CFP Certification (Australia) study guide
CFP Certification (Australia) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP) designation is a professional designation rather than an academic qualification: it is earned through practical experience and ongoing learning, and in Australia it is awarded by the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA), the only association licensed to deliver the CFP program here. The FAAA partners with the Financial Planning Standards Board, which owns the CFP marks outside the United States. Candidates reach the final stage through the CFP Certification Unit, also called CFP-C or the Capstone Unit - the source confirms these are just different terms. Entry depends on your qualifications and experience: holders of an approved postgraduate degree can enter directly, while others may first need Proficiency Units 1–4 (formerly CFP 1–4), and FAAA membership is required. The unit has three assessment components: a 55-page financial plan assignment for a fictitious client based on a case study, an open-book online exam of 70 multiple-choice questions delivered via FAAA Learn with four hours plus 15 minutes reading time, and an experience component that differs for advisers registered on the ASIC FAR and those who are not. The exam covers technical knowledge areas categorised by the FPSB knowledge domains. Topics on this exam: Financial Planning Standards Board knowledge domains (technical knowledge areas). The CFP Certification (Australia) study guide has 1 section and about 2,572 words.
01Financial Planning Principles and Practice
Financial Planning Principles and Practice is the integrating domain. The exam tests whether you can run a defensible advice process: establish the relationship, collect quantitative and qualitative data, identify goals, analyse gaps, develop prioritised recommendations, implement and review. It also tests the Australian best-interests and disclosure framework. The FPSB planning process is cyclical, not a product sale.
2,572 words, about 13 minMore study resources for CFP Certification (Australia)
- Practice questionsUnder the Corporations Act, which document must a financial adviser provide to a retail client before giving personal advice so the client understands the adviser's fees, associations and conflicts of interest?
- FlashcardsBest interests duty. An obligation on financial advisers to act in the client's best interests and provide advice appropriate to the client's objectives, financial situation, and needs.
- Cheat sheetThe FPSB framework organizes technical knowledge into core areas: financial management, insurance and risk, investments, taxation, retirement, estate planning, and professional conduct/regulation.
- Key termsBest interests duty. A statutory obligation requiring a financial adviser to act in the client's best interests when providing personal advice to a retail client, prioritising the client's interests over the adviser's own.
- Study planMap the FPSB technical knowledge areas against your own confidence, scoring each area 1-5 and ranking them by gap size.
- Common mistakesCandidates memorise a single preservation age (often 60) and apply it universally, forgetting that the age increases in steps for people born after 1 July 1960 and that the relevant figure is the age reached at a specific birthday.
- Exam-day guideBring the original current government-issued photo ID (typically a passport or driver licence) in the name you registered with.