CHFD study guide
CHFD · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified in Healthcare Financial Discipline (CHFD) is a professional credential for finance staff, analysts, controllers, and managers who work inside healthcare provider organizations and need to demonstrate command of the financial mechanics specific to that sector. It is aimed at people who already understand general accounting or finance and now want to prove they can apply it where payer contracts, clinical costing, and regulatory reporting change the rules. The CHFD study guide has 8 sections and about 3,194 words.
01Financial Accounting and Reporting in Healthcare
This domain tests whether you can build and interpret provider financial statements, where the line between gross charges, contractual allowances, and collectible revenue drives nearly every number. Expect items on net patient service revenue, charity care versus bad debt, restricted net assets, and third-party settlement estimates.
398 words, about 2 min02Managerial Accounting and Cost Analysis
This domain tests cost behavior, cost allocation, and the decision rules that follow from both. Questions typically ask you to separate fixed from variable cost, allocate overhead defensibly, and choose between alternatives using contribution margin rather than fully loaded cost.
406 words, about 2 min03Budgeting and Forecasting
This domain tests building a volume-driven budget, choosing forecast methods, and explaining variances at the right level of management. Expect flexible budgets, variance decomposition, cash forecasting, and questions on which forecast technique fits which data pattern.
414 words, about 2 min04Revenue Cycle and Reimbursement
This domain tests the flow from scheduling to cash posting and the payment rules behind each dollar. Expect front-end controls, charge capture and documentation, denial management, KPI interpretation, and Medicare and commercial payment mechanics.
374 words, about 2 min05Financial Planning and Analysis
This domain tests ratio construction, trend and common-size analysis, projection mechanics, and the judgment to translate numbers into a narrative a board or lender will accept. Liquidity: current ratio, quick ratio, days cash on hand.
402 words, about 2 min06Capital Planning and Investment Analysis
This domain tests whether you can rank competing investments on cash flows, risk, and strategy, and defend the choice when capital is rationed. NPV discounts all incremental cash flows at the hurdle rate - typically WACC plus a project-risk premium - and is preferred because it measures value added in dollars.
400 words, about 2 min07Internal Controls, Compliance, and Ethics
This domain tests the control environment and the healthcare-specific legal framework. Expect COSO components and principles, segregation-of-duties design, fraud indicators, and the statutes that make healthcare billing a compliance risk.
410 words, about 2 min08Strategic Financial Leadership
This domain tests the bridge between strategy and the numbers: capital allocation, growth and affiliation decisions, payer strategy, board communication, and enterprise risk. Translate strategy into financial consequence: volume and market share targets, payer mix shifts, cost position, and capital needs.
390 words, about 2 min