ICAN CA

Overview

The Chartered Accountancy (CA) course is run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). It has three levels: Foundation (CAP I), Application (CAP II) and Advisory (CAP III). The Advisory level includes three years of practical training (articleship). After you pass all three levels and finish the training, you can become a Chartered Accountant and a member of ICAN.

ICAN announced a new syllabus on 13 May 2025. It was developed with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and follows the International Education Standards of IFAC. It brings ethics, sustainability, technology and public financial management into the papers. Students who register on or after the effective dates below follow the new syllabus. Older registrations are being moved across in stages.

Who can apply

Foundation (first level):

• You can register provisionally once you have appeared in Grade 12 or an equivalent exam (10+2, PCL, A-Level, CBSE and similar). You then submit your final result within the stated time.

• For full registration you need at least a 2.00 GPA or equivalent in Grade 12. Alternatively, a bachelor's degree with at least 50% marks also qualifies.

• Students from any stream can apply. There is no entrance exam and no age limit.

Application (second level): You must have completed the Foundation level. Under the revised criteria, a bachelor's degree or above with at least 50% marks or a 2.5 CGPA, in any subject, also qualifies you for this level.

Advisory (third level): You must have completed the Application level and the required IT training, and be registered as an articled trainee under a practising Chartered Accountant.

Levels or stages

Foundation (CAP I)

• Duration: six months from registration.

• One group of four subjects, 400 marks in total: Accounting; Assurance and Information Systems (two parts); Business and Finance; Law and Taxation (two parts).

• Questions are 60% objective and 40% subjective.

• You must pass within three years of registering, or the registration is cancelled. ICAN's FAQ says you may re-register once for an additional period.

Application (CAP II)

• Duration: nine months from registration.

• Six subjects in two groups, 600 marks in total.

• Group I: Financial Accounting and Reporting; Audit and Assurance; Applied Law.

• Group II: Management Accounting and Financial Management; Business Strategy; Applied Taxation.

• You must pass within five years of registering, or the registration is cancelled. You can then re-register from the start.

Advisory (CAP III)

• Duration: three years, including articleship.

• Six subjects in two groups, 600 marks in total.

• Group I: Advanced Financial Reporting; Advanced Business and Financial Management; Advanced Assurance.

• Group II: Advanced Law; Advanced Management Accounting; Advanced Taxation.

• Before registering, you complete the Application level, the required IT training and Basic Management and Communication Skills training.

• To qualify, you also complete Advanced Management and Communication Skills training.

Articleship

Articleship lasts three years under a Chartered Accountant who holds a Certificate of Practice. You must join it after passing the Application level and before registering for Advisory. Up to one year can be spent as an industrial trainee. ICAN's articleship page lists minimum monthly stipends of NPR 5,000 in year one, NPR 7,000 in year two and NPR 10,000 in year three.

Exam pattern

Before each level's exam, you must pass an online eligibility test (pre-test) run by ICAN.

Marking and results

• Foundation: You pass if you score at least 40% in each paper and at least 50% in aggregate across all papers, in one sitting. There is no exemption rule at this level.

• Application and Advisory: You pass a group with at least 40% in each paper and at least 50% in aggregate for that group. You can pass the two groups in different sittings. You can also pass both together with at least 40% in each paper and 50% in aggregate across both groups.

• Exemptions (Application and Advisory only): If you attempt every paper in a group, score at least 30% in one paper and still fail the group, you are exempt from any paper where you scored 60% or more. The exemption lasts for the next three exams, and students using it are not considered for rank.

• Distinction: Scoring 75% or more in aggregate across both groups in one sitting counts as distinction.

• Re-totalling: You can ask for marks to be re-totalled within 10 days of the result. Re-evaluation of answers is not allowed.

Important dates

• ICAN holds exams twice a year, in the first week of June and the first week of December.

• The first Foundation exam under the new syllabus was in December 2025. The first Application exam under the new syllabus is in December 2026. The first Advisory exam under the new syllabus is in June 2028.

• ICAN's student FAQ gives a deadline of 30 June 2026 for admission to the January 2027 Foundation exams, and lists Foundation sittings in January and June. This differs from the June and December pattern on the criteria page, so confirm the current schedule on ICAN's notices.

• The eligibility test must be finished 2.5 months before the exam form opens.

Fees

As listed on the official ICAN site in 2026:

• Foundation course: the About CA Education page gives NPR 34,500, payable in two parts (NPR 20,000 at registration and NPR 14,500 within three months). ICAN's student FAQ gives the Foundation registration fee as NPR 37,100, so confirm the current amount with ICAN.

• Application course: NPR 40,500, payable as NPR 22,500 at registration and NPR 18,000 within six months.

• Advisory course: NPR 50,000, payable as NPR 25,000 at registration and NPR 25,000 within a year.

• Exam fees (each paper): NPR 1,150 for Foundation, NPR 1,200 for Application and NPR 1,250 for Advisory.

• Other charges: exam form NPR 200, late fee NPR 500, duplicate admit card NPR 200, re-totalling NPR 500 per paper.

How to apply

1. Register online through the ICAN student registration portal. You usually need a photograph, signature, citizenship or birth certificate or passport, SEE documents, and your Grade 12 documents or admit card for provisional registration.

2. Finish the minimum study period for your level (six months for Foundation, nine months for Application) and pass the online eligibility test.

3. Submit the exam form within the dates in ICAN's exam notice.

After the exam

• Passing Foundation moves you to Application, and passing Application moves you to articleship and the Advisory level.

• For Advisory exam eligibility, you need at least two years from registration, 40 hours of IT training, a pass in the eligibility test, and either three completed years of articleship or not more than 12 months left on the first day of the exam month.

• ICAN says that students who clear every level on time can finish the whole course in about 4.5 to 5 years.

Preparation tips

• ICAN provides printed study material and online learning resources. Coaching is optional.

• Foundation is mostly objective, so practise short, accurate answers. Application and Advisory lean heavily on subjective answers.

• Plan around the eligibility test, because you cannot sit the exam without passing it.

• Register early for articleship, since you cannot start Advisory without it.

FAQs