Certified Municipal Finance Officer

(CMFO) Program

News! On January 27, 2011, the inaugural class of the Certified Municipal Finance Officer program graduated. Click here to hear testimonials from some of the graduates. View video on YouTube

The Certified Municipal Finance Officer (CMFO) is a certification program offered by MTAS. It is an 11-course program that includes an exam at the end of each course. Courses are offered in a sequence beginning with the "Government Environment." Courses are offered approximately every other month (beginning February 2011) in several locations across the state. Each course is a day-long event beginning at 8:30 a.m. local time and concluding at 5:00 p.m. More information on the course location and schedule is provided below. This program is a valuable resource to gain in-depth knowledge of municipal accounting and finance. Completion of the entire series takes about 24 months.

The Municipal Finance Officer Certification and Education Act of 2007 (Act), as passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, requires each municipality to have in its employ a Certified Municipal Finance Officer (CMFO) by a specified date. The legislation also provided an alternative for cities with 1) gross annual revenues of $100,000 or less and $100,000 or less in outstanding debt and 2) cities with gross annual revenues of $300,000 or less and $300,000 or less in outstanding debt.

Cities in category 1 (above) are given the option to have an employee complete 24 hours of qualifying continuing education each year, or contract with a qualified person to provide financial oversight. These cities may also elect to send an employee through the CMFO program.

Cities in category 2 may contract with a qualified person to provide financial oversight, employ a CMFO or send an employee through the CMFO program.

If you are eligible and elect to either hire a contractor or send an employee for the 24 hours of continuing education program each year, complete the following form and mail it to MTAS at the address at the bottom of the form.

Open and download form

If you elect to send a designated employee through the CMFO program, complete the following form. You will need to mail it to MTAS at the address found on the bottom of the form.

Open and download form

Financial Reporting I Columbia Jackson Morristown..................................January 10, 2012 Loudon Martin Lebanon......................................January 18, 2012 Jackson McMinnville..................................January 26, 2012 Registration is online!

Helpful CMFO Information

• CMFO Acronyms
• CMFO Helpful Websites
• Information on the Municipal Finance Officer Certification and Education Act of 2007 (6-56-401... as amended 2008)
• Information on Certified Municipal Finance Officer Program (Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury).