CTP (Certified Treasury Professional)
AFP (Association for Financial Professionals)
Complete guide to passing the CTP (Certified Treasury Professional) exam on your first attempt.
$575 (members) / $825 (non-members)
~55%
3 years (recertification with CPEs)
Global
AFP (Association for Financial Professionals)
$100k-$180k
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Complete Overview
The Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) is a corporate treasury credential awarded by the Association for Financial Professionals, tested through a single 170-question multiple-choice exam delivered at Pearson VUE test centers. New applicant fees for the current cycle are $925 for an AFP member and $1,320 for a non-member at the early deadline, rising to $1,025 and $1,420 at the final deadline, with corporate member rates of $825 and $925; the non-member fee includes one year of AFP membership. The candidates who sit it are cash managers, treasury analysts and managers, assistant treasurers, corporate finance staff, and bank relationship and product managers who work opposite corporate treasury teams.
Of the 170 questions, 150 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest items that AFP uses to gather statistics for future exams. Candidates cannot tell which is which, and all scored questions are weighted equally. Your scheduled appointment is four hours long: three and a half hours for the exam itself, plus 30 minutes covering an optional 15-minute tutorial before the exam and a short questionnaire at the end.
The blueprint has five knowledge domains, published by AFP as question counts rather than percentages. Domain 1 on corporate liquidity accounts for 55 to 60 questions, Domain 2 on capital structure for 33 to 37, Domain 3 on internal and external relationships for 12 to 17, Domain 4 on financial, regulatory and operational risk for 23 to 27, and Domain 5 on the impact of technologies for 23 to 27. AFP also publishes the cognitive mix: 33 to 37 percent of questions test basic facts and terms, 38 to 42 percent test concepts and principles, 23 to 27 percent test application to a specific situation, and 10 to 15 percent require mathematical computation.
Scoring is criterion-referenced and not curved. Raw scores are converted to a scaled score running from 200 to 500, and 300 is the passing score. The percentage of questions needed to reach 300 varies slightly between exam forms because of statistical equating, so AFP does not publish a fixed passing percentage. AFP states that in recent testing windows passing rates have ranged from 43 to 51 percent, and that the standard allows a rate anywhere from 0 to 100 percent because each candidate is judged independently. You normally get a printed pass or fail report before you leave the test centre, with a scaled score and domain-level diagnostics only if you failed. The exception is the first window under a new body of knowledge, which happens once every three years and applied to the June to July 2026 window: those results were mailed after the window closed rather than printed on the day, while AFP set the passing score against the new questions.
The exam runs in two testing windows a year, June to July and December to January, and each application is valid for six consecutive testing windows or three years. For the December 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027 window the early application deadline is September 23, 2026, the final and re-registration deadline October 28, 2026, the cancellation and refund deadline November 17, 2026 and the deferral deadline January 31, 2027; the following window runs June 1 to July 31, 2027 with an early deadline of March 24, 2027 and a final deadline of April 28, 2027. The professional experience requirement to earn the credential is two years of full-time work in a career-based corporate cash management, treasury management or corporate finance position, with an advanced business degree from a graduate programme counting as one year of that. Candidates may sit the exam before meeting the experience requirement but are not awarded the credential until it is met. The CTP is valid for three years and requires 36 continuing education credits per cycle to maintain.
Why Get CTP (Certified Treasury Professional) Certified?
One exam earns the credential. There is no multi-level structure, so a candidate who passes in a single window can hold the CTP within about four weeks of the test date.
AFP reports recent passing rates of 43 to 51 percent, which means roughly half of a self-selected professional cohort does not clear the standard on a given attempt.
The blueprint maps to a real treasury job description: cash positioning, bank structure, FX exposure, trade finance, capital structure, counterparty risk, fraud detection and treasury technology all appear as named task statements.
You can sit the exam before completing the two-year experience requirement, so a candidate one year into a treasury role can pass now and be credentialed the moment the experience clock finishes.
The non-member application fee of $1,320 includes one year of AFP membership, which then applies member pricing to the Essentials of Treasury Management text and the recertification reporting fee.
Recertification runs on 36 credits over three years, which most working treasury professionals accumulate through conferences, webinars and job-related coursework rather than dedicated exam study.
