Part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog: the Certified Treasury Professional examination from AFP is a single computer-based examination of 170 multiple-choice questions in 3.5 hours at Pearson test centers — 150 scored questions and 20 unscored pretest questions across five domains — scored on a scaled basis, with AFP publishing no exact passing score or percentage. PassProfessor’s CTP program is in the works, built only to the 2026–2028 test specifications based on the Essentials of Treasury Management, Eighth Edition.
The CTP is the flagship credential of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), rebuilt for a three-year cycle that began in 2026. The current examination follows the 2026–2028 test specifications, based on the Essentials of Treasury Management, Eighth Edition — and much of the study material still on the market describes older specifications, including a widely copied set of domain ranges from a different cycle. PassProfessor’s program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog, built only to the current specifications in AFP’s 2026 CTP Candidate Handbook: five domains, 33 task areas, weighted to AFP’s published question ranges. It carries 1,500 original practice questions with an explanation for every question.
Which examination is this?
This page covers one credential only: the Certified Treasury Professional examination from AFP, in its 2026–2028 form. It is not built to the prior cycle’s specifications, referenced to an earlier edition of the Essentials of Treasury Management, and does not use the older domain ranges still circulating in third-party material. AFP sets the specifications and awards the credential; this program is preparation for its examination.
What will the program cover?
1,500 original practice questions. The program holds 1,500 original practice questions across all five domains and all 33 task areas of the 2026–2028 test specifications, weighted to AFP’s published question ranges — written from scratch against the facts in AFP’s published materials. None is an actual examination item, a recalled item, or another provider’s material, and no question asks you to recite a regulation’s section number: treasury judgment is tested, citations never are.
An explanation for every question. Every practice question carries an explanation — an explanation for every question in the bank — and every calculation item’s explanation shows the full computation, so a miss teaches the method as well as the answer.
Results you can read by domain. Practice is organized by the five domains and their task areas, so a thin task area shows while there is still time to repair it, instead of hiding inside an overall score.
A full-size timed simulation. The simulation presents 170 questions in 210 minutes — the real examination’s size and time limit — drawn in proportion to the domain weights, alongside five domain drills of 10 questions each.
AFP publishes the examination’s cognitive mix, and the bank follows it: roughly a third of items test facts and terms, roughly two-fifths concepts and principles, roughly a quarter application to treasury situations, and 10 to 15 percent mathematical computations — worked with clean numbers and wrong-method distractors.
What are the verified facts of the real exam?
| Fact of record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Credential | Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) |
| Certifying body | AFP (Association for Financial Professionals) |
| Current specifications | 2026–2028 test specifications, based on the Essentials of Treasury Management, Eighth Edition. Earlier cycles’ specifications are superseded |
| Format | 170 multiple-choice questions in 3.5 hours (a 4-hour appointment including tutorial and questionnaire): 150 scored questions and 20 unscored pretest questions, which may come from any domain. Candidates may review, mark, skip and change answers; there is no penalty for incorrect answers |
| Delivery | Computer-based at Pearson test centers (5,000+ worldwide) |
| Testing windows | Two per year: June/July and December/January (2026A: June 1–July 31, 2026; 2026B: December 1, 2026–January 31, 2027) |
| Scoring | Scaled scoring. AFP does not publish the exact score or percentage required to pass — the 2026 Candidate Handbook states that AFP cannot indicate an exact number or percentage of questions that need to be answered correctly |
| Results | A pass/fail report at the test center at the end of the examination; the actual score is provided only if the candidate does not pass, with per-domain performance diagnostics |
| Eligibility | Candidates may sit before meeting the requirements; the credential is awarded only when they are met: 2 or more years of full-time, career-based corporate finance-related work experience. A graduate degree in business, finance or accounting, or two years of full-time university-level teaching in a finance topic, each counts as one year |
| Retakes | Once per testing window within the application’s validity of six consecutive testing windows; re-registration fee $250; no-show penalty $90 |
| Examination fees (2026, new applicant) | AFP member $925 early / $1,025 final; non-member $1,320 early / $1,420 final, including the application fee. Fees are set by AFP — confirm the current amounts at financialprofessionals.org |
| Keeping the credential | Certification is valid 3 years; 36 continuing education credits per 3-year cycle, plus a recertification fee. AFP membership is not required to maintain the credential |
How does the practice map to the specifications?
