ivest i your futuretoday. Grow your professioal skills ad advace your career with GFOA s atioally recogized Certified Public Fiace Officer (CPFO) Program. i cojuctio with
T he Govermet Fiace Officers Associatio s (GFOA) Certified Public Fiace Officer (CPFO) desigatio is a self-study certificatio program desiged to prepare idividuals for fiacial leadership Take your govermet ad career to the ext level by becomig a CPFO Get practical traiig with a how to focus. Carry the CPFO desigatio with you throughout your career. Add the CPFO desigatio to your resume ad ehace your professioal marketability. Receive atioal recogitio from your peers. Build relatioships ad etwork with other CPFOs at the GFOA s aual coferece, traiig courses, ad state associatio evets. Use the self-study materials to explore importat fiace topics i depth. positios i state ad local govermet by ehacig fudametal skills ad icreasig kowledge of best practices ad the latest treds i govermet fiace.
How do I achieve the CPFO desigatio? To be eligible to take the certificatio examiatios a cadidate must: Hold a baccalaureate degree from a accredited istitutio Accept ad observe the GFOA Code of Professioal Ethics. To receive the CPFO desigatio a cadidate must meet three additioal criteria: * Curret Employmet: Cadidates must have a govermet as their primary employer.* Cadidates that are curretly uemployed must have had a govermet as their most recet primary employer ad must be actively seekig govermet employmet. Employmet History: Cadidates must have had at least three years of experiece with a govermet as their primary employer durig the previous te years. GFOA Membership: Cadidates employed with a govermet must be active members of the GFOA or be eligible for active membership whe they apply for each exam. (Visit www.gfoa.org for membership beefits ad to dowload a applicatio ad fee schedule.) Primary employmet is defied as a full-time govermet employee workig a average of at least 32 hours a week. Did yo kow? u The CP FO pro gram w 1997 t as star o help ted by stada eeded GFOA r d ize the for pub i core k li T c fiace here ar owledg. e over e 600 CP I 2015, FOs i 455 pr t h e Uite ofessio oe of d State als to the exa s. ok at le ms. ast
The CPFO program offers certificatio exams three times a year at sites aroud the coutry: Fall, early Sprig, ad at the GFOA aual coferece. Most sites offer both a morig ad afteroo sessio to allow cadidates the opportuity to take two exams o the same day if they so choose. To achieve the CPFO desigatio, a cadidate must successfully complete five exams i seve years i the followig disciplies: govermetal accoutig, auditig, ad fiacial reportig operatig ad capital budgetig debt maagemet treasury ad ivestmet maagemet retiremet ad beefits, risk maagemet, ad A idividual does procuremet Each exam comprises 175 multiple-choice questios that must be completed i 3-1/2 hours. The passig stadard is 75 percet. ot have to take all five exams to beefit from participatig i Exams are primarily based o a suggested readig list that is icluded with the Cadidate s Guide. the program. Each If you have questios o a specific sectio, call the GFOA offices at 312.977.9700 or Radford Uiversity at 540.831.6734. passig ay oe is a test is of such scope ad quality that oteworthy achievemet. A certificate is issued Please refer to the Cadidate s Guide ad applicatio of exam for each exam that is fees. Visit www.gfoa.org to order successfully passed. the suggested readig materials. The GFOA offers a 50 percet discout o publicatios for CPFO cadidates. The publicatios are ot oly helpful i preparig for the CPFO exams, but provide future beefit as well. Oce eared, the CPFO desigatio is maitaied by participatig i 30 hours of Cotiuig Professioal Educatio (CPE) each year or 60 hours over a two-year period.
GFOA s CPFO Program provides a complete set of tools ad best practices eeded to succeed as a govermet fiace leader i accoutig, budgetig, capital fiacig, ivestig, ad overseeig citize participatio. Preparig for the exams is serious studyig, but worth every effort you put ito it. ADÉ A. ARIWOOLA, Fiace Director, City of Federal Way, Washigto Hear what CPFOs are I ow have a much better uderstadig of all of the key areas of public fiace ad feel more prepared to accept ew challeges ad resposibilities i my career. JAMES BERNIER, Fiacial Reportig Maager/Chief Deputy Auditor, McHery Couty Auditor s Office, Illiois The program greatly expaded my professioal capabilities. WILLIAM HALL, Director of Statewide Reportig, State of Vermot C ompletig the CPFO program has give me the kowledge ad cofidece I eed to lead ad esure each area of fiace is maaged effectively ad efficietly. DONNA WITT, Director of Fiacial Services, City of Lychburg, Virgiia
We welcome your questios! Cotact: Visit www.gfoa.org for more iformatio, to view the Cadidate s Guide, ad to register for exams. Jim Phillips Govermet Fiace Officers Associatio jphillips@gfoa.org 312.977.9700 x2297 i cojuctio with Bruce Chase Radford Uiversity bchase@radford.edu 540.831.5744 The CPFO program is govered by the GFOA Coucil o Certificatio. Techical ad admiistrative support is provided by the Radford Uiversity Govermetal ad Noprofit Assistace Ceter.