Certification Prep Programming

Looking to earn your CTP or FPAC?

We’re here to help with programming to support your journey. AFP offers a range of opportunities designed to enhance your learning experience, assist you in feeling prepared and help you succeed in becoming a CTP or FPAC. 

With AFP 2024 we offer:

• CTP Exam Prep Sessions: Sunday, October 20, join for CTP test taking tips and a dive into the exam structure.
  Not eligible for CE credits.

• CTP and FPAC Exam Topics: A curated schedule of sessions covering topics that may be on the CTP or FPAC exam.
  

• CTP and FPAC Bootcamp Discount: Offering special pricing on the virtual CTP Exam Bootcamp and FPAC Exam Bootcamp. AFP 2024 registrants can take $200 off the FPAC Bootcamp, July 31, August 1, 7, & 8 from 5:30 - 8:00 PM ET.

Plus, you can earn 20+ continuing education credits you can use toward your CTP or FPAC recertification once you pass the exam in 2024.

Register for AFP 2024

Suggested Sessions to Enhance Your Learning

Financial Planning & Analysis

Dynamic Driver-Based Forecasting in Excel

Oct 21, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Despite the evolving landscape of financial planning and analysis (FP&A) tools, Microsoft Excel continues to be the top choice for most practitioners. With Microsoft's ongoing improvements, and the ability to seamlessly integrate with Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Systems, Excel empowers FP&A professionals to conduct robust forecasting and planning without the need for newer, more expensive solutions. Attend this session for a deep dive into Excel’s untapped potential, advanced concepts such as dynamic driver-based forecasts and explore best practices.

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

How a Global Brand Changed its Approach to Capital Planning

Oct 21, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

In today’s business climate, competitive challenges, and pressures from activist investors, companies must firmly grasp their capital investment strategies, processes, and performance. Capital planning for a large enterprise in the food and beverage industry poses ongoing challenges: multiple product lines, shifting consumer demands, supply chain obstacles, changes in the cost of capital, and other variables require finance leaders to maintain a consistent, clear, and insight-rich perspective on strategic priorities and project statuses. This session explores Schreiber Foods' journey, from evaluating systems to implementing a new process for project prioritization and gaining critical insights. Industry trends in capital investments are also discussed, highlighting proactive approaches by leading companies.

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

How We Broke Up with a Broken Planning Process

Oct 22, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Is your pending 2025 planning and budgeting process looming over you like a monstrous shadow spawned from the mistakes of planning season’s past? A combination of legacy systems and manual spreadsheets left Rocket Software chained to outmoded processes, unforced errors, and unreliable forecasts. Instead, they recognized their “why now” moment and finally modernized their year-end planning process with a little help from AI. Join this session as speakers discuss the reasons behind Rocket Software ‘s delay to change and how their new approach allowed enabled them to redraft their financial processes and boosted planning speed efficiency, accuracy, and morale. 

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

Masterclass in Change Management for Finance Leaders Adopting Automation & AI

Oct 22, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Technology is changing the world faster than ever. While much has been said about the technical aspects, we must also consider the human element. Maximizing the impact of automation and AI on your finance organization requires changing how people approach their work, not just upgrading the systems that support them. This interactive discussion explores practical strategies for building awareness and positive engagement across the organization and overcoming barriers to change while creating a culture of feedback and accountability. Attendees learn how to measure and communicate the value of automation and AI to their leadership team to successfully build buy-in for further investment in the finance function.

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

Keynote

Sunday Keynote | Revenge of the Tipping Point

Oct 20, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

In his latest book, New York Times best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell, revisits the phenomenon of social epidemics and examines the ways in which we have learned to tinker with and shape the spread of ideas and trends, sometimes with great success, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Today's epidemics are turbocharged versions of their earlier counterparts, and we are more tempted than ever to try to manipulate tipping points for our own ends. Treasury and finance professionals need to apply the concept of the tipping point – how small changes can make a big impact - to influence their organization’s success or even the world for the better. In this thought-provoking keynote, Gladwell shares the insights needed to meet these challenges head-on in innovative ways.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP & FPAC

FP&A Keynote | Getting Big Things Done

Oct 21, 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Attendance Restricted to Corporate Practitioners and/or FPAC Credential Holders. The world's largest database of major projects reveals that a shockingly small percentage of projects are completed on budget, on time, and with the outcome envisioned. That means the most important elements of the business case are far off base. Worse, projects aren't merely at risk of being a little off - catastrophic failure is frighteningly common, and the story is the same around the world for projects of all sizes. In this talk, Dan Gardner draws on his book How Big Things Get Done to look at why failure is so common and what successful project leaders can teach us about conceiving, planning, and delivering on our own projects, big and small.

