CS Exam

Chartered Accountancy and Company Secretary (CS) are amongst the most sought-after professions chosen by those aspiring to build a career in commerce stream. In recent years, with the particular need for corporate experts, the high regard for CS has almost become equivalent with the popularity of accountant courses. In order to obtain the CS qualification, students need to appear for two to three exams (depending on prior educational details). If you are planning to attain this qualification, here is a detailed blog that aims to provide the essential details of the CS exam, its key deadlines as well as the tests you need to appear for in order to attain the certification.

Also Read: 

• How to Become a Chartered Accountant
• Diploma in Financial Accounting
• MBA in Accounting

CS Exam Important Dates 2021

While creating your preparation schedule, you need to take into account the dates and deadlines implemented by the ICSI, CS-offering body, with respect to the three levels of the CS exam. Here is a table that enlists the major exam notifications for the June 2021 session-

CS Foundation

Date of the Exam	Subjects	Timings
5th June 2021	Paper-1 Business Environment and Law	9:30- 11:00 AM or 12:00-1:30 PM
5th June 2021	Paper-2 Business Management, Ethics and Entrepreneurship	2:30-4:00 PM or 5:00- 6:30 PM
6th June 2021	Paper-3 Business Economics	9:30- 11:00 AM or 12:00-1:30 PM
6th June 2021	Paper-4 Fundamentals of Accounting and Auditing	2:30-4:00 PM or 5:00- 6:30 PM

CS Executive

Date	Executive programme (Old Syllabus)	Executive programme (New Syllabus)
June 1, 2021 (Tuesday)	Cost and Management Accounting (Module-I) (OMR Based)	Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws (Module-I)
June 2, 2021 (Wednesday)	Industrial, Labour and General Laws (Module-II) (OMR Based)	Securities Laws and Capital Markets (Module-II)
June 3, 2021 (Thursday)	Tax Laws and Practice (Module-I) (OMR Based)	Company Law (Module-I)
June 4, 2021 (Friday)	Company Accounts and AuditingPractices (Module-II)	Economic, Business and CommercialLaws (Module-II)
June 5, 2021 (Saturday)	Company Law (Module-I) Setting up of Business	Entities and Closure (Module-I)
June 7, 2021 (Monday)	Capital Markets and Securities Laws (Module-II)	Corporate and Management Accounting (Module-II) (OMR Based)
June 8, 2021 (Tuesday)	Economic and Commercial Laws(Module-I)	Tax Laws(Module-I) (OMR Based)
June 9, 2021 (Wednesday)	No Exam	Financial and Strategic Management (Module-II) (OMR Based)

CS Professional

Date	Professional programme(Old Syllabus)	Professional programme(New Syllabus)
June 1, 2021 (Tuesday)	Advanced Company Law and Practice (Module I)	Governance, risk management, compliances and ethics (Module I)
June 2, 2021 (Wednesday)	Information Technology and Systems Audit (Module II)	Secretarial audit, compliance management, diligence (Module II)
June 3, 2021( Thursday)	Advanced Tax Laws and Practice (Module III)	Corporate funding as well as listings in stock exchanges (Module III)
June 4, 2021 (Friday)	Secretarial audit, compliance manage, due diligence (Module I)	Advanced tax laws (Module I)
June 5, 2021 (Saturday)	Financial, treasury, forex management(Module II)	Corporate restructuring, insolvency,Liquidation and Winding-up (Module II)
June 7, 2021 (Monday)	Drafting, Appearances and Pleadings(Module III)	Multidisciplinary Case Studies(Module III) Open Book Exam
June 8, 2021 (Tuesday)	Corporate Restructuring, Valuation and Insolvency (Module I)	Drafting, Pleadings and Appearances (Module I)
June 9, 2021 (Wednesday)	Ethics, Governance and Sustainability(Module II)	Resolution of Corporate Disputes, Non–Compliances and Remedies (Module II)

CS Exam: Important Details

In addition to the above cut off dates, there are some other crucial details you must remember while filing your application for the CS exam.

• Application Fees for the different programs under the CS exam are as follows:

Foundation Program	1200 INR
Executive Program	1200 INR for each module
Professional Program	1200 INR for each module

• The medium of all levels of CS exam is both English and Hindi (excluding the Business Communication subject in the Foundation Program).

• To successfully clear of the Foundation/Executive/Professional level of the CS exam, an applicant needs to have scored at least 40% in each of the paper and overall 50% in aggregate.

• The Executive and Professional CS exam application must be completed within the registration period. However, this can be extended/renewed further on payment of applicable fees.

Also Read:

• Job Oriented Courses after BCom
• CA vs CS – Which One is Better?

Eligibility

The conditions of eligibility implemented by the ICSI with respect to three stages of the CS exam differ as per the educational qualifications of the prospective candidate. To help you understand the criteria for each level, we have summarised the prerequisites in the following table:

Prior Qualifications	Applicable Stages
10+2 and Equivalent (in Science, Commerce and Arts Stream excluding Fine Arts)	Foundation Executive  Professional
Undergraduate-degree holder (except Fine Arts)	Executive Professional*

*Professional Program can only be pursued after successful clearance of Executive Program.

Also Read:

• Duties of Company Secretary
• How to Become a Company Secretary

CS Exam: Subjects

The multifarious aspects of corporate and business disciplines are thoroughly tested in the exam. This also includes a heavy amount of legal study, entrepreneurship, capital markets and much more. Some of the major subjects under each level of the CS exam are given in the table below.

CS Exam Level	Subjects
Foundation Programme (4 papers)	Fundamentals of Accounting & Auditing, Business Environment & Law, Business Management, Ethics & Entrepreneurship, Business Economics
Executive Program (Module 1- 4 Papers and Module 2- 3 Papers)	Module 1: Company Law Cost and Management Accounting Tax Laws and Practice Economic and Commercial Laws Module 2: Capital Markets and Securities Laws Industrial Labour and General Laws  Company Accounts and Auditing Practices
Professional Program (3 Modules and 1 elective paper)	Module 1: Advanced Company Law and Practice Secretarial Audit, Compliance Management and Due Diligence Corporate Restructuring, Valuation and Insolvency Module 2: Ethics, Governance and Sustainability Information Technology and Systems Audit  Financial, Treasury and Forex Management Module 3: Advanced Tax Laws and Practice Drafting, Appearances and Pleadings Electives (open-book exam): Banking Law and Practice Capital, Commodity and Money Market Insurance Law and Practice Intellectual Property Rights – Law and Practice International Business-Laws and Practices Read more about the above subjects here.

Thus, we hope that this blog helped you understand the key features of the CS exam and its different levels. An increasing number of high school graduating students are choosing commerce stream for the lucrative career options it offers. However, it is important that students assess their skills and abilities with respect to the course undertaken in order to build a rewarding career and that’s where the expert counsellors at Leverage Edu can guide you in finding your true calling by helping you choose the right course that fits your interests and career aspirations.