Checked 29 September 2026. From the consolidated revised syllabus (October 2022, with five papers revised on 11.03.2025) and Exam Wing Circulars 02 of 2025 and 06 of 2026. The Exam Wing revises individual papers from time to time; check the syllabus date on the Dashboard before you plan.
The Subordinate Audit / Accounts Service (SAS) Examination is the departmental exam that opens the post of Assistant Audit Officer or Assistant Accounts Officer (Group B, Gazetted) in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department. Since its syllabus was rewritten, the exam is described as 20 papers across six branches, which makes it sound larger than it is. Circular 06 of 2026 puts the real load plainly: "a candidate is required to pass 08 papers in 02 Groups of four papers each". A candidate who carries valid exemptions from the old syllabus need not appear in the matching revised papers (the syllabus prints a matrix headed "Candidate need not appear in"), so the number you actually sit can be fewer than eight; the old-to-new matrix guide in this series covers that. This guide shows which eight papers belong to each branch, what format each one takes, and how the last sitting laid them out across a week. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of the CAG or the IA&AD. Every rule here is quoted or summarised from Exam Wing circulars and the CAG website; your Head of Department and the Exam Wing decide every individual case.
Exam Wing Circulars 02 of 2025 and 06 of 2026; consolidated revised syllabus.
Where other pages get this wrong
In the revised scheme PC-8 is the Commercial Audit branch's rules-and-accounts paper, and the numbering stops at PC-20.
Commonly published instead: Notes written from the old syllabus, where papers ran from PC-1 to PC-27 and PC-8 was "Financial Rules and Principles of Government Accounts" for the Civil Accounts and Civil & Local Audit branches. The Exam-1 of 2025 date sheet (30.04.2025) still used that old numbering.
The same paper code now means a different paper. Exam-2 of 2025, held from 28 January to 1 February 2026, was the first sitting on the revised syllabus. Revised PC-8 is "Financial Rules, Basic Principles of Government and Public Works Accounts, Service Rules and Accounting Standards", headed "(Commercial Audit)". Public works accounts are one part of it, not its subject. If a guide, a coaching note or a colleague's file quotes a PC number, check which syllabus it came from before you study from it.
The six branches and their eight papers
The syllabus prints each paper with the branch or branches it belongs to, but it has no single grid. The table below is our reading of those headers. It agrees with the Exam Wing's own statements that three of the four Group I papers are common and that PC-12 to PC-16 must be attempted by all candidates of the streams they belong to.
| Branch (stream) | Group I (our reading) | Group II (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Civil Accounts | PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-4 | PC-9, PC-11, PC-13, PC-15 |
| Civil & Local Audit | PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-4 | PC-9, PC-12, PC-14, PC-16 |
| Defence Audit | PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-5 | PC-9, PC-12, PC-14, PC-17 |
| Finance & Communication Audit | PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-6 | PC-9, PC-12, PC-14, PC-18 |
| Railway Audit | PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-7 | PC-9, PC-12, PC-14, PC-19 |
| Commercial Audit | PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-8 | PC-10, PC-12, PC-14, PC-20 |
Two patterns stand out. The first is that the Group I papers differ in only one slot: PC-1, PC-2 and PC-3 are shared, and the fourth paper is the branch's own rules-and-accounts paper (PC-4 for Civil Accounts and Civil & Local Audit, PC-5 Defence, PC-6 Finance & Communication, PC-7 Railway, PC-8 Commercial). The second is that the five audit branches share PC-12 and PC-14, Performance and Compliance Audit and Financial Audit. Civil Accounts is the exception: it has no audit papers in Group II and writes PC-11, PC-13 and PC-15 instead, on government accounts, budgeting and entitlement functions. Commercial Audit is the other exception in the accounting paper: it writes PC-10 (Advanced Accounting and Cost & Management Accounting) where the other five write PC-9.
