Checked 29 September 2026. From MSO (Admn) Vol. I paras 9.8 and 9.9, CAG exam page 777, the Sr. Auditor and Sr. Accountant syllabi (2022, 2024), the AAO IE syllabus and Exam Wing Circular 1 of 2026 (IE-3 and IE-4 merged). The AAO exam is described only to tell the two apart; Circular 1 of 2026 does not restate its qualifying marks after the merger.
Search for "CAG Incentive Examination" and you will land on two different exams. The CAG's own exam page titled "Incentive Examination" describes only the exam for Assistant Accounts Officers and Sr. Accounts Officers of A&E offices, held with the SAS examination. The exam a Senior Auditor sits is a different one, under a different paragraph of the Manual of Standing Orders, with a single paper and its own date sheet. In the same sitting a separate paper is set for Senior Accountants. That makes two exams but three routes for candidates; each earns an advance increment, and none of them is a promotion. This guide puts the three routes side by side so that no one prepares from the wrong syllabus. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India or the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. Every rule here is quoted or summarised from the MSO (Administration) and Exam Wing and field-office circulars; your own office and Exam Wing decide individual cases.
Where other pages get this wrong
The Sr. Auditor Incentive Exam is not the one on CAG's "Incentive Examination" page and is not held with SAS.
Commonly published instead: The CAG exam page 777, and the "Result of IE and SAS" circulars, read as if they describe the only Incentive Examination.
Page 777 says it is for "Assistant Accounts Officers/ Sr. Accounts Officers of A&E offices" and is conducted along with the SAS examination. The Sr. Auditor exam is MSO para 9.8, a single paper with its own Exam Wing date sheet (29.04.2025; 13.05.2026). MSO para 9.1 lists the two as separate departmental examinations.
MSO (Admn) Vol. I paras 9.1, 9.8, 9.9; CAG exam page 777 (official). The counts are our summary.
Side by side
| Feature | Sr. Auditors (this exam) | Sr. Accountants | AAOs / Sr. AOs of A&E offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSO paragraph | 9.8 | 9.8 | 9.9 |
| Offices | All audit branches | A&E offices | A&E offices |
| Who may sit | Sr. Auditors with 1 year in the grade; Assistant Supervisors who did not pass as Sr. Auditors | Sr. Accountants; Assistant Supervisors who did not pass as Sr. Accountants (Maharashtra A&E circulars) | All Sr. AOs; AAOs with 1 year in the grade (page 777) |
| Papers | 1: Finance, Accounts and Audit | 1: Finance and Government Accounts | IE-1 Management Accounting; IE-2 Finance and Appropriation Accounts; IE-3 Information Technology (Theory and Practical), merged from IE-3 and IE-4 by Circular 1 of 2026 |
| Marks and time | 100 marks, 2 hours, 100 MCQ | 100 marks, 2 hours | Per paper, in its own syllabus |
| When | Once a year. Circular 01 of 2024 names April; the sittings were 29.04.2025 and 13.05.2026 | Same session, same day | With the SAS examination |
| Pass mark | 50% | 50% | MSO 9.9.5: 50% in IE-1 and IE-2; 40% separately in theory and practical of the old "Data Processing and Computer Systems" papers. Circular 1 of 2026 merged the IT papers and does not state the qualifying mark for the revised IE-3 |
| Reward | One advance increment, Level 6 (or 7) | One advance increment in the Sr. Accountant / Assistant Supervisor pay level | One advance increment in the scale of SO/AAO (MSO 9.9.7) |
| Where results appear | Office orders of your own office | Office orders | Exam Wing "Result of IE and SAS" circulars |
The first two columns are really one exam event with two papers: Exam Wing calls it the "Centralised Departmental Incentive Exam for Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants", runs both in the same two-hour slot and supplies the papers to field offices (in 2025 both papers went to every office; the 2026 date sheet says branch-specific papers go to the offices concerned). The rules on pass marks, negative marking, rounding and the reward are shared. What differs is the syllabus, because the work differs: audit on one side, accounts and entitlement on the other.
The third column is a different exam altogether, one grade higher, with several papers and a different calendar. Nothing in its syllabus, pass rules or results applies to the Sr. Auditor exam. We describe it here only so you can recognise it when a search or a colleague points you to it.
