCQ Papers | Paper 3 & Paper 4 | Paper 3 & Paper 4 (Retained) |
| Descriptive Papers | Paper 1 & Paper 2 | Paper 1 & Paper 2 (Retained) |
| Focus on Communication Skills | Business Correspondence & Reporting was part of Paper 2 | Removed and replaced with emphasis on Business Ethics |
| Introduction to Ethics | Ethics is not included separately | Ethics integrated in the Business Laws paper |
| Mathematics Paper | More formula-based, theoretical approach | Application-driven, renamed to Quantitative Aptitude |
| Inclusion of Logical Reasoning | Limited section in Paper 3 | Expanded section in Quantitative Aptitude |
| Economic Environment | Focused mostly on theory | Greater inclusion of Indian Economy and policy updates |
| Global Relevance | Limited alignment with international standards | Aligned with International Education Standards (IES) |
| Skill Emphasis | Memorisation and theoretical knowledge | Practical application, reasoning, and professional values |
| Registration Validity | 3 years, renewable | 4 years, one-time revalidation allowed |
| Study Material Delivery | Mostly offline | More digital content via the ICAI BOS app and portal |
Tips to Prepare for CA Foundation 2025
If you starting your CA journey or already registered and undergoing preparation of CA foundation course 2025, then here are few preparation tips that can help you to prepare accordingly:
- Start early – Do always start for your exam in the early period. Because preparation is the edge of examination and if you wait for the last minute you might miss the basic concepts that you must know. So, it is ideally advised to keep a minimum of 4 months of gap for your preparation for the examination and distribute it within 90 days of subject wise learning, 20 days of revision, and 10 days for full syllabus mock test in short a complete preparation time for your exam.
- Follow the ICAI – Always follow the updated ICAI syllabus available on the ICAI BOS portal or ICICI app. It is regularly updated and aligned with the exam papers which will help you to practice regularly.
- Time management is the key towards practicing – while you start preparing you should always segregate your time as for the subject this will help you to practice more for the problem related questions whereas also help you to complete your course on time. For example you can segregate your 60% of time on numerical and practical subjects there as 40% on theory base subjects distributing it as per your day time schedule.
- Use MCQs sheet – Your yah foundation exam consists more of MCQs so practicing MCQs will help you to build your speed and choose the options quickly.
Conclusion
If you are a beginner and planning to start preparation for CA foundation exam then reach out to Sukrishna Commerce Institute, which is one of the leading commerce institutes in Patna known for providing qualitative education in terms of the field of CA. If you have any doubt related to the CA exam or its syllabus, kindly contact us.