APPSC FAO/TO & STO Syllabus 2026 - verify Assessment pattern

APPSC FAO/TO and STO Syllabus and Exam Pattern 2026 - Overview

APPSC FAO/TO and STO Exam Pattern 2026

The official notification states that, Commercial Mathematics Paper (Recruitment Test)

The department has confirmed that, Optional Subject Papers

The official notification states that, ⚡ Get Custom Govt Job Alerts by Your Qualification (10TH | 12TH | Diploma | ITI | Graduate, Etc)

APPSC FAO/TO and STO Syllabus 2026

Below is the full subject-wise APPSC FAO/TO in addition to STO syllabus as notified in Annexure-I to Annexure-V of the department notice.

As per the official update, 1. Commercial Mathematics (Annexure-I - Recruitment Test, 200 Marks)

Percentage: Conversion between fraction, decimal, percentage; Percentage increase along with decrease; Comparison of percentages; Successive percentage change; Relationship between quantities using percentage

As per the official update, Profit, Loss in addition to Discount: Cost Price (CP), Selling Price (SP); Profit in addition to Loss percentage; Marked Price (MP); Trade discount; Successive discount; Profit or loss after discounts; Equal profit along with loss situations

Candidates should note that, Simple Interest (SI): Principal, Rate, Time relationship; Finding rate, time, principal; Interest over different periods; Multiple loans at different rates

Compound Interest (CI): Compound Interest; Annual compounding; Half-yearly/Quarterly compounding; Difference between SI as well as CI; Compound Interest for fractional periods

Banker’s Discount along with Bills of Exchange: Bill of exchange; True Discount; Banker’s Discount; Banker’s Gain; Present worth of a bill; Time of bill

Partnership in addition to Division of Money: Investment sharing; Profit distribution; Division of sum with equal interest conditions; Loans at different rates

The official notification states that, Ratio as well as Proportion: Ratio formation; Ratio from percentage difference; Comparison between numbers; Proportion relationships; Direct/Indirect proportions

Time as well as Interest Applications: Time value of money; Settling accounts; Present value calculations; Interest for fractional time periods

Probability: Probability formula; Coin toss probability; Simple problems on Event outcome

Linear Equations/Algebraic Word Problems: Forming equations from statements; Solving single variable equations, Quadratic Equations; Percentage equations

Time along with Work: Arithmetic Mean, problems on Average Speed, Average Age, etc.; Work rate problems; Efficiency comparison; Work-Wages problems

Basic Statistics: Mean; Median; Mode

2. Optional Paper - Commerce (Annexure-II)

The official notification states that, (A) Paper I - Accounting along with Finance Accounting, Taxation & Auditing

Financial Accounting: Accounting as a financial information system; impact of behavioural sciences; Accounting Standards for Depreciation, Inventories, Research along with Development Costs, Long-term Construction Contracts, Revenue Recognition, Fixed Assets, Contingencies, Foreign Exchange Transactions, Investments as well as Government Grants, Cash Flow Statement; Accounting for Share Capital Transactions including Bonus Shares, Right Shares; Employees Stock Option in addition to Buy-Back of Securities; Preparation in addition to Presentation of Company Final Accounts; Amalgamations, Absorption as well as Reconstruction of Companies

Cost Accounting: Nature along with functions of cost accounting; Installation of Cost Accounting System; Cost Concepts related to Income Measurement, Profit Planning, Cost Control as well as Decision Making; Methods of Costing - Job Costing, Contract Costing, Process Costing, Activity Based Costing; Volume-cost-Profit Relationship; Incremental Analysis/Differential Costing; Techniques of Cost Control along with Cost Reduction - Budgeting, Standard Costing as well as Variance Analysis; Responsibility Accounting as well as Divisional Performance Measurement