Which exam is yours
Which incentive exam is mine?
Pick your present post. The answer is our summary of MSO paras 9.8 and 9.9, page 777 and the field circulars; your exam cell decides.
The same answers in a table, for readers without JavaScript:
| Your post | Your incentive exam | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Auditor (audit office) | Incentive Exam for Sr. Auditors (this one) | 1 year in the grade on the 1st of the exam month |
| Assistant Supervisor (audit office) | Incentive Exam for Sr. Auditors | Has not passed it as a Sr. Auditor |
| Senior Accountant (A&E office) | Incentive Exam for Sr. Accountants | Service condition as in the call circular |
| Assistant Supervisor (A&E office) | Incentive Exam for Sr. Accountants | Has not passed it as a Sr. Accountant |
| AAO or Sr. AO (A&E office) | Incentive Examination (IE) with SAS | AAOs: 1 year in the grade; all Sr. AOs |
| AAO or Sr. AO (audit office) | None of these three | MSO 9.9.7 points to the Revenue Audit Examination; not covered here |
Sr. Auditor paper against Sr. Accountant paper
| Section | Sr. Auditor: Finance, Accounts and Audit | Sr. Accountant: Finance and Government Accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Constitution | 20 marks: Arts 110-119, 264-290A, 292-293 | 20 marks: Arts 110-117 and 203-207 |
| Second section | Book Keeping, 30: receipts and payments, income and expenditure, Uniform Format for Central Autonomous Bodies | Regulations on Audit and Accounts 2020, 20: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 14, 15 |
| Third section | CAG's Auditing Guidelines, 50: financial attest audit of autonomous bodies, compliance, performance audit 2014 | IT Theory, 20 |
| Fourth section | - | Civil Accounts Manual 2007, 20 |
| Fifth section | - | Financial Accounting incl. IGAS 1-4 and the Account Code for AGs, 20 |
| Syllabus issued | With branch circulars of 07.01.2022 (Defence Audit: 11.03.2022) | Circular 02 of 2024, 12.07.2024 |
| Sr. Auditor paper | Sr. Accountant paper | |
|---|---|---|
| Union financial procedure (Arts 110-117) | in the 20 | in the 20 |
| State financial procedure (Arts 203-207) | not named | in the 20 |
| Part XII finance and borrowing | in the 20 | not named |
| Book-keeping for autonomous bodies | 30 | not named |
| CAG auditing guidelines | 50 | not named |
| Regulations on Audit and Accounts 2020 | not named | 20 |
| IT theory | not named | 20 |
| Civil Accounts Manual, IGAS, Account Code | not named | 40 |
Darker cells carry more marks.
From the two official syllabi. The shading and grouping are ours.
The overlap is Articles 110 to 117 of the Constitution and nothing else. Everything else in the two papers is disjoint: the Sr. Auditor paper is book-keeping and CAG auditing practice, the Sr. Accountant paper is government accounting rules and IT. A colleague in an A&E office who passed their incentive exam cannot hand you notes that will help much beyond the Union financial procedure.
The AAO / Sr. AO Incentive Examination, briefly
For completeness, and clearly separate from the exam above: MSO para 9.9 set up an Incentive Examination for Section Officers and Assistant Accounts Officers of A&E offices, originally in three papers (Management Accounting; Finance and Appropriation Accounts; Data Processing and Computer Systems). The current syllabus on the CAG Books page names IE-1 Management Accounting and IE-2 Finance and Appropriation Accounts, and Exam Wing Circular 1 of 2026 merged the IT theory and practical papers (IE-3 and IE-4) into a single revised IE-3, Information Technology (Theory and Practical), in line with the SAS PC-3 paper. It is held with the SAS examination and its results appear in Exam Wing's "Result of IE and SAS" circulars. None of these rules applies to the Sr. Auditor exam.
If you are moving up the ladder
- As a Senior Auditor, the incentive exam is one advance increment, once. It is independent of the SAS examination: see our CAG SAS eligibility guide for that route.
- If you later become an AAO in an A&E office, a different incentive exam opens to you after one year in that grade.
