The Accounting Fundamentals exam introduces the principles of double entry accounting and teaches students how to maintain accounting records and prepare simple financial statements.
Exam overview
Duration: 2 hours*
Total questions: 26
Format:
- 24 questions (60% of the overall marks): Multiple-choice, multi-part multiple choice or multiple-response
- Two questions (40% of the overall marks): Scenario-based
*ACA Certificate Level and ICAEW CFAB exams scheduled for a date after the 1 March 2026 will now include an additional five minutes within the overall 'Appointment Length' in the exam booking confirmation e-mails for an optional survey. Please note that this does not form part of the exam time, the survey and separate five minute timer will only start once exams have been ended. The duration shown here is the exam time.
Resources
Syllabus
Pilot exams
This pilot exam has been developed to provide an early example of what the exam will look like, how the syllabus content may be assessed and how questions will be formatted in the real exams.
- Pilot exam: Accounting Fundamentals
- Pilot exam in the practice exam software: Accounting Fundamentals
Sample exams
To help you prepare for the Accounting Fundamentals exam, two sample exams have been made available. Each exam includes a balanced selection of questions from the published question bank and is designed to reflect the structure and format of the actual exam. Each sample exam contains 2 long-form questions and 24 short-form questions.
Student Insights
| Exam guide: Accounting Fundamentals |
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| 5 study techniques to try | Revising by simply reading the same information over and over again? Try these proven strategies to boost your learning (and save you time). |
Buy your learning materials
All learning materials are digital and are available on your ICAEW Bookshelf.
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