MSBSHSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Accountancy: Your Complete Practice Guide

What this page gives you (and what it does not)

This page collects sample papers and previous year question papers for Class 12 Book-Keeping and Accountancy. Every paper is labelled with its year and medium, and each one has a direct download link. A sample paper (also called a model paper) is a practice paper released to show you the paper pattern, marks per question and question style. A previous year paper is the actual question paper that was set in a board exam. Both are useful, but they are not the same thing.

The official question papers are released by the state board on its own website. We link to those papers and add our own analysis of each paper, along with solutions where available. Papers are available in English and Marathi mediums, so download the one you will actually write in.

Keep your expectations realistic. This page does not replace your textbook or your teacher. Use it to practise under exam conditions: sit with a paper, set a timer for three hours, and write full answers without checking the book. For concepts you are still learning, go back to the chapter-wise textbook solutions and your syllabus page first.

Accountancy paper pattern and marks distribution

Theory paper structure

The written examination for Book-Keeping and Accountancy runs for 3 hours and carries 80 marks. Of these, about 20 marks are objective questions and the remaining 60 marks are subjective questions. [verify current weightage] The board's blueprint sets this split, so confirm it against the syllabus for your academic year before you plan your revision.

Objective questions come in four common forms: multiple choice, fill in the blanks, true or false, and match the pairs. They test definitions, the format of accounts, and small calculations such as finding gross profit from given figures. Short answer questions carry 2 to 3 marks each and usually ask you to pass an adjustment entry, show the treatment of an item, or prepare a single statement like the Profit and Loss Appropriation Account. Long answer questions carry 6 to 8 marks and are full practical problems, with internal choice offered in some of them.

A typical long answer looks like this: "A and B are partners sharing profits in the ratio 3:2. C is admitted for 1/4th share. Prepare the Revaluation Account, Partners' Capital Accounts and the new Balance Sheet." The 8 marks are not only for the final balance sheet. Marks are distributed across the revaluation account, the capital accounts, the balance sheet, and the working notes. A correct final total with no working notes will lose marks.

Internal assessment and project work

Internal assessment carries 20 marks and is marked by your school, not the board. It usually combines project work, an oral test, and a practical component. [verify the exact split] The project is typically a short study of a real organisation: either a listed company's annual report, where you read the balance sheet and comment on two or three ratios, or a partnership firm's accounts, where you prepare final accounts from given data. Keep a record of your sources and show your calculations, because the marks are for the process, not just the final file. Our Class 12 Accountancy project work guide explains the format your school will expect.

One point saves a lot of confusion: the board prescribes the blueprint inside the syllabus document, and it can change between years. Before you rely on any marks split above, open the Class 12 Accountancy syllabus page and check the current blueprint. If the weightage in your syllabus differs from this table, follow the syllabus.

Year-wise sample papers and previous year papers

Sample papers (model papers)

A sample paper is a model question paper released to show you the current pattern: how many questions, how many marks each, and how the options are arranged. It is not a real exam paper. Download the latest sample paper first, because it reflects the blueprint for your academic year. Keep the previous year's sample paper too, so you can see which sections were reshuffled.

• Latest sample paper (current academic year): use it as a timed mock in the final month. It shows the current objective-to-subjective split and the internal choice pattern. Solutions: yes, with marking guidance. [verify release status for the current year]
• Previous year's sample paper: useful for comparing question order and spotting sections that were added or dropped. Solutions: yes.

Previous year question papers (2020 to 2025)

Previous year papers are the actual question papers set by the board. They show you the board's real wording, difficulty level, and how marks are split inside a single problem. Download at least three years of papers, plus the latest sample paper.

One habit pays off here: after solving each paper, open its solution and mark every lost mark in a different colour. If a 2021 question asks about a topic your current syllabus has dropped, skip it and move on. If your textbook solution for a similar problem differs from the paper's expected answer, follow the textbook method and check the chapter-wise Accountancy textbook solutions for the correct format.

Question types in Accountancy and how to approach them

The Accountancy paper mixes three kinds of questions, and each one rewards a different skill. Objective questions reward speed and memory. Short answers reward clarity about treatment of items. Long answers reward correct format, working notes and arithmetic. Once you know which skill a question is testing, you stop losing marks you actually knew how to earn.

