The CA Inter FM and SM Syllabus 2026-27 covers two sections under Paper 6: Financial Management and Strategic Management. Both sections carry equal weightage in the paper, with 50 marks allotted to Financial Management and 50 marks to Strategic Management.
The Financial Management syllabus applicable from the May 2026 exam onwards has 9 chapters, while the Strategic Management syllabus provided by ICAI is applicable from the May 2027 exam onwards and contains 5 chapters.
Paper 6 is divided into two sections. Financial Management focuses on areas such as financing decisions, investment decisions, cost of capital, leverage, dividend decisions, and working capital. Strategic Management covers strategic analysis, strategic choices, implementation, and evaluation.
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Particulars |
Details |
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Course |
CA Intermediate |
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Paper |
Paper 6: Financial Management and Strategic Management |
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Section A |
Financial Management |
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Section B |
Strategic Management |
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Financial Management Marks |
50 Marks |
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Strategic Management Marks |
50 Marks |
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Total Marks |
100 Marks |
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FM Syllabus |
Applicable from May 2026 Exam Onwards |
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SM Syllabus |
Applicable from May 2027 Exam Onwards |
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FM Chapters |
9 |
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SM Chapters |
5 |
The Financial Management syllabus applicable from the May 2026 exam onwards is divided into two modules and contains 9 chapters. The first module covers the fundamentals of financial management, financing decisions, capital structure, and leverages. The second module covers investment decisions, dividend decisions, and working capital management.
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Chapter |
Topics |
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Chapter 1 |
Scope and Objectives of Financial Management |
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Chapter 2 |
Types of Financing |
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Chapter 3 |
Financial Analysis and Planning – Ratio Analysis |
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Chapter 4 |
Cost of Capital |
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Chapter 5 |
Financing Decisions – Capital Structure |
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Chapter 6 |
Financing Decisions – Leverages |
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Chapter |
Topics |
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Chapter 7 |
Investment Decisions |
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Chapter 8 |
Dividend Decision |
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Chapter 9 |
Management of Working Capital |
Chapter 9 is further divided into six units:
Unit I: Introduction to Working Capital Management
Unit II: Treasury and Cash Management
Unit III: Management of Inventory
Unit IV: Management of Receivables
Unit V: Management of Payables (Creditors)
Unit VI: Financing of Working Capital
The Strategic Management section of Paper 6 is applicable from the May 2027 examination onwards. It consists of five chapters covering the introduction to strategic management, external and internal environment analysis, strategic choices, and strategy implementation and evaluation.
This chapter introduces the basic concepts of strategic management and its role in business situations.
Topics covered:
Meaning and Nature of Strategic Management
Importance and Limitations of Strategic Management
Strategic Intent - Vision, Mission and Goals & Values
Strategic Levels in Organizations (Corporate, Business, Functional and Network)
This chapter focuses on analysing the external factors that influence an organisation and its competitive environment.
Topics covered:
International and Macro Environment: PESTLE Analysis
Defining the industry for analysis (Value Chain, PLC)
Porters Five Forces - Industry environment analysis
Understanding customers and markets
Competition in the industry
This chapter deals with the internal factors of an organisation, including its stakeholders, resources, capabilities, and competitive advantage.
Topics covered:
Understanding key stakeholders (Mendelow’s Model)
Strategic Drivers (Industry & markets, Customers, Channels, Product & Services, Competitive Advantage)
The role of resources and capabilities
Combining external and internal analysis (SWOT Analysis)
Gaining competitive advantage (Michael Porter’s Generic Strategies)
This chapter covers different strategic choices and the frameworks used to develop strategic options.
Topics covered:
Strategic Choices: Concentric, Conglomerate, Market Development, Product Development, Innovation, Horizontal Integration, Vertical Integration, Turnaround, Divestiture, Liquidation
How to Develop Strategic Options
Ansoff’s Matrix
ADL Matrix
BCG Matrix
GE Matrix
The final chapter focuses on putting strategies into action and evaluating their effectiveness.
Topics covered:
Implementation: Formulation vs. Implementation Matrix, Linkages and Issues
Strategic Change through Digital Transformation
Organisation Structure (hard) and Culture (soft)
Strategic Leadership
Strategic Control
Strategic Performance Measures
Paper 6: Financial Management and Strategic Management carries 100 marks in total. The marks are divided equally between the two sections.
|
Section |
Subject |
Marks |
|
Section A |
Financial Management |
50 |
|
Section B |
Strategic Management |
50 |
|
Total |
Financial Management and Strategic Management |
100 |
You should note that the 50 marks are allotted to the complete section, and not to individual chapters. ICAI does not prescribe a fixed chapter-wise marks distribution in the syllabus. Therefore, you should prepare all the prescribed chapters rather than relying on a fixed number of marks for a particular topic.
Since Paper 6 combines two different subjects, you can plan your preparation separately for Financial Management and Strategic Management.
Complete the syllabus section-wise: Divide the preparation between FM and SM instead of trying to cover both subjects together every day.
Practise FM numericals: Financial Management includes areas such as ratio analysis, cost of capital, capital structure, leverage, investment decisions, and working capital. Regular numerical practice is important for these topics.
Revise SM concepts regularly: Strategic Management includes frameworks, models, strategic choices, and implementation concepts. Short revision sessions can help retain these concepts.
Use the ICAI study material: Follow the prescribed study material while covering each chapter so that the preparation remains aligned with the syllabus.
Practise questions after completing chapters: Solving questions after each topic can help identify areas that need more revision before the examination.
The CA Inter FM and SM Syllabus 2026-27 covers 9 chapters in Financial Management and 5 chapters in Strategic Management. Paper 6 carries 100 marks, divided equally between FM and SM at 50 marks each. You should cover the complete syllabus because the 50-mark allocation applies to each section as a whole rather than to individual chapters.