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Exam patterns › Financial Reporting
Every FR paper under the new syllabus opened with a 14-mark consolidated balance sheet. No two were the same question, but all six were built from the same short list of adjustments.
How to prepare: learn the three workings once, then practise one question for each adjustment below. That covers every combination ICAI has used so far.
Ranked by how many of the six papers used it. The papers are listed on each.
Watch for: Goodwill then includes NCI's share, so a goodwill impairment is shared with NCI. May 2024 and May 2025 used the proportionate share instead.
Watch for: Fair values on the acquisition date (PPE, inventory, bonds), or a write-down of an overvalued asset (Sep 2025). The change in depreciation since then moves post-acquisition profit, which NCI shares.
Watch for: Eliminate it in full within the group. With an associate, only your share, taken off the investment (May 2024). Jan 2026 was equipment, so the extra depreciation is reversed too.
Watch for: Adjust the cheque in transit first, then cancel receivables, payables, bills and debentures between parent and subsidiary. Bills discounted with a bank are owed to the bank, so they stay. A balance with an associate is not cancelled (May 2024).
Watch for: Remeasure the stake already held to fair value on the date control is obtained. The gain or loss goes to profit or loss, and that fair value counts in the goodwill working.
Watch for: A patent, brand or formula is recognised at fair value in the consolidation even though it isn't in the subsidiary's books, and amortised after acquisition (Jan 2026).
Watch for: It reduces consolidated retained earnings, and NCI as well when NCI is measured at fair value.
Watch for: A dividend out of pre-acquisition profits that the parent credited to its profits comes out of consolidated retained earnings (Nov 2024, Sep 2025). In May 2024 the dividends weren't recorded at all, and ICAI's answer gave three alternatives.
Watch for: Everything at acquisition-date fair value: shares at market price, deferred amounts discounted, contingent consideration at fair value. A payment to a seller who must stay on is remuneration, not consideration (May 2025).
Free with an account: what to watch for in each adjustment, and what each paper's Q1 asked.
Sign in free to unlockWhat each Q1 asked for. The full questions are in ICAI's suggested answers.
Year-end CBS: a subsidiary bought mid-year, and an associate
Year-end CBS
Opening CBS on the acquisition date
Year-end CBS
Year-end CBS
CBS on the acquisition date, with journal entries
Both mock test papers set Q1 as an Ind AS 103 acquisition rather than a full consolidated balance sheet. Series I: shares in exchange, extra shares contingent on profits, acquisition costs and intangibles the subsidiary never recognised. Series II: cash, shares and contingent consideration at fair value, NCI at fair value, and journal entries.
Practise business combinations and consolidation MCQs against the clock. FR MCQ 1 is free.
Start the free FR testSources: ICAI suggested answers, CA Final Paper 1 Financial Reporting (May 2024, Nov 2024, May 2025, Sep 2025, Jan 2026, May 2026), Question 1; ICAI Mock Test Papers Series I and II for November 2026, Question 1.
CA-MCQs is an independent platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by ICAI. ICAI's questions are paraphrased; the full questions are in ICAI's suggested answers on its BoS Knowledge Portal.