Objective questions

These test definitions (what is a current asset, what is sacrificing ratio), the format of accounts (which side of the revaluation account a gain goes to), and small calculations (gross profit ratio, interest on drawings). You only need to write a letter, a word or a figure, so there is no place to hide an error. Practise them in batches of twenty with a clock running, because in the exam you should not spend more than a minute on any one objective question. If a calculation is taking longer, mark it and come back.

Short answer questions

Typically 2 to 3 marks, these ask you to do something small: pass the adjustment entry for outstanding salary, show how a particular item is treated in the profit and loss appropriation account, or prepare one extract rather than a full statement. The marks are usually split between the correct figure and the correct presentation. A common mistake is writing only the amount and skipping the heading or the narration. The fix is simple: always write the account name, the Dr./Cr. column, and a one-line narration if it is a journal entry.

Long answer questions (practical problems)

These are full problems, usually 6 to 8 marks with an internal choice: final accounts of a partnership firm, admission, retirement or death of a partner, company accounts for shares and debentures, and financial statement analysis such as ratio or cash flow preparation. Marks are given step by step, so a wrong final figure does not wipe out the whole answer. Working notes are where those step marks live, so write every calculation separately before you build the final statement.

Here is how a working note should look. Suppose a partner's capital is ₹2,00,000 and the deed allows interest on capital at 8% per annum:

Working Note 1: Interest on Capital
Interest on Capital = 2,00,000 × 8/100 = ₹16,000

Then carry that ₹16,000 into the Profit and Loss Appropriation Account on the debit side, and show it added to the partner's capital in the balance sheet extract. Even if your final balance sheet total is wrong, the examiner can see that the interest was calculated and placed correctly.

Formats matter as much as numbers. Journal, ledger, trial balance and balance sheet each have a fixed shape: proper headings, correct column titles, a ruling line, and a total that is clearly marked. Draw the format before you start writing figures, so you do not run out of space or misalign a column. Practise with the chapter-wise Accountancy textbook solutions so your presentation matches what the board expects, and use the chapter-wise important questions to drill each question type separately.

Chapter-wise weightage for Book-Keeping and Accountancy

Weightage means how many marks a chapter usually contributes to the paper. It tells you where the big marks sit, so you can spend your revision hours accordingly. The figures below are approximate and based on the board blueprint [verify marks per chapter against the current syllabus]. Treat them as a planning guide, not a promise about the exact paper.

Five chapters carry most of the paper: Partnership Final Accounts, Admission of a Partner, Retirement or Death of a Partner, Company Accounts for shares and debentures, and Financial Statement Analysis. Between them they account for the bulk of the long answer marks [verify]. If you can solve one full problem from each of these chapters without looking at the book, you have already secured a large share of the paper.

Computerised Accounting looks small on paper, but it is the easiest place to gain marks quickly. Questions usually ask for the sequence of steps (creating a company, setting group behaviour, entering vouchers) or simple objective facts. Learn the steps in order and you rarely lose marks here.

Allocate revision time roughly in proportion to weightage. A chapter worth 8 marks deserves more practice than one worth 3. But do not skip the low-weightage chapters completely. Two marks from Dissolution or Debentures are still two marks, and objective questions from these chapters are usually direct.

The board blueprint can change from year to year, especially after syllabus revisions. Before you build a revision plan, cross-check these figures with the Class 12 Accountancy syllabus page, which lists the current chapters and any deleted topics. Once your chapter list is confirmed, use the chapter-wise textbook solutions to practise the full problems that carry the heavy marks.

A three-hour time plan for the Accountancy paper

Three hours sounds generous until you are inside the hall with twelve problems in front of you. Most students lose marks not because they cannot solve a sum, but because they run out of time on the last question or forget to balance an account in the rush. A fixed time plan removes that risk. Decide the split before the exam, then follow it like a timetable.

Start with the objective section. These questions are quick, they carry 20 marks in all [verify], and clearing them early settles your nerves. Do not spend more than 30 minutes here even if one match-the-pairs item is confusing; move on and return later if time permits.

Next, pick the long problems you are most confident about, not the longest one. Secure the marks you know you can get. Keep the single hardest problem for the middle of your long answer block, so it still has a cushion of time behind it. Never leave it for the final ten minutes, because a half-finished final account earns very little.