AFP publishes a question range for each domain on the 150 scored questions. The practice bank follows those ranges, so the share of practice a candidate meets in each domain matches the share of the real examination that domain carries.
| Exam domain (2026–2028 specifications) | Real exam (scored questions) | Practice questions | In the simulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Liquidity Management | 56–60 of 150 | 576 | 65 |
| Capital Structure and Capital Investments | 34–38 of 150 | 358 | 41 |
| Internal and External Relationships | 13–17 of 150 | 149 | 17 |
| Risk Monitoring and Control | 24–28 of 150 | 258 | 29 |
| Treasury Technology | 15–17 of 150 | 159 | 18 |
| Total | 150 scored | 1,500 | 170 |
What does Corporate Liquidity Management cover? (576 practice questions)
The largest domain by a wide margin — more than a third of the scored examination — and the daily work of treasury: cash positioning and short-term investing and borrowing (15–17 questions), cash forecasting and flow management (16–18), banking structure and cash concentration, foreign exchange exposure management, trade financing and letters of credit, intercompany financing and in-house banking, cash reconciliation and balance review, treasury operations optimization, and financial ratio analysis for treasury decisions.
How should you prepare for Corporate Liquidity Management? Master the daily liquidity mechanics first — where cash sits, when it moves, what it earns or costs while it waits — and work the computations by hand until the method is automatic, because this domain holds the examination’s heaviest concentration of calculation items.
The liquidity answer is usually the one that follows the cash: an option that loses track of timing, availability, or currency is answering a different question.
What does Capital Structure and Capital Investments cover? (358 practice questions)
How the organisation funds itself and where its longer money goes: debt and equity issuance and servicing (10–12 questions, the domain’s largest task), syndicated loan agreements, investment portfolio management, revolving debt agreements, the treasury impact of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, market conditions and borrowing strategy, and hedging foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity exposure.
How should you prepare for Capital Structure and Capital Investments? Learn each instrument by its mechanics — who pays whom, on what terms, with what covenants and what happens at maturity or default — and practise matching the funding or hedging instrument to the exposure and horizon the situation describes.
Match the instrument to the exposure: a hedge or a borrowing that fits a different risk, however sound on its own terms, is the distractor.
What does Internal and External Relationships cover? (149 practice questions)
The smallest domain, and the one that tests treasury as a service and an adviser: bank account administration and fee analysis (4–6 questions), treasury as internal advisor, external financial service provider relationships, selecting service providers and agreements, and internal stakeholder relationships.
How should you prepare for Internal and External Relationships? Prepare it as applied judgment about accounts, fees, and agreements: what an account structure costs, what a fee analysis can recover, and what a service agreement must settle before it is signed. Small is not safe to skip: at 13 to 17 scored questions, this domain exceeds the margin of many results.
What does Risk Monitoring and Control cover? (258 practice questions)
The control environment treasury owns: regulatory compliance and reporting (5–7 questions), treasury policy and controls compliance, business continuity planning, drafting treasury policies and procedures, fraud detection and mitigation, counterparty risk management, merchant services management, and performance benchmarking.
How should you prepare for Risk Monitoring and Control? Think like a control owner. For each situation, identify the control that failed or the control that would prevent the failure — segregation of duties, authorization limits, and policy compliance are scenario territory, tested through situations rather than definitions.
In control scenarios the credited answer is usually the preventive control, not the faster investigation after the loss.
What does Treasury Technology cover? (159 practice questions)
The systems layer of the treasury function: leveraging treasury technology systems (6–8 questions, the domain’s largest task), technology security issues, implementing treasury products and services, and information and cyber risk monitoring.
How should you prepare for Treasury Technology? Learn what each class of system does for treasury — and where its risks sit — rather than vendor detail: the examination tests the treasurer’s use, control, and oversight of technology, not a product catalogue.
The technology answer usually runs through control and access: who can do what in the system decides most scenarios.
How is the CTP exam scored?
AFP scores the examination on a scaled basis: the raw score is converted by a statistical formula, and AFP does not publish the exact score or percentage required to pass. The 2026 Candidate Handbook states this directly — AFP cannot indicate an exact number or percentage of questions that need to be answered correctly. Any source that quotes a specific passing figure for the current examination is describing an older cycle, not AFP’s current policy, and this page prints no such figure. You receive a pass/fail report at the test center when you finish; if you do not pass, your actual score is provided with per-domain performance diagnostics, which are the material a retake plan is built from. One cycle-specific note: because the June/July 2026 window was the first administration under the current body of knowledge, AFP held those results for six to eight weeks after the window closed while the passing standard was set.
PassProfessor’s simulation reports a 70 percent practice benchmark as a study gauge. That benchmark is a PassProfessor study aid, labelled PRACTICE BENCHMARK ONLY — it is not AFP’s standard, and no practice score can tell you an official pass mark AFP does not publish. Use the domain drills to find weak task areas and the simulation to build timing and stamina.
Who can take this exam, and what does it certify?
You may sit the examination before you meet the credential requirements — but the CTP is awarded only once they are met: two or more years of full-time, career-based corporate finance-related work experience, which need not be specifically in treasury, and toward which internships and volunteer work do not count. A graduate degree in business, finance, or accounting counts as one year, as do two years of full-time university-level teaching in a finance topic — so a degree holder must still report at least one year of experience. Your application stays valid for six consecutive testing windows. CTPs agree to AFP’s Standards of Ethical Conduct — competence, integrity, and confidentiality — and violations can revoke the credential. The credential is awarded by AFP alone; this program is preparation for its examination.
