SSC CGL AAO

SYLLABUS
AAO in CAG has become much coveted post in just one year because it offers the
highest pay among all the posts and is the only Gazetted post offered through SSC
CGL exam.
I am sharing my detailed strategy here. I hope you all will benefit from this. I can add value to
your AAO Paper-4 preparation because:
· I got 129 marks out of 200 in Paper-4 Finance and Economics.
· Selected as an AAO in CAG through CGL 2016 with AIR 205 (AAOs).
· By education, I am an Engineer. So, Engineers can very well clear this paper with right strategy
and and right preparation.
Let’s start:
1. I started my preparation with downloading the syllabus of paper-4. Made a word document by
rewriting the syllabus in point form(Given in my e-book). With this, I had the syllabus sorted out .
In total , there are some 21-22 topics in Accounts and 25-26 topics in Economics (Micro + Macro +
CAG + FC ).
2. The next step was selection of study resources. Books and other material. Now, I already knew
that NCERTs is a genuine source of questions. Plus SSC used to fetch many questions from NCERT
in General Awareness. So, I chose NCERT Accountancy books for Class 11th and 12th. Those were
my main source. Then I took help of sites like Investopedia, Wikipedia, ICAI, NIOS and others to
understand some topics. For Economics , I chose NCERT Microeconomics book which has all the
topics of the syllabus. For macroeconomics topics, I chose Ramesh Singh book on Economics
(Banking, budget, taxes, GST etc). For CAG and Finance Commission, I chose Laxmikanth by
Polity but both topics can be covered through their official website or any other website like
wikipedia.
3. There is no need to buy NCERTs. You can easily download them from Internet. Many sites are
providing downloadable links. Just google and you will find the links.
4. I then matched the syllabus with NCERT and found 90-95 % of the syllabus present. I recorded
the chapter number from book.
5. Above are the chapters mentioned. ( Exambay background).
6. I started from the basics. First topic is Fundamental principles and basic concept of
Accounting. After first reading , I made the notes.
7. I repeated the same process for all the other chapters. One reading was enough to get hold of the
fundamentals. Second reading was while making notes.
8. At the end of the chapters and in the middle, some objective type questions are given. Don’t miss
them. Try to answer after reading the topic and note them in you notes. You will find some
questions in your real exam right from these questions.
9. Focus on building the concepts like GAAP rules, Single and Double entry bookkeeping ,
Rules of credit and debit. If you are clear with above, you can do logical questions easily. Above
topics are considered as fundamentals of accounting and help in job also.
10. There will be no questions to prepare accounts and all that stuff. You may get a small situation
and the output will be asked. You will be asked accounting as a generalist. Eg: Ram bought
furniture for his firm on credit. Which side of ledger should he do the entry. (Just for reference)
11. Now, let’s come to Accounting Equation as it is very base of Accounting. Assets = Liabilities +
Capital . Thumb rule of Accounting . This should be on your tips. Plus you should have knowledge
of what to consider as assets, liabilities and capital. This portion is very interesting.
12. After covering all the chapters and with notes prepared , start revision of your notes. See,
NCERT is the main source of questions to SSC. So if you are well aware of what is mentioned in
NCERT, half of your work is done.
13. Keep revising notes. Self Balancing Ledgers is not there , so you can prepare it from some
website. Just learn and remember what is SBL and why is it used.
14. Numericals will be of basic nature. With the help of formulas, they can be easily done. Basic
mathematics formulas like those in percentages will help in depreciation questions.
15. So, revision is very important. Even more for Non-Commerce guys. It is the real key to score
marks. Revise as much as you can.
16. I made concise and organized notes for revision which helped me a lot.
17. Microeconomics was covered from NCERT. Almost all the topics are given and there is no need
to follow any other source. NCERT is awesome. Revision is the key. Make your notes and try to
study the graphs. Example: Law of Supply and Demand, Monopoly, Oligopoly, Perfect competition,
Theory of production and cost etc.
18. For macroeconomics portion, some good Indian Economics will suffice. Cover Banking, RBI,
Budget, Fiscal deficit, Infrastructure, BoP, Population, Role of IT in Governance etc. Internet can be
a very good source for this.
19. Just make notes so that you can revise them anytime, anywhere. I am emphasizing this again
and again as this is one of the most crucial step.
20. You can get objective type questions for Accounts and other topics from Internet. Utilize them.
Previous year papers are also available.
21. There are some books for AAO in market but I cannot comment about their utility as I did not
take help from these books. As I got to know from some other guys, these books have errors.
22. For me revision and fundamental knowledge worked. Also presence of mind is very important
during exam.
23. A time of 2 hours is more than sufficient to complete whole paper. So, time is not a constraint at
all.
24. Study everyday for 1-2 hours. I know it has to be managed with Maths and English. But If you
want to get AAO in CAG, better marks in Paper-4 can compensate for average marks in either
Maths or English.
And most important, ICAI CPT ACCOUNTING, FINANCE & ECONOMICS MODULES STUDY
MATERIAL FROM ICAI (INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA)
WEBSITE
The selection procedure is in different stages-
Tier I
It is a compulsory paper. It consists of:
[a] Quantitative Aptitude
[b] English
[c] Reasoning
[d] General Awareness
After Tier I, SSC provides with three merit lists:
1. For candidates who are eligible for paper 1 and paper 2 of Tier II.
2. For candidates who are eligible for Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 [For the post of Junior
Statistical Officer (JSO)].
3. For candidates who are eligible for Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 4 [For the post of Assistant
Audit Officer (AAO)].
So, Tier II consists of:
[a] Paper 1 - Quantitative Aptitude
[b] Paper 2 - English
[c] Paper 3 - For the post of Junior Statistical Officer (JSO)
[d] Paper 4 - For the post of Assistant Audit Officer (AAO)
After Tier II, SSC provides with a merit list, listing all the candidates eligible for Tier III.
Tier III comprises of a descriptive paper of English Language.
Tier IV - It consists of 2 tests:
[a] Computer Proficiency Test (CPT) - It is required for the following posts:
1. Assistant Section Officer (ASO) in Central Secretariat Service (CSS)
2. Assistant Section Officer (ASO) in Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
3. Assistant in Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)
4. Assistant in Geological survey of India (GSI)
[b] Data Entry Skill Test (DEST) - It is required for the post of Tax Assistant in Excise and Income
Tax Department.
For AAO, You need 2 things in brief-
1. Awareness about and knowledge of Accounts and Economics. I am soon going to put online
entire content and videos for accounts and economics for AAO. Stay updated on my website
for the updation.
2. Getting through the merit list after phase 1 (for AAO, the merit list is higher so you need to
work harder) but the post is also worth it.