Sponsored by Anaplan

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

MindShift Keynote | The Poet's Keys: A Guide to Unlocking Innovation

Oct 21, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM

The world is seemingly one disruption away from shaking the very foundations of our successes to their bones. After spending a decade alongside world-class innovators at institutions like Stanford and Google, Tucker Bryant has discovered an unexpected perspective professionals can adopt to confront the future with confidence: the outlook of a poet. Bryant shares powerful tools poets have relied on for millennia to escape their comfort zones and innovate through language - tools that allow treasury and finance professionals to achieve enhanced creativity, collaboration, and competitive advantage in their work.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP & FPAC

Payments Keynote | The 5th Domain

Oct 22, 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM

The world faces a dangerous combination of known and unknown cyber vulnerabilities. Today, we encounter strong and rapidly expanding adversaries utilizing new tools and techniques with ever increasing technical capabilities. Let's call these the good ol' days because securing the future, especially in the workplace, will be the real challenge. This session focuses on the rise of artificial intelligence, its impact on the cybersecurity of payment infrastructures and what payments professionals can do to combat the bad actors. Additional discussion includes how the proliferation of the Internet of Things will challenge our capacity to protect data.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Spotlight Keynote | Tactical Influence: The Superpower for Leaders

Oct 22, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Tactical influence is vital to gaining trust, aligning efforts to pursue goals, inspiring positive change, and significantly improving performance. Developing and maintaining trust supports effectively managing risk, improves culture, and increases innovation to prepare for an uncertain future. Using field-tested techniques backed by science, trust and nonverbal communications expert Pamela Barnum shares techniques for how to leverage intentional communication cues that increase collaboration and improve negotiations. Additionally, she demonstrates how treasury and finance professionals can communicate fearlessly with confidence while maintaining a strong executive presence during times of uncertainty.

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

Partner Workshop

FP&A Workshop (Sponsored by Workday)

Oct 20, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

Principles in Practice

Principles in Practice | Presentation & Storytelling Tools & Techniques:  Persuasive Presentation

Oct 23, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

In this energetic, thought-evoking, and interactive workshop experience, you'll learn how to communicate with confidence, clarity, and conviction utilizing the 5-Step Persuasive Presentation Model. Attendees learn how to transform insights into intelligent business decisions through earning buy-in, guiding solution-centered dialogue, and gaining the commitment to move forward. Applying these tools helps to maximize your impact as an influencer throughout your organization.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP & FPAC

Principles in Practice | Payments Fraud for Treasury 2024

Oct 23, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Payments Fraud and Cybercrime continue to be major problems for both commercial businesses and financial institutions. The latest statistics show a continued double digit growth rate annually. This interactive workshop reviews the major areas of risk including current statistics documented in AFP's fraud survey and other recent studies regarding payments fraud. Discussion includes an overview of current best practices to mitigate risk and avoid financial loss due to payments fraud of all types.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Principles in Practice | Dynamic Cash Flow Modeling: Drivers of Performance

Oct 23, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Effective cash flow management matters to companies of all sizes. It’s not just distressed companies that need to keep an eye on cash. The businesses that often need to have the firmest grasp on cash flow are small and mid-sized businesses that require liquidity as they scale. Workshop attendees explore the drivers of financial performance that are leading to distress and opportunistic growth while identifying opportunities to optimize cash flow by improving the timing of cash inflows and outflows.

Principles in Practice | Creating Financial Dashboards in Excel: Design Principles

Oct 23, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

An effective dashboard design has the ability to convey complex, relevant data that is clear and easily digestible for better business insights. This workshop module dives into visualization theories and the use of pre-attentive attributes to transform raw financial data into visually compelling and actionable dashboards. Through hands-on exercises and real-world examples, attendees learn design principles to master various types of data visualization techniques modeled in Excel.

Principles in Practice | Bank Fee Analysis: Achieving the Impossible Mission

Oct 23, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Concepts are great, but practice is where you really learn. This workshop gives attendees the opportunity to roll-up their sleeves and learn how to optimize bank fee data to minimize costs and drive your company's growth. Attendance at the session Bank Fee Analysis: Preparing for Mission Impossible is highly recommended, though attendance is not a prerequisite if you do not already have strong knowledge of bank fee analysis.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Principles in Practice |Presentation & Storytelling Tools & Techniques:  Connecting with Your Audience

Oct 23, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

In this relevant, inspiring, and applicable workshop, you’ll uncover why typical corporate communication patterns prevent you from delivering a relevant, inspiring, and actionable message. Uncover how to cultivate chemistry with your audience through the power of human connection. Attendees leave with a renewed mindset and skillset to replace drawn-out PowerPoint decks with succinct business storytelling and analogy techniques that ensure meaningful and profitable action.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP & FPAC

Risk Management

Balancing the True Costs and Benefits of Your Hedging Program

Oct 22, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Hedging costs can meaningfully impact an organization's financial performance. As corporations manage today's interest rate, currency and commodity volatility with increased hedging activities, it is important to assess both the visible and the hidden costs. Ensuring a cost-efficient program means considering the best ways to reduce the cost across strategy and pricing, legal and regulatory, accounting and operations. Join this session of leading treasury professionals as they discuss their cutting-edge approaches for quantifying hedging costs and benefits and share insightful strategies for leveraging processes and tools to create transparency and minimize costs.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

