I failed before I passed. You don’t have to struggle the way I did.
I’m Chidambaram Narayanan, CISA Coach. I come from accounting and finance, I failed exams before I passed them, and I learned almost everything on my own. This site is the help I never had.
My story
My background is accounting and finance. I sat the CA exams and failed them more than once. It didn’t mean I wasn’t good enough. It was only a matter of time.
In 2010 I decided to take CISA, without really understanding computing and all that IT jazz. I didn’t have a teacher or a mentor, and I couldn’t afford expensive coaching. There was very little support, in resources or in people, so I had to find my own way around a lot of things.
There was no shortage of material. Every manual and course told me what to study: the domains, the frameworks, the definitions. None of them told me how. Where do I start? What order do I go in? How do I make this stick? Why do I keep choosing an answer that’s right at work and wrong in the exam? There was no structured approach.
With the grace of the Almighty, and by finding my way around a lot of things on my own, I passed CISA in my first attempt. For someone from a finance background, with no IT training, that meant a great deal. But I struggled to get there, and I haven’t forgotten what that felt like.
Today I’m able to pay it forward. I’ve guided thousands of candidates around the world, my Udemy courses are taken by people in more than 50 countries, and I built a free CISA Knowledge Vault so that cost is never the reason someone can’t start. The modules on this site are the structured “how to study” I wish I’d had in 2010.
Hear it from me
How I passed the CISA exam in my first attempt, from a finance background.
What the world gives you
- What to study: thick manuals and long syllabi
- Thousands of questions, with a score and little else
- Expensive classes, out of reach for many
- Advice that assumes you have a mentor
What I needed, and built
- How to study: a clear order, one step at a time
- Why each wrong answer is wrong, not just a score
- Free guides and practice for anyone who needs them
- A structured path that works when you study alone
The structured approach
Every module on this site follows the same four steps, in the same order. You always know what to do today, and why.
- 1
Understand
Learn how the examiner thinks before you open a domain. Then every topic is taught through one question: what would a senior, independent auditor do here?
- 2
Remember
Short, repeated recall instead of long rereading. Flashcards and one-page visuals, so ten spare minutes on a commute still count.
- 3
Apply
Practice questions where the explanation of every wrong option matters as much as the score, because that is where the judgement is built.
- 4
Revise
In the last weeks, only what is high-yield, in one place, with timed mock exams to build stamina.
Who this is for
It’s for people like me. People studying alone after a full day’s work. People who don’t have the right guru or mentor in their life, and can’t pay for expensive coaching. People who know their job well but keep getting caught by the way the exam asks its questions.
That’s why so much here is free: the exam guides, the puzzles, the glossary, the question of the day, the blog and the newsletter. When you want to go deeper, the study packs give you the complete structured path for your exam: CISA, CIA (Parts 1, 2 and 3, or the Challenge Exam) and AAIA.
About me
I’m a financial and IT audit leader with an accounting and finance background, and I train and mentor CISA and CIA candidates. Online, many people know me as AuditDude.
- Richard Chambers Internal Audit Beacon Award, 2024 and 2025
- Favikon Top 10 LinkedIn Voice in Oman
- CISA, passed in the first attempt in 2010
- Udemy courses taken by learners in more than 50 countries
I share audit and exam insights on LinkedIn and YouTube. If you’re preparing for an exam and feel stuck, write to me. I read every message.
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