You already know that CFP® certification is the globally-recognized gold standard in financial planning. And you probably know that to earn this certification, you need to know a lot about financial planning, including tax, retirement, insurance, and even the feelings and emotions related to your clients’ finances and money matters, plus how to apply it in the real world when you’re working with clients. So, to prove this knowledge, CFP Board, the powers that be that award the certification, requires all candidates to pass the CFP® Exam. To help you navigate these treacherous waters, we’re letting you in on what you need to know, from what you need to sit for the exam to how to register and more.
Grab your goggles, it’s time to dive in.
First, you need to complete a CFP Board-registered education program. You’ll go through oodles of coursework covering the essential topics of financial planning then complete a capstone where you apply what you learn in more realistic scenarios and case studies.
After you meet the CFP® Education coursework requirement, you can register for the exam, but you can’t sit for it until the CFP Board verifies your completion.
Also, if you don’t already have a bachelor’s degree before you sit for the exam, that’s okay, you can still take the exam. You just need to complete your degree within five years of passing.
To put all of this in 1980’s action movie terms:
Do you have one of these designations or credentials?
If yes, you can take the Accelerated Path—this lets you skip most of the CFP® Education coursework and go straight to the capstone course.
Heads up: meeting the requirements to sit for the exam and the requirements to get certified are different. You know you need the coursework and to pass the CFP® Exam. But CFP Board also requires either 6,000 hours of relevant experience or 4,000 hours in an apprenticeship under a certified CFP® professional to satisfy the experience requirement. You’ll also need to pass a background check and uphold the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct by signing an ethics pledge (so if you’re planning on committing crimes, maybe being a CFP® professional isn’t for you).
Learn More: CFP® Certification Requirements
Listen up: Check out the BIF Bites podcast episode, CFP Board’s Most Wanted. Jerry and Adam venture into true crime to talk about violations that CFP® professionals and candidates have committed and what happened to them.
To go back to our 1980’s action movie metaphor, you need to learn more about your opponent. No surprises in the final boss battle.
The CFP® Certification Exam is a single-day, six-hour long exam with 170 multiple-choice questions. Sound intense? It is. The good news is that the exam is divided into four quarters, each with around 40 questions. You’ll get a scheduled 40-minute break after you finish the first two quarters because you’ve got to recharge and refuel before going back in the ring for Round 2.
The questions on the exam aren’t just about memorization and recall. You’ll need to apply your financial planning knowledge to real-life situations in scenario and case study formats, so make sure you polish up your critical thinking and problem-solving skills along with memorizing the basics.
CFP® Exam Topics
The 170 questions fall into eight key topic buckets:
The CFP® Certification Exam is a pass or fail exam and each question earns one point. But it’s not that cut-and-dried where there’s a universal passing score you have to aim for.
Instead, Prometric, the company who administers the exam, and CFP Board use “Modified Angoff Scoring,” a psychometric method which determines the minimum competency needed to pass the exam. To put it as simply as possible, the Prometric team and CFP Board look at each test question and ask “What’s the chance a competent CFP® Professional would answer it correctly?” They assign that likelihood percentage to each question and add all those percentages together to calculate a passing score, though they also do some tinkering and adjustment to the estimates to get the official “cut score.”
Listen up: CFP Board’s John Loper joins the BIF Crew to answer student questions. At around 27:00, he talks about scoring the CFP® Exam in this episode of the BIF Bites podcast.
The CFP® Exam pass rate hovers around 65%. So yes, the exam is hard, but you can absolutely pass with the dedicated prep.
Okay, after you finish your CFP® Education coursework, ace the capstone, and get the ok from CFP Board to sit for the CFP® Exam, you need to make sure you’re ready to pass the exam.
Learn more: CFP® Exam Tips
Listen Up: Check out Jerry and Adam’s Question Breakdown Checklist in the BIF Bites Podcast for deep-dives into exam questions.
Find your study crew! A group can help you stay motivated, share resources, and tackle tricky topics. Just as important, it’s nice to have someone in the trenches with you who knows what you’re going through.
But remember, do not share actual test questions—that’s a no-go.
After you complete your required coursework and are approved by the board to sit for the exam, you can register and schedule your exam date.
You can schedule the CFP® Exam before registering, but we recommend registering with the CFP Board first to ensure you’re eligible. Here’s how:
CFP Board offers the CFP® Certification Exam three times a year (March, July, and November) for eight days each. Testing appointments are limited, so plan ahead to lock down your preferred date. Early registration not only saves you stress but also saves you money.
Speaking of CFP® Exam costs…
Plan ahead, save some cash, and treat yourself to a celebratory coffee when you register early! And save the more celebratory beverages for after the exam.
This is the moment it’s all been leading up to – the coursework, the studying, the fees…It’s CFP® Exam day! But you’re not out of the woods yet—here’s a quick checklist to ensure smooth sailing:
At the center, you’ll undergo a brief body scan or fingerprinting, receive scratch paper, and have your calculator checked for compliance. You can request noise-cancelling headphones and then, it’s game time!
And remember the provided formulas and tax tables we recommended including in your flashcards? Prometric does provide them for the exam.
Listen up: Adam takes you into The Room Where It Happens in this BIF Bites podcast episode.
You’ll know as soon as you finish your exam whether you passed or failed. If you receive a Preliminary Fail, you’ll get a high-level breakdown of how you did on each of the Principal Knowledge Topics. If you passed, you don’t get the break down (but who cares? You passed!).
You will get a verified, finalized exam score and a more in-depth analysis of your performance about four weeks after the CFP® Exam cycle closes.
Didn’t pass the first time? It happens! Many candidates need a second go, and it’s all part of the process. Brush up, use feedback from your first attempt, and hit the books. You’ve got five shots in total (three within 24 months).
From textbooks to live sessions, The BIF Review covers your prep A-Z. With an 8-week roadmap tailored for ultimate success and subject matter experts supporting you every step of the way, you’re going to step into the ring ready to knock out the CFP® Exam (cue “Eye of the Tiger.”)