The Intersection of Geopolitics, Macroeconomics & Markets

Oct 22, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Companies and asset management firms have identified Geopolitical Risk as their paramount concern - from selecting factory locations to navigating commodity price fluctuations, and understanding how geopolitical events can significantly impact interest rates, FX, and credit spreads. While geopolitical risk has always been a factor, it is moving markets more than ever. With an unprecedented array of issues at hand, this session promises to equip participants with actionable insights to navigate and capitalize on geopolitical shifts effectively.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Roundtables

FP&A Symposium | Define Your FP&A Value Proposition

Oct 20, 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM

Attendance Restricted to Corporate Practitioners. Collaboration is what makes FP&A practitioners more than just data gatherers. We have the potential to be connectors of dots, pressure-testers of ideas, translators of diverse opportunities into the common language of dollars and cents and return on investment, but only if we have a seat at the tables alongside, rather than across from, our partners in the business. During this interactive discussion, participants consider how AI is reshaping the finance profession, and the role of collaborative skills at the epicenter of strategic decision-making. Participants walk away with an individualized action plan for enhancing their collaboration practice.

*Recommended for attendees working on the FPAC

Treasury Management

Ensuring Operational Resilience: The Imperative of Business Continuity Planning

Oct 20, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

What is your plan if at 9am today, the financial systems, company network or other critical systems you depend upon are not available for the next 30+ days? Do you have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for such situations?  Is IT aware of the business needs including critical business processes and timing of them? If you have a BCP, how often is it reviewed, tested and refined?  A BCP is essential for treasury professionals as it directly impacts their ability to manage financial risks, ensure cash flow stability, comply with regulations, manage relationships with stakeholders and protect the organization’s financial interests.  This thought-provoking session will equip you with knowledge, skills, and tools needed to develop, implement, and maintain an effective BCP to ensure organizational resilience in the face of disruptions.  

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Finding Your TMS Soulmate: Swipe Right on Success

Oct 21, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

In relationships, you don't need to find someone who is perfect — you need to find someone who is perfect for you. The same can be said when selecting a TMS. While there is no one perfect TMS, there is one (or more) that is right for you. But how do you know which one to swipe right on? In this session, two experts in the industry teach attendees how to successfully choose a TMS, covering selection, implementation, and usage, and including an exploration of the practical and realistic applications of the latest technologies (e.g., AI, ML, API), emerging products in the TMS space, and what you should do now.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

The Journey to Establish Treasury Best Practices in Global Cash Forecasting

Oct 22, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

In recent years, treasury groups worldwide have prioritized enhancing cash forecasting processes. These projects aim to automate workflows, improve forecast accuracy, and manage liquidity more effectively. Modern approaches often involve specialized technology platforms and AI, ML, or other smart-logic models. However, for new solutions to be effective, treasurers must aggregate and classify vast amounts of financial data from global banks, entities, and systems to make strategic decisions. This session demonstrates how modern treasury streamlines data collection, classification, modeling, and analysis, highlighting the impacts of a high-functioning forecast process for today's practitioners.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Bank Fee Analysis: Preparing for Mission Impossible

Oct 22, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Bank fee analysis is a critical process that is difficult to complete yet there are limited training resources on the subject. When done well, practitioners can decrease their organization’s spending on bank services by thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of dollars. In this session, a pair of treasury experts arm attendees with the tools and tactics to strategically conquer treasury's toughest task - bank fee analysis. After this session, continue your knowledge training at the Principles in Practice | Bank Fee Analysis: Achieving the Impossible Mission workshop on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 8:30 - 9:30 AM. This workshop offers attendees the opportunity to explore the ins and outs of conducting bank fee analysis.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Cash Forecasting: Taking it to the Next Level

Oct 22, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

To enhance treasury's role as strategic partners, treasurers rely on scalable and efficient technology solutions to increase automation and enhance reporting. With advanced technology capabilities such as data transformation, visualization, and RPA, improvements in process efficiency, control, and reduction of transaction costs can be realized. This session presents perspectives on automating and consolidating cash data from diverse sources and demonstrates how to turn it into meaningful analysis, increasing cash flow, reducing working capital requirements with improved cash forecasting accuracy, and realized benefits.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP

Implementing a Treasury Policy in a Newly-Created Treasury Department

Oct 22, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

In a time of market unpredictability, companies and stakeholders are prioritizing Risk Management. More important than its size, a robust treasury policy is essential for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks, managing cash flow, and navigating business volatility, including changes in interest rates. Teranet addressed these challenges by establishing a dedicated treasury department and creating a new, tailored treasury policy that governs its operations. This session stresses the importance of an effective treasury policy that strikes a balance - being concise, yet comprehensive - that encompasses all treasury functions, promotes accountability and is regularly reviewed at the highest levels.

*Recommended for attendees working on the CTP