AFP publishes the full task statement list for all five domains free of charge, so you can audit your own gaps against the blueprint before spending anything.
Exam Format & Structure
Duration
3.5 hours of testing time within a 4-hour scheduled appointment. The extra 30 minutes covers an optional 15-minute tutorial before the exam and a brief computer-administered questionnaire afterwards.
Questions
170 multiple-choice questions, of which 150 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest items
Passing Score
A scaled score of 300 on a scale running from 200 to 500. AFP does not publish a fixed passing percentage, because the number of correct answers needed to reach 300 varies slightly across exam forms after statistical equating.
Question Types
- Multiple choice drawn from the Essentials of Treasury Management body of knowledge
- Recall items testing basic facts and terms (33-37% of questions)
- Comprehension items testing concepts and principles (38-42% of questions)
- Application items testing higher thinking applied to a specific situation (23-27% of questions)
- Computational items requiring mathematics, spread across the categories above (10-15% of questions)
Delivery Method
Computer-based testing at Pearson VUE test centers, more than 5,000 worldwide, during a two-month testing window. An online calculator is supplied on screen and no personal calculator is permitted.
Exam Domains & Topics
The largest domain by a wide margin, covering day-to-day treasury operations. Candidates manage cash position through short-term investing and borrowing, forecast receipts and disbursements, design banking structures including concentration and pooling, handle FX exposure, run trade and intercompany financing, reconcile balances, and calculate and interpret financial ratios.
Key Topics to Master:
- Optimal cash positioning through short-term investing and borrowing
- Cash flow forecasting and account funding
- Cash concentration, notional pooling and target balance structures
- Foreign exchange exposure management
- Trade financing including letters of credit
- Intercompany financing, repatriation and in-house banking
- Balance review and transaction reconciliation
- Treasury operations design, roles and outsourcing options
- Financial ratio calculation and analysis
Long-horizon financing decisions. Candidates negotiate and manage syndicated agreements and revolving debt, run an investment portfolio, manage debt and equity issuance through post-issuance compliance, dividends and retirement, assess merger and acquisition impact, read current market conditions for borrowing strategy, and hedge FX, interest rate and commodity exposure.
Key Topics to Master:
- Syndicated credit agreements and covenant management
- Revolving credit facility mechanics
- Investment portfolio policy and management
- Debt and equity issuance, post-issuance compliance and retirement
- Dividend policy and share repurchase
- Impact of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures on capital structure
- Credit availability, spreads, interest rates and terms
- Hedging FX, interest rate and commodity exposure
The smallest domain by question count, covering the relationship side of treasury. Candidates build and review relationships with financial service providers, administer bank accounts including fee analysis and signer management, select and negotiate operational agreements with external providers, and work with internal stakeholders across accounting, IT, legal, audit, investor relations, financial planning and tax.
Key Topics to Master:
- Bank relationship management and periodic review
- Bank account administration and documentation
- Bank fee analysis and account analysis statements
- Signer management and authority documentation
- Selecting and negotiating with financial, technology, investment and retirement advisers
- Acting as an internal trusted adviser and consultant
- Working with accounting, IT, legal, audit, investor relations, FP&A and tax
Policy, control and compliance work, including emerging and reputational risk. Candidates comply with and draft treasury policies, detect and mitigate payment and transaction fraud, benchmark performance externally, evaluate counterparty risk across supply chain, banks, brokers and dealers, maintain and test business continuity plans, and manage merchant services programmes.
Key Topics to Master:
- Investment, FX, hedging and credit approval policies
- Sarbanes-Oxley, SSAE 18, SOC 1 and SOC 2 requirements
- Drafting treasury policies and procedures for approval
- Payment fraud, internal and external fraud detection and mitigation
- Benchmarking, including comparative bank fee analysis
- Counterparty risk across supply chain, banks, brokers and dealers
- Business continuity planning for balance reporting and funds transfer
- Merchant services programmes, card security compliance and retention
- Regulatory compliance reporting
Treasury systems and the security questions they raise. Candidates evaluate ERP systems, e-commerce, payment card and treasury management systems, identify security issues in new and existing technology including artificial intelligence and cashless environments, monitor information security and cyber risk, and implement banking products and treasury workstations.