All 20 papers: title, branch and format
Titles, branch headers and formats are copied from the consolidated syllabus. Where a paper's syllabus states only "questions would primarily be case study based", that is what the format column says; where it prints no format line, the column gives the duration only.
| Paper | Title (official) | Branch header (official) | Format and duration (official) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PC-1 | Language Skills | All branches | Descriptive; 3 hours |
| PC-2 | Government Audit | All branches | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-3 | Information Technology (Theory and Practical) | All branches | Theory 60 + practical 40; 2 hours |
| PC-4 | Financial Rules, Service Rules and Basic Principles of Government Accounts and CPWA | Civil Accounts, Civil Audit & Local Audit | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-5 | Financial Rules, Service Rules and Principles of Defence Accounts | Defence | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-6 | Financial Rules, Service Rules and Basic Principles of Postal and Telecom Accounts | Finance & Communication Audit | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-7 | Railways Service Rules, Financial Rules and Principles of Railways Accounts | Railways Audit | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-8 | Financial Rules, Basic Principles of Government and Public Works Accounts, Service Rules and Accounting Standards | Commercial Audit | MCQ 70 + descriptive 30; 2 hours |
| PC-9 | Basic Financial Accounting and Analysis of Financial Statements | Civil Accounts, Civil & Local Audit, Defence, F&C, Railway | Descriptive about 70 + MCQ about 30; 2 hours |
| PC-10 | Advanced Accounting and Cost & Management Accounting | Commercial Audit | Descriptive; 2 hours |
| PC-11 | Advanced Government Accounts and Government Accounting Standards | Civil Accounts | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-12 | Performance Audit and Compliance Audit | All branches except Civil Accounts | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-13 | Government Budgeting and Flow of Resources | Civil Accounts | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-14 | Financial Audit | All branches except Civil Accounts | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-15 | Entitlement Functions and Treasury Inspection | Civil Accounts | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-16 | Revenue Audit; Audit of Local Bodies; Public Works Audit | Civil Audit & Local Audit | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-17 | Defence Audit | Defence | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-18 | Finance and Communication Audit | Finance & Communication Audit | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-19 | Railway Audit | Railways Audit | Primarily case-study based; 2 hours |
| PC-20 | Commercial Audit, Commercial Laws and Corporate Tax Laws | Commercial Audit | MCQ 50 + descriptive 50; 2 hours |
Which eight papers do you write?
Pick your branch. The tool lists your four Group I and four Group II papers, the format the syllabus prints for each, and the slot each paper had in the Exam-1 of 2026 date sheet (a past sitting, shown so you can see how the week runs).
The branch grid is our reading of the branch named at the head of each paper in the consolidated syllabus; the formats and the 2026 slots are the Exam Wing's. Your office's examination section confirms your stream.
What the papers look like on the day
The Main examination is held by the Headquarters office in computer-based test (CBT) mode. The syllabus marks most Group II papers as "primarily case study based", and Circular 06 of 2026 adds that papers "will include case studies/application and assertion/reasoning based question having a graded difficulty level". Circular 02 of 2025 said the aim was to "discourage rote learning" and called the change "a major departure from the present exam pattern". A few papers print an explicit split. PC-8 is multiple choice for its rules, accounts, public works and service-rules parts (70 marks) and descriptive for accounting standards (30). PC-9 may be about 50 descriptive and 20 MCQ marks in Part I (70) and 20 descriptive and 10 MCQ in Part II (30). PC-10 is descriptive. PC-20 is 30 descriptive and 30 MCQ in commercial audit, 5 descriptive and 20 MCQ in commercial laws, and 15 descriptive in corporate tax. PC-12 allows 25 to 40 per cent of each part as MCQs, with the rest drawn from 3 to 5 performance-audit case studies and 2 to 4 draft paragraphs.
The FAQ adds that 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer in departmental exams held in CBT mode. Descriptive answers in the Exam-1 of 2026 sitting were written in booklets that were scanned at the centre; the instructions tell candidates to stay seated until scanning is done. The question paper is available in English and Hindi: the Language Shift button changes the language in which the question currently on screen is displayed, and if the two versions differ the English version prevails. The instructions describe how questions are displayed; they say nothing about the language of descriptive answers, so check that with your office.
