FPAC Part II study guide
FPAC Part II · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis Professional (FPAC) is a credential established and administered by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), which also administers the Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) designation. AFP describes itself as the certifying body in treasury and finance, setting the standard of excellence in the profession globally. The FPAC is aimed at corporate FP&A practitioners - professionals who build plans, forecasts, and analyses and who act as advisers to the business. AFP positions credential holders as financial experts and trusted advisers, and frames earning and maintaining the FPAC as a confirmation of commitment to the profession and a signal of readiness to drive FP&A and the organization forward. Topics on this exam: Financial Analysis and Technology and Data. The FPAC Part II study guide has 2 sections and about 722 words.
01Financial Analysis: Variance, Ratios, and Cash Flow Judgment
Financial analysis on FPAC Part II rewards the ability to move between three lenses: variance analysis (why results differ from plan), ratio analysis (how the business is structured), and cash flow quality (whether reported profit converts to cash). Know the variance decomposition: total variance = price/rate variance + volume/efficiency variance , and remember the sign convention - a favorable variance increases operating income relative to budget, regardless of whether the underlying item is revenue or cost. For ratios, be fluent in liquidity (current, quick), leverage (debt-to-equity, interest coverage), profitability (gross, operating, net margin), and activity (inventory turns, days sales outstanding, days payable outstanding). Understand the cash conversion cycle = DSO + days inventory outstanding − DPO, and that shortening it releases working capital.
357 words, about 2 min02Technology and Data: Controls, Analytics, and Governance
This domain tests whether you can govern financial systems and data rather than configure software. Core concepts: internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) in automated environments - segregation of duties, change management, and access reviews; IT general controls (ITGCs) covering program changes, operations, and access; and application controls (input, processing, output) that ensure completeness and accuracy. Understand the data lifecycle : capture, validation, transformation, storage, retention, and disposal, plus data quality dimensions - completeness, accuracy, timeliness, consistency, and validity. Be able to distinguish descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics, and know that data governance assigns ownership, stewardship, and definitions (a data dictionary) so reports reconcile across systems.
365 words, about 2 min