CA Final IBS Paper: Pattern, Case Study Choice and Time Plan

The CA Final IBS paper, Paper 6 Integrated Business Solutions, is a four-hour, open-book exam with five case studies of 25 marks each, of which you attempt any four. Each case study is 40% MCQs and 60% descriptive questions, so 10 marks of MCQs and 15 marks of written answers per case. ICAI's Board of Studies confirmed this pattern in a notice dated 14 January 2024, and it applies to the November 2026 paper.

IBS is won in the first fifteen minutes, when you choose which four cases to write. The fifth case is the one that would have cost you an hour.

TL;DR

• Five case studies of 25 marks, attempt any four, four hours, open book.
• Each case: 10 marks of MCQs and 15 marks of descriptive questions.
• The November 2026 IBS paper is on Friday 13 November, the last day of Group II.
• The cases pull from FR, AFM, Audit, Direct Tax, Indirect Tax and Strategic Management, so the paper rewards breadth over depth in one subject.
• Budget about 55 minutes per case after a reading pass. Open book helps only if your material is indexed.

What is the CA Final IBS paper?

IBS is the sixth paper of the CA Final under the new scheme and sits in Group II with Direct Tax Laws and Indirect Tax Laws. Its full title describes it as a multi-disciplinary case study with Strategic Management. A single case can ask you to value a business, spot an audit issue, compute GST on a transaction and recommend a strategy, all built on the same set of facts.

For November 2026, Group II papers are on 9, 11 and 13 November, and IBS is the paper on 13 November. Press reports of the schedule give the time as 2 PM to 6 PM; your admit card is the final word.

IBS is the only CA Final paper that is open book and four hours long, and it tests five other Final papers together with Strategic Management.

How is the IBS paper marked?

The 10 marks of MCQs in each case

The MCQs are built on the case facts, so you cannot answer them before reading the case. Each one usually needs a short calculation or one judgement call. There is no negative marking in CA exams, so leave no MCQ blank.

The 15 marks of descriptive questions

This is where students drop marks. In the case-study answers I check, the common fault is a textbook answer that never mentions the company in the case. If the question asks whether a subsidiary should be sold, the examiner wants the numbers from Annexure 3, the relevant Ind AS or tax provision in one or two lines, and a clear recommendation. A page on the theory of divestment earns very little.

Write the descriptive part the way ICAI's own solutions do: a short heading, the working, the provision, then the conclusion in a sentence. Our post on the ICAI marking scheme explains how step marks are split.

Per case, 10 marks are case-based MCQs and 15 marks reward answers that use the case's own facts and figures.

How should you pick four of the five case studies?

Spend the first 15 minutes reading only the questions at the end of each case, then the first page of the facts. You are looking for the case where you recognise the most of what is asked, and the case that leans on the subject you are weakest in.

1. Read the requirement list of all five cases before any annexure.
2. Mark each case with the subjects it tests: FR, AFM, Audit, DT, IDT or strategy.
3. Drop the case with the most questions from your weakest subject, even if it looks short.
4. Start with the case you are most sure of, so the first hour builds marks and confidence.

Do not change your choice halfway through. Switching after 30 minutes on a case loses those 30 minutes and leaves you racing on the last one.

Choose by subject mix in a fixed 15-minute pass, drop the case that hits your weakest paper, and stick to the choice.

How do you split the four hours?

Four hours is 240 minutes. After the 15-minute selection pass, you have 225 minutes for four cases, which is about 55 minutes each with a few minutes spare.

• First 15 minutes: reading pass and selection.
• Each case, about 55 minutes: 10 minutes reading the annexures, 15 minutes on the MCQs, 30 minutes on the descriptive part.
• Last 5 to 10 minutes: fill any MCQ you left and check that every answer is numbered as in the paper.

The trap is the first case. Students spend 80 minutes on it because they know it well, and the fourth case gets 25. Write the clock time for each case at the top of your rough sheet before you begin.

Plan on roughly 55 minutes a case after a 15-minute selection pass, and write the target times down before you start.

What does open book mean for IBS?

Open book means you can take your material into the hall, but there is no time to read it. With 55 minutes for a case, you can afford two or three look-ups. A book is useful only if you can find a provision or a format in under a minute.

• Carry one or two thin, indexed sets of notes rather than full study modules.
• Tab the pages you will need fast: valuation formats, key Ind AS summaries, GST and income tax rate tables, audit report formats.
• Keep a one-page index of where each topic sits in your notes.

Check the instructions on your admit card for what you may carry. The rules for open-book papers are printed there.

Treat the book as a lookup tool for two or three facts per case, never as a source of answers.

How to prepare IBS in the last three weeks

1. Solve the IBS case studies in ICAI's RTP and both MTP series on the BoS Knowledge Portal, in four-hour sittings.
2. Check your answers against the ICAI solutions, then list which subject cost you marks in each case.
3. Revise those subjects at summary level only. IBS asks for application, not every detail.
4. Build your indexed open-book set from your own notes and use it in every mock so the tabs are familiar.
5. Read the previous attempt's IBS paper and ICAI's suggested answers, listed in our CA Final suggested answers post.

Gradehunt's CA Final test series includes IBS case-study papers on the ICAI pattern, checked by ex-examiners within 48 hours with step-wise marks and comments on where the answer lost marks. The first paper is checked free, and mentorship plans are available.