Taxation: Income Tax - basis of charge; incomes not forming part of total income; computation of total income in addition to tax liability (individuals only) under Salaries, Income from House Property, Profits along with Gains from Business or Profession, Capital Gains, Income from other sources, Income of other Persons included in Assessee’s Total Income; Set-off in addition to Carry forward of Loss; Deductions from Gross Total Income; salient features/provisions related to VAT along with Goods in addition to Services Tax

Auditing: Internal verify along with control; Company Audit - audit related to Divisible Profits, Dividends, Special investigations, Tax audit; Audit of Banking, Insurance, Non-Profit Organization along with Charitable Societies/Trusts/Organizations

(B) Paper I - Financial Management, Financial Institutions as well as Markets

Financial Management: Finance function - nature, scope in addition to objectives; risk in addition to return relationship; tools of financial analysis - ratio analysis, funds-flow along with cash-flow statement; capital budgeting decisions - process, procedures along with appraisal methods, risk along with uncertainty analysis; cost of capital - concept, computation of specific costs in addition to weighted average cost of capital, CAPM; financing decisions - theories of capital structure (NI approach, NOI approach, MM approach, Traditional approach); designing of capital structure - types of leverages, EBIT-EPS analysis; dividend decisions as well as valuation of firm - Walter’s Model, MM Thesis, Gordon’s Model, Lintner’s Model; factors affecting dividend policy; working capital management - planning, determinants along with components of working capital (cash, inventory as well as receivables)

Financial Markets in addition to Institutions: Indian Financial System - an overview; Money Markets - participants, structure as well as instruments, commercial banks, reforms in banking sector, monetary as well as credit policy of RBI, RBI as a regulator; Capital Market - primary along with secondary market, financial market instruments in addition to innovative debt instruments, SEBI as a regulator; Financial Services - mutual funds, venture capital, credit rating agencies, SEBI, insurance along with IRDA

(C) Paper II - Organisation Theory as well as Behaviour, Human Resource Management as well as Industrial Relations

Organisation Theory: Nature as well as concept of organisation; external environment - technological, social, political, economical along with legal; organisational goals; evolution of organisation theory - classical, neo-classical in addition to system approach; modern concepts - organisational design, structure as well as culture; designing organisational structures - authority along with control, line as well as staff functions, types of organisation structure (functional, matrix, project); sources as well as structure of power; impact of information technology on organisational design as well as structure

Organisation Behaviour: Meaning along with concept; individual in organisation - personality, theories as well as determinants; perception; motivation - concepts, theories in addition to applications; leadership - theories in addition to styles; Quality of Work Life (QWL); Quality Circles (QC); management of conflicts in organisations; transactional analysis; organisational effectiveness; management of change

Human Resources Management (HRM): Meaning, nature in addition to scope; human resource planning; job analysis, job description, job specification; recruitment as well as hiring procedure; orientation in addition to placement; training in addition to development; performance appraisal in addition to 360° feedback; salary in addition to wage administration; job evaluation; employee welfare; promotions, transfers along with separations

Industrial Relations (IR): Meaning, nature, importance in addition to scope; formation of trade unions; trade union legislation; trade union movement in India; recognition of trade unions in addition to their problems; impact of liberalization on trade union movement; nature of industrial disputes - strikes as well as lockouts, causes, prevention along with settlement; worker’s participation in management; adjudication, reconciliation in addition to collective bargaining; industrial relations in public enterprises; absenteeism in addition to labour turnover; ILO as well as its functions

3. Optional Paper - Economics (Annexure-III)

(A) Paper I

Advanced Micro-Economics: Marshallian as well as Walrasian approaches to price determination; alternative distribution theories (Ricardo, Kaldor, Kaleeki); market structure - monopolistic competition, duopoly, oligopoly; modern welfare criteria - Pareto, Hicks in addition to Scitovsky; Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem; A. K. Sen’s Social Welfare Function

Advanced Macro-Economics: Approaches to employment, income in addition to interest rate determination - Classical, Keynes’ (IS-LM) curve, neo-classical synthesis as well as new classical; theories of interest rate determination in addition to interest rate structure

Money-Banking as well as Finance: Demand for as well as supply of money - money multiplier, quantity theory of money (Fisher, Pigou as well as Friedman), Keynes’s theory on demand for money; goals in addition to instruments of monetary management in closed along with open economies; relation between the Central Bank as well as the Treasury; proposal for ceiling on growth rate of money; public finance along with its role in market economy - stabilisation, allocation as well as distribution; sources of government revenue, forms of taxes in addition to subsidies; limits to taxation, loans in addition to borrowing; public expenditure along with its effects

International Economics: Old as well as new theories of international trade - comparative advantage, terms of trade in addition to offer curve, product cycle in addition to strategic trade theories, trade as an engine of growth; empirical models - gravity model of trade, outsourcing, time zone differences, inter-industry trade (Lloyd-Grubel Index); forms of protection - tariff in addition to quota; balance of payments adjustment - price versus income adjustments, theories of policy mix, exchange rate adjustments under capital mobility, floating rates, trade policy in addition to developing countries, BOP adjustments as well as policy coordination, speculative attacks, trade blocks as well as monetary unions, WTO (TRIMS, TRIPS, rounds of talks)

Growth as well as Development: Theories of growth - Harrod’s model, Lewis model of development with surplus labour, balanced-unbalanced growth, human capital along with economic growth, R&D as well as economic growth; process of economic development of less developed countries - Myrdal as well as Kuznets, role of agriculture; economic development as well as international trade in addition to investment, role of multinationals; planning in addition to economic development; welfare indicators - Human Development Indices, basic needs approach; development along with environmental sustainability - renewable as well as non-renewable resources, environmental degradation, intergenerational equity

As per the official update, (B) Paper II

It is informed that, Indian Economy in Post-Independence Era: Land system along with its changes; commercialization of agriculture; drain theory; laissez faire theory as well as its critique; manufacture in addition to transport - jute, cotton, railways, money as well as credit

The Pre-Liberalization Era: Contribution of Mahalanobis, Vakil, Gadgil as well as V.K.R.V. Rao; agriculture - land reforms, land tenure system, Green Revolution as well as capital formation; industry trends in composition in addition to growth, role of public in addition to private sector, small scale as well as cottage industries; national as well as per capita income patterns in addition to trends; broad factors determining national income along with distribution, measures of poverty, trends in poverty in addition to inequality

The Post-Liberalization Era: New economic reform along with agriculture - agriculture along with WTO, food processing, subsidies, agricultural prices along with public distribution system; new economic policy in addition to industry - industrialization strategy, privatization, disinvestments, role of FDI along with multinationals; new economic policy as well as trade - IPR implications of TRIPS, TRIMS, GATS along with new EXIM policy; new exchange rate regime - partial in addition to full convertibility, capital account convertibility; new economic policy along with public finance - FRBM Act, Twelfth Finance Commission, fiscal federalism in addition to fiscal consolidation; new economic policy as well as monetary system, role of RBI under the new regime; planning - from central planning to indicative planning, 73rd as well as 74th Constitutional amendments; new economic policy along with employment - employment as well as poverty, rural wages, employment generation, poverty alleviation schemes, New Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

4. Optional Paper - Mathematics (Annexure-IV)

(A) Paper I

Linear Algebra: Vector spaces over R along with C, linear dependence in addition to independence, subspaces, bases, dimensions; linear transformations, rank in addition to nullity, matrix of a linear transformation; algebra of matrices, row along with column reduction, echelon form, congruence along with similarity, rank of a matrix, inverse of a matrix, solution of system of linear equations, eigenvalues as well as eigenvectors, characteristic polynomial, Cayley-Hamilton theorem; symmetric, skew-symmetric, Hermitian, skew-Hermitian, orthogonal in addition to unitary matrices along with their eigenvalues

