- What the Credential Is and Who Issues It
- Who Benefits From the Credential
- How the Program Works: Enrollment, Access, and Completion
- The 12 Curriculum Headings
- Assessment Format: What Is Verified and What Is Not
- Renewal Every Two Years
- Where the Credential Fits in Hiring
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Curriculum
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CSAF means Certified Specialist Accounting and Finance, issued by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).
- Delivery is an online, self-directed Learning Center course: $0 additional for HFMA members, $399 for non-members.
- The published curriculum has 12 unweighted headings, from cost analysis to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and fraud risks.
- A March 2023 HFMA table lists 75 questions, 90 minutes, 70% to pass; current parameters remain unverified.
What the Credential Is and Who Issues It
CSAF stands for Certified Specialist Accounting and Finance. It is a healthcare finance credential issued by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), the professional body for finance leaders in hospitals, health systems, and related provider organizations. HFMA both delivers the program and administers its assessment through its online Learning Center, so there is no separate third-party testing vendor to navigate.
The credential is aimed at the accounting-and-finance slice of healthcare operations. It does not try to cover revenue cycle operations, patient access, or health information management; it concentrates on how a provider organization measures cost, plans and budgets, funds capital, reports its financial position, and stays on the right side of reimbursement rules and compliance risk. If you have seen the acronym attached to other certifications elsewhere, set those aside: everything on this page concerns only the HFMA credential.
For a shorter definitional overview, see our explainers on what CSAF stands for and the meaning of CSAF. This article goes further into how the program is built and what earning it involves.
Who Benefits From the Credential
HFMA's published prerequisite is a working familiarity with cost accounting, budgeting, cash management, financial reports, and internal controls. General accounting experience and some exposure to healthcare finance are recommended, but advanced preparation is not required. In practical terms, the program suits people who already handle numbers inside a provider setting, or who are moving toward that work, such as:
- Staff and senior accountants in hospital or health-system finance departments
- Financial analysts supporting budgeting, cost accounting, or decision support
- Accountants from outside healthcare who are transitioning into provider finance and need the sector vocabulary
- Finance managers who want a structured review of reimbursement, compliance, and reporting topics they touch only partially in their day-to-day roles
Because the curriculum spans so many functions, it can serve as both a credential and a map of the healthcare finance landscape. For eligibility specifics, our guide to CSAF requirements and prerequisites goes deeper.
How the Program Works: Enrollment, Access, and Completion
Format and time commitment
The program is an online, self-directed course. There are no scheduled cohorts or fixed test windows that you must register for months in advance; you work through the modules at your own pace. HFMA's course page estimates roughly 12-14 hours of coursework and awards 14 CPE credits. Treat both numbers as descriptions of the course, not of the assessment: the hour estimate is a preparation guide, and the CPE figure is not the exam timer or a renewal-hour requirement.
One wrinkle worth knowing: an older HFMA comparison table (current as of March 2023) quotes a 14-18 hour study estimate, which differs from the 12-14 hours on the course page. Budget toward the higher end if you are new to healthcare finance, and toward the lower end if the topics are familiar.
Cost and access
| Item | HFMA Member | Non-Member |
|---|---|---|
| Course enrollment | $0 additional charge | $399 |
| Access period | Unlimited while membership is active | 12 months |
| Renewal assessment (every two years) | $0 | $100 per certification |
Membership status therefore changes the economics noticeably, both at enrollment and at renewal. A full cost walkthrough is in our CSAF certification cost breakdown.
What earns the credential
Certification requires two things: completing the course modules and passing the end-of-course assessment. HFMA's issuer badge for the credential confirms the same earning criteria. There is no separate application review, work-experience audit, or proctored testing-center appointment described in the program materials.
The 12 Curriculum Headings
HFMA's course outline publishes twelve headings. It is important to read them correctly: they are an unweighted preparation curriculum, not an official statement of exam domains with percentage weights. The outline does not tell you which topic carries the most questions, and it does not establish exhaustive coverage of everything the assessment may test. Our complete guide to all 12 CSAF content areas expands on each one; here is the orientation.
Cost Analysis and Management
The foundation of provider finance: understanding what it actually costs to deliver care.
- How costs behave and how they are allocated across departments and service lines
- Using cost information to support management decisions
Reimbursement and Managed Care
How providers get paid under contracts with commercial payers and managed care arrangements.
- Payment models and their effect on revenue predictability
- Financial implications of contract terms
Financial Planning and Budgeting
Translating strategy into numbers and tracking performance against them.
- Building operating budgets and forecasts
- Variance analysis and the role of budgeting in organizational control
Capital Planning and Financing
Deciding which major investments to make and how to fund them.
- Evaluating capital projects
- Financing options available to provider organizations
Investments and Cash Management
Keeping the organization liquid and managing its investable funds responsibly.
- Short-term cash management practices
- Policies and risk considerations for investments
Accounting Oversight and Internal Control
The governance layer that keeps financial information reliable.
- Internal control concepts and their purpose
- Oversight responsibilities within the finance function
The remaining six headings concentrate on external reporting, government payers, and risk:
- Financial Reporting: Liabilities and Long-Term Debt covers how obligations and borrowing appear in provider financial statements.
- Financial Reporting: Relationships and Procedures addresses reporting relationships and the procedural side of producing financial statements.
- Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement Systems addresses how the major government payers calculate and make payments, which shapes revenue for nearly every U.S. provider.