Keep the last 15 minutes free. In Accountancy, a wrong total in the balance sheet or a missing narration in the journal costs marks even when the logic is right. Use the revision slot to re-add your figures and confirm that every account has a proper heading and a balance carried down.

How to write working notes and present accounts for full marks

Working notes are the calculations you do to arrive at a figure, written separately below the main answer instead of being squeezed into the margin or left out. They are not rough work. In Accountancy, the examiner awards marks for the working note itself, so even if your final balance sheet total is wrong, the steps you showed can still earn you marks. A student who writes only the final figure gets nothing when that figure is wrong; a student who shows the calculation gets part marks.

Working notes format

Write each note with a clear number and a heading that names the item. Keep the arithmetic in a line or a small table so the examiner can follow it in seconds.

Example: a partnership firm has capitals of ₹3,00,000 and ₹2,00,000, and the deed allows interest on capital at 10% per annum. Your working note should look like this:

• Working Note 1: Interest on Capital
  • A: 3,00,000 × 10/100 = ₹30,000
  • B: 2,00,000 × 10/100 = ₹20,000
  • Total charged to Profit and Loss Appropriation Account = ₹50,000

For depreciation, name the asset, the cost, the rate and the period. If an asset was purchased on 1 October, show that depreciation is charged for six months only. That single line tells the examiner you understood the adjustment, and it protects the marks for the adjustment even if a later total slips.

Common presentation errors

Most lost marks in Accountancy come from presentation, not from weak concepts. These are the errors that appear again and again in answer scripts:

• No narration in the journal. Every journal entry needs a one-line narration below it. Without it, the entry looks incomplete.
• Missing headings in the balance sheet. Write "Balance Sheet as at 31st March, 20XX" and group items under Liabilities and Assets. An unlabelled list of figures loses format marks.
• Mixing capital and revenue items. A heavy repair that extends the life of a machine is capital expenditure; a routine repair is revenue expenditure. Putting either in the wrong place changes the profit figure.
• Not balancing accounts. Every ledger account must show the balance carried down and brought down. An account that simply stops looks unfinished.
• Ignoring adjustments. If the question says "goods worth ₹10,000 were taken by the partner for personal use", that adjustment must appear in the drawings account and in the trading account. Skipping it costs marks in two places.

Examiners look for three things before they check your arithmetic: correct format, working notes, and neatness. Draw every account with ruled lines, keep the debit and credit columns aligned, and do not overwrite figures. Practise at least five problems per chapter with full presentation, not just the final answer, so that the format becomes automatic under exam pressure. Cross-check the chapter list on the Class 12 Accountancy syllabus page and work through the textbook solutions chapter-wise with the same level of detail.

How to review a solved paper effectively

Solving a paper is only half the work. The marks come from what you do in the twenty minutes after you finish it. Most students close the paper, check the total, feel either relieved or worried, and move on. That is a wasted paper. A solved paper is a map of exactly where you are losing marks, but only if you read it carefully.

Start by comparing your answers with the marking scheme or the published solution, question by question. Do not just tick and cross. Use a different colour pen, say red, and write the correct treatment next to every wrong answer. If your balance sheet total is ₹4,52,000 and the answer is ₹4,60,000, do not stop at marking it wrong. Find the ₹8,000. It is usually one adjustment you missed, such as outstanding rent or depreciation on a new asset. That single discovery is worth more than solving two fresh papers.

Then sort every mistake into one of three types:

• Conceptual: you treated the item wrongly. For example, you debited the partner's capital account for interest on drawings instead of crediting it. This needs revision of the chapter, not more practice.
• Calculation: your method was right but the arithmetic slipped, such as charging depreciation for twelve months on an asset bought on 1 October. This needs slower, written working notes.
• Presentation: the answer was correct but you lost format marks, for example a ledger account with no balance carried down, or a journal entry without narration.

Keep an error log in a single notebook. Write the date, the paper, the question number, the type of mistake, and the one-line fix. Before you attempt your next paper, read the log for five minutes. You will find the same three or four errors repeating, and those are the ones that will actually cost you marks in the board exam.

After a week, re-solve the same paper without looking at your corrected copy. This is the real test of retention. If you make the same mistake again, the concept is still weak and needs a fresh pass through the textbook solutions for that chapter.

