ICSAN CL study plan

ICSAN CL · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 6 hours per week

Week 1

Company Law and Corporate Governance

Map Domain 1 into a syllabus outline covering company formation, share capital, directors' duties, meetings, and statutory filings, weighting each area by its share of the 20% allocation.
Draft a one-page comparison of the duties of directors versus the role of the company secretary in enforcing governance codes, citing the distinction between statutory duty and advisory function.
Solve 25 practice questions on company law concepts and log every wrong answer with the underlying rule and the source section you will reread.
Build a terminology sheet of 40 core company-law terms with a one-line definition and a Nigerian statutory or regulatory anchor for each.

A 2,000-word Domain 1 summary sheet plus a 25-question error log with rule citations for each mistake.

Week 2

Explain the governance framework layers (statute, regulator codes, listing rules, internal policies) and identify which layer governs a given scenario in 10 written case vignettes.
Reconstruct the full sequence of steps for convening and minuting a board meeting and an annual general meeting, from notice through filing, as a numbered checklist.
Practise drafting three secretarial documents (notice of meeting, board resolution, minutes extract) within timed conditions of 15 minutes each.
Compare the statutory books and registers a company must maintain and state the retention period and inspection rights for each.

A board and general meeting procedure checklist plus three timed drafted secretarial documents marked against a self-built rubric.

Week 3

Work through the accounting cycle from journal entry to published financial statements, preparing a full set of statements from a trial balance in under 90 minutes.
Apply at least six IFRS-style recognition and measurement rules to short scenarios and state the journal entry and disclosure impact for each.
Compute and interpret eight financial ratios across profitability, liquidity, gearing, and efficiency, then write a 300-word interpretation of what the ratios reveal about a company.
Build a variance analysis for a budget scenario, separating price, volume, and mix effects and explaining each variance in one sentence.

A complete set of financial statements prepared from a supplied trial balance plus a ratio and variance analysis workbook with written commentary.

Week 4

Solve 20 numerical finance problems on time value of money, cost of capital, and investment appraisal, targeting at least 80% accuracy.
Outline the legal framework for contracts, agency, and sale of goods, then apply it to five commercial scenarios with a reasoned conclusion for each.
Distinguish the main business vehicles and their liability, formation, and reporting consequences in a comparative table.
Explain how a company secretary identifies and escalates a commercial transaction that breaches internal authority limits.

A 40-question mixed mock covering Domains 3, 4, and 5, scored and reviewed with a written note on every missed concept.

Week 5

Map the principal direct and indirect taxes affecting companies, stating the taxable base, the filing deadline, and the penalty for late compliance for each.
Compute a corporate tax liability from a profit figure, adjusting for disallowed expenses and allowable reliefs, and show every adjustment line.
Build a compliance calendar covering statutory filings, tax returns, and regulatory submissions across a 12-month cycle with responsible officer and lead time.
Draft a two-page compliance memo advising a board on the consequences of a missed statutory filing.

A 12-month compliance calendar plus one worked tax computation and a two-page board compliance memo.

Week 6

Apply two strategic analysis frameworks to a single named company and derive three actionable recommendations with supporting evidence.
Analyse a governance failure case and identify the ethical breaches, the stakeholders harmed, and the controls that would have prevented them.
Write a personal ethical decision framework in five steps and test it against three dilemmas drawn from secretarial practice.
Explain the distinction between legal compliance, ethical conduct, and corporate social responsibility, with one example of each from company practice.

A 1,500-word strategic and ethics case analysis containing framework application, breach identification, and three recommendations.

Week 7

Assess the governance risks of digital record-keeping, electronic meetings, and data protection, listing the control that mitigates each risk.
Explain how technology changes the company secretary's record-keeping, filing, and board-support duties, with three concrete process changes.
Complete a timed 60-question mock weighted across all ten domains and record the score per domain.
Rank your five weakest domains from the mock and write a targeted remediation list with a specific resource and date for each.

A full-length timed mock with a per-domain scorecard and a dated remediation plan for the five weakest areas.

Week 8

Rework every item in your error log from weeks 1 to 7 and confirm you can state the correct rule without notes.
Complete two timed half-mocks under exam conditions and score at least 75% on each.
Recite from memory the key statutory deadlines, thresholds, and filing obligations you logged during the plan.
Write a one-page exam-day strategy covering time allocation per section, question order, and how you will handle a question you cannot answer.

Two scored timed half-mocks at 75% or above plus a one-page exam-day strategy sheet.

Week 2: You can produce a correct meeting notice, resolution, and minute extract within 15 minutes each without reference material.

Week 4: You score at least 65% on the 40-question mock covering Domains 3, 4, and 5, with no domain below 50%.

Week 6: You can apply a strategic framework and identify ethical breaches in an unseen case within 40 minutes of writing.

Week 8: You score 75% or above on both timed half-mocks and have cleared every entry in your error log.