Calculus: Real numbers, functions of a real variable, limits, continuity, differentiability, mean-value theorem, Taylor’s theorem with remainders, indeterminate forms, maxima along with minima, asymptotes, curve tracing; functions of two or three variables - limits, continuity, partial derivatives, maxima as well as minima, Lagrange’s method of multipliers, Jacobian; Riemann’s definition of definite integrals, indefinite integrals, infinite in addition to improper integrals, double as well as triple integrals (evaluation techniques only), areas, surface in addition to volumes

Analytic Geometry: Cartesian as well as polar coordinates in three dimensions; second degree equations in three variables, reduction to canonical forms; straight lines, shortest distance between two skew lines; plane, sphere, cone, cylinder, paraboloid, ellipsoid, hyperboloid of one in addition to two sheets along with their properties

Ordinary Differential Equations: Formulation of differential equations; equations of first order in addition to first degree, integrating factor; orthogonal trajectory; equations of first order yet not of first degree, Clairaut’s equation, singular solution; second in addition to higher order linear equations with constant coefficients, complementary function, particular integral as well as general solution; second order linear equations with variable coefficients, Euler-Cauchy equation; detailed solution when one solution is known using variation of parameters; Laplace along with Inverse Laplace transforms along with their properties; application to initial value problems for 2nd order linear equations with constant coefficients

Dynamics along with Statics: Rectilinear motion, simple harmonic motion, motion in a plane, projectiles; constrained motion; work along with energy, conservation of energy; Kepler’s laws, orbits under central forces; equilibrium of a system of particles; work in addition to potential energy, friction, common catenary; principle of virtual work; stability of equilibrium, equilibrium of forces in three dimensions

Vector Analysis: Scalar as well as vector fields, differentiation of vector field of a scalar variable; gradient, divergence in addition to curl in Cartesian along with cylindrical coordinates; higher order derivatives; vector identities in addition to vector equations; application to geometry - curves in space, curvature in addition to torsion, Serret-Frenet’s formulae; Gauss in addition to Stokes’ theorems, Green’s identities

It is informed that, (B) Paper II

Algebra: Groups, subgroups, cyclic groups, cosets, Lagrange’s Theorem, normal subgroups, quotient groups, homomorphism of groups, basic isomorphism theorems, permutation groups, Cayley’s theorem; rings, subrings in addition to ideals, homomorphisms of rings; integral domains, principal ideal domains, Euclidean domains in addition to unique factorization domains; fields, quotient fields

Real Analysis: Real number system as an ordered field with least upper bound property; sequences, limit of a sequence, Cauchy sequence, completeness of real line; series as well as its convergence, absolute as well as conditional convergence, rearrangement of series; continuity in addition to uniform continuity of functions, properties of continuous functions on compact sets; Riemann integral, improper integrals, fundamental theorems of integral calculus; partial derivatives of functions of several (two or three) variables, maxima as well as minima

Complex Analysis: Analytic function, Cauchy-Riemann equations, Cauchy’s theorem, Cauchy’s integral formula, power series, representation of an analytic function, Taylor’s series; singularities, Laurent’s series, Cauchy’s residue theorem, contour integration

Linear Programming: Linear programming problems, basic solution, basic feasible solution as well as optimal solution; graphical method along with simplex method of solutions; duality

Partial Differential Equations: Family of surfaces in three dimensions along with formulation of partial differential equations; solution of quasilinear partial differential equations of the first order, Cauchy’s method of characteristics; linear partial differential equations of the second order with constant coefficients, canonical form; equation of a vibrating string, heat equation, Laplace equation along with their solutions

