Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Requirements

Continuing professional education (CPE) has become an important topic in the government financial management community. In an environment of increasingly complex financial management work and accelerating change, professional financial managers recognize the need to make a strong commitment to their CPE. The Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) program is specially designed to help meet the greatly increased demand for professional qualifications.

Government financial managers must be ready to meet today's financial management challenges. CPE for government financial managers serves to maintain and enhance professional proficiency. The result is financial managers who continually improve and refine their knowledge and skills in government financial management topics or related technical subjects.

AGA’s Professional Certification Board (PCB) oversees AGA’s CGFM program. The PCB carries out all aspects of the CGFM program through AGA’s Office of Professional Certification. The PCB establishes these CPE requirements and guidance, as well as the CGFM program’s policies on maintaining the designation.

Complying with the CGFM CPE requirements is the responsibility of the individual CGFM. Carrying out this responsibility requires exercising sound professional judgment. Individual CGFMs are responsible for:

• seeking opportunities for CPE;
• successfully completing CPE programs and activities;
• maintaining documentation of the CPE hours completed for reporting to AGA if requested; and
• monitoring their own progress toward meeting the CPE requirements.

To assist CGFMs in exercising that judgment, this requirements document has been issued.

To retain the CGFM certification, all CGFMs must adhere to the AGA’s Code of Ethics. In addition, to continue using the CGFM designation after their name, CGFMs must be in an active status.

Requirements for maintaining the CGFM certification in an active status are as follows:

• pay the CGFM renewal fee by the due date every year;
• complete at least 80 hours of continuing professional education every two years in government financial management or related technical subjects (within the designated two-year CPE cycle); and
• maintain and, if requested by AGA, provide detailed information on CPE hours completed.

The 80 CPE hours must be completed within the CGFM’s two-year CPE cycle. The first CPE cycle starts on Jan. 1 of the year following the one when the CGFM designation was earned. For example, if the CGFM was awarded any time in 2020, the first CPE cycle starts on Jan. 1, 2021 and ends on Dec. 31, 2022. See Calendar of CPE cycles for a schedule of CPE cycles. Note: Any hours earned during the year the CGFM is awarded do not count toward the first CPE cycle. 

The CPE requirements apply to all active CGFMs, whether employed or not, and whether employed full- or part-time by a government or other organization. Active CGFMs must complete a minimum of 80 CPE hours every two years to maintain their CGFM certification. While there is no minimum number of hours required to be earned each year, CGFMs are encouraged to earn CPE hours throughout their two-year cycle.

Ethics training: The Professional Certification Board (PCB) has set forth an ethics component to be included in CPE requirements of a minimum of four hours of ethics training in each CPE cycle. While there is no annual ethics training requirement, CGFMs are encouraged to earn two CPE hours in ethics per year. The PCB does not prescribe where an individual must obtain this training, so there is some flexibility in meeting this requirement. It must be clear from the title of the training or the field of study that this training is related to ethics. This requirement is effective for all CPE cycles that start after 12/31/2020.

CGFMs do not need to submit supporting documentation of the CPE hours at the time of renewal. The payment itself serves as the CGFM's affirmation of his or her compliance with the CPE requirements. CGFMs are required to maintain supporting documentation on CPE hours earned for a minimum of three years and provide it to AGA upon request. The CPE documentation requirements are described in section 16 of this publication. This documentation may be requested by AGA as part of the annual audit of a random sample of CGFMs.

If a CGFM fails to meet the requirements to maintain the CGFM in an active status, the CGFM becomes inactive. See Maintaining CGFM Certification for additional information on annual CGFM renewal and inactive status.

QUESTION: Are retired CGFMs exempt from meeting the CPE requirements?

INTERPRETATION: Yes, individuals who meet the “retired status” definition can request an adjustment of their status to “retired” by contacting AGA’s Office of Professional Certification (by mail or e-mail at cgfm@agacgfm.org). The retired status definition is “individuals who have permanently retired from and are not working in the field of financial management.”

CGFMs in retired status are not required to remit the CGFM renewal fee or earn the 80 CPE hours. If using the CGFM designation, CGFMs in retired status must clearly indicate their retired status by using “CGFM-Retired” after their name and using “Retired” or “Retired status” on a resume, bio or other statements of qualification. If retired CGFMs return to work in the financial management field, they must contact AGA's Office of Professional Certification to change their status back to "active." See Maintaining CGFM Certification for additional information on retired status.