Key Topics to Master:
- Enterprise resource planning systems in a treasury context
- Treasury management systems and treasury workstations
- E-commerce and payment card systems
- Security concerns in merchant services and cashless environments
- Artificial intelligence in the treasury function
- Information security and cyber risk monitoring
- Email scams, phishing and payment card scams
- Implementing banking products and services
Recommended Study Plan
- 1Read the CTP Test Specifications page in full and mark every task statement you could not explain to a colleague.
- 2Download the free AFP Prep Guide with Sample Questions and work its sample items to calibrate the question style.
- 3Check the deadlines page and decide between the early application deadline and the final one; for the December 2026 to January 2027 window those were September 23 and October 28, 2026.
- 4Complete the Report of Experience and/or Education form in the online application, uploading a graduate transcript if you are claiming the degree equivalence.
- 5Order the Essentials of Treasury Management, priced at $195 for AFP members and $295 for non-members plus shipping and tax.
- 1Work the short-term investment and short-term borrowing chapters of Essentials of Treasury Management.
- 2Practise cash forecasting methods and the distinction between receipts, disbursements and account funding.
- 3Build a worked example of a daily cash position worksheet from opening balance to target balance.
- 4Drill money market instrument yield calculations, since 10 to 15 percent of exam questions require computation.
- 5Note that Domain 1 carries 55 to 60 of the 170 questions, roughly a third of the paper, and budget study time to match.
- 1Study cash concentration, zero balance accounts, notional pooling and multilateral netting.
- 2Cover payment systems, including wire, ACH, cheque clearing and card settlement mechanics.
- 3Work FX exposure types (transaction, translation, economic) and the hedging instruments used against each.
- 4Study trade financing, especially letters of credit, documentary collections and open account terms.
- 5Cover intercompany financing, repatriation constraints and in-house banking structures.
- 1Drill the financial ratio set: liquidity, activity, leverage, profitability and the cash conversion cycle.
- 2Work days sales outstanding, days inventory outstanding and days payables outstanding calculations to a repeatable method.
- 3Practise reading a balance sheet and income statement fast enough to extract ratio inputs in under a minute.
- 4Cover treasury operations design, segregation of duties and the case for outsourcing.
- 5Take a 55-question timed block on Domain 1 alone at 74 seconds per question.
- 1Study cost of capital, WACC and capital budgeting techniques including NPV, IRR and payback.
- 2Cover debt issuance mechanics, ratings, covenants and post-issuance compliance.
- 3Work syndicated loan and revolving credit facility structures, including commitment fees and pricing grids.
- 4Study dividend policy, share repurchase and equity issuance.
- 5Cover the treasury implications of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
- 1Study investment policy statement components and permitted instrument lists.
- 2Work interest rate risk hedging: swaps, caps, floors, collars and forward rate agreements.
- 3Cover commodity hedging and its accounting treatment at a high level.
- 4Practise valuation and settlement calculations for the derivative types named in the blueprint.
- 5Take a 35-question timed block on Domain 2 and review every miss against the source chapter.
- 1Study bank relationship management, the request for proposal process and provider selection.
- 2Learn to read an account analysis statement, including the earnings credit rate and balance requirement calculation.
- 3Cover bank account documentation, signer management and account opening controls.
- 4Map the internal stakeholders named in the blueprint and what treasury owes each one.
- 5Note that Domain 3 is the smallest at 12 to 17 questions, so cap the time you spend here.
- 1Study treasury policy drafting for investment, FX, hedging and credit approval.
- 2Cover Sarbanes-Oxley controls plus the SSAE 18 SOC 1 and SOC 2 report types and what each covers.
- 3Work payment fraud typologies and the controls against each: positive pay, ACH debit blocks, dual authorisation.
- 4Study counterparty risk assessment across supply chain, banks, brokers and dealers.
- 5Cover business continuity planning for balance reporting and funds transfer capability.
- 1Study ERP systems, treasury management systems and treasury workstations, and where each fits.
- 2Cover bank connectivity and the file formats and messaging standards used to move data.
- 3Work information security and cyber risk topics, including phishing, business email compromise and payment card scams.
- 4Study merchant services and card security compliance requirements.
- 5Cover the implementation lifecycle for a new banking product or treasury system.
- 1Sit a full 170-question practice paper in 3.5 hours without pausing.
- 2Practise using an on-screen four-function and scientific calculator only, since no personal calculator is allowed in the room.
- 3Rework every computational item, as 10 to 15 percent of the exam requires mathematics.
- 4Answer every question in practice, since AFP deducts no points for wrong answers and unanswered items score zero.
- 5Score your practice paper by domain and compare each result with the published question counts.
- 1Give the bulk of the week to the weakest domain weighted by its question count, which usually means Domain 1 or Domain 2.
- 2Re-read the task statements for that domain and write a two-line answer for each one from memory.
- 3Work a second full-length paper and compare the domain profile against week ten.
- 4Review the AFP Standards of Ethical Conduct, which you agree to abide by when you apply.
- 5Confirm your Authorization to Test details and that your name matches your ID exactly.
- 1Book your Pearson VUE appointment early in the window if you have not already, since seats fill.
- 2Verify your ID is unexpired and carries a photograph, a signature and an expiry date.
- 3Plan to arrive early, because arriving more than 30 minutes past your appointment makes you a no-show and costs $95 plus a $250 re-registration fee.
- 4Review the formulas you use most: cash conversion cycle, money market yields, WACC, NPV and account analysis.
- 5Do the 15-minute on-screen tutorial on the day rather than skipping it; AFP strongly encourages it and it does not consume exam time.
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Best Study Resources
CTP Test Specifications
Official blueprintLists all five knowledge domains with their question count ranges, every task statement inside each domain, and the cognitive mix of the paper. AFP also publishes a downloadable PDF version. Audit yourself against this before buying anything.
Free
Essentials of Treasury Management
Body of knowledge textbookThe body of knowledge from which every exam question is derived. AFP notes that the June to July 2026 window was the first under a new body of knowledge, a change that happens once every three years, so confirm the edition matches your testing window.
$195 AFP member, $295 non-member, plus shipping and tax
CTP Exam Prep Platform
Online study platformAFP's fully digital preparation tool. Bundling it with the Essentials of Treasury Management text saves $100, applied automatically at checkout, and both can be added during the application process.
$810 corporate member, $910 AFP member, $1,010 non-member
AFP Prep Guide with Sample Questions
Free study guideA downloadable guide covering study plan development, study strategies, test-taking tips, exam format and a set of sample questions with an answer key. The fastest way to see the real question style before committing money.
Free
Certification Candidate Handbook
Official handbookThe complete guide to the credential and the certification process, covering application, eligibility, scheduling, exam day and results. Read it alongside the Rules and Regulations page.
Free
CTP Rules and Regulations
Official policy pageThe single most useful logistics page: identification requirements with the exact list of acceptable name discrepancies, test centre conduct rules, deferral and cancellation policy, re-registration fees and the no-show penalty.
Free
CTP Exam Functionality Tutorial
Practice toolLets you rehearse the Pearson VUE interface, including item review, marking questions and the on-screen calculator, before you sit in the chair. AFP strongly discourages skipping the tutorial on exam day.
Free
CTP Exam Prep Cohort and regional classes
Instructor-led courseAFP runs a structured prep cohort and lists regional classes and global exam prep partnerships. Useful if you need a fixed schedule rather than self-paced study.
Paid, varies by provider and format
AFP Certification Scholarship
FundingDesigned for high-potential students and early career professionals from underrepresented communities. First-time candidates may apply for either the CTP or the FPAC scholarship, not both.
Free to apply
CTP Recertification Guidelines
Official policy pageSets out the 36 credit requirement, the three-year cycle running July 1 to June 30, the August 15 standard and October 15 late reporting deadlines, and the full recertification fee table.
Free
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Packing a financial calculator for the test centre.
No personal calculator is permitted in the CTP testing room. AFP supplies an on-screen calculator that toggles between a basic four-function version with percent and square root and a scientific version that resembles a TI-30XS. Practise your computational questions on that kind of interface, not on a BA II Plus.
Spreading study time evenly across the five domains.
AFP publishes the counts: Domain 1 is 55 to 60 questions and Domain 3 is 12 to 17. Domain 1 alone is worth roughly four times Domain 3. Weight your revision hours by the published counts, not by how interesting the material is.
Missing the Pearson VUE cancellation window and taking a no-show hit.
You must call Pearson VUE at least one full business day before your appointment, and weekends do not count as business days. Leaving a voicemail is not accepted. A no-show costs a $95 penalty plus a $250 re-registration fee for the next window, and you cannot rebook within the current one.
Applying at the final deadline when the early deadline was still open.
The early deadline saves $100 at every membership tier: $925 versus $1,025 for AFP members and $1,320 versus $1,420 for non-members. For the December 2026 to January 2027 window the early deadline was September 23, 2026 and the final deadline October 28.
Waiting to apply until the two-year experience requirement is complete.
AFP allows candidates to enrol and sit the exam before the education and experience requirements are satisfied. The credential is simply withheld until they are met. An application stays valid for six consecutive testing windows, which is three years of runway.
Leaving questions blank when time runs short.
No points are deducted for wrong answers, and if the clock expires all answers are counted regardless of how they are marked. Guess on everything you have not resolved before the timer stops.
Skipping the 15-minute tutorial to start the exam sooner.
The tutorial time is in addition to your three and a half hours, so skipping it saves you nothing. It covers item review, marking and the on-screen calculator, and once you exit it you cannot return.
Assuming a bathroom break pauses the clock.
The testing clock cannot be paused and continues to count down while you are away from your workstation. You also need the administrator's permission to leave, and you are electronically fingerprinted on the way out and again on the way back in.
Studying an outdated edition of Essentials of Treasury Management.
AFP updates the body of knowledge every three years, and it flagged the June to July 2026 window as the first under a new one. Candidates in that first window also receive results by mail 8 to 10 weeks after the window closes instead of on the day.
Exam Day Tips
- 1
Bring one unexpired primary photo ID carrying your photograph, your signature and an expiry date. Photocopies and digital IDs are refused. Acceptable types are an international travel passport, driver's licence, military ID including spouse and dependents, a national, state or province identity card, or an alien registration card.
- 2
Your ID must be issued by the country you are testing in. If it is not, you need an international travel passport in Roman characters from your country of citizenship.
- 3
The name on your ID must match both the name Pearson VUE holds and the name on your Authorization to Test. AFP does accept listed variations such as a single letter difference, reversed names, a missing middle initial, an informal first name, and suffixes like Jr or II.
- 4
Candidates presenting ID from an OFAC-sanctioned country are denied entry to the testing site, and Pearson VUE applies the policy regardless of where the test centre is.
- 5
Leave books, reference material, phones and calculators behind. Bringing a calculator or smartphone into the room is listed by AFP as misconduct, and misconduct cancels your score, forfeits all fees and bars you from future exams.
- 6
You cannot bring scratch paper. The test administrator supplies whiteboards and pens, you may request as many as you need, and you may hold up to four at your desk at a time.
- 7
Arrive with time to spare. Arriving more than 30 minutes after your scheduled appointment makes you a no-show, forfeits your fee and requires $340 to register for another window.
- 8
Take a jacket or sweater, since AFP specifically warns about air-conditioned test rooms and you will be sitting for four hours.
- 9
If anything goes wrong at the centre, ask the administrator to file an Incident Report before you leave and email the report number to AFP afterwards. AFP states test centre problems cannot be addressed later without that written report.
- 10
You get a printed result at the end of the session showing pass or fail. Failing candidates also receive a scaled score and performance diagnostics by knowledge domain; passing candidates are told only that they passed.
Career Paths & Salary Ranges
Treasury analyst
Runs the daily cash position, funds accounts, reconciles bank activity and prepares short-term forecasts. Domain 1 of the CTP blueprint describes this role almost line by line, which is why analysts are the largest candidate group.
$100k-$180k
Treasury manager or assistant treasurer
Owns bank relationships, treasury policy and the liquidity plan. The Domain 3 task statements on bank fee analysis, signer management and provider selection, and the Domain 4 statements on policy drafting, are the working content of the job.
$100k-$180k
Cash manager
Manages concentration and pooling structures, payment operations and short-term investment of surplus balances. The CTP is the standard credential named in postings for this title in North America.
