Failed CTP on my first attempt — here's what I got wrong and how I passed the second time

Thanks for this post, it's honestly exactly what I needed to see right now. I've been in a similar boat — took a practice set last night and scored 71% which felt discouraging at first, but I could see most of my misses were clustering around the technology platforms section. I started drilling the free ctp telehealth technology platforms questions specifically and it's already clicking more than it was a week ago.

I'm aiming to sit the real exam in about three weeks. Wasn't planning to push it back but after reading what you said about those blindside angles I'm glad I gave myself a little buffer. 71 is close but I want to hit 80+ consistently before I walk in there.

That first attempt gut punch is real — I went through almost the exact same thing. Six weeks of studying and I thought I was solid on cash management and short-term investing, but the test kept pushing into areas I'd barely skimmed. For me it was the technology and platforms piece that killed me. I hadn't given it nearly enough attention because it felt less "finance-y" than the other domains, and that was a mistake.

Second time around I spent a lot more time drilling the specific question types I'd bombed, and honestly the thing that helped most was finding practice questions that actually matched the format and depth of the real exam. The ctp telehealth technology & platforms practice set in particular filled a gap I didn't even know I had — some of those questions exposed assumptions I was making that turned out to be flat wrong. It's one thing to read about ERP integrations and payment systems in a textbook, another to get tested on edge cases you haven't thought through.

The coverage point you made about 30% being stuff you hadn't touched — that tracked for me too. The CTP is wider than the study guides make it feel. Anything that forces you to apply concepts rather than just recognize definitions is worth your time before round two.

This is exactly what I needed to read right now — I'm about three weeks into studying and the treasury operations section is already making me want to throw my notes out the window. Can I ask what specifically caught you off guard with the cash positioning questions? I've been drilling the formulas for target balance calculations and float management, but I'm not sure if I'm approaching it at the right depth or just memorizing things I'll never actually see on the exam.

The part that's stressing me out most is the short-term investing and borrowing section. There's so much overlap between the instruments — knowing when to use a repo versus CP versus a T-bill in a given scenario feels like it could go a hundred different directions on a real question. Did you find the AFP materials enough to build that kind of applied thinking, or did you need to go deeper somewhere else?

That 30% blindside is so real — I had almost the exact same experience on my first attempt. What caught me off guard was how heavily they test the application side of telehealth regulations and billing codes versus just memorizing the definitions. I thought I knew HIPAA compliance inside out until the questions started putting me in actual clinical scenarios where I had to pick the right course of action, not just identify what the rule said.

What turned it around for me was grinding through a ctp practice test in the weeks before my second attempt. The questions there are structured the same way the real exam hits you — scenario-based, a lot of "what should the provider do next" framing. That forced me to actually think through the workflows rather than just pattern-match to a definition. My weak spots were technology standards and the reimbursement stuff, and seeing those topics come up repeatedly in practice made them finally click.

Second attempt felt completely different. Not easy, but nothing jumped out as a surprise. If you're prepping now, I'd focus especially on the payer policy distinctions and interstate licensure questions — those showed up more than I expected both times.

Just passed my second attempt last month so this hit home. The treasury operations section absolutely destroyed me the first time — I kept treating it as memorization when it's really about knowing *why* cash positioning decisions get made the way they do. Once I stopped trying to memorize formulas and started thinking through the logic (why would a company prefer a lockbox arrangement vs. concentration banking in this scenario?), the questions started making a lot more sense.

The one thing I'd add that made a real difference for me: time value of money calculations under pressure. I knew the concepts fine, but on the actual exam I was second-guessing myself mid-calculation because I hadn't drilled them enough to do them fast. I started doing timed sets of just TVM problems — 20 questions, 18 minutes — until it felt automatic. Probably saved me 10 minutes on the real exam that I used to go back and review flagged questions.

Also your point about the short-term investing section is spot on. The distinctions between money market instruments — T-bills vs. repos vs. commercial paper — aren't subtle on the exam, they expect you to know the exact risk/liquidity tradeoffs for each. That's one area where reading the AFP study guide cover-to-cover actually matters more than just doing practice questions.

Quick update for anyone following this thread — I'm at 74% on my last mock and honestly feeling way better than I did a month ago. The treasury operations section was killing me but it's finally clicking.

Sitting for the real thing on August 3rd. Nervous but I didn't feel ready at all two weeks ago so I'll take the progress. Thanks for sharing your experience, it actually helped me figure out where to focus.