Columbus Metropolitan Library has recognized the CGFM certification as a requirement for continued employment by the accounting staff.

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Earning a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) designation
A step-by-step guide.

Interested in the CGFM designation? Want to know where to start or what happens next?

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can earn the CGFM designation:

Step 1 - Applying for the CGFM Program. Submit an application form for the CGFM Program via internet, fax or mail, including the application fee of $85. Fax or mail a copy of your transcript from an accredited college or university. The transcript must show that a degree (bachelor's or higher) was awarded and must list at least 24 credit hours of courses in financial management or related topics. Your name and the name of the college or university must appear on all transcripts.

Step 2 - Eligibility Letter. Once your application, payment and degree documentation are received and processed, the Office of Professional Certification will mail you an Eligibility Letter with instructions on how to purchase your CGFM Examinations. Your eligibility for taking the CGFM Examinations expires in three years from the date your CGFM application was processed.

Step 3 - Work Verification. Submit a Verification of Government Financial Management Work Experience form as soon as you have at least two years of professional-level experience in the government financial management field. You do not have to submit this form before taking the examinations, but the experience requirement must be met before the designation can be granted.

Step 4 - Studying for Examinations. You have several options, including classroom courses, study guides and a reading resources list. You may also want to contact a local AGA chapter to find out if there are any study groups or other support available to help you prepare for the examinations.

Step 5 - Examination Purchase. Following the instructions on your Eligibility Letter, purchase CGFM Examination(s) through the AGA website and print the Test Authorization Letter. Examination fees are $109 for each of the three examinations.

Step 6 - Taking the Examinations. Follow the instructions on the Test Authorization Letter to schedule a testing appointment at a Prometric Test Center near you. Show up at the testing center on your appointment date (be sure to read and follow the testing procedures described on the Test Authorization Letter).

Step 7 - Score Reporting and Retakes. After you complete an examination at a Prometric Test Center, you will immediately receive a pass/fail score on the computer. Numerical scores are not provided. If you did not pass your exam, there is a 30-day waiting period before you can repurchase and retake that examination. If you fail the same exam more than once, the waiting period is 90 days.

Step 8 - Award Letter. Once you pass all three CGFM Examinations, and your Verification of Government Financial Management Work Experience form has been submitted and accepted, the Office of Professional Certification will send you an award letter announcing your new CGFM designation. You can start using the "CGFM" after your name only after you receive the official award letter from AGA.

Step 9 - CGFM Certificate. A CGFM certificate will be mailed within a few weeks of issuing the award letter.

An excellent source of additional information on the CGFM Program is the AGA website (www.agacgfm.org, select "CGFM Certification" on the navigational bar). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Office of Professional Certification at 1.800.AGA.7211, ext. 306 or 305.

CGFM Profile: Second Career Prompts Dave Swindell to Find 'Right' Certification

Like many career military officers, Dave Swindell needed to make a big transition after his retirement. Unlike many of his peers, he did not shift to consulting work, contracting for the Department of Defense or maintaining close ties to his Army past.

He made a big break, moving to an area with no military presence and taking on something completely new: a job in local government.

"When you change careers, everything's open. I considered the private sector, but in the end I was fairly pleased with the ethics and purpose of government. I don't know if I could work that hard to make someone else money."

Swindell ended his 22-year military career, and moved from Oklahoma to Pocatello, Idaho, where he has served as the city's chief financial officer for the past five years. One of his first priorities was to become certified, and the CGFM turned out to be the broad-based governmental accounting certification that he was looking for.

"I was influenced by others who were active in AGA," Swindell said. "Pocatello is home to Idaho State University and Kitty Pumphrey. Kitty is the Professor of Governmental Accounting and an active AGA pusher - and on my selection committee, I later found out. She got me thinking about the CGFM."

Swindell said that as a federal employee, he became well schooled in financial and policy analysis. He also earned a master's degree in public administration along the way. In the Army, his focus was on setting budget priorities, not the specifics of governmental accounting.

By contrast, one of Swindell's first hires - CPA Joyce Stroschein - was stronger in accounting techniques and not as experienced in financial analysis. He purchased the self-study guides and got to work. After he passed the first exam, Stroschein also started studying, and ended up earning her certification before her boss did.

"We really studied on our own, but we encouraged each other. I couldn't help but finish," he said. "There was a little honor involved." In addition to her CGFM, Stroschein received a promotion from senior accountant to controller. "She also found the program to be a good refresher of just how everything is connected between accounting, management, leadership and accountability to the public," Swindell said.

Earning the CGFM from Pocatello was somewhat complicated. To take the exams, Swindell traveled to Ogden (130 miles), Salt Lake City (177 miles) and Boise (240 miles), with his wife in the passenger seat quizzing him on the way to the testing centers. Being an AGA member isn't simple either, as the Idaho Centennial Chapter meets in Boise, on the other end of the state. Swindell and Stroschein attend AGA's regional conferences and as many chapter functions as time and distance allow.

Taking a job in local government has been a great experience and a huge growth opportunity, Swindell said. Since entering West Point at age 18, his life had been wrapped up in the Army, a life he understood and knew well. He was comfortable walking the halls of Congress or the Pentagon, but nowhere is the role of government in people's lives more obvious than in City Hall. Approving a setback for a garage may sound mundane, but it's pretty important to the resident involved. At the federal level, the direct impact of what you do can be somewhat lost, he said. "Everything a city does is generally important," he said. "I found the right niche for me."

The values he learned through his military education-becoming a well-rounded person with awareness of many disciplines-applied to the CGFM. As a big believer in what he calls a "core education," the CGFM fit into his desire to understand the big picture. Studying for the CGFM Exams gave Swindell a stronger knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings of governmental accounting, describing the origin of certain rules and how they evolved to the point where they are today.

"I think the CGFM distinguishes you amongst your peers," he said. "I can testify to the value of it."

-by Christina Camara