Download Grade 12 Accounting past papers and memos
Newest first. The memo sits on the same row as the paper it belongs to, so you do not have to go looking for it. Last updated .
2026
September 2026Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2026, all subjects- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Free State
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1Limpopo
- Paper 2National
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Free State
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
Feb/March 2026Term 1
Grade 12 Feb/March 2026, all subjects- Paper 1Limpopo
2025
November 2025Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2025, all subjects- Paper 1National
- Paper 2National
September 2025Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2025, all subjects- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Free State
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1Mpumalanga
- Paper 1Western Cape
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2Western Cape
- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Free State
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1North West
- Paper 2National
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Free State
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2North West
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1Limpopo
2024
November 2024Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2024, all subjects- Paper 1National
- Paper 2National
September 2024Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2024, all subjects- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Free State
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1Mpumalanga
- Paper 1North West
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Free State
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2Mpumalanga
- Paper 2North West
- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1North West
- Paper 2National
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 2North West
Feb/March 2024Term 1
Grade 12 Feb/March 2024, all subjects- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
2023
November 2023Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2023, all subjects- Paper 1National
- Paper 2National
September 2023Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2023, all subjects- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 2National
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Gauteng
2022
November 2022Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2022, all subjects- Paper 1National
- Paper 2National
September 2022Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2022, all subjects- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Free State
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 2National
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
2021
November 2021Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2021, all subjects- Paper 1National
- Paper 2National
September 2021Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2021, all subjects- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 2National
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
2020
November 2020Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2020, all subjects- Question paperNational
- Paper 1National
- Paper 2National
September 2020Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2020, all subjects- Paper 1Eastern Cape
- Paper 1Gauteng
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2Eastern Cape
- Paper 2Gauteng
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
May/June 2020Term 2
- Paper 1KwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 2KwaZulu-Natal
Feb/March 2020Term 1
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
2019
November 2019Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2019, all subjects- Paper 1National
September 2019Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2019, all subjects- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperGauteng
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperNorth West
- Question paperNational
- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperNorth West
- Paper 1National
Feb/March 2019Term 1
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
2018
November 2018Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2018, all subjects- Paper 1National
September 2018Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2018, all subjects- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperGauteng
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperNorth West
- Paper 1National
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
2017
November 2017Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2017, all subjects- Paper 1National
September 2017Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2017, all subjects- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperGauteng
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperNorth West
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
2016
November 2016Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2016, all subjects- Paper 1National
September 2016Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2016, all subjects- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperGauteng
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
2015
November 2015Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2015, all subjects- Paper 1National
September 2015Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2015, all subjects- Question paperEastern Cape
- Question paperGauteng
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Question paperKwaZulu-Natal
- Paper 1National
2014
November 2014Term 4 · Finals
Grade 12 November 2014, all subjects- Paper 1National
September 2014Term 3 · Trials (prelims)
Grade 12 September 2014, all subjects- Question paperEastern Cape
Feb/March 2014Term 1
Grade 12 Feb/March 2014, all subjects- Question paperNational
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Grade 12 Accounting exam guidelines
What is in Paper 1 and Paper 2, and what each topic is worth.
The topics, the marks and the time you get, from the Department of Basic Education's examination guidelines for Accounting. Know this before you sit down with a paper and you will know what a good mark should feel like.
A ± means it is the weighting the examiners work towards rather than a fixed part of the paper, so a sitting lands a few marks either side of it.
Paper 1
150 marks, 2 hours
- Company financial statements
- ±50 marks
- Cash flow statement and financial indicators
- ±45 marks
- Concepts and interpretation of financial information
- ±40 marks
- Corporate governance
- ±15 marks
Paper 2
150 marks, 2 hours
- Reconciliations
- ±40 marks
- Budgeting and problem solving
- ±40 marks
- Stock valuation
- ±35 marks
- Cost accounting
- ±35 marks
How hard is Grade 12 Accounting?
Out of every 10 learners who wrote Accounting, about 5 got 40% or more.
100 485 learners wrote Accounting in 2025. 6 of the 9 subjects on this site are passed more often than this one.
Use that when you mark your own paper. Under 30% is a fail. 30% to 39% is a pass, but it shuts you out of most courses after school. 40% and up means you did better than about half the country.
The paper is not the same every year. In 2024 it was about 6 out of every 10.
| Year | Wrote the exam | Got 30% or more | Got 40% or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 100 485 | 77.9% | 54.3% |
| 2024 | 97 636 | 81.2% | 56.9% |
| 2023 | 100 974 | 76.8% | 52% |
| 2022 | 104 798 | 75.4% | 51.8% |
| 2021 | 105 894 | 74.7% | 51.5% |
National results for the October and November papers, from the Department of Basic Education's 2025 NSC Diagnostic Report.
Grade 12 Accounting past paper questions
Where can I download Grade 12 Accounting past papers and memos?
On this page. There are 161 Grade 12 Accounting past papers here, from 2014 to 2026, and they come with their memos. Some people call them exam papers or previous question papers. They are the same thing. Every one is a free PDF and none of them ask you to sign up.
Are the Grade 12 Accounting trial or prelim papers here?
Yes. Look under September in each year. The September papers are the trial exams. Some schools call them prelims and some call them preparatory exams. Each province sets its own, so you can practise on more than one.
Do the papers come with memos?
Yes. The memo, which is the marking guideline the examiners use, sits on the same row as the paper it belongs to, so you download the two together rather than hunting for them separately.
Which provinces are these Accounting papers from?
The Department of Basic Education, the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape. Every paper here was set by an education department. Some departments put their papers online, and we take those from the department. Others do not, so we find their papers elsewhere and check each one against its cover before we add it. If you cannot find your province, a national paper is set to the same CAPS curriculum and is just as good to practise on.
What topics are in Grade 12 Accounting Paper 1?
Paper 1 is out of 150 marks and you get 2 hours to write it. It covers 4 areas: Company financial statements; Cash flow statement and financial indicators; Concepts and interpretation of financial information; Corporate governance. The marks for each one are set out above.
Which term are these Accounting papers from?
Every term the department published one for. Term 4 is the November exams, Term 3 is the September exams, Term 2 is the May/June exams, Term 1 is the Feb/March exams. Each paper in the list is labelled both ways, so it does not matter whether your school talks in terms or in months.
Are these IEB papers?
No. These are NSC papers, set by the Department of Basic Education and the provinces for the government curriculum, CAPS. If you are at an IEB school the content overlaps a great deal, but the papers are set separately and are not on this page.
Which paper should I start with?
The newest one. Start with 2026 and work backwards. The examiners who set the most recent papers are the ones setting yours, and how they word a question matters as much as what it is about.
Verified against DBE and provincial education department papers
Published · Updated by NavyBlue Editorial Team
Had enough for now? Try today's puzzle.
Today's puzzle pulls from Accounting and everything else you have covered. Four tries, about two minutes, and one group is always a trick.
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