FMVA® | Program Updates

This article contains the historical updates and changes to CFI's Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA®) Certification program.

Update History

Announcement Date Effective Date
N/A June 30, 2025
October 7, 2024 January 14, 2025
August 30, 2024 September 30, 2024
July 23, 2024 August 20, 2024
July 1, 2023 July 31, 2023
May 8, 2023 May 31, 2023
September 1, 2022 October 31, 2022
June 1, 2020 September 1, 2020

🗓️ Updates Effective June 30, 2025

Summary of Changes:

Effective June 30, 2025, the courses included in the FMVA Certification Program have been reordered.

Former Order Updated Order
Financial Analysis Fundamentals Financial Analysis Fundamentals
Introduction to 3-Statement Modeling Introduction to 3-Statement Modeling
Introduction to Business Valuation 3-Statement Modeling
DCF Valuation Modeling Auditing and Balancing a 3-Statement Model
Operational Modeling Operational Modeling
3-Statement Modeling Introduction to Business Valuation
Comparable Valuation Fundamentals DCF Valuation Modeling
Auditing and Balancing a 3-Statement Model Comparable Valuation Fundamentals
Budgeting and Forecasting Scenario & Sensitivity Analysis in Excel
Dashboards & Data Valuation Monthly Cash Flow Modeling
Monthly Cash Flow Modeling Budgeting and Forecasting
PowerPoint & Pitchbooks Dashboards & Data Visualization
Scenario & Sensitivity Analysis in Excel PowerPoint & Pitchbooks
Professional Ethics Professional Ethics

Why were these changes implemented?

To further streamline the learning experience and make the FMVA program more intuitive for learners.

Impact on Learners

There are no implications for learners who are currently working toward earning their FMVA certification. Courses can be taken in any order; however, the new order is recommended for the most intuitive learning experience.


🗓️ Updates Effective January 14, 2025

Summary of Changes

Effective January 14th, the following core courses have been added to the FMVA® Certification Program:

  • Auditing and Balancing a 3-Statement Model
  • Comparable Valuation Fundamentals

The electives included in the FMVA® certification program moving forward will be:

  • Comparable Valuation Analysis
  • Advanced Excel Formulas & Functions
  • Startup/e-Commerce Financial Model & Valuation
  • Corporate & Business Strategy
  • Introduction to Bank Valuation
  • Normalizing an Income Statement
  • Mining Financial Model & Valuation
  • Presentation of Financial Information
  • Real Estate Modeling

All other electives previously included in the FMVA® program will be allocated to new and existing specialization programs:

  • Investment Banking and Private Equity Modeling Specialization (NEW)
  • AI for Finance Specialization (NEW)
  • Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization

The following content has been retired:

  • The Amazon Case Study
  • Cash-to-Accrual Accounting

Why were these changes implemented?

We strive to provide the most comprehensive, streamlined, and effective learning experience and this change supports these continuous efforts.

Impact on Learners

  • Effective January 14, 2025, learners will be required to choose three of the electives listed above to complete the FMVA® Certification. Incomplete electives not listed above will no longer count toward the completion of the FMVA® program after January 14, 2025.  
  • Effective February 17, 2025, learners who enrolled in the FMVA® Certification program will be required to complete the two new core courses added on January 14. These courses will remain optional to learners who earn their FMVA® Certification prior to February 17, 2025.

🗓️ Updates Effective September 30, 2024

Summary of Changes

  • Effective September 30, 2024, the Accounting Principles and Standards course has been retired from our course content catalog, and from the FMVA® final exam.

Why was this update implemented?

  • To better align and focus our curriculum on job-ready skills for financial analysts and professionals. For those interested in exploring accounting topics, we've developed the Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization.

🗓️ Updates Effective August 20, 2024

Summary of Changes

  • Effective August 20, 2024, the following elective courses will be removed from the FMVA® Certification Program:
    • FP&A for New Analysts
    • FP&A Professional Excel Forecast Model Design
    • FP&A Professional Formatting & Revenue Forecasting
    • FP&A Professional Headcount Forecasting & Analysis
    • FP&A Professional Contractor Forecasting & Analysis
    • FP&A Professional Debt and Capex Forecasting & Analysis
    • FP&A Professional Financial Statement Aggregation & Analysis
    • FP&A Professional Dashboard Visualizations & Analysis
    • FP&A Professional Model Build & Configuration
  • These courses will continue to be available through the FP&A Specialization Program.

Impact on Learners

Learners who have not earned an FMVA® Certificate before August 20, 2024, must select from the currently available electives to complete the program. Learners who have earned their FMVA® Certificate before this date will not be impacted.


🗓️ Updates Effective July 31, 2023

Summary of Changes

  • Effective July 31, 2023, "Introduction to 3 Statement Modeling" is a new core course required to earn an FMVA® Certification.
  • The new core course requirement of the FMVA® program has increased to 14, plus a minimum of 3 electives and a minimum score of 70% to pass the final exam.

Why was this update implemented?

To further enhance our learners' financial modeling skills.


🗓️ Updates Effective May 31, 2023

Summary of Changes

  • The FMVA® Program now requires the completion of 13 core courses compared to the previous requirement of 12 core courses.
  • Updated the "Introduction to Business Valuation" course from a preparatory course to a core course within the program.

Why was this update implemented?

This vital course has been integrated into the core curriculum to align our program with industry demands based on valuable feedback from our learners and industry professionals.


🗓️ Updates Effective October 31, 2022

Summary of Changes

Why was this update implemented?

These changes are being made to improve the structure and the quality of the FMVA® program. The revised format will give our members more financial modeling guidance and experience earlier in the program to prepare them for the revised 3-Statement Modeling course. 

With the changes, our members will begin their modeling experience with the Operational Modeling course, which teaches the best practices for building financial models' most common operational schedules. 

We will then use many of the schedules from the Operational Modeling course in DCF Valuation Modeling, allowing our members to value a company's equity using a fully discounted cash flow model. 

From there, we will extend our exploration of valuation methods with the Comparable Valuation Analysis course, which will focus on in-depth and practical techniques for comparable trading analysis and precedent transaction analysis.

Finally, the curriculum will transition into an improved version of the 3-Statement Modeling course, including revised schedules and statements. We will also discuss model design, model review, and circularity in financial models. 

All learners who complete or have completed their FMVA® Certification before October 31, 2022, will not be impacted by program updates.


🗓️ Updates Effective September 1, 2020

Summary of Changes

  • The FMVA® final exam became a requirement to earn an FMVA® Certification.

All learners who have completed their certification before January 1, 2021 will not be impacted by the new requirements.

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