CIRA study plan

Map the CIRA exam blueprint against your current knowledge by writing a one-page gap list for Bankruptcy and Insolvency subtopics

Define and distinguish key insolvency vocabulary (assignment, receivership, proposal, discharge, stay of proceedings) in your own words without notes

Explain the difference between a summary administration and an ordinary administration, including the practical consequences for creditors

Draft a timeline of events in a consumer insolvency from filing to discharge, noting which steps are statutory and which are administrative

Trace the rights and remedies of secured versus unsecured creditors through a full insolvency, citing the priority rules you would apply

Compare the treatment of preferred claims, wage claims, and Crown claims and explain how the ordering affects recoveries

Analyze how a stay of proceedings operates and identify which actions it restrains and which it does not

Work through three calculation problems on distribution of proceeds and reconcile your answers against the priority scheme

Diagnose the difference between a liquidity crisis and a solvency crisis using a set of financial indicators you define yourself

Build a 13-week cash flow forecast template and populate it with a hypothetical distressed company's assumptions

Identify the early warning signs of financial distress and rank them by lead time before default

Explain the roles of the monitor, the trustee, and the court in a restructuring process and where each intervenes

Compare out-of-court workout, formal proposal, and liquidation outcomes for the same fact pattern and recommend one with reasons

Apply at least two valuation approaches to a distressed business and explain why their outputs diverge

Draft a restructuring plan outline covering classes of creditors, treatment, and the rationale for impairment

Test a plan's feasibility by stress-testing the cash flow forecast against a downside scenario

Compute enterprise value using income, market, and asset-based approaches and reconcile the three results into a defensible range

Build a discounted cash flow model for a distressed entity, adjusting the discount rate for distress and the terminal value for uncertainty

Explain how liquidation value differs from going-concern value and identify which assets drive the largest gap

Assess the reliability of management projections and document the adjustments you would make as an advisor

Outline the claims process from proof of claim through adjudication, noting deadlines and consequences of missing them

Distinguish the treatment of disputed, contingent, and unliquidated claims and describe how each is valued or resolved

Explain the legal duties and potential liabilities of directors and officers in the period approaching insolvency

Identify the professional standards and ethical obligations that govern an insolvency practitioner, including conflicts of interest

Combine your valuation and claims work into a single recovery analysis showing expected cents-on-the-dollar for each creditor class

Draft a creditor report that explains the valuation basis, the claims reconciliation, and the projected distribution in plain language

Critique your own analysis for assumptions that would not survive cross-examination and revise them

Practice explaining a complex insolvency outcome aloud in under three minutes without jargon

Complete a full-length timed practice exam under test conditions and score it by domain

Re-study only the subtopics where your practice score fell below your target, using your own gap list from week one

Re-derive from memory the priority scheme, the restructuring options, and the valuation approaches as a final consolidation check

Write a one-page exam-day strategy covering time allocation, question sequencing, and how you will handle unfamiliar fact patterns