QUESTION: Can the Professional Certification Board grant exceptions from the CPE requirements?

INTERPRETATION: Yes, the Professional Certification Board may grant partial or complete exceptions from the CPE requirements for valid reasons such as ill health, maternity or paternity leave, extended family leave, sabbaticals, leave without pay absences, foreign residency, military service or disasters. The individual requesting an exception must demonstrate that an effort was made to satisfy the CPE requirement prior to the situation that makes the exception necessary. Workload, budget or travel constraints are not considered valid reasons for a CPE exception. The CGFM needs to fully describe the reasons for requesting an exception and must submit it to the Office of Professional Certification no later than April 30 in the year following the end of the two-year CPE cycle. The Office of Professional Certification will notify the CGFM of the board's decision and retain that documentation for an appropriate period of time

QUESTION: May a CGFM carry over CPE hours earned in excess of the 80-hour requirement from one period to the next two-year period?

INTERPRETATION: No, the 80-hour requirement is the minimum number of hours of CPE that CGFMs must complete every two years. There is no carry-over from one cycle to another.

QUESTION: Can CGFMs make up deficiencies in the CPE requirements?

INTERPRETATION: CGFMs who have not completed the required number of CPE hours for any two-year CPE cycle will have a grace period of the three months (Jan. 1 – March 31) immediately following the two-year cycle to make up the deficiency. Any CPE hours completed within this grace period toward a deficiency in one CPE cycle must be documented in the CPE records and may not be counted toward the requirements for the next two-year cycle. CGFMs do not need to request an exception if they catch up on their hours during this grace period.

QUESTION: Would satisfying the CPE requirements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) or of a state board of accountancy also satisfy the requirements of the CGFM program?

INTERPRETATION: Possibly, however, individual CGFMs who are members of the AICPA, IIA or are licensed certified public accountants, are cautioned that the CGFM CPE requirements, while similar in many respects to those of the AICPA, IIA or of state boards of accountancy, are not identical. Examples of training topics that may qualify as CPE for state licensing bodies or other professional organizations but would not generally qualify as CPE for the CGFM certification include personal financial planning and investment, estate planning, retirement planning, practice management, etc.

QUESTION: What are CPE programs?

INTERPRETATION: CPE programs are structured educational activities with learning objectives designed to maintain or enhance the CGFM's professional proficiency in government financial management. This may be achieved through interaction with an instructor and other participants (a group program) or without major interaction with an instructor (an individual or self-study program).

QUESTION: What criteria should be used to determine if group and individual/self-study programs qualify for CPE hours?

INTERPRETATION: In addition to selecting applicable topics (see sections 11-12), CGFMs should select CPE providers that offer quality training courses and provide adequate documentation.

The CGFM program does not pre-approve CPE programs for the CGFM certification, so the guidelines below should serve as guidance for CGFMs in selecting the appropriate CPE courses. The CGFM program also does not require that the programs be NASBA-certified, although that usually assures the individuals that the organization has followed the industry standards in offering the CPE courses.

To determine if programs contribute to professional proficiency and to facilitate documentation, the following criteria for CPE programs may be considered as appropriate.

QUESTION: What CPE programs and activities qualify for CPE hours for the CGFM certification?

INTERPRETATION: The following programs and activities qualify for CPE hours, provided they are in acceptable topics and subjects as discussed in sections 11-12:

QUESTION: What topics and subjects qualify for CPE hours for the CGFM certification?

INTERPRETATION: The CGFM is initially responsible for determining whether a topic or subject qualifies as acceptable CPE. CPE programs include a wide variety of topics and subjects that may contribute to maintaining or enhancing the professional proficiency of some CGFMs, but not others. Determining what topics and subjects are appropriate for individual CGFMs to satisfy the CPE requirement is a matter of professional judgment. Among the considerations in exercising that judgment are CGFM's experience, the government financial management area(s) in which they work and the responsibilities they assume in performing government financial management functions.

To help one determine whether the course would qualify for CPE, the CGFM should answer “yes” to all of the following questions:

• Is the information covered in this course applicable to government financial management?
• Does this course contribute to my professional proficiency as a CGFM?
• Does this course provide information that directly benefits me in my job as a government financial manager or enhance my overall knowledge of government financial management?

If a CGFM’s CPE documentation is requested by AGA as part of the annual CPE audit or CGFM reactivation process, the Office of Professional Certification may request an explanation from the CGFM of applicability of CPEs taken towards government financial management and will determine whether or not the CPEs submitted by the CGFM meet the CPE requirements. Professional Certification Board has final authority on the acceptance of CPEs towards CGFM CPE requirements.