$100k-$180k
Corporate finance analyst
Works on capital structure, debt issuance and capital investment appraisal. Domain 2, at 33 to 37 questions, covers syndicated agreements, revolving debt, issuance, dividends and hedging directly.
$100k-$180k
Treasury risk and controls specialist
Builds fraud controls, counterparty risk frameworks and business continuity plans for the treasury function. Domain 4 covers Sarbanes-Oxley, SSAE 18, SOC 1 and SOC 2, payment fraud detection and counterparty assessment.
$100k-$180k
Bank treasury product or relationship manager
Sells and supports cash management products to corporate clients. Holding the same credential as the client-side treasury team shortens the technical conversation, and Domain 5 covers the systems being sold.
$100k-$180k
Prerequisites & Requirements
- The professional experience requirement to earn the credential is a minimum of two years of full-time work in a career-based corporate cash management, treasury management or corporate finance position.
- An advanced business degree from a graduate-level programme counts as one year of that experience, and requires a transcript or a copy of the degree uploaded with the application. Bachelor's degree transcripts are not accepted for this purpose.
- Internships, vacation or holiday employment and volunteer positions do not count toward the full-time experience requirement.
- You may enrol and sit the exam before the education and experience requirements are fully satisfied, but the credential is not awarded until they are met, and they must be complete by your application expiration date.
- Every applicant must complete the Report of Experience and/or Education form inside the online application.
- Applicants agree to read and abide by the AFP Standards of Ethical Conduct when they submit an application.
- AFP cannot do business with residents of OFAC-sanctioned countries or with Specially Designated Nationals, and candidates presenting ID from a sanctioned country are denied entry to the test centre.
- The AFP Certification Committee is the final judge of eligibility and reserves the right to verify applications through random audits.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the CTP exam cost?
New applicant fees are $925 for an AFP member, $825 for a corporate member and $1,320 for a non-member at the early registration deadline. At the final deadline those rise to $1,025, $925 and $1,420. The non-member fee includes one year of AFP membership. Re-examination and re-registration cost $250, and the no-show penalty is $95.
How many questions are on the CTP exam and how long is it?
170 multiple-choice questions in 3.5 hours of testing time, inside a four-hour scheduled appointment. Of the 170 questions, 150 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest items used to gather statistics for future exams. Candidates have no way of telling them apart, and all scored questions are weighted equally.
What is the passing score for the CTP exam?
A scaled score of 300 on a 200 to 500 scale. Raw scores are converted to scaled scores because multiple exam forms run in each window and are statistically equated. AFP does not publish the percentage of correct answers needed, because that percentage varies slightly by form depending on its difficulty.
What is the CTP pass rate?
AFP states that in recent testing windows passing rates have ranged from 43 to 51 percent. The exam is criterion-referenced rather than curved, so the passing standard is predetermined and the pass rate could in principle range from 0 to 100 percent; every candidate is judged against the standard rather than against other candidates.
When do you get your CTP results?
At the end of the session you receive a printed report showing your name, the exam title and whether you passed or failed. Failing candidates also get a scaled score and performance diagnostics by knowledge domain; passing candidates are told only that they passed. AFP officially recognises new CTP status in writing about four weeks after the test date, and certificates follow roughly five weeks after passing plus six to eight weeks after you confirm your mailing address. The exception is the first window under a new body of knowledge, when results arrive by mail 8 to 10 weeks after the window closes.
What happens if you fail the CTP exam?
You submit a re-registration form and pay $250 to sit again in a later window. That fee applies only if you are within three years or six testing windows of your original application; beyond that you must submit a new application and pay the full new applicant fees. Re-examination candidates are scored exactly the same way as first-time candidates and must reach a scaled score of 300.
Can you see how many questions you got wrong?
No. AFP does not release raw scores or the number of correct answers on a given form, because a raw score is meaningless until it is converted to a scaled score. Candidates are also not permitted to review the test or individual test items. If your score was five points short, AFP indicates it is likely you needed between 1 and 8 more correct answers, but will not give the exact figure.
Can you use a calculator on the CTP exam?
Only the on-screen calculator supplied at the workstation. You may toggle between a basic non-programmable, non-printing four-function calculator with percent and square root buttons and a scientific version that AFP says resembles and functions most similarly to the TI-30XS. No other calculator is allowed in the room, and bringing one is listed as misconduct.
