Exam Overview: The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has released the official notification for the recruitment of eligible candidates through the BPSC AAO Exam for the post of Assistant Audit Officer (AAO). There are a total of 138 vacancies and the interested candidates have to apply online for filling the examination form. The application form submission procedure for the year 2021 has ended on 15.05.2021. However, admit cards and the final dates of the exam are yet to be notified. The BPSC AAO Exam comprises three stages, namely, preliminary exam, mains exam and personal interview. The preliminary exam is an objective question-based exam and the mains exam is a subjective question-based exam. The final selection of the shortlisted candidates will be done after the personal interview. If you have also applied for the BPSC AAO exam, read below to know the BPSC AAO detailed syllabus, exam pattern, job profile and other information.
BPSC AAO Exam: Overview
| Number of Vacancies | 138 |
| Exam Conducting Authority | Bihar Public Service Commission |
| Post | Assistant Audit Officer |
| Selection process | Prelims exam, Mains exam and Interview |
| Educational Qualification | Graduation degree in Commerce/Mathematics/ Economics/Statistics;CA/ICWA/CS/MBA (Finance) |
| Exam Date | To be announced soon |
BPSC AAO Exam: Important Dates
| Start date for online application submission | 17.04.2021 |
| Last date for online application submission | 15.05.2021 |
| Date of issue of Admit Card | Not yet notified |
| Exam Date | Not yet notified |
BPSC AAO Exam Eligibility Criteria
To appear for this exam the candidates must fulfil the following eligibility criteria:
1. Age Limit:
To apply for this post the minimum age limit is 21 years and the maximum age limit is 37 years. However, the candidates belonging to reserved categories have been given some age relaxations:
Category | Age Relaxation | Age Limit |
| Backward Castes(BC)/ Extreme Backward Castes (EBC)/ Women Candidates | 3 years | Minimum: 21 years Maximum: 40 years |
| Scheduled Castes (SC)/ Scheduled Tribes (ST Candidates) | 5 years | Minimum: 21 years Maximum: 42 years |
2. Educational Qualifications:
To appear for the BPSC AAO Exam the candidates must be a graduate from a recognised university in Commerce or Mathematics or Statistics or Economics faculty. The candidates holding a degree of CA/ICWA/CS/MBA(Finance) can also apply for this post.
You must ensure that you upload all the scanned copies of relevant educational qualifications with the online application form before the due date.
3. Nationality:
The applicant must be a citizen of India only.
4. Number of attempts
There is no bar on the maximum number of attempts that the candidate can appear for this examination. You can give multiple attempts until you reach the maximum age limit.
5. Experience
There is no requirement of prior experience to be eligible to appear for the BPSC AAO Exam.
BPSC AAO Exam Pattern
The BPSC AAO Exam is a three-stage process. The first stage is the preliminary exam and the second stage is the mains exam. The third and final stage of the selection process is the interview. The pattern of the prelims and mains exam is as under:
1. Prelims Exam: The multiple-choice type questions are asked in this exam on the General Studies subject. There are a total of 150 questions in the exam and the duration of the exam is 2 hours. Nothing is mentioned about negative marking in the official notification of BPSC.
| Subject | No. of Questions | Total Marks | Duration |
| General Studies | 150 | 150 | 2 hours |
2. Mains Exam: The candidates scoring more than the cutoff marks in the BPSC AAO Prelims Exam shall be eligible to appear for the mains exam. In this exam, the candidates have to answer subjective type questions. This exam will carry a total of 1000 marks. Nothing is mentioned about negative marking in the official notification of BPSC. There will be 3 compulsory papers, namely, General Hindi, General Studies I & II. The 4th paper is an optional subject chosen by the candidate. The candidates can select from Economics, Mathematics, Commerce or Statistics as one of the optional subjects.
