CA Final Audit chapter wise weightage & ABC analysis Nov 2026
Quick answer: CA Final Audit chapter-wise weightage, counted from ICAI's last four papers: professional ethics took 22–25 marks every time, more than any other chapter. Next came reporting, including CARO 2020 (10–14), banks and NBFCs (7–14) and SA 240, 250, 260, 299 and 402 (7–10). Those four areas took 215 of the 472 marks ICAI printed across the four papers, about 46%. Audit is on Friday, 6 November 2026, so you have about four weeks.
ICAI publishes Audit weightage only by section, as percentage ranges. It doesn't publish chapter-wise marks. So we went through ICAI's four most recent Audit papers (May 2025, September 2025, January 2026 and May 2026), question by question, and tagged each one to the chapter of the study material it tested. Every paper is linked below, so you can check any line yourself.
How to read these numbers
Each Audit paper prints 118 marks, but you answer only 100:
- Part I: 15 MCQs of 2 marks each, so 30 marks. Most sit under two or three integrated case scenarios. All are compulsory, and there's no negative marking. ICAI's Mock Test Papers for Nov 2026 have 23 MCQs instead (16 of 1 mark, 7 of 2 marks), still 30 marks.
- Part II: six questions of 14 marks each. Question 1 is compulsory, and you answer any four of the other five.
- One either/or: in all four papers, Q6(c) (4 marks) had an OR choice. We count both options, which is why 30 + 84 + 4 = 118.
So "ethics had 22 marks" means 22 marks printed on the paper. If some of them sat in a question you skipped, you never wrote them. Keep that in mind for the B and C lists.
Our sources are ICAI's own suggested answers for Paper 3:
- May 2025 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- September 2025 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- January 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- May 2026 (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
Tagging a question to a chapter is our own reading. Where a question mixes chapters, we've counted it under the one its answer is built on. For example, a fraud question that asks for reporting under section 143(12) and CARO 2020 is counted under reporting, not SA 240. Questions on the audit trail are counted under internal audit, because that's where ICAI's syllabus lists the audit trail.
CA Final Audit chapter-wise weightage: the last 4 papers
These are the marks printed per chapter, MCQs and descriptive together. The chapter numbers are the 19 chapters of ICAI's study material.
| Chapter | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 | Asked in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19. Professional ethics and liabilities | 22 | 24 | 25 | 22 | 4 of 4 |
| 7. Reporting (SA 700–720, CARO 2020) | 10 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 4 of 4 |
| 14. Banks and NBFCs | 14 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 4 of 4 |
| 2. General principles (SA 240, 250, 260, 299, 402) | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 4 of 4 |
| 3. Planning and execution (SA 450, 520, 540, 610, 620) | 11 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 of 4 |
| 18. SDGs and ESG assurance | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 of 4 |
| 5. Audit evidence (SA 500, 501, 505, 510, 530, 550) | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 of 4 |
| 10. Review engagements (SRE 2400, 2410) | 4 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 4 of 4 |
| 17. Due diligence, investigation and forensic accounting | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 of 4 |
| 12. Digital auditing and assurance | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 of 4 |
| 15. Public sector undertakings | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 of 4 |
| 13. Group audits | 2 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 of 4 |
| 1. Quality control (SQC 1, EQCR) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 of 4 |
| 4. Risk assessment and internal control (SA 265, 315, 330) | – | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 of 4 |
| 6. Completion and review (SA 560, 570, 580) | 2 | – | – | 11 | 2 of 4 |
| 11. SAE 3400, 3402, 3420 | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | 3 of 4 |
| 16. Internal audit | 5 | – | 2 | 5 | 3 of 4 |
| 8. SA 800, 805, 810 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 2 of 4 |
| 9. SRS 4400, 4410 | 4 | – | – | 4 | 2 of 4 |
| Total printed | 118 | 118 | 118 | 118 |
Each column adds back to 118, the marks ICAI printed on that paper.
Three things stand out:
- Ethics is the biggest chapter by a distance. Every paper had four descriptive ethics sub-parts (18–19 marks) plus two or three ethics MCQs. That's 93 of 472 printed marks, about 20%, from one chapter.
