Checked 23 September 2026. The strategy follows the paper structure and the 45/50/60 rules, both stable. Coaching options change; the ones named were checked on the date above.
Where other pages get this wrong
There is no official SAS coaching. HIPA trains serving staff on the rules, but runs no SAS preparation course.
Commonly published instead: Coaching pages imply that paid classes are the normal route to clearing SAS.
HIPA’s Divisional Training Centres at Rohtak, Hisar and Gurugram run in-service refresher courses on service and financial matters, and HIPA holds short programmes on the Civil Services Rules — one is scheduled for 24-25 September 2026. None is an SAS exam course. Most candidates prepare on their own, around a full-time job, from free rule books and past papers.
SAS is an exam for people who already have a job. That changes how to prepare. You have limited hours, you work with some of these rules every day, and — unusually — the exam lets you clear it a few papers at a time. A good plan uses all three facts.
1. Plan to bank papers, not to clear a part in one sitting
Any paper in which you score 60% or more is exempt — you never sit it again, even if you fail the part. For a working candidate, that means preparing a few papers properly beats preparing all five thinly: two papers at 62% are worth more than five at 48%, because the 48s leave you with nothing banked and a part still failed. Use the pass and exemption calculator to see how a sitting would come out.
A sensible order for Part I
- Start with the paper closest to your job. If you handle pay bills, Audit and Accounts; if you handle establishment work, Civil Services Rules.
- Take Précis & Drafting early. It needs the least preparation of the five for someone who drafts official letters at work.
- Take Book Keeping when you are ready for it. It is B.Com-level accounting, written without books. With a commerce background it is quick; without one, give it its own block of time.
This order is our suggestion, based on the structure of the papers, not official guidance.
2. Practise the compulsory computations until they are routine
In every 150-mark paper except Company Law, 75 marks are practical; in Book Keeping and Local Rules, 50 of 100. The compulsory questions are the same type every cycle, according to the Treasuries criteria for the papers:
| Paper | Compulsory practical | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Civil Services Rules | Pay fixation | 30 |
| Audit and Accounts | Pay bill, classification and pay order, annual salary for TDS, income tax (4 × 10); head classification to minor head | 40 + 20 |
| Local Rules & PW Accounts | Cash book; contractor’s bill or works ledger; 10-day TA bill | 20 + 20 + 10 |
| Budget & Treasury Rules | BM-32 excess and surrender; BM-2 estimate with memo; reappropriation statement | 15 + 30 + 30 |
| Cost Accounts & FM | Cash flow statement | 30 |
| Advanced Accountancy | Company final accounts; hire purchase; branch or departmental accounts | 40 + 15 + 20 |
These are the marks you can bank by repetition. Work each type from the past papers by hand, timed, until you can do it without looking anything up.
3. For the open-book papers, speed of finding matters more than memory
How to set up your rule books
- Theory questions are capped per book. Civil Services Rules sets no more than two questions from any one volume; Audit and Accounts no more than three from each of its three books; Budget three from the Budget Manual, three from the Treasury Rules and at least one from PFR Vol II. Every allowed book will be tested — none can be skipped.
- Tab by topic, not by chapter. Put a tab at each rule a listed practical topic uses — increments, subsistence allowance, leave account, joining time, commutation, DCRG, family pension, GPF interest.
- Carry only what is allowed. HIPA’s list excludes named appendices and chapters. Tabs built around an excluded appendix are wasted.
- Use the current rules. Old papers cite the Punjab CSR and 2008 pay rules; the Haryana Civil Services Rules 2016 replaced them.
4. Coaching — what exists
Options, as of September 2026
- HIPA Divisional Training Centres (Rohtak, Hisar, Gurugram): in-service refreshers on service rules, e-salary, HRMS and financial matters. Useful background, not SAS coaching.
- HIPA’s Civil Services Rules programme: two days on the HCSR, purchase procedure and e-tendering, 24-25 September 2026.
- Private online courses exist — HemSharmaClasses is one that offers a Haryana SAS course covering both parts. We have not reviewed its content.
- Self-study from the free rule books, the criteria document and past papers is how most working candidates prepare.
If you are weighing a paid course, look for one thing: worked practice on the compulsory computations under the current 2016 rules. Most of the marks are there.
Practise on ProSyllabus
Past SAS-I and SAS-II papers (with the official solutions HIPA released for the practical papers), plus topic-wise practice quizzes for both parts, are on the Haryana SAS exam page. The first quiz in each topic is free.
Is coaching necessary for the Haryana SAS exam?
No. There is no official SAS coaching, and the rule books are free official downloads. Most working candidates prepare on their own from the rule books, the paper criteria and past papers. Paid online courses exist if you want structure.
Does HIPA provide SAS exam coaching?
HIPA runs in-service refresher courses through its Divisional Training Centres and short programmes on the Civil Services Rules, but not an SAS exam preparation course.
How should a working employee prepare for SAS?
Plan to bank papers using the 60% exemption rule rather than trying to clear a whole part at once; practise the compulsory computations — pay fixation, pay bills, BM forms, cash flow statements — until they are routine; and tab the allowed rule books by topic so you can find rules quickly.
Which SAS paper is easiest?
It depends on your job and background. Précis and Drafting usually needs the least preparation for someone who drafts official letters; the no-book accounting papers are quickest for commerce graduates and hardest for others.
How long does it take to clear SAS?
Many candidates take several sittings, clearing papers progressively under the 60% exemption rule. With postponements, cycles do not always run yearly, which makes banking papers early more valuable.
What should I focus on in the with-books papers?
Half the marks are compulsory practical questions, and the theory questions are capped per book, so every allowed book will be tested. Practise the computations, and tab each book so you can find any listed rule quickly.
Sources
- official — Treasuries & Accounts Dept — Criteria/Guidelines for the paper of SAS Examination Part I & II (posted Nov 2020)
- reported — Finance Dept letter No. 14/30/2021-IFA (16.07.2021), as forwarded by DG Higher Education on 18.08.2021
- official — HIPA — Books allowed in SAS-II (OB) 2023 examination
- official — HIPA — Training programmes calendar
- official — HIPA — Divisional Training Centre, Rohtak
- reported — HemSharmaClasses — Haryana SAS course page (coaching)
- official — Finance Dept Haryana — Haryana Civil Services Rules, 2016
official = a Haryana Government or HIPA document. reported = a news or coaching site's transcription, which we could not check against the original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking a winner.
The rest of the Haryana SAS series
- HSAS syllabus — all nine papers of Part I and Part II, paper by paper
- Pass marks, exemption and result calculator — the 45 / 50 / 60 rules
- Previous year question papers — what exists, and which have official solutions
- HSAS 2026 notification — what has been issued, and how to apply
- Eligibility — who can sit SAS, and the direct-recruitment route
- Books list — every rule book, and where to download it free from the government
- SAS Related Instructions — the Treasuries circulars page, explained
- Section Officer salary, posting and promotion after SAS
- Haryana Civil Services Rules 2016 — all nine volumes, official PDFs
Every page carries a "checked on" date and stamps each source as official or reported. Spotted something out of date? These pages are rebuilt from one file, so a correction fixes it everywhere at once.