- The Sr. Accountant paper has its own exam page: CAG Incentive Examination for Senior Accountants.
Our summary of MSO paras 9.8 and 9.9 and page 777 (official).
Is the CAG Incentive Examination for Sr. Auditors held with SAS?
No. It has its own Exam Wing date sheet, 29 April 2025 and 13 May 2026. The Incentive Examination held with SAS is for AAOs and Sr. AOs of A&E offices.
What is the difference between the Sr. Auditor and Sr. Accountant incentive exams?
They are held in the same slot with the same rules, but the papers differ. Sr. Auditors write Finance, Accounts and Audit (Constitution, book-keeping, CAG auditing guidelines); Sr. Accountants write Finance and Government Accounts (Constitution, Regulations on Audit and Accounts 2020, IT theory, Civil Accounts Manual, financial accounting).
What are IE-1, IE-2 and IE-3?
Papers of the Incentive Examination for AAOs and Sr. AOs of A&E offices: Management Accounting, Finance and Appropriation Accounts, and Information Technology (Theory and Practical). They are not part of the Sr. Auditor exam.
Does any incentive exam lead to promotion?
No. Each earns an advance increment in the candidate's present pay level or scale.
I am an AAO in an audit office. Which incentive exam is mine?
Neither of these. Page 777 limits the AAO incentive exam to A&E offices, and MSO para 9.9.7 refers audit-office SOs and AAOs to the Revenue Audit Examination.
Where are Sr. Auditor incentive exam results published?
By each office as an office order. Exam Wing's IE and SAS result circulars are for the AAO exam.
Sources
- official — CAG Manual of Standing Orders (Administration) Vol. I, Third Edition, Chapter 9: para 9.8 (Incentive Examination for Senior Auditors/Senior Accountants) and para 9.9 (Incentive Examination for SOs/AAOs of A&E offices)
- official — CAG exam page "Incentive Examination" (No. 777), read 29 September 2026. It describes the AAO / Sr. AO Incentive Examination of A&E offices, not the Sr. Auditor exam
- official — CAG Syllabus and Books page (lists the Sr. Auditor, Sr. Accountant and AAO incentive syllabi)
- official — Revised Syllabus of Incentive Examination for Sr. Auditors for all Audit Branches (standalone page on the Books page, file dated 18.10.2023)
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 08 of 2022, No. 123/08-Exam/Syllabus Revision/2021 (11.03.2022), for Defence Audit offices, carrying the same revised syllabus of the IE for Sr. Auditors
- official — Revised Syllabus of Incentive Examination for Senior Accountants (Exam Wing Circular No. 02 of 2024, 12.07.2024)
- official — O/o Pr. Accountant General (A&E) Maharashtra: circular of 21.04.2025 on the IE for Sr. Accountants/Assistant Supervisors (increment w.e.f. 01-04-2025)
- official — Syllabus for Incentive Examination (IE) for Assistant Accounts Officers/Accounts Officers/Sr. Accounts Officers (IE-1, IE-2, IE-3, IE-4 as then set)
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 1 of 2026: IE-3 and IE-4 of the AAO/Sr. AO Incentive Examination merged into a revised IE-3 (the other incentive exam)
- official — Exam Wing "Result of IE and SAS Exam-1 of 2026" (17.08.2026): results of the AAO/Sr. AO Incentive Examination with SAS (the other incentive exam)
- official — Exam Wing No. 146/06-Exam/OCDEP/2025 (09.04.2025): "Centralised Departmental Incentive Exam for Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants 2025", 29.04.2025, 11 AM to 1 PM, offline at field offices
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 05 of 2026, No. 343/06-Exam/OCDEP/2025 (24.04.2026): date sheet of centralised departmental examinations 11.05.2026 to 14.05.2026 (IE for Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants 13.05.2026)
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 01 of 2024, No. 15/15-Exam/Exam Conducting Centrally/2023 (17.01.2024): four categories of departmental examinations conducted centrally w.e.f. 01.07.2024, incl. the IE for Sr. Auditors/Sr. Accountants "once in a year i.e. April"
- official — O/o Pr. Accountant General (Audit) Punjab: letter of 12.03.2025 inviting applications (as on 01.04.2025; last date 18.03.2025)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