- Q5(c) was ethics in all four papers, for 4 marks. Q6(c) was ethics in three of them, each time with an OR from Section III (forensic accounting, investigation or PSU audit).
- CARO 2020 came up in every paper. It was a 5-mark descriptive question in May 2025, January 2026 and May 2026, and two MCQs plus a consolidated-report question in September 2025.
None of this is an ICAI rule, and the paper can change. But four papers in a row is a pattern worth practising for.
CA Final Audit chapter-wise marks distribution: May 2025 to May 2026
Here is the chapter-wise weightage for May 2025, September 2025, Jan 2026 and May 2026, sub-part by sub-part: what ICAI set in each descriptive question.
| Question (marks) | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1(a) (5) | SA 720, other information | SQC 1, EQCR | SA 705, disclaimer drafting | SA 580/501, legal confirmation |
| Q1(b) (5) | SA 240, responses to fraud risk | Ethics, networking guidelines | SA 450, uncorrected misstatements | SA 706, Emphasis of Matter |
| Q1(c) (4) | SAE 3420, pro forma | CARO in a consolidated report | SQC 1, leadership | SRS 4410, compilation |
| Q2(a) (5) | SQC 1, partner rotation | SA 250, laws and regulations | Ethics, Clause (8), previous auditor | SA 260, significant findings |
| Q2(b) (5) | SA 620, auditor's expert | Ethics, NOCLAR | Internal check and control risk | Ethics, advertisement |
| Q2(c) (4) | Digital, metaverse | PSU, compliance audit | SRE 2400, analytical procedures | SA 315, cybersecurity risk |
| Q3(a) (5) | CARO, loans and guarantees | Group audit, other auditors' paragraph | PSU, propriety audit | NBFC prudential norms |
| Q3(b) (5) | Ethics, tax audit limit | SA 540, estimates | Ethics, client money | Ethics, KYC |
| Q3(c) (4) | SRS 4410, compilation | SRE 2410, objective | Digital, RPA | SA 570, going concern |
| Q4(a) (5) | NBFC capital adequacy | Bank, restructured advance | SA 810, summary statements | SA 500, management's expert |
| Q4(b) (5) | Ethics, referral commission | Digital, remote audit | Ethics, sponsorship and banners | SRE 2400, review |
| Q4(c) (4) | SRE 2400, qualified conclusion | ESG, social pillar | ESG, integrated reporting capitals | ESG, BRSR principle |
| Q5(a) (5) | Internal audit, SIA 370 reporting | SA 810, abridged statements | CARO, going concern and fraud | Section 143(12) fraud and CARO |
| Q5(b) (5) | ESG, BRSR principle | SA 505, confirmations | SA 240, fraud risk factors | Internal audit report |
| Q5(c) (4) | Ethics, peer review | Ethics, underwriting | Ethics, contingent fees | Ethics, utilisation certificate |
| Q6(a) (5) | SA 402, Type 1/Type 2 report | SA 265, deficiencies | Due diligence steps | SAE 3400, PFI |
| Q6(b) (5) | Bank, non-banking asset | SRE 2410, representations | Bank, investments | Investigation, fixed assets |
| Q6(c) (4, either/or) | Ethics, directorship / OR forensic evidence | Ethics, quotations / OR sales fraud investigation | SAE 3400 / OR SA 240, withdrawal | Ethics, other services fees / OR PSU performance audit |
In the MCQs, Section I standards took 10–16 marks per paper (five to eight MCQs). Banks, NBFCs, PSUs and group audits took 6–10. Ethics had two or three MCQs every time, and ESG and digital auditing had one each in most papers.
Standards that came back: SA 810 was a 5-mark question in both September 2025 and January 2026. SAE 3400 was asked in January and May 2026. SRS 4410 was asked in May 2025 and May 2026. SRE 2400 or 2410 was a descriptive question in every paper.