Finally, pay special attention to questions where you knew the concept but still lost marks. You wrote the right journal entry but forgot the narration, or you calculated the correct profit but did not show the working note. These are the cheapest marks to recover because you do not need to learn anything new, only to change a habit. Fix these first, before you spend hours on a chapter you genuinely do not understand.

Are sample papers enough? How to use them with the textbook

No. A sample paper shows you the shape of the exam: how many questions, how many marks each carries, and how the options are arranged. It cannot teach you how to treat goodwill on admission of a partner, or how to prepare a Common Size Statement. Your textbook does that. Treat the textbook as the source of concepts and the sample paper as a test of whether those concepts have settled in your head.

This distinction matters because students often do it backwards. They open a sample paper, hit a question on debentures, realise they cannot do it, and read the solution. That feels like studying, but you have only learned the answer to one question. The fix is to go back to the chapter, work through the solved examples and exercise sums in your textbook, and only then return to the paper.

Use each resource for what it is good at:

• Textbook: learn the concept, the format, and the sequence of steps. Solve the exercise sums at the end of every chapter.
• Sample paper: test yourself in exam conditions after the chapter is revised. Do not use it to learn a new topic.
• Previous year papers: understand the board's phrasing and difficulty level. Wording like "prepare the Profit and Loss Appropriation Account" versus "show the distribution of profit" tells you what the examiner expects.

Combine the three. A workable weekly cycle is: revise one chapter from the textbook, solve its exercise sums, then attempt the matching questions from one sample paper and one previous year paper. Keep your revision notes and format sheet open while checking, so that journal, ledger and balance sheet formats stay sharp. If a chapter keeps going wrong, work through the chapter-wise textbook solutions before touching another paper.

A sample paper covers a sample of the syllabus, not all of it. Two or three papers between them may never ask a full cash flow statement or a note on computerised accounting steps. If you prepare only from papers, whole chapters can slip past you unnoticed. That is why the paper is a supplement, never the plan.

Medium-wise availability: English and Marathi

The state board issues the Book-Keeping and Accountancy question paper in both English and Marathi mediums, and the sample papers are published in both languages as well.

Download the paper in the medium you will write the exam in. Accountancy has terms that look similar but are not interchangeable across languages: "Profit and Loss Appropriation Account", "goodwill", "debenture", "working capital". If you practise from the English paper while writing the Marathi exam, you will spend reading time in the hall translating terms instead of solving.

Use the medium-wise download lists on this page: pick your medium first, then the year. Keep the same medium for your sample papers, previous year papers and solutions so the wording stays consistent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I download MSBSHSE Class 12 Accountancy sample papers?

Download them from this page: each paper is labelled by year and medium with a direct link. The official question papers are released by the state board on its own website, and we link to those. Along with the papers, this page adds analysis of each paper and solutions where available, so you can check your answers after attempting a paper.

How many years of Accountancy previous year papers should I solve?

Aim for at least the last 5 years of question papers. Solve the most recent 3 years under timed conditions first, then work backwards. Older papers still help with adjustments and ledger work, but check them against the current syllabus, since topics and weightage can change. Note repeated question types across years, as these show what the paper setter focuses on.

What is the marks distribution for Class 12 Book-Keeping and Accountancy?

The written paper is 3 hours and 80 marks, with roughly 20 marks of objective questions (multiple choice, fill in the blanks, true or false, match the pairs) and about 60 marks of subjective questions. [verify current weightage] The board's blueprint sets this split, so confirm it against the syllabus for your academic year before planning revision.

Are sample papers enough for Class 12 Accountancy board exam preparation?

No. Sample papers show the pattern and question style, but they do not build your understanding of adjustments, final accounts or partnership entries. Use them only after finishing the textbook chapters and their exercises. A workable order is: learn the concept, solve textbook problems, then attempt a full sample paper in 3 hours without looking at the book.

Are Accountancy papers available in Marathi medium?

Yes. Papers on this page are available in both English and Marathi mediums, and each one is labelled with its medium. Download the medium you will actually write the exam in, because the wording of adjustment notes and instructions differs between the two versions, and practising in your exam medium avoids surprises on exam day.

How should I write working notes in Accountancy answers to get full marks?

Show every calculation clearly below the main answer: depreciation, interest on capital, outstanding expenses, prepaid items. Write the formula, substitute the figures, and state the final amount. Examiners award marks for the correct working even if the final figure is wrong, so never do rough calculations in the margin and copy only the answer into the main statement.