ICAP CAF

It is the Certificate in Accounting and Finance stage of ICAP's Education Scheme 2021, positioned after Pre-Requisite Competencies (PRC) and before the Certified Finance and Accounting Professional (CFAP) stage. It builds the core technical base in financial reporting, tax, costing, law and audit.

Eight: Financial Accounting and Reporting-I, Tax Practices, Cost and Management Accounting, Business Law, Financial Accounting and Reporting-II, Managerial and Financial Analysis, Company Law, and Audit and Assurance. Each has its own study resources page on the ICAP website.

ICAP publishes syllabi and examinable editions for Spring 2026 on the CAF page, along with general examination guidance. Always study from the edition named for your sitting, because content and examinable material change between sessions.

The published CAF page does not state question counts, paper duration, pass marks or weightings per subject. Because these details are not disclosed there, treat any figure you see elsewhere as unverified and confirm the current position with ICAP before planning.

A sensible route is to pair linked subjects: Financial Accounting and Reporting-I with Cost and Management Accounting, then Financial Accounting and Reporting-II with Managerial and Financial Analysis, and Business Law with Company Law. Tax Practices and Audit and Assurance work well once reporting fundamentals are solid.

ICAP lists, per subject, online books, model papers, past papers, suggested answers, marking plans and examiner comments, plus the Code of Ethics for Chartered Accountants (Revised 2019). Examiner comments and marking plans are the most under-used resources for targeting presentation marks.

Very. Past papers show the style and depth expected, while marking plans reveal how marks are allocated and examiner comments show where candidates commonly lose them. Practise under time pressure and mark your own attempts against the plan.

The CAF page does not set out retake rules or sitting frequency, so these cannot be stated reliably here. Check ICAP's examination and fee pages, or contact the Institute's student support, for the current policy before you register.

Common causes are weak presentation and workings, misreading the verb in the requirement, running out of time because of poor question selection, and studying from an outdated examinable edition. Reading examiner comments for your subject exposes these patterns early.

The scheme continues to CFAP and the Multi-Subject Assessment, and ICAP also lists a Writing Skills Test and a Presentation and Communication Skills Course. Plan the whole path early, since training and induction requirements run alongside the examinations.