CA Final Audit section-wise weightage: ICAI's ranges against the papers
ICAI's section-wise weightage (PDF) (opens in a new tab) applies "till further changes are made", with a deviation of up to ±5%. Here is each section's share of the printed marks:
| Section | Chapters | ICAI range | May 2025 | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I: standards and engagements | 1–11 | 45%–55% | 56 (47%) | 55 (47%) | 56 (47%) | 61 (52%) |
| II: digital auditing | 12 | 3%–6% | 6 (5%) | 5 (4%) | 6 (5%) | 2 (2%) |
| III: group, banks and NBFCs, PSU, internal audit, investigation | 13–17 | 17%–24% | 29 (25%) | 28 (24%) | 25 (21%) | 27 (23%) |
| IV: SDGs and ESG | 18 | 3%–6% | 5 (4%) | 6 (5%) | 6 (5%) | 6 (5%) |
| V: ethics and liabilities | 19 | 17%–24% | 22 (19%) | 24 (20%) | 25 (21%) | 22 (19%) |
Percentages are of the 118 printed marks, so they're approximate. The papers sit inside ICAI's ranges, give or take the ±5%.
The section view hides the real shape. Section I is half the paper, but it's spread over 11 chapters and about 40 standards, so no single SA dominates. Section V is one chapter. That's why ethics tops the chapter table. ICAI's full section list, chapter by chapter, is in our CA Final Audit preparation strategy, and every paper's ranges are in CA Final syllabus and paper weightage.
What's applicable for November 2026
From ICAI's RTP for November 2026, Paper 3 (PDF) (opens in a new tab) and the Group I RTP (PDF) (opens in a new tab):
- Cut-off: notifications, circulars and amendments issued up to 30 April 2026 apply.
- Chapter 14 (NBFCs): the Academic Update covers the RBI's 2026 registration amendment (with a ₹1,000 crore asset-size threshold), the NBFC-MFI remediation plan and revised capital requirements.
- Chapter 19 (ethics): the amended Clause (9) of Part I of the First Schedule, a new Clause (5) in Part II of the Second Schedule, and the limit of 60 tax audits now counted per financial year.
The updates land in the two chapters that already carry the most marks. May 2025's Q3(b) was a tax audit limit question, and the way the 60 is counted has since changed. Re-learn it from the RTP, not from older notes. How to revise updates quickly is in how to revise amendments for CA exams.
ABC analysis for CA Final Audit, November 2026
This is our priority order, built from the four papers and ICAI's ranges. It isn't an ICAI list.
| Tier | Chapters | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A: revise first, practise by writing | Ethics (19) · Reporting and CARO 2020 (7) · Banks and NBFCs (14) · SA 240, 250, 260, 299, 402 (2) | Asked in all 4 papers, about 46% of printed marks. Ethics and NBFCs also carry the November 2026 updates. |
| B: revise, one written answer each | Planning and execution: SA 450, 540, 610, 620 (3) · Audit evidence (5) · SRE 2400, 2410 (10) · ESG (18) · Investigation and forensic (17) · PSU audit (15) · Quality control (1) | Asked in all 4 papers, usually as one 4–5 mark sub-part or an MCQ. ESG and SRE had a descriptive question every time. |
| C: concepts, formats and the RTP questions | Digital auditing (12) · Group audits (13) · Risk and internal control (4) · Completion (6) · SAE (11) · Internal audit (16) · SA 800–810 (8) · SRS (9) | 2–11 marks, often only an MCQ or one sub-part. But completion took 11 marks in May 2026, and SA 810 came twice in a row. |
C doesn't mean skip. Group audits sat at 2 marks in three papers and 11 in the other. With no negative marking, every C chapter is fair game for an MCQ.
A worked example: client money, from January 2026
Q3(b) of the January 2026 paper (PDF) (opens in a new tab), 5 marks, is a good model for an ethics case answer. A client sent CA Amit ₹3,00,000 to his regular savings account:
- ₹1,20,000 as an advance towards his fees
- ₹1,80,000 for statutory payments (TDS, GST, MCA filings and DIN renewals) due within a month
He paid ₹50,000 of TDS and ₹60,000 of GST on the due dates. The remaining ₹70,000 was paid after three months, and meanwhile he used ₹40,000 of it for his office rent and put it back within two weeks.
