HOW TO SCORE EXEMPTION IN CA FINAL SFM?

Paper 2 of the CA Final Course is the Strategic Financial Management (SFM). Revise the Financial Management (FM) subjects you studied at CA – Intermediate Level, such as Time Value of Money, Capital Budgeting, Cost of Capital, Dividend Decision, and Capital Structure, before starting your preparation. This will help in gaining a thorough understanding of the subject.

The purpose of including this paper in the CA Final is to assist students in learning how to apply financial management theories and methodologies to strategic decision-making. CA Final SFM will serve as a foundation for students wishing to pursue a career in finance and will be quite beneficial.

Related: CA Final Course 2024

You should follow the following strategies before the exam to get an exemption in CA Final SFM:

Make short notes during the lectures that you may review afterward or get a Revision Pocket Book to help you review all of the important topics.
Reread the topics from the Pocket Book several times.
Be consistent with your classes, even though you might be studying at home by yourself.
While revising the subject, set daily goals and allocate time to each topic based on its length and weightage.
Make sure that you practice the most recent RTPs, MTPs, and past year papers of ICAI as some questions are solely based on them.
Solve a few papers and get them evaluated by a professional. Test series are highly recommended for practice.
Increase the number of questions you practice to improve the speed and presentation style.
Revise the concepts extensively from short notes one day before the exam and look at the important and difficult questions. Keep yourself motivated and confident.
Avoid touching new topics the day before the examination.
As this exam comprises both theoretical and practical portions, you will not be able to skip any topics before taking the exam.
To score an exemption in the CA Final’s SFM paper, you must revise the entire syllabus at least 3 to 4 times.
The following topics have a high probability of coming up in the theoretical portion of the exam:
- Financial Policy and Corporate Strategy
- Securitization
- Mutual Funds
- Interest Rate Derivatives
- Global Depository Receipt (GDR)
- American Depository Receipt (ADR)
- Risk Management
- Start-up Finance

When doing MTPs, RTPs, and Past Year Papers, read the above topics at least 5 times and do written practice while solving the theoretical questions.

According to past trends and weightage granted by the institute, the following topics constitute Practical Questions of at least 50 marks:
- Security Valuation
- Security Analysis
- Portfolio Management
- Mutual Funds
- Foreign Exchange Exposure and Risk Management
- Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate Restructuring

These topics should be given a lot of attention if you want to get an exemption in the CA Final SFM.

While attempting the exam, religiously comply with the given points to score exemption in CA Final SFM –
- Read all of the questions in the first 15 minutes (reading time) and choose the one you’ll leave from the options.
- Prioritize the remaining questions in order of your level of confidence in them.
- Begin your paper with a positive attitude, and confidently answer each question.
- Do not spend time if you are stuck with an answer. Give it two minutes and if you’re still having trouble remembering the concept, move ahead with the next question.
- Present your answers appropriately. This can only be accomplished by practicing more and more questions and taking 1 or 2 Mock Tests with a three-hour sitting.
- Make every possible effort to attempt all of the questions
Nobody will be able to stop you from scoring exemption in the CA Final SFM exam if you implement the above suggestions. So begin your preparation by setting daily goals and sticking to them. Trust us when we say that achieving daily goals will make you feel amazing and it will inspire you to keep going, and you can even get a perfect 100 in the subject. In the end,

“You have to think big to be big.”