What ID do you need for the CTP exam?
One unexpired primary ID showing your photograph, your signature and an expiry date, with no photocopies or digital IDs. Acceptable types are an international travel passport, driver's licence, military ID including spouse and dependents, a national, state or province identity card, or an alien registration card. The ID must be issued by the country you are testing in, otherwise you need a passport in Roman characters from your country of citizenship.
How often is the CTP exam offered?
Twice a year, in a June to July window and a December to January window. You choose your window when you apply, then schedule any available date inside that two-month period at any Pearson VUE test center. AFP advises booking immediately after receiving your Authorization to Test, since seats fill.
Can you defer or cancel a CTP registration?
A deferral to the next window carries no additional fee but is granted only under special circumstances such as medical emergency, birth of a child or death of an immediate family member, with supporting documentation, and only once per new application. Events that can be anticipated do not qualify. Cancellations refund part of the new applicant fee; the $211 application fee and the $395 non-member differential are non-refundable and non-transferable. Re-examination candidates who cancel by the deadline get the re-examination fee back minus a $100 processing fee.
How long is the CTP valid and how do you recertify?
Three years. You must earn 36 continuing education credits within the three-year cycle, submit them to AFP and pay a recertification reporting fee. Cycles run from July 1 of the examination year to June 30 of the third year, credits must be earned by June 30 of the reporting year, the standard reporting deadline is August 15 and the late deadline October 15. Extra credits beyond 36 do not roll over.
What does CTP recertification cost?
Reporting online costs $85 for AFP members and $200 for non-members by the August 15 early deadline, rising to $135 and $250 by the October 15 standard deadline. Paper form reporting costs $25 more at every tier. Extension requests submitted by June 30 cost $75 for members and $150 for non-members, with extension credit reporting by December 15 at $135 and $250. Unemployed credential holders may apply for a fee waiver, reviewed case by case.
Are testing accommodations available?
Yes, and there is no extra fee. Candidates with documented visual, physical, hearing or learning disabilities may request accommodations, supported by written documentation from a doctor or other qualified medical professional describing the disability, treatment dates and recommended accommodations. Online applicants should email documentation within one week of submitting the application.
What study material does the exam come from?
Every question is derived from the Essentials of Treasury Management, AFP's body of knowledge, which is updated every three years. The text costs $195 for AFP members and $295 for non-members plus shipping and tax. AFP also sells the fully digital CTP Exam Prep Platform at $810 for corporate members, $910 for AFP members and $1,010 for non-members, with a $100 discount when bundled with the text.
How does the CTP compare with the FPAC certification?
Both are AFP credentials with three-year cycles, but the CTP covers corporate treasury and liquidity while the FPAC covers financial planning and analysis. Recertification differs: the CTP requires 36 credits per three-year cycle and the FPAC requires 45. A first-time candidate may apply for an AFP Certification Scholarship for either the CTP or the FPAC, but not both.
How long is a CTP application valid?
Six consecutive testing windows, which is three years. Within that period you can re-register or request a deferral rather than starting over. After your sixth and final testing window you must submit a new application and pay new applicant fees to test again.
Is the CTP exam offered everywhere?
It runs at Pearson VUE test centers worldwide, more than 5,000 of them, but AFP notes the CTP exam has been unavailable in Quebec since December 31, 2023. AFP also cannot do business with residents of OFAC-sanctioned countries, and a candidate presenting ID from a sanctioned country is denied entry regardless of where the test centre is located.
What does it cost to sit the CTP again after a failed or missed attempt?
AFP charges a $250 re-registration fee to candidates who did not pass or who failed to test during their approved window, provided they are still within three years or six testing windows of the original application. Beyond that you reapply and pay the full new applicant fees. Failing to cancel a Pearson VUE appointment at least one full business day ahead, missing it, or arriving more than 30 minutes late makes you a no-show: you forfeit the exam fee and AFP states that $340 is then required to register for another testing window. Deferral to the next window carries no fee but is granted only for documented emergencies and only once per application. Cancelling instead of deferring refunds part of the new applicant fee; the $211 application fee and the $395 non-member differential are never refundable, and a cancelled re-examination refund is net of a $100 processing fee.
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