Numerical Analysis in addition to Computer Programming: Numerical methods - solution of algebraic in addition to transcendental equations by bisection, Regula-Falsi along with Newton-Raphson methods; solution of system of linear equations by Gaussian Elimination, Gauss-Jorden (direct) as well as Gauss-Seidel (iterative) methods; Newton’s (forward as well as backward) as well as Lagrange’s interpolation; numerical integration - Trapezoidal rule, Simpson’s rule, Gaussian quadrature formula; numerical solution of ordinary differential equations - Euler as well as Runge Kutta methods; computer programming - binary system, arithmetic as well as logical operations, octal in addition to hexadecimal systems, conversion to in addition to from decimal systems, algebra of binary numbers; elements of computer systems as well as concept of memory, basic logic gates along with truth tables, Boolean algebra, normal forms; representation of unsigned integers, signed integers along with reals, double precision reals as well as long integers; algorithms along with flow charts for solving numerical analysis problems

Mechanics along with Fluid Dynamics: Generalised coordinates; D’Alembert’s principle in addition to Lagrange’s equations; Hamilton equations; moment of inertia; motion of rigid bodies in two dimensions; equation of continuity; Euler’s equation of motion for inviscid flow; stream-lines, path of a particle; potential flow; two-dimensional as well as axisymmetric motion; sources as well as sinks, vortex motion; Navier-Stokes equation for a viscous fluid

Interested applicants should know that, 5. Optional Paper - Statistics (Annexure-V)

(A) Paper I

Probability: Sample space in addition to events, probability measure as well as probability space, random variable as a measurable function, distribution function, discrete along with continuous-type random variable, probability mass function, probability density function, vector-valued random variable, marginal as well as conditional distributions, stochastic independence; expectation along with moments, conditional expectation; convergence of a sequence of random variables (in distribution, in probability, in mean, almost everywhere), their criteria along with inter-relations; Chebyshev’s inequality, Khintchine’s weak law of large numbers, strong law of large numbers, Kolmogoroff’s theorems; probability generating function, moment generating function, characteristic function, inversion theorem; Lindeberg as well as Levy forms of central limit theorem; standard discrete in addition to continuous probability distributions

Statistical Inference: Consistency, unbiasedness, efficiency, sufficiency, completeness, ancillary statistics, factorization theorem, exponential family of distributions; UMVU estimation, Rao-Blackwell in addition to Lehmann-Scheffe theorems, Cramer-Rao inequality for single parameter; estimation by methods of moments, maximum likelihood, least squares, minimum chi-square as well as modified minimum chi-square; properties of ML along with other estimators, asymptotic efficiency; prior as well as posterior distributions, loss function, risk function, minimax as well as Bayes estimators; non-randomised in addition to randomised tests, critical function, MP tests, Neyman-Pearson lemma, UMP tests, monotone likelihood ratio, similar along with unbiased tests, UMPU tests for single parameter, likelihood ratio test along with its asymptotic distribution, confidence bounds as well as their relation with tests; Kolmogorov’s test for goodness of fit, sign test, Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov two sample test, run test, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test in addition to median test; Wald’s SPRT along with its properties, OC in addition to ASN functions for Bernoulli, Poisson, normal as well as exponential distributions, Wald’s fundamental identity

Linear Inference in addition to Multivariate Analysis: Linear statistical models, theory of least squares along with analysis of variance, Gauss-Markoff theory, normal equations, least squares estimates as well as their precision, tests of significance in addition to interval estimates in one-way, two-way along with three-way classified data; regression analysis, linear regression, curvilinear regression along with orthogonal polynomials, multiple regression, multiple in addition to partial correlations; estimation of variance in addition to covariance components; multivariate normal distribution, Mahalanobis D² along with Hotelling’s T² statistics

Sampling Theory as well as Design of Experiments: Fixed-population in addition to super-population approaches, finite population sampling, probability sampling designs, simple random sampling with along with without replacement, stratified random sampling, systematic sampling, cluster sampling, two-stage along with multi-stage sampling, ratio along with regression methods of estimation, two-phase sampling; fixed effects, random as well as mixed effects models; CRD, RBD, LSD in addition to their analyses; incomplete block designs, orthogonality as well as balance, BIBD, missing plot technique; factorial experiments 2&sup4; as well as 3², confounding, split-plot as well as simple lattice designs, transformation of data, Duncan’s multiple range test

