RSMSSB Junior Accountant common mistakes
RSMSSB Junior Accountant · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In double-entry questions, students record a cash purchase of goods as a debit to Purchases and credit to Sales, or treat a payment to a creditor as a debit to the creditor account instead of debiting the creditor and crediting Cash.
They memorize journal entries as word pairs without anchoring them to the accounting equation; under exam pressure they reverse the party whose account is being settled because the creditor's name appears first in the question.
What to do instead
Before writing any entry, state the two accounts affected and classify each as asset, liability, capital, income or expense, then apply the rule (debit increase in asset/expense, credit increase in liability/capital/income). Practise 20 mixed entries daily by writing the classification in the margin before the entry itself.
In a Trial Balance question the candidate balances the two columns by inserting the difference into Suspense and moves on, rather than locating the actual error, and then cannot answer the follow-up on which errors do not affect the trial balance.
Suspense is taught as a shortcut for tallying, so candidates never learn the classification of errors of principle, omission, commission, compensating errors and errors of original entry, which is exactly what is tested.
What to do instead
Build a one-page table of error types with a worked example each, and for every question first ask whether the error is one-sided (affects trial balance) or two-sided (does not). Solve five past-style questions where the trial balance still tallies despite an error.
In ratio and proportion problems the candidate sets up the ratio in the wrong order (e.g. writes 5:3 when the question implies 3:5), or in partnership profit-sharing questions divides profit equally instead of in the agreed ratio after salary and interest on capital.
Speed pressure leads to skimming the sentence that fixes the order, and partnership questions are attempted with a memorized formula that ignores the priority of appropriations.
What to do instead
Underline the two quantities being compared and write the ratio as a labelled fraction (a/b with names attached) before computing. For partnership, always draw the appropriation account in the fixed order: interest on capital, salary/commission, then residual profit in the ratio.
In averages, percentages and profit-loss questions the candidate computes the answer on the wrong base, for example taking profit percentage on selling price instead of cost price, or applying successive discounts by adding them.
The base is implicit in the wording and candidates default to whichever number appears last in the question; successive percentage changes are wrongly treated as additive.
What to do instead
Write 'base = ___' explicitly before every percentage calculation, and use the multiplier method for successive changes (1.10 × 0.90, not 10 − 10). Drill 15 questions each on profit/loss on cost price and on successive discounts with the multiplier written out.
On Rajasthan history and culture items the candidate confuses the period or patron of a monument or folk tradition, for example attributing Chittorgarh's Vijay Stambh to the wrong ruler or mixing the composers/regions of Maand, Panihari and Ghoomar.
Revision is done from scattered one-line facts without a timeline or map, so similar-sounding names and neighbouring regions collapse into each other.
What to do instead
Maintain a single dated timeline of Rajasthan dynasties (Guhila, Sisodia, Rathore, Kachhwaha, Chauhan) with each ruler's key construction and battle, plus a district-wise table of folk deities, dances and paintings. Revise the table by self-testing from the district column only.
In Indian public finance questions the candidate treats the fiscal deficit and revenue deficit as interchangeable, or counts disinvestment receipts as revenue receipts, and mislabels which items sit above versus below the line.
The definitions are learned as sentences rather than as a structure, so capital versus revenue classification is applied by feel and the formulas are recalled loosely.
What to do instead
Draw the budget structure once: revenue account and capital account, receipts and expenditure, then derive the three deficits from it and memorize fiscal deficit = total expenditure − (revenue receipts + non-debt capital receipts). Classify 30 current items into the four boxes until it is automatic.
In general science the candidate answers physics and chemistry items from everyday intuition, for example saying a body in uniform circular motion has zero acceleration, or that rusting is a physical change.
Everyday experience feels reliable and the syllabus is broad, so candidates skip the small set of concepts that are repeatedly examined and rely on guesswork.
What to do instead
Restrict revision to the high-yield concept list (motion and force, work and energy, acids and bases, metals and non-metals, human body systems, plant nutrition) and for each write one line explaining why the intuitive answer is wrong. Answer 25 assertion-reason items weekly to train the correction.
In Hindi grammar the candidate applies the standard shabd-rup or dhatu-rup from memory to an irregular word, or misidentifies samas and sandhi types by naming the wrong category (e.g. calling dwandwa a tatpurush).
Rup tables are memorized in order without practising the irregular forms, and sandhi/samas are learned by example list rather than by the identifying test for each type.
What to do instead
Keep a short list of irregular forms and drill them in random order, not table order. For sandhi and samas, learn the diagnostic question for each type (which word is dominant, is the first word a qualifier, is the meaning a list) and classify 10 new words daily using only that test.
In computer awareness the candidate confuses storage units and file/network concepts, for example stating 1 GB = 1024 MB is the same as 1 MB = 1024 KB without checking, or mixing RAM with ROM and LAN with WAN.
Terms are memorized as isolated abbreviations without the hierarchy or function, and unit conversions are guessed rather than derived.
What to do instead
Write the full unit ladder (bit, byte, KB, MB, GB, TB) with the factor of 1024 at each step and practise conversions in both directions. For hardware and networks, make a two-column table of 'volatile/non-volatile' and 'range/ownership' and test yourself by covering one column.
On current affairs the candidate relies on general reading from months before the exam and cannot date or place recent appointments, schemes and Rajasthan state initiatives, often selecting an outdated holder of an office.
Current affairs is revised passively from newspapers without a dated record, so recency and the exact office held blur together.
What to do instead
Keep a monthly one-page log with columns for date, event, person/office and state or national, and revise only the last six months in the final weeks. For any appointment, verify the office and the date together, and mark entries superseded by a later appointment.