• Accounting as a Financial Information System

• Accounting Standards (Ind AS / IFRS): Depreciation, Inventories, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Forex, Investments

• Cash Flow Statement & Fund Flow Statement

• Financial Statement Analysis & Ratio Analysis (Liquidity, Solvency, Profitability, Efficiency)

• Accounting for Share Capital, Bonus Issues, Rights Issues, ESOPs, Buy-back of Securities

• Preparation & Presentation of Company Final Accounts as per Companies Act

Exam Focus: Ratio Analysis and Cash Flow statements carry high weightage and are directly relevant to pension fund financial reporting and audits.

• Nature and Scope of Management (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Controlling)

• Role of a Manager in an Organisation

• Leadership: Styles, Theories, Successful vs Effective Leader

• Human Resource Development (HRD): Concepts, Goals, Performance Appraisal & Potential Appraisal

• Motivation, Morale & Incentives (Maslow, Herzberg, and related theories)

• Communication: Process, Channels, Barriers, Role of Information Technology

• Financial System – Role and Functions of Regulatory bodies (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA)

• Financial Markets: Primary & Secondary Markets (Equity, Bond, Money Market, Forex)

• Basics of Derivatives: Forwards, Futures, Options, Swaps

• Recent Developments in the Financial Sector (FinTech, Digital assets, Green bonds, Blockchain applications)

• Financial Inclusion and use of technology (UPI, digital pensions)

• Alternate sources of finance, Private & Social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

• Direct & Indirect taxes, GST, Finance Commission, Fiscal Policy, FRBM Act

• Inflation: Definition, trends, WPI, CPI, consequences and control measures

Strong overlap with Pension Sector investment environment and regulatory current affairs.

• Overview of Cost and Management Accounting – Objectives & Scope

• Methods of Costing: Job, Batch, Contract, Process, Service Sector Costing

• Cost Control & Analysis: Standard Costing, Marginal Costing, Budgetary Control

• Lean Systems & Innovation: JIT, Kaizen, 5S, TPM, Six Sigma, Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)

Focus on specific chapters relevant to governance of financial and pension entities:

• Chapter III – Prospectus and Allotment of Securities

• Chapter IV – Share Capital and Debentures

• Chapter VIII – Declaration and Payment of Dividend

• Chapter X – Audit and Auditors

• Chapter XI – Appointment and Qualifications of Directors

• Chapter XII – Meetings of Board and its Powers

• Chapter XXVII – National Company Law Tribunal and Appellate Tribunal

Especially important for compliance roles related to PFRDA-regulated intermediaries.

• Demand & Supply, Market Structures

• National Income – Concepts and Measurement

• Classical & Keynesian approaches to output and employment

• Consumption Function, Investment Function, Multiplier and Accelerator

• Money Supply, IS-LM Framework, Inflation and Phillips Curve, Business Cycles

• Balance of Payments, Foreign Exchange Markets

• Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy and Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs)

Always link inflation, interest rates and fiscal stance to pension fund asset allocation and returns.