What makes this test demanding?
Three features combine. First, the concentration: Corporate Liquidity Management alone carries more than a third of the scored questions, so a candidate thin on forecasting and positioning is thin on the examination’s centre of gravity. Second, the mix: the Handbook’s cognitive levels run from factual knowledge through concepts to application, with 10 to 15 percent computations — a candidate who has only memorized terminology meets calculations the memorized term does not settle. Third, the cycle: preparation built to the prior cycle’s weights mis-aims the candidate’s hours before the sitting begins.
An honest note on format and scoring
Every PassProfessor practice question is a single-best-answer, four-option item written to the published specifications; the real examination is likewise multiple-choice, and AFP does not release its examination questions. Practice results are a study gauge, not a prediction of a scaled score — and because AFP publishes no passing number, no honest provider can convert a practice percentage into a pass prediction for this examination.
How should you use this page while the program is in the works?
- Join the notify list today. Enrollment is not open yet, and the notify list is how you hear the moment it is. While you wait, read the exam guide — it walks all five domains and all 33 task areas, and lays out eligibility, fees, windows, and study planning in full.
- Study from the current specifications now. The 2026–2028 specifications summarized on this page are the syllabus; check any other resource against them, and set aside material organized around older domain weights.
- When the program opens, survey every domain first. Early practice should touch each domain, so your first domain-by-domain picture of yourself is honest rather than flattering.
- Drill the task area that costs you. Let results, not preferences, set the next block of study — and give Corporate Liquidity Management the largest share, as the examination does.
- Finish with the full simulation. Sit the timed 170-question simulation at the real sitting’s pace and length, and test when your practice is consistently strong across domains.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the CTP exam, and how long is it? 170 multiple-choice questions in 3.5 hours, within a 4-hour appointment that includes the tutorial and questionnaire. Of the 170, 150 are scored and 20 are unscored pretest questions, which may come from any domain. You may review, mark, skip and change answers, and there is no penalty for incorrect answers.
What score do I need to pass the CTP exam? AFP does not publish one. The examination is scaled-scored, and the 2026 Candidate Handbook states that AFP cannot indicate an exact number or percentage of questions that need to be answered correctly to pass. A specific figure quoted by some secondary sources comes from older examination cycles and does not appear in the current Handbook.
Which specifications is this program built to? The 2026–2028 test specifications, based on the Essentials of Treasury Management, Eighth Edition, as published in AFP’s 2026 CTP Candidate Handbook. Material describing older specifications will mis-aim preparation.
Can I take the exam before I have two years of experience? Yes. Candidates may sit before meeting the requirements; the credential is awarded once the experience requirement — two or more years of full-time, career-based corporate finance-related work, with any graduate-degree or teaching substitution documented — is met.
How much math is on the exam? AFP’s published cognitive mix puts mathematical computations at 10 to 15 percent of the examination, alongside knowledge of facts and terms, concepts and principles, and application to situations. Every calculation item in this program shows the full computation in its explanation.
What does the exam cost? For 2026, AFP’s new-applicant fees are $925 early / $1,025 final for members and $1,320 early / $1,420 final for non-members, including the application fee. Re-registration is $250; a no-show penalty of $90 applies. Confirm current amounts at financialprofessionals.org.
When is the exam offered, and how often can I retake it? In two windows each year — June/July and December/January. You may retake once per window within your application’s validity of six consecutive testing windows.
How is the practice simulation scored? It presents 170 questions in 210 minutes and reports a 70 percent practice benchmark, labelled PRACTICE BENCHMARK ONLY — a PassProfessor study aid, not AFP’s standard. AFP publishes no passing score or percentage.
Are these AFP’s actual examination questions? No. Every question in the program is an original PassProfessor practice question written to AFP’s published 2026–2028 test specifications. AFP does not release its examination questions, and no provider can offer them.
Does every practice question include an explanation? Yes. The program carries 1,500 original practice questions with an explanation for every question, including the full computation on every calculation item.
How do CTPs keep the credential? Certification is valid for three years, maintained with 36 continuing education credits per three-year cycle plus a recertification fee. AFP membership is not required to maintain the credential.
When will enrollment open? The program is in the works as part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. Join the notify list on this page and we will email you when enrollment opens.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider; this program is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or sponsored by AFP. Certified Treasury Professional and CTP are marks of the Association for Financial Professionals, used on this page as a factual reference to the certifying body’s examination. This program is examination preparation only: the details on this page are drawn from the official sources recorded in the companion guide and are current as of November 2026; AFP’s official publications govern if anything here differs from them. The credential is awarded by AFP alone when its requirements are complete; this program confers no credential.