I've been in local government finance for 7 years and my supervisor keeps pushing me toward the CGFO certification. I'm trying to gauge whether the effort is proportional to the career benefit. GFOA's materials are vague on actual exam difficulty and I can't find many people who've written about the experience in detail.
From what I've gathered, the exam covers governmental accounting standards, budgeting, financial reporting, and debt management. My day-to-day work covers most of that, but I've never formally studied GASB pronouncements beyond what's come up on the job. I'm figuring 6-8 weeks of dedicated prep, about 1 hour a night.
The thing holding me back is the cost - exam fee plus required training courses adds up to around $1,400 if my employer doesn't cover it. Has anyone negotiated reimbursement through their agency? And is the passing rate as low as I've heard - somewhere around 50-60%?
I failed my first attempt by 4 points and passed on the second. The GASB standards questions are the hardest part if you're not used to studying the actual pronouncements. I read through GASB 34, 54, and 68 carefully the second time and it made a real difference.
My county covered the full cost through professional development funds - worth asking before you assume you're paying out of pocket. Most government finance offices treat it the same as CPA continuing education for reimbursement purposes.
7 years of experience helps but formal GASB study is still necessary. I'd budget 8 weeks at 1 hour a day minimum. The budgeting and debt sections were straightforward for me but financial reporting ate most of my prep time.
The pass rate I've seen is around 55%, which is lower than most professional certs at that price. A lot of test takers underestimate it because they assume on-the-job experience is enough. It isn't - the exam is very standards-heavy.