How the last sitting spread the papers across a week
Exam-1 of 2026 ran from 22 to 27 June 2026, with a forenoon session from 11:00 to 13:00 and an afternoon session from 15:00 to 17:00. PC-1 alone ran for three hours, from 15:00 to 18:00 on the last day. The HQ letter prints the last row as "27/06/2025"; the rest of the letter and a field office's copy show 27 June 2026, so we read it as a typo. The next sitting may use a different order.
| Date (Exam-1 of 2026) | Forenoon 11:00-13:00 | Afternoon 15:00-17:00 |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 22 June | PC-2 | PC-9, PC-10 |
| Tue 23 June | PC-11, PC-12 | PC-3 |
| Wed 24 June | PC-4, PC-5, PC-6, PC-7, PC-8 | PC-13, PC-14 |
| Thu 25 June | PC-15, PC-16 | none for SAS |
| Fri 26 June | holiday | holiday |
| Sat 27 June | PC-17, PC-18, PC-19, PC-20 | PC-1 (15:00-18:00) |
Read the table against your branch and the pattern is designed: no candidate's eight papers clash. A Civil & Local Audit candidate, for example, wrote PC-2 on Monday morning, PC-9 that afternoon, PC-12 and PC-3 on Tuesday, PC-4 and PC-14 on Wednesday, PC-16 on Thursday and PC-1 on Saturday afternoon. Other codes on the same sheet (RAE, IE and C papers) belong to the Revenue Audit, Incentive and CPD examinations held in the same week, not to SAS.
Group I and Group II: what the split means for you
The Exam Wing's statements talk about passing "08 papers in 02 Groups of four papers each". How passes and exemptions are counted within a group has changed over the years, and the 2026 pass rules for fresh candidates are set per paper (see the pass-marks guide in this series). For planning, the useful point is simpler: Group I is mostly shared ground, so colleagues from other branches in your office are studying the same PC-1, PC-2 and PC-3, while Group II is where your branch's own work lives. Study groups built across branches work well for Group I and poorly for Group II.
Before you plan from this page
- Confirm your branch (stream) with your office. Offices affected by the CEA/CRA restructuring asked fresh candidates in 2026 to give an undertaking naming the stream they would write.
- Download the consolidated syllabus from the Dashboard rather than using a colleague's copy: PC-3, PC-8, PC-9, PC-10 and PC-20 were revised on 11.03.2025.
- The Dashboard also carries model questions for the revised syllabus, sample case-study MCQs, and demo videos for PC-1, PC-3, PC-8 and the barcode process.
Sources: SAS exam page, Dashboard, letter 478 of 01.06.2026, Circular 08 of 2026, instructions for Exam-I of 2026.
The Preliminary comes first for fresh candidates
Before the Main, a fresh departmental candidate clears a Preliminary examination held by their own field office. Divisional Accountants who passed the Divisional Accountants Grade Examination do not need it. In 2026 the Preliminary ran on 14 May as part of the Centralised Departmental Examinations week (11 to 14 May), in two papers of two hours each, 11:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 17:00. The papers were branch-specific and emailed to Heads of Department, and each office evaluates its own candidates' Preliminary. The CAG FAQ says the Preliminary is conducted locally by the respective Heads of Department under para 9.2.4 of the MSO (Admin) Vol. I, and sends candidates to their own Head of Department for its syllabus, minimum marks and results; we found no national figure published for them.
ProSyllabus has no SAS practice quizzes yet, so this guide does not point you to any. The official preparation material is on the CAG Examination Dashboard: the syllabus, the model questions and the demo videos.
How many papers are there in the CAG SAS exam?
The revised syllabus has 20 papers across six branches, but a candidate passes 8 of them: 4 in Group I and 4 in Group II, for one branch. A candidate with valid exemptions from the old syllabus need not appear in the matching revised papers, so may sit fewer.