- Fraudulent Acts and Other Compliance Risks addresses the compliance exposures finance staff must recognize.
- Malpractice Insurance and Risk Management addresses how providers finance and manage professional liability risk.
- Financial Reporting: Revenue and Assets addresses recognition and reporting of revenue and asset balances.
Assessment Format: What Is Verified and What Is Not
Honesty about what is and is not confirmed will serve you better than a confident but unsourced number. Here is the situation:
| Parameter | Status |
|---|---|
| Questions | 75, per HFMA's March 2023 comparison table (historical; current count unverified) |
| Time limit | 90 minutes, per the same March 2023 table (current limit unverified) |
| Passing criterion | 70%, per the same March 2023 table (current criterion unverified) |
| Retakes | March 2023 table: unlimited, no fee, after a 30-day wait within the one-year access period |
Treat these as verified historical specifications, not confirmed 2026 parameters. The protected course materials sit behind enrollment, so the current question count, time limit, and passing standard should be confirmed inside your own course before you plan pacing. We track these details in our articles on the CSAF passing score and exam dates and scheduling.
Two further points are worth stating plainly. First, because the program is self-directed and online, there are no fixed national testing windows in the way some proctored credentials have. Second, no pass-rate figure is published in the sources we rely on, so we do not quote one; our pass rate article explains what can and cannot be said responsibly.
Renewal Every Two Years
The credential is not permanent. Renewal happens every two years through a separate 50-question online assessment, priced at $0 for HFMA members and $100 per certification for non-members. Several details trip people up:
- Initial certification and recertification are different assessments. Passing the course assessment once does not exempt you from the renewal exam later.
- Recertification does not award NASBA CPE credit, so do not count on it for CPA continuing-education hours.
- These are specialist-renewal rules. They are not the continuing-education requirements that apply to HFMA's broader CHFP credential, so avoid mixing the two.
- Deadline wording is inconsistent. HFMA's maintenance FAQs mention both May 31 and June 30. Rely on the individual due date shown in My Development and in the notification sent to your account.
Key Takeaway
Calendar your renewal the day you pass. Because the official deadline wording conflicts, the due date in your own My Development record is the only one you should trust, and a two-year cycle is easy to forget.
Where the Credential Fits in Hiring
Healthcare finance hiring is concentrated in provider organizations: hospitals, integrated health systems, physician groups, and the consulting and advisory firms that serve them. Within those employers, the roles that naturally align with CSAF-type knowledge include financial analyst, senior accountant, cost accountant, budget analyst, reimbursement analyst, and finance manager positions.
The credential tends to work best as a differentiator rather than a gate. It shows a hiring manager that you have studied the sector's particular mechanics, such as government reimbursement, malpractice risk financing, and provider-specific revenue reporting, which general accounting programs rarely cover in depth. We do not cite salary figures here because none are established in HFMA's program materials; for a qualitative discussion see our CSAF salary guide, and for a return-on-investment lens, is the CSAF certification worth it. You can also browse what employers ask for in our overview of CSAF-related jobs.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Curriculum
Because the twelve headings are unweighted and the course is self-paced, the one planning decision worth making is the order you tackle them. The sequence below follows how the topics build on one another and fits the 12-14 hour course estimate if you spread it over several weeks. Adjust it to your background.
Cost and planning foundation
- Cost Analysis and Management first, since later topics assume you understand cost behavior
- Financial Planning and Budgeting next, while the cost concepts are fresh
Payers and revenue
- Reimbursement and Managed Care, then Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement Systems
- Pair these with Financial Reporting: Revenue and Assets so payment mechanics connect to how revenue is reported
Funding and liquidity
- Capital Planning and Financing, Investments and Cash Management
- Financial Reporting: Liabilities and Long-Term Debt, because financing decisions show up there
Controls, risk, and review
- Accounting Oversight and Internal Control, Fraudulent Acts and Other Compliance Risks, Malpractice Insurance and Risk Management
- Financial Reporting: Relationships and Procedures, then a full mixed-topic practice run
For a fuller plan, see our CSAF study guide, and keep our one-page cheat sheet handy for last-minute review. When you are ready to test yourself under realistic conditions, our CSAF practice tests let you drill each of the twelve areas, and you can gauge your readiness against the concerns raised in our piece on how hard the CSAF exam is.
If you are still orienting yourself, our related explainers cover the basics from several angles: what is CSAF, CSAF certification, and CSAF training options. For hands-on question practice across every curriculum heading, visit the main practice test site.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) issues and delivers it. The program runs through HFMA's online, self-directed Learning Center, and HFMA also awards a digital badge confirming the earning criteria: completing the course modules and the end-of-course assessment.
Enrollment carries no additional charge for HFMA members and costs $399 for non-members. Renewal every two years is $0 for members and $100 per certification for non-members. Access lasts as long as membership is active for members, or 12 months for paying non-members.
No. HFMA publishes the twelve headings as an unweighted preparation curriculum. They do not establish percentage weights, a highest-weighted topic, or exhaustive assessment coverage, so prepare broadly across all twelve rather than concentrating on a few.
A March 2023 HFMA comparison table lists 75 questions, 90 minutes, and a 70% passing criterion. Those are historical specifications; the current question count, time limit, and passing criterion are unverified, so confirm them inside your enrolled course.
Yes. Renewal is every two years through a separate 50-question online assessment. It is not the same as the initial course assessment, it does not award NASBA CPE, and your exact due date appears in My Development and in your account notification.