(B) Paper II

Industrial Statistics: Process as well as product control, general theory of control charts - X, R, s, p, np as well as c charts, cumulative sum chart; single, double, multiple in addition to sequential sampling plans for attributes, OC, ASN, AOQ as well as ATI curves, producer’s in addition to consumer’s risks, AQL, LTPD in addition to AOQL, sampling plans for variables, use of Dodge-Romin tables; concept of reliability, failure rate in addition to reliability functions, reliability of series along with parallel systems, renewal density in addition to renewal function, failure models - exponential, Weibull, normal, lognormal; problems in life testing, censored as well as truncated experiments for exponential models

Optimization Techniques: Different types of models in Operations Research, simulation in addition to Monte-Carlo methods, formulation of Linear Programming (LP) problem, simplex procedure, two-phase method in addition to M-technique with artificial variables, duality theory of LP as well as its economic interpretation, sensitivity analysis, transportation as well as assignment problems, rectangular games, two-person zero-sum games; replacement of failing or deteriorating items, group in addition to individual replacement policies, scientific inventory management, deterministic in addition to stochastic demand models, storage models (dam type); homogeneous discrete-time in addition to continuous-time Markov chains, transition probability matrix, classification of states, ergodic theorems, Poisson process, elements of queuing theory (M/M/1, M/M/K, G/M/1, M/G/1); solution of statistical problems on computers using software packages like SPSS

Quantitative Economics in addition to Departmental Statistics: Determination of trend, seasonal in addition to cyclical components, Box-Jenkins method, tests for stationary series, ARIMA models, forecasting; commonly used index numbers - Laspeyre’s, Paasche’s as well as Fisher’s ideal index numbers, chain-base index number, uses as well as limitations of index numbers, index number of wholesale prices, consumer price, agricultural as well as industrial production, tests for index numbers (proportionality, time-reversal, factor-reversal, circular); general linear model, OLS in addition to GLS methods of estimation, multicollinearity, autocorrelation in addition to heteroscedasticity, test for independence of disturbances, simultaneous equations, problem of identification (rank in addition to order conditions), two-stage least square method

Demography along with Psychometry: Demographic data from census, registration, NSS in addition to other surveys, their limitations as well as uses; construction along with uses of vital rates in addition to ratios, measures of fertility, reproduction rates, morbidity rate, standardized death rate; full along with abridged life tables, construction along with uses of life tables; logistic as well as other population growth curves, population projection, stable as well as quasi-stable population, estimation of demographic parameters; standard classification by cause of death, health surveys in addition to use of hospital statistics; methods of standardisation of scales in addition to tests, Z-scores, standard scores, T-scores, percentile scores, intelligence quotient along with its measurement as well as uses, validity in addition to reliability of test scores, methods of factor analysis in addition to path analysis in psychometry

How to Prepare for APPSC FAO/TO and STO Exam 2026

As per the official update, Start with the Commercial Mathematics syllabus first, since it is compulsory for every candidate regardless of the optional subject chosen - build speed on Percentage, SI/CI, Profit-Loss along with Time-Work problems, as these topic areas cover the bulk of the 200-mark paper.

Pick your optional subject (Commerce, Economics, Mathematics or Statistics) based on your academic background, since each has two full papers with postgraduate-level depth.

Make a topic-wise timetable that maps each Annexure to weekly targets, rather than studying subjects randomly.

Practice previous APPSC question papers as well as other state PSC finance-related papers to get familiar with the question style, since government past papers for this specific post are not yet available.

Revise standard reference textbooks for your chosen optional subject at the postgraduate level, since the syllabus (e.g., Statistical Inference, Complex Analysis, Financial Management) matches university-level depth.

Keep a separate revision file for formulas (Commercial Mathematics) along with theorems (Mathematics/Statistics optional), in addition to revise it in the last month before the exam.

Important Links

APPSC Syllabus 2026 : Use the link provided

authorized webpage: appsc.gov.in