Taxmann’s Cracker – Strategic Management & Corporate Finance (SMCF) (CS-Professional) (New Syllabus) by N S Zad for Dec 2026 Exams – 5th Edition June 2026.

Taxmann’s CRACKER for Strategic Management & Corporate Finance (CS-Professional | Paper 5) is an examination-focused question bank and answer-writing companion. It does not merely re-teach the syllabus; it assembles over a decade of past ICSI questions and pairs each with a fully developed model answer. Updated for the 5th Edition (June 2026), this manual is the ultimate resource for revision, self-testing, and answer-writing practice in the final stretch before your exams.

Key Exam Preparation Features

• Complete Worked Solutions: Problem-based and project-appraisal questions are solved step-by-step, featuring complete working notes, present-value (PV) tables, and reasoned concluding decisions.

• Anchored to Governing Law: Every corporate finance answer is tied to the precise provision in force, including the Companies Act 2013, the Companies (Share Capital & Debentures) Rules 2014, and SEBI ICDR/LODR Regulations.

• Tabular Scenario Analysis: Application and scenario-based questions are resolved using clear, tabular eligibility tests and comparative assessments that reproduce cleanly in an exam answer booklet.

• Strategic Trend Analysis: Includes a Chapter-wise Marks Distribution chart, classifying past exam questions as descriptive or practical, enabling highly targeted, high-yield revision.

Complete Syllabus Coverage (Paper 5)

The book spans 18 chapters, mirroring the architecture of the paper across two distinct parts:

• Part I: Strategic Management (Chapters 1–6)

  • Builds your conceptual and analytical apparatus.

  • Covers Environment Scanning, Strategy Formulation, Competitive Positioning, and Managing Multi-Business Firms.

• Part II: Corporate Finance (Chapters 7–18)

  • Covers the full fund-raising landscape and specialized investment vehicles.

  • Public & Private Equity Funding, REITs, InvITs, and Debt Issuances.

  • Foreign Funding (Institutions, Instruments, Laws & Procedures).

  • Role of Intermediaries, Project Evaluation, and Issuances in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

About the Authors

• CS N.S. Zad: Cleared the CS Final Exam in June 2005. With over a decade of teaching experience across CA, CS, and CWA professional courses, he brings immense practical knowledge from his time working with medium and large-sized organizations and practicing company secretaries. He is the acclaimed author of the entire Taxmann CRACKER series.

• CS Divya Bajpai: A distinguished Practicing Company Secretary and certified Trademark Attorney with extensive experience working with listed entities. A partner at MSD & Associates (New Delhi), she has authored several books for CS Executive/Professional and CA IPCC/Final levels, and is a frequent contributor to Corporate Professional Magazine.

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