CPE that would satisfy the CGFM program's requirement must be in government financial management topics or related technical subjects applicable to government financial management. Examples of such topics and subjects include, but are not limited to, the following:

• accounting
• acquisitions management
• analytical procedures
• assessment and evaluation methodologies
• auditing
• budgeting
• business law
• compliance with laws and regulations
• contracting and procurement
• current industry risks
• data management and analysis
• economics
• enterprise risk management
• ethics and independence (four hours per CPE cycle are required – please see section 1)
• financial management
• financial management systems
• financial planning or analysis
• financially related fraud
• financial reporting
• government structure, organization and authority
• human capital management
• information security
• information technology
• internal control
• oral and written communications
• organizational change management
• performance measurement and reporting
• performance improvement
• principles of leadership, management and supervision
• project management
• public administration
• public finance
• strategic planning
• taxation (these hours have a limit – please see note below)

Taxation training provision: Some courses related to taxation, such as the ones that cover personal tax preparation or business taxation, may not be considered applicable to government financial management or may only qualify for specific CGFM job responsibilities. To avoid ambiguity on whether or not taxation courses are acceptable towards CGFM and considering the fact that taxation is part of government financial management, the Professional Certification Board has issued a new provision on this specific topic:

• CPEs in various taxation topics are acceptable (including individual and business taxation), if CGFMs determine that this training contributes to their professional proficiency as CGFMs.
• The number of CPEs in taxation topics or field of study may not exceed 20 hours for any two-year period.
• This provision is effective for all CPE cycles that start after 12/31/2020.

QUESTION: What education and training programs and activities or topics and subjects do NOT qualify for CPE hours?

INTERPRETATION: Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• On-the-job training (see a note on employer courses in section 10).
• Attending repeated presentations within a two-year period.
• Basic or elementary courses in topics and subjects in which the CGFM already has the necessary knowledge and skills and that served as the initial basis for qualification as a CGFM. Note: These types of courses may be acceptable in cases where they are deemed necessary as a “refresher” course to enhance the CGFM’s proficiency (such refresher courses may only be taken once during the two-year period).
• Programs that are not designed to maintain or enhance CGFMs' professional proficiency, but are designed for the general public or general personal development, such as resume` writing, improving parent-child relations, personal investments and money management, and retirement planning.
• Sales-oriented programs that demonstrate office equipment.
• Programs restricted to the financial management organization's administrative operations, such as how to prepare time and attendance reports or internal administrative reporting responsibilities.
• Business sessions at professional organization conferences, conventions and meetings that do not have a structured educational program with learning objectives.
• Participation as a member of a committee of a professional organization.
• Preparation and presentation time for repeated presentations within the two-year period (unless it can be demonstrated that the content was changed or adapted such that additional study or research was needed prior to presenting the course).
• Conducting external quality control reviews.
• Taking exams or tests.

QUESTION: How are CPE hours measured for qualifying group programs, college courses and individual study programs?

INTERPRETATION: A CPE hour may be granted for each 50 minutes of participation in programs and activities that qualify. Fifty minutes is the minimum number for any given program, so CGFMs may not count programs that award less than one CPE hour towards CGFM CPEs. If a training event consists of multiple presentations, the sum of the presentations should be considered as one total program. For example, two 90-minute, two 50-minute and three 40-minute presentations equal 400 minutes or eight CPE hours. When the total minutes of a training program are more than 50, but not equally divisible by 50, the CPE hours must be rounded down to the nearest one-half hour.

QUESTION: How are CPE hours measured for speakers, instructors, course developers and authors of published work?

QUESTION: What is the CGFM's responsibility for maintaining documentation of CPE?

INTERPRETATION: CGFMs are required to maintain supporting documentation on CPE hours earned for a minimum of three years and provide it to AGA upon request. The CGFM's records must include the following information for each CPE program or activity attended or completed:

QUESTION: Can the adherence to these requirements be appealed and if so, who can waive the requirements?

INTERPRETATION: The Professional Certification Board can waive any and all requirements on a case-by-case basis depending upon the extenuating circumstances as may be presented to the board.

QUESTION: Can a CGFM appeal the Professional Certification Board's decision based on these requirements?

INTERPRETATION: The Professional Certification Board's decision can be appealed to AGA's National Governing Board.