Which SAS papers are common to all branches?
PC-1 Language Skills, PC-2 Government Audit and PC-3 Information Technology (Theory and Practical). They are three of the four Group I papers for every branch.
What is PC-8 in the revised SAS syllabus?
Financial Rules, Basic Principles of Government and Public Works Accounts, Service Rules and Accounting Standards, for the Commercial Audit branch. In the old syllabus PC-8 was a different paper for the civil branches.
Does the Civil Accounts branch write audit papers?
No. Its Group II is PC-9, PC-11, PC-13 and PC-15. PC-12 and PC-14 are for the five audit branches.
How long is each SAS paper?
Every paper carries 100 marks. PC-1 runs for 3 hours and every other paper for 2 hours.
Is the SAS Main exam online?
Yes. The Main is held by the Headquarters office in computer-based test mode. Descriptive answers in 2026 were written in booklets that were scanned at the centre.
When did the revised syllabus start?
Exam-2 of 2025, held from 28 January to 1 February 2026, was the first sitting on it. A 2022 circular had named Exam-II of 2024; that date was not kept.
Is there negative marking in SAS?
The CAG FAQ says 0.25 marks are deducted for each wrong answer in departmental exams held in CBT mode.
Can I write SAS in Hindi?
The 2026 instructions say the question paper is available in English and Hindi, and a Language Shift button switches the question on screen between them; if the two versions differ, the English one prevails. They do not address the language of descriptive answers, so confirm that with your office.
Does ProSyllabus have SAS practice questions?
Not yet. The official model questions and sample case-study MCQs are on the CAG Examination Dashboard.
Sources
- official — CAG — Consolidated revised SAS syllabus (October 2022, with PC-3, PC-8, PC-9, PC-10 and PC-20 revised on 11.03.2025) (PDF)
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 06 of 2026, No. 429/08-Exam/SAS etc. Exam/2026, 25.05.2026 — fresh-candidate pass rules (PDF)
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 02 of 2025, No. 529/26-Exam/SAS etc. Exam/2025, 19.11.2025 — Exam-2 of 2025 on the revised syllabus (PDF)
- official — CAG — SAS Examination page (about the exam, twice a year from 2021, cut-off dates, eligible posts by pay level)
- official — Exam Wing letter No. 478/08-Exam/SAS etc. Exam/2026/Vol.-I, 01.06.2026 — Exam-1 of 2026 date sheet, registration, 28 test cities (PDF)
- official — O/o PAG (Audit-I) Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior — office circular of 05.06.2026 on Exam-1 of 2026 (one office's implementation) (PDF)
- official — Exam Wing — Instructions for candidate registration and authentication, Exam-I of 2026 (PDF)
- official — Exam Wing Circular No. 05 of 2026, No. 343/06-Exam/CDEP/2025, 24.04.2026 — Centralised Departmental Examinations including the SAS Preliminary (PDF)
- official — CAG — Exam FAQs (the older 45% pass/exemption figure, which Circular 06 of 2026 replaced with 50/40/60 for fresh candidates; 0.25 negative marking, mutual transfer, technical resignation, DR AAOs)
- official — CAG — Examination Dashboard (syllabus, model questions, demo videos)
- official — CAG — Model questions for the revised SAS syllabus (cover: "w.e.f. Exam-2 of 2024") (PDF)
- official — CAG — Sample case-study MCQs, and model questions for PC-8, 9, 10, 17 to 20 (scanned PDFs, linked from the Dashboard)
- official — Exam Wing — Date sheet of SAS/RA/I/CPD Exam-1 of 2025, No. 165/14-Exam, 30.04.2025 (old PC-1 to PC-27) (PDF)
- official — O/o PAG (Audit) Assam — circular of 23.11.2022 relaying HQ Circular 476/16-Exam/SAS/Papers Review/2022 of 27.10.2022, with the paper-wise exemption matrix (PDF)
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.
