The CA Foundation 90 day study plan for 250+ marks

A CA Foundation 90 day study plan only works if it is honest about three numbers: the hours you can actually give it, the marks each chapter is actually worth, and the date the attempt falls on. This one assumes 8.5 study hours a day for thirteen weeks, and it is written to clear 250 out of 400 — not to "finish the syllabus".

The plan at a glance:

• 8.5 hours a day, split Accounting 2.5, Business Laws 2, Quantitative Aptitude 2.5, Business Economics 1.5.
• A mark budget, not a hope: Accounting 65+, Business Laws 55+, Quantitative Aptitude 60+, Business Economics 70+, which sums to 250.
• Days 1–42: every paper pushed past the 40 per cent cut-off.
• Days 43–70: the high-weightage chapters that build the aggregate.
• Days 71–90: full ICAI mocks, RTP and MTP drills, speed conditioning.

What this CA Foundation study plan assumes

Three things follow from those numbers:

• Coverage is ranked, not uniform. Every chapter below sits in a tier by return on investment. Tier 1 gets the hours it deserves, Tier 3 gets its basics and nothing more.
• The 250 is budgeted before it is chased. Accounting 65+, Business Laws 55+, Quantitative Aptitude 60+, Business Economics 70+. Those four targets add up to 250.
• The ninety days run in three phases, and the first one is defensive.

The ICAI asks for 40 per cent in each paper and 50 per cent in aggregate, so Phase 1 deliberately refuses to chase a high score anywhere. Four papers at 40+ first; only then is any one of them pushed towards 65.

The CA Foundation daily time table: 8.5 hours by paper

Paper 1 — Accounting, 2.5 hours

Thirty minutes on formats and concepts, then two full hours of hand-written problem solving. Write every solution out before you look at the answer. Reading a worked solution and agreeing with it is not practice — it is the single most common reason a student who knows the chapter still loses marks on presentation, working notes and format.

Paper 2 — Business Laws, 2.0 hours

An hour and a quarter memorising provisions — the section, the exact wording of the definition, the exceptions — then forty-five minutes writing case studies longhand in one fixed structure: the issue, the provision that governs it, the facts applied to that provision, the conclusion. The structure is what earns the marks, because the examiner has to be able to find the provision. Business Laws has chapter-wise MCQ practice in the PrepPortal CA Foundation course, which is a cheap way to check at night that a provision actually stuck.

Paper 3 — Quantitative Aptitude, 2.5 hours

Thirty minutes on the formula sheet and the shortcuts, then two hours of timed MCQs on a physical calculator, not an on-screen one. Paper 3 is objective with 0.25 negative marking, so speed and the decision to leave a question alone are part of the syllabus, not a matter of temperament.

Paper 4 — Business Economics, 1.5 hours

An hour of deep reading with the attention on graphs and exceptions, then thirty minutes of fast MCQ drilling. Economics is the cheapest 70 on the paper if the diagrams are learnt as diagrams rather than as paragraphs about diagrams.

CA Foundation chapter-wise weightage: where the 250+ marks sit

The figures below are planning weights — the marks these areas have tended to carry — and not a promise about any one paper. Confirm the current pattern on icai.org before you plan around them.

Paper 1 — Accounting (target 65+)

Tier 1, highest return:

• Company Accounts — Issue of Shares and Debentures (~15–20 marks)
• Final Accounts of Sole Proprietors (~10–15 marks)
• Partnership Accounts (~15 marks)
• Depreciation and Bank Reconciliation Statements (~10–14 marks)

Tier 2, once Tier 1 is solid: Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Organisations, Rectification of Errors, Bills of Exchange, Accounts from Incomplete Records.

Tier 3, basics only: Theoretical Framework, Inventory valuation.

Paper 2 — Business Laws (target 55+)

Tier 1, highest return:

• The Indian Contract Act, 1872 (20–30% of the paper)
• The Companies Act, 2013 (~15–20 marks)

Tier 2: The Sale of Goods Act, 1930 (~15–20 marks), The Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (~15 marks).

Tier 3: The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (~10–15 marks), The LLP Act, 2008 (~5 marks), the Indian Regulatory Framework (~5 marks).

Paper 3 — Quantitative Aptitude (target 60+)

Tier 1 — 44 to 50 marks between them:

• Logical Reasoning (the full 20 marks)
• Time Value of Money (12–15 marks)
• Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion (12–15 marks)

Tier 2: Ratio, Proportion, Indices and Logarithms (5–6 marks), Sequence and Series (4–6 marks), Correlation and Regression (5–7 marks), Statistical Description of Data (5–6 marks).

Tier 3, selective — learn the basics and move on: Calculus, Theoretical Distributions, Permutations and Combinations.

Paper 4 — Business Economics (target 70+)

Tier 1, highest return:

• Theory of Demand and Supply (~10–12 marks)
• Theory of Production and Cost (~10–12 marks)
• Price Determination in Different Markets (~10–12 marks)
• Determination of National Income (~10–12 marks)

Tier 2: Public Finance, Money Market, International Trade.

Tier 3: the Indian Economy overview, Business Cycles.

The 13-week CA Foundation syllabus progression

Four papers move in parallel every week. The tables scroll sideways on a phone.

Phase 1 — Days 1 to 42: passing security

Milestones to hold yourself to:

• W1: the routine itself is the deliverable — eight and a half hours, four papers, every day.
• W3: first full-chapter tests, sat under time.
• W4: Logical Reasoning finished. That is 20 marks of Paper 3 locked while everyone else is still deciding where to start.
• W5: 30+ secured in Business Laws and in the maths half of Paper 3.
• W6: Phase 1 complete — the 40 per cent cut-off is covered in all four papers. Everything after this is upside.

Phase 2 — Days 43 to 70: scoring expansion

Milestones to hold yourself to:

• W8: the high-weightage accounting chapters are mastered, not merely read.
• W9: your aggregate capability crosses 220+ on honest self-tests.
• W10: Phase 2 complete — one hundred per cent of the syllabus this plan targets for 250+ is finished.

Phase 3 — Days 71 to 90: mocks and speed conditioning

Milestones to hold yourself to:

• W11: the ICAI Revision Test Papers for the attempt are covered.
• W12: two full 100-mark mocks per subject, marked honestly.
• W13: final polish and weak-area patching only. No new chapters.

Sit the W13 mocks at the clock the real paper runs on: 2 PM to 5 PM for Accounting and Business Laws, 2 PM to 4 PM for Quantitative Aptitude and Business Economics, with the 0.25 negative marking applied. A mock sat at 11 AM with a pause for tea measures your knowledge; a mock sat at 2 PM measures your paper.

Five habits this 90 day plan depends on

1. Hand-write full solutions. Auditing a printed solution teaches recognition, not recall. The exam asks for recall.
2. Use a physical calculator for Paper 3 from day one, so the keypad is muscle memory by W13.
3. Write every law answer in the same structure — issue, provision, facts, conclusion — until it needs no thought.
4. Respect negative marking in practice. Guess in a mock the way you intend to guess in the exam, and count the cost.
5. Patch weak areas last, not first. Phase 3 is for the chapters your mock scores name, not the ones that feel uncomfortable. If you practise in the app, the progress view already names them for you — the FAQ explains how that is worked out.

Practising the CA Foundation syllabus on PrepPortal

All four papers are open in the CA Foundation course: chapter-wise MCQ practice and revision notes for Accounting, Business Laws, Quantitative Aptitude and Business Economics, with the notes for a chapter sitting beside the questions on it. The doubt board is open to every Foundation student, which makes it the fastest place to settle the sub-section that will not go in. The FAQ covers how practice, streaks and progress work.