Write the answer in three blocks, the way ICAI's suggested answer does:
| Block | What to write |
|---|---|
| Provision | Clause (10) of Part I of the Second Schedule: client money other than fees, or money meant to be spent, must be kept in a separate bank account and used for its purpose within a reasonable time. The Council's clarifications: an advance against fees isn't covered, and money to be spent within a reasonably short time needn't go to a separate account. |
| Application | ₹1,20,000 is an advance against fees, so the savings account is fine. ₹70,000 wasn't spent within a reasonably short time, so it should have gone to a separate account. ₹40,000 was used for rent, against the client's instructions. |
| Conclusion | CA Amit is guilty of professional misconduct under Clause (10) of Part I of the Second Schedule, for the ₹70,000 and the ₹40,000. |
Take every amount through the provision, one by one. The marks are in the application block, where most students write one general line. Clause (10) was also an MCQ in September 2025, so it has come up twice in a row. More of what examiners cut marks for is in ICAI examiners' comments.
A four-week Audit revision order to 6 November
Our suggestion for the time left. Audit is the last Group I paper, after FR on 2 November and AFM on 4 November.
- This week: ethics, by writing. Build a clause table across both Schedules, with one ICAI past question per clause. Then add the three November 2026 updates.
- Next week: reporting and CARO. Draft one modified opinion, one Emphasis of Matter paragraph and one Other Matter paragraph. Then go through the CARO 2020 clauses ICAI asked: 3(i), 3(iii), 3(ix), 3(xi), 3(xv), 3(xvii), 3(xx) and 3(xxi).
- Week 3: banks, NBFCs and the SA 240 group. Practise one NBFC prudential-norms question with the RTP figures, one bank advances or NPA question, and one question each on SA 240, 250 and 260.
- From 27 October: switch to the day-by-day plan in our CA Final Audit preparation strategy. It covers the B and C lists and fits Audit around FR and AFM.
Fit one full Audit mock into each of the first three weeks. A checked copy shows which tier you actually lose marks in. Our CA Final last 30 days mock test plan shows how to slot Audit around FR and AFM, and the same paper-by-paper method for FR is in CA Final FR chapter-wise weightage.
Frequently asked questions
Which chapters are most important in CA Final Audit for November 2026?
On ICAI's last four papers: professional ethics (22–25 marks each time), reporting with CARO 2020 (10–14), banks and NBFCs (7–14), and SA 240, 250, 260, 299 and 402 (7–10). Together they took about 46% of printed marks (215 of 472).
What is the CA Final Audit chapter-wise weightage for Jan 2026?
In January 2026, ethics had 25 printed marks, reporting 14, banks and NBFCs 11, and SA 240, 250, 260, 299 and 402 had 9. Every chapter-wise figure is in the table above, with May 2025, September 2025 and May 2026 beside it.
Does ICAI publish chapter-wise or topic-wise weightage for Audit?
No. ICAI publishes section-wise weightage (PDF) (opens in a new tab) as ranges for five sections, with ±5% deviation allowed. Any chapter-wise or topic-wise figure, including ours, is counted from past papers.
How many marks is professional ethics in CA Final Audit?
ICAI's range for Section V, ethics and liabilities, is 17%–24%. In the last four papers it was 22–25 printed marks each time, from four descriptive sub-parts plus two or three MCQs.
Can I skip group audits or digital auditing?
We wouldn't. Group audits took 11 marks in September 2025, and digital auditing had 5–6 marks in three of the four papers. Both are often MCQs, which carry no negative marking.
Find out which tier costs you marks
A weightage table tells you where the marks are. Only a checked paper tells you where you lose them. Our CA Final Audit mock tests, part of our CA mock test series, are full-syllabus papers on ICAI's current pattern: 30% MCQs and 70% descriptive, 100 marks in 3 hours. Every chapter is covered across the mocks, with more weight on the most-asked, and every amendment applicable for November 2026 is tested.
You write by hand and upload one PDF. Your checked copy comes back within 24 hours, with ICAI-style step-wise marks and the reason for every mark cut. It also shows the correct line to write, so you can see whether you lose marks on the A list or on applying provisions to the facts.
Audit closes CA Final Group I, and the same checked format runs across our CA test series for FR and AFM. You can read preview pages of the first mock before you buy. ICAI's Audit past papers and RTPs are on our CA Final past year question papers page.