The duration and total marks for the subjects are as given below:
| Paper No. | Subject | Total Marks | Duration |
| 1 | General Hindi | 100 | 3 hours |
| 2 | General Studies Paper 1 | 300 | 3 hours |
| 3 | General Studies Paper 2 | 300 | 3 hours |
| 4 | Optional (Economics/Statistics/Mathematics/Commerce) | 300 | 3 hours |
3. Personal Interview: This is the final stage of the BPSC AAO Exam process. The interview will be conducted for 120 marks. After the prelims and mains exam, the candidates will be shortlisted for the interview on the basis of marks secured and ranking. In the interview, the candidates can be asked questions about current affairs and general knowledge. Your communication skills and leadership qualities can also be tested.
BPSC AAO Exam Syllabus
1. Preliminary Exam: The preliminary exams are the first phase of the BPSC Assistant Audit Officer selection process. The multiple-choice based questions on General Studies are asked in this exam. The detailed syllabus of the BPSC AAO Preliminary Exam is given below:
| Subject | Topics Covered |
| General Studies | National and International Current Affairs, General Science, History of India, History of Bihar state, Important rivers, places and geography of Bihar state, Politics of India, Indian Economy, Economy of Bihar Culture of India, Role of Bihar in Indian National Movement |
2. Mains Exam: This is the second phase of the BPSC Assistant Audit Officer selection process. The candidates who qualify for the prelims exam as per the cutoff can proceed for the mains exam. There are 3 compulsory subjects and 1 optional subject in the mains exam. The detailed syllabus of the BPSC AAO Mains Exam is given below:
| Paper | Subject | Topics Covered |
| 1 | General Hindi | Essay and Summary writing, Grammar-based questions, Sentence formation, Forming and writing a conclusion |
| 2 | General Studies I | Indian Culture, Indian History, Events of National and International Importance, Statistical Analysis, Graphs and Diagrams |
| 3 | General Studies II | Indian Politics, Bihar Politics, The economy of India and Bihar, The Geography of India and Bihar, Impact of science and technology in the development of India and Bihar |
| 4 | Optional (Mathematics/Economics/Statistics/Commerce) | Mathematics: Co-ordinate Geometry, Differentiation, Trigonometry, Circles, Quadratic Equations, Sequence and Series, Logarithms, Matrices, etc.Economics: Features of Indian Economy, Micro and Macro Economics, International Economics, Money and Banking, National Income, Price Index, etc.Statistics: Probability, Fundamentals of Applied Statistics, Sampling Techniques, etc.Commerce: Financial Accounting, Taxation, Auditing, Cost Accounting, etc. |
3. Interview: The third and final stage of the BPSC Assistant Auditor selection process is the interview. The candidates who qualify for the mains exam on the basis of cutoff criteria and ranking are short-listed for the interview. In the interview, you can be judged on the basis of your knowledge and analysis of current affairs topics, general awareness and Indian politics. The interviewers can also evaluate your communication skills, thinking and reasoning ability and leadership qualities. The interview phase carries 120 marks. The final selection of the candidates is made on the basis of total marks secured in the selection process.
BPSC AAO Admit Card:
The admit cards for the exam will be issued to the candidates who fulfil the eligibility criteria after the scrutiny of application forms and details. The date of release of admit cards will be updated on the official website of BPSC. The admit cards contain the given details:
- Exam Centre of Venue
- Date of examination
- Time of examination
- Roll Number of the Candidate
- Registration Number
- Guidelines and instructions to appear for the examination and other details.
Steps To Download BPSC AAO Admit Card:
The candidates will be allowed to enter the examination hall only if they carry the admit cards or hall tickets with them on the exam day. Follow these simple steps to download your admit card:
1. Visit the official website of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).
2. Click on the notification of admit card release and find the “Download admit card” option.
3. Enter your login Id and password.
4. Click on the download admit card option.
5. Your admit card will open, take a printout for future reference.
BPSC AAO Cutoff Marks:
After the conclusion of the exams, the BPSC will declare the cutoff marks for the selection of eligible candidates. The candidates have to score more than the cutoff marks in the prelims exam to proceed for the mains exam. On the basis of cutoff marks of the mains exam, the candidates will be short-listed for the interview process. The final selection of the candidates will be done on the basis of marks secured in the interview and the overall score of all three phases.
