I've been working in state government finance for 4 years and I'm finally pushing through to get my CGFM. Passed Part 1 (Governmental Environment) back in January with a 78 and Part 3 (Financial Management Applications) last fall. Part 2 (Governmental Accounting, Financial Reporting, and Budgeting) is the one that's been sitting on my to-do list and I've scheduled it for June 30.
The budgetary accounting module is where I keep losing points on practice exams — specifically the reconciliation between budgetary and proprietary accounting, and the fund balance classification under GASB 54. I understand the concepts but under exam pressure I second-guess myself constantly. I'm scoring around 71–73% on practice tests and you need a 75 to pass, so the margin is tight.
I'm using the AGA study guide and the NASBA practice tests. Does anyone have recommendations for additional resources specifically for the governmental accounting side? I'm also curious how closely the actual exam mirrors the AGA study guide questions — my Part 1 and Part 3 felt pretty consistent with it but I've seen people say Part 2 is different.
GASB 54 and the restricted/committed/assigned/unassigned classification tripped me up for weeks. What finally clicked was drawing out the decision tree for each classification type rather than just reading about them. A few YouTube videos from accounting professors explained it better than any study guide I found.
71–73% at 5 weeks out is workable. I was around that range and ended up with a 77 on exam day. The test itself felt slightly easier than the AGA practice questions to me honestly — cleaner wording and fewer trick questions than I expected.
Part 2 is the hardest of the three in my opinion. The fund accounting stuff especially if you don't work directly with GAAP reporting day-to-day. I used the AGA guide plus the actual GASB statements for the concepts I kept missing — reading the primary source helped more than any summary material.
Make sure you know the difference between modified accrual and full accrual cold. They'll throw scenarios at you where you have to apply both and know why the numbers are different. That was at least 10–12% of the questions in my version.
I'm in a similar boat — work full-time for a county budget office and studied for Part 2 in the margins of my day. Honestly the budgetary accounting piece clicked for me once I stopped trying to read the CGFM study guide cover to cover and started doing practice questions daily instead. Even just 15 minutes on my lunch break made a difference. I found some free cgfm trivia that was surprisingly good for drilling the budget execution and encumbrance stuff, which is exactly where I was getting tripped up.
Five weeks is enough time if you're consistent. Don't sleep on the modified accrual vs. full accrual differences — that's where I lost points on my first practice exam. Focus on fund types too, because they test that constantly and it's one of those things that feels obvious until you're under pressure. You've already passed Parts 1 and 3, so you clearly know how to study for these. Just keep grinding it out in small chunks and you'll get there.
Budgetary accounting was my nemesis too, honestly. What finally clicked for me was stopping the flashcard grind and actually working through why each wrong answer is wrong -- like if an answer says "record the encumbrance when the invoice arrives" you have to know that's wrong because encumbrances happen at the commitment stage, not receipt. That reasoning sticks way better than just memorizing the right answer. I also found some free cgfm trivia that helped me practice in shorter bursts when I didn't have energy for full study sessions.
Five weeks is enough time if you're deliberate about it. When you miss a practice question, don't just note the correct answer and move on -- write out a one-sentence explanation of why each wrong choice fails. It's slower but you'll stop seeing the same mistakes twice, which is what actually moves the needle on Part 2.
I just passed Part 2 in June after struggling with budgetary accounting for weeks, so hang in there. The thing that finally clicked for me was focusing on the relationship between appropriations, allotments, and encumbrances as a sequence, not just isolated definitions. Once I understood how money flows through each stage and why governments track it that way, the journal entries started making sense instead of feeling like random rules to memorize.
Five weeks is honestly enough time if you drill the GASB standards for fund accounting specifically. Don't spread yourself too thin trying to master everything equally. Budgetary accounting is heavily tested, so I'd spend the bulk of your remaining time there and just do quick reviews of the financial reporting sections you already feel decent about. You've already passed the harder conceptual parts with Part 1 and Part 3, so trust that you've got the foundation.
Quick update since I posted this -- sat through two full practice exams this week and pulled a 71 on the second one, which felt huge after bombing the first with a 58. Budgetary accounting is still my weakest spot but I think I finally get the difference between allotments and apportionments, it just took about four flashcard sessions to click.
I'm booked for the real thing on the 14th so there's no turning back now. Spending this weekend hammering GAAP vs. GAGAS distinctions and the CAFR structure. You've got this too -- five weeks is actually plenty of time if you keep at the practice tests.