Please suggest a good Study plan and tips for PCC - Professional Competence Course Exam.
I will suggest the following -
Join a reputed/old mid-size firm where you will get exposure to both Audit & Tax during articleship.
Don’t buy too many reference book for 1 subject. 1 ref book for 1 subject should be the rule. Refer maximum 2 reference books for 1 subject.
Thoroughly prepare past exam questions of 40 attempts (20 years) for practical subjects & 20 attempts for theory subjects like Audit, Law etc. Past exam questions are often repeated.
Revision Test Papers & Practice Manual is MUST
Some good reference books for self study : Accounts/FR - Paduka’s, MP Vijaykumar, Tulsian. Accounting Standards - DS Rawat, MP Vijay, Costing/AMA - Paduka’s, QT/OR - Tulsian, Financial Management - Bala & Pattabhi Ram, Sridhar, Tax - Manoharan, Indirect Tax - Mohd Rafi, Bangar, Audit - Surabhi Bansal, Law - Munish Bhandari, ISCA -ICAI study material & practice manual.
For practical subjects, first read entire chapter from any reference books & ICAI study material to “get a feel” of it. Then solve ALL problems without looking at the solution. Highlight difficult problems & adjustments. This will immensely help you in revision because you can focus only on difficult problems & adjustments. 1st revision should be done immediately, 2nd revision after 1 month, 3rd revision after 2 months, 4th & 5th revision during study leave. You must solve 10–20 difficult problems from every chapter by setting a time limit during revision phase. Purpose of revision is to increase speed & accuracy which comes ONLY by practice. Just reading the solution will NOT help you. You can also watch some free videos on youtube for Accounts, FM, Costing, QT/OR etc..
For theory subjects, first read entire chapter from any reference book & highlight important sections or points. Prepare short notes. If you read 30 pages today , then again read same 30 pages for next 2-3 days, focus on important points/sections & try to recall. This approach will help you in remembering important points/sections (slow but steady). After finishing theory subject ensure that you keep revising it after every 1 month. Otherwise you will forget !
Buy a latest scanner 5 months before exams to analyse which topics you should focus more during exam leave.
Finish subjects like FR/Accounts & AS, FM, Costing QT/OR, Law, Audit before study leave & ensure that you revise these subjects frequentlyduring exam leave, “finish” means - you should be confident of scoring 55+ marks in these subjects before study leave starts.
Solve atleast 4 past exam papers for practical subjects & 2 for theory subjects during exam leave. This will test your speed, accuracy & preparation !
During the exam, first solve easy problems or less time consuming problems....Difficult or time consuming problems should be left for the end. In practical subjects, 1–2 questions are often time consuming. You should be able to quickly identify them & leave it for the end !
During articleship, you must study atleast 5-6 hours "consistently" (every day). Best way is to sleep at 8.30pm & get up at 4am, this will give you sufficient time in the morning to study. In the evening you will be tired after coming back from office & hence your grasping will be slow. Waking up early gives you “extra” energy (my personal experience). During leave you should study 11–12 hours with proper sleep. Cut down on entertainment but not on sleep ! Good Luck