BPSC AAO Result:
The result of the BPSC AAO Exam is based on the cutoff declared by the Bihar Public Service Commission. The candidates have to score more than the declared cutoff marks to qualify for the exam. Some of the important points related to the BPSC AAO Result are:
a. The final result will be based on the performance of the candidate in all three phases of the selection process.
b. The cutoff marks and merit list are declared by the commission and are depends on the number of factors such as vacancies and number of applications, previous year’s cutoff, the performance level of candidates and difficulty level of the exam, etc.
c. The candidates can refer to the answer keys released by the BPSC after the conclusion of the exams to evaluate their performance and chances of selection.
Follow these steps to download the BPSC AAO Result:
- Visit the BPSC website.
- Click on the BPSC AAO Result 2021 link and enter the login Id and password.
- Results will be displayed, take the printout of the result PDF for future reference.
BPSC AAO Salary and Job Profile
1. BPSC AAO Salary: The candidates who are selected for the post of Assistant Audit Officer will be paid as per Pay Level 7 of the 7th Pay Commission notified by the Government of India. The initial expected salary of AAO is INR 44,900/- per month (including grade pay of INR 4,600/-) plus additional allowances. These are some of the allowances that will be provided to the AAO’s:
- Dearness Allowance
- House Rent Allowance
- Bonus
- Travel Allowance
Apart from salary, the selected candidates will also receive benefits such as medical care and insurance, pension benefits, travel concessions, other incentives and increments.
2. BPSC AAO Job Profile: The candidates appointed for the post of BPSC Assistant Audit Officer will have to work under the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and have to carry out the following responsibilities and duties:
a. Assist in maintaining financial accounts and records with accuracy and prescribed standards and report to the higher departmental authorities.
b. Lead the teams and officials, manage, assign and review the work of the team.
c. Understand, analyse and assess the change in the accounting system.
d. Maintain and analyse the balance sheets and financial statements to draw important conclusions.
Probation Period
The selected candidates have to undergo a probation period of 2 years. During this period the candidates are required to pass departmental examinations and also undergo field training. The candidates also have to go through a pre-confirmation training of 9 months. This training includes 3 months of theoretical training and 6 months of practical training. The performance in the probation period can enhance the chances of career growth and work exposure in future.
Books for the BPSC AAO Exam
You can refer to the following books for the preparation of Preliminary and Mains Exams:
- For the General Hindi subject, you can refer to Samanya Hindi of Arihant Publications, General Hindi book of Hardev Behri. You can also refer to Lucent’s Samanya Gyan.
- For General Studies you can refer to the NCERT books on General Studies, History NCERT by Mahesh Barnwal, Bihar Samanya Gyan and MCQ Booklet by Disha Publications.
- McGraw Hill Publications books on General Studies and Indian History can also be referred to.
- For the optional subjects, you can refer to R.D. Sharma books for Mathematics, Indian Economics NCERT, etc.
Conclusion
If you have the will and determination to serve in a government job, the BPSC Assistant Audit Officer is a good opportunity for you. It is a highly competitive exam and you have to ace up your performance with consistent study and practice. This post is a highly reputed post and you have to be dedicated to your duties and responsibilities. This job will offer you decent pay, job security and a respectable post.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The minimum age limit for the BPSC AAO Exam is 21 years and the maximum age limit is 37 years.
The BPSC AAO Exam is conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission.
The selection process of the BPSC AAO Exam is a three-phase process, namely, Prelims, Mains and interview.
The result of the BPSC AAO Exam is decided and declared on the basis of cutoff marks and merit list.
Yes, the women candidates have been given an age relaxation of 3 years.
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