CA Inter Chapter-wise Weightage for All Six Papers

CA Inter chapter-wise weightage does not exist as an ICAI document. ICAI publishes a section-wise weightage for each of the six papers, issued on 26 October 2023 and applicable from May 2024 onwards, with a deviation of up to 5% either way allowed. Each section is a fixed group of chapters, so the section range is the marks range for those chapters. Below are the ranges for every paper, converted into marks.

In four of the six papers one section carries half the marks or more, and in checked copies it is rarely the section students know best.

TL;DR

• Advanced Accounting: Accounting Standards 55 to 65 marks, company accounts 30 to 35, branches 5 to 10.
• Law: company law 70 marks, other laws 30. Taxation: income-tax 50, GST 50, with levy and supply 25 to 40 of the GST marks.
• Costing: ascertainment of cost 35 to 40 marks. FM: financing decisions and cost of capital 45% to 50% of the 50.
• Deviation allowed: 5% either way, on the paper as a whole, MCQs included.

Where does the CA Inter weightage come from?

From the Board of Studies. The Intermediate PDF sits on ICAI's section-wise weightages page, listing each paper's contents in numbered sections with a percentage range and a 5% deviation note at the end.

The PDF does not split the 30 MCQ marks from the 70 descriptive marks; the weightage is for the whole paper, and ICAI's FAQ on the new scheme confirms the 30:70 pattern.

The weightage is official at section level, carries a 5% tolerance, and covers MCQs and descriptive questions together.

Paper 1 Advanced Accounting: which chapters carry the marks?

• Section I, 55% to 65%, so 55 to 65 marks: the formulation of Accounting Standards and Ind AS, the Framework, applicability, and the application of AS 1 to AS 29 as listed in the syllabus.
• Section II, 30% to 35%, so 30 to 35 marks: company accounts. Schedule III Division I, the statement of profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement, buy-back of securities, and internal reconstruction.
• Section III, 5% to 10%, so 5 to 10 marks: accounting for branches, including foreign branches.

The copies I check tell the opposite story: reconstruction worked out in full, and the AS questions answered with a one-line conclusion. The reason carries the marks.

Accounting Standards are 55 to 65 of the 100 marks; company accounts are a third; branches are one question.

How are the 100 Law marks split?

Part I, Company Law and LLP Law: 70 marks

• Section I, 20% to 30%, so 14 to 21 marks: incorporation, prospectus, share capital and debentures.
• Section II, 20% to 30%, so 14 to 21 marks: deposits, charges, management and administration.
• Section III, 30% to 35%, so 21 to about 24 marks: dividend, accounts, audit and auditors, foreign companies.
• Section IV, 15% to 20%, so 10 to 14 marks: the LLP Act, 2008.

Part II, Other Laws: 30 marks

• General Clauses Act, 1897: 35% to 40%, so 10 to 12 marks.
• Interpretation of statutes: 25% to 30%, so 7 to 9 marks.
• Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999: 30% to 40%, so 9 to 12 marks.

Company law is 70 of the 100; Section III on dividends, accounts and audit is its heaviest part.

Which Taxation sections carry the most marks?

Section A, Income-tax Law: 50 marks

• Section I, 10% to 20%, 5 to 10 marks: basic concepts and computation of total income.
• Section II, 25% to 30%, 12 to 15 marks: residential status and the five heads of income.
• Section III, 15% to 20%, 7 to 10 marks: clubbing, set-off of losses, deductions.
• Section IV, 15% to 20%, 7 to 10 marks: advance tax, TDS and TCS.
• Section V, 20% to 25%, 10 to 12 marks: return filing, self-assessment, the alternative tax regime.

Section B, Goods and Services Tax: 50 marks

• Section I, 0% to 5%: introduction to GST and constitutional aspects.
• Section II, 50% to 80%, 25 to 40 marks: levy and collection, supply, reverse charge, exemptions, composition levy.
• Section III, 20% to 45%, 10 to 22 marks: place, time and value of supply, input tax credit, registration, invoices, e-way bills, payment and returns.

Income-tax is spread across five sections; GST puts 25 to 40 of its 50 marks on supply, levy and exemptions, while the computation chapter most students practise first can be as little as 10.

Where do the Costing marks sit?

• Section I, 10% to 15%: overview, cost classification and cost sheets.
• Section II, 35% to 40%: ascertainment of cost. Material, employee cost, overheads, activity based costing, cost accounting systems.
• Section III, 20% to 25%: methods of costing. Unit, job, process, joint and by-products, service costing.
• Section IV, 25% to 30%: cost control and analysis. Standard costing, marginal costing and budgetary control.

Overheads and material cost together outweigh all the methods of costing.

How is Auditing and Ethics spread across nine sections?

• I, nature, objective and scope of audit: 4% to 6%.
• II, audit strategy, planning and programme: 8% to 12%.
• III, risk assessment, internal control and materiality: 8% to 12%.
• IV, audit evidence, sampling, documentation and internal audit: 12% to 18%.
• V, audit of items in the financial statements: 12% to 20%.
• VI, completion and review, including going concern and written representations: 8% to 12%.
• VII, audit report, modified opinions, key audit matters and CARO: 8% to 12%.
• VIII, audits of special entities and bank audit: 12% to 18%.
• IX, ethics and the terms of audit engagements: 8% to 10%.

No section crosses 20%, so no chapter can be left out.

What is the FM and SM split?

Section A, Financial Management: 50 marks

• I, introduction and ratio analysis: 10% to 15%.
• II, financing decisions and cost of capital, including sources of finance and capital structure: 45% to 50%, so about 22 to 25 marks.
• III, investment and dividend decisions: 20% to 25%.
• IV, management of working capital: 15% to 20%.

Section B, Strategic Management: 50 marks

Five sections at 15% to 25% each, about 7 to 12 marks: introduction; external analysis (PESTLE, five forces); internal analysis (SWOT, generic strategies); strategic choices (Ansoff, BCG, GE, ADL); implementation and evaluation.

Half the FM marks are financing decisions; SM has no heavy section.

How should you use the weightage to plan revision?

1. Rank each paper's sections by the top of their range and revise in that order: Accounting Standards, company law Section III, GST Section II and costing Section II first.
2. Check the ranking against the last three papers and suggested answers, linked in our CA Inter suggested answers post, and count the marks each section got.
3. Write the heaviest section of each paper as a timed test before a full paper. Concepts repeat even where questions do not; our post on whether ICAI repeats questions shows the pattern.
4. Fix the plan to the dates: the January 2027 exams start on 2 January, and the timetable is in our CA Inter exam dates post.

Gradehunt's CA Inter test series gives you full 100-mark papers on the ICAI pattern, written by hand and checked by ex-examiners within 48 hours, with step-wise marks and comments. The first paper is checked free, and mentorship plans are available.