- Identity Check: Which MAFF This Is
- Exam Snapshot: Format and Rules
- The Eight-Section Blueprint at a Glance
- Foundations (20%): What to Memorize
- The Six Heavier Specialty Areas, Fast Review
- Eligibility Checklist in One Pass
- Fees and Money Facts
- Attempts, Windows, and Results
- Published Outcomes: Read Them Carefully
- Recertification Quick Facts
- Sequencing Your Review by Domain
- FAQ
- The MAFF exam has 400 multiple-choice questions over five testing hours, closed book, with a simple non-programmable calculator allowed.
- Foundations carries 20%; five specialties carry 12% each; Bankruptcy and Digital Forensics carry 10% each.
- The standalone exam lists at USD 625, with a separate one-time USD 100 application fee.
- Basic education and experience must be met before sitting; advanced eligibility can be finished within three years as a MAFF Candidate.
Identity Check: Which MAFF This Is
This cheat sheet covers Master Analyst in Financial Forensics, the credential issued by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA). Certification decisions are overseen by NACVA's Litigation Forensics Board (LFB). The acronym is shared with other unrelated credentials, so make sure any fee, date, or domain figure you study comes from the NACVA materials. If you are brand new to the designation, start with What Is MAFF Certification? and then come back to this page as your one-sheet review.
Everything below is drawn from NACVA's public sources: the Core Body of Knowledge (revised September 5, 2023), the June 2026 CVA and MAFF Candidate Handbook, and NACVA's certification, qualification, and recertification pages. Fees and policies can change, so confirm them on the issuer's pages before you pay or schedule anything.
Exam Snapshot: Format and Rules
| Item | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Question count | 400 multiple-choice questions |
| Time | Five testing hours |
| Scored vs. unscored | Allocation is undisclosed |
| Book policy | Closed book |
| Permitted items | Simple non-programmable calculator, one blank scratch sheet, a writing implement |
| Delivery | Kryterion test centers or live remote proctoring; computer or paper administration also permitted in specified settings |
| Remote requirements | Government photo ID, external webcam, private room, room scan, live monitoring and recording |
| Breaks | One restroom break of up to five minutes; the exam timer keeps running |
| Adaptive? | Not stated in the handbook |
| Case study | CVA case-study requirements do not apply to MAFF |
The Eight-Section Blueprint at a Glance
The official exam outline groups content under Part I (Foundations) and Part II (Specialty Areas). These weights are official exam objectives, not suggested study allocations, and they total 100%.
| # | Section | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Part I: Foundations of Financial Forensics | 20% |
| 2 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Commercial and Personal Damages | 12% |
| 3 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Business and Intellectual Property Damages | 12% |
| 4 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Business Valuation in Litigation | 12% |
| 5 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Matrimonial | 12% |
| 6 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Business Fraud and Deterrence | 12% |
| 7 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Restructuring | 10% |
| 8 | Part II: Specialty Areas, Digital Forensics | 10% |
One trap worth flagging: NACVA also publishes a separate nine-specialty list used for eligibility and training purposes. Do not confuse it with the eight-section exam outline above. For a deeper walk through each area, see MAFF Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 8 Content Areas.
Foundations (20%): What to Memorize
Part I: Foundations of Financial Forensics
The single largest block on the exam, and the vocabulary and framework layer that every specialty section assumes you already own.
- The role of the financial forensic professional: how an analyst differs from an advocate, and what independence and objectivity mean in practice
- The litigation and dispute-resolution landscape: how engagements arise, how matters move through the process, and where an expert's work product fits
- Engagement mechanics: scope, assumptions, documentation, and the reporting of conclusions
- Professional standards and ethical obligations that govern forensic work
- Evidence handling, working papers, and the discipline of supporting every conclusion
Because this section is both the largest and the most conceptual, it rewards early attention. Candidates who rush into specialty drills often find that they misread scenario questions simply because the foundational terms are fuzzy. The detailed study sequence is in the MAFF study guide.
The Six Heavier Specialty Areas, Fast Review
Part II splits into six areas, each one a distinct practice domain. Use this section as a recall checklist, not a substitute for the official outline.
Commercial and Personal Damages (12%)
Damages measurement
Quantifying economic loss in contract, tort, and personal-injury style disputes.
- Lost profits, lost earnings, and the logic of causation versus quantification
- Mitigation, discounting, and the treatment of future losses
- Distinguishing the analyst's damages model from the legal theory of liability
Business and Intellectual Property Damages (12%)
Business and IP loss analysis
Applying damages concepts to business disruption and to intangible assets.
- Remedy frameworks for infringement and misappropriation matters
- Approaches to valuing intangible assets and royalty-style measures
- Business interruption and the isolation of the harmed revenue stream
Business Valuation in Litigation (12%)
Valuation under adversarial conditions
Valuation concepts applied where the result will be challenged.
- Standards and premises of value and how they shift by context
- Income, market, and asset approaches, and reconciling them
- Discounts and premiums, and how courts and counterparties scrutinize them
Matrimonial (12%)
Divorce-related financial analysis
Financial analysis of marital estates and support questions.
- Identifying, characterizing, and valuing marital and separate assets
- Income determination for support purposes, including closely held business owners
- Lifestyle analysis and tracing
Business Fraud and Deterrence (12%)
Fraud examination and prevention
Detecting, investigating, and quantifying fraud, plus the controls that deter it.
- Fraud schemes, red flags, and the conditions that enable misconduct
- Investigative technique, interviewing, and evidence preservation
- Internal controls and deterrence design
Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Restructuring (10%) and Digital Forensics (10%)
Bankruptcy, Insolvency, and Restructuring
Financial analysis in distressed-company and creditor-debtor settings.
- Solvency concepts and the analysis behind avoidance-type claims
- Roles of the financial analyst in restructuring and reorganization
- Asset recovery and creditor-related financial reporting
Digital Forensics
The technology-facing section, smallest in weight but unfamiliar to many accountants.
- Preservation, collection, and chain of custody for electronic evidence
- How digital evidence supports financial and fraud analysis
- Working alongside technical specialists as a financial expert
Key Takeaway
The 10% sections are not throwaways. On a 400-question exam, each of them still represents a substantial block of items, and Digital Forensics in particular is where candidates from a pure accounting background tend to have the thinnest preparation.
Eligibility Checklist in One Pass
MAFF eligibility has a "basic" layer that must be satisfied before you sit, and an "advanced" layer that can be completed afterward. For the complete walkthrough, see MAFF Requirements: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Basic education (before sitting)
- An accredited business-focused bachelor's degree or higher, or an LFB-approved equivalent
- Specified military or federal alternatives: MOS 35L/351L, GS-1811, or FLETC CITP
- Military evidence must show one year per 1,000 required hours; government applicants generally need GS-12 or comparable status, or a supervisor-supported approved exception
Basic experience (before sitting)
- At least 2,000 hours of relevant knowledge gained through education, publishing, research, teaching, and/or work, or
- An approved active financial or accounting credential, such as CPA, CVA, CFE, CFF, or CFA
Advanced eligibility (any one path)
- At least 50 hours of applicable FFBOK training, or
- NACVA's named five-day Foundations course, or
- 20 qualifying financial-forensics matters, or
- 2,000 business-valuation hours, including 500 in relevant specialties
A qualifying matter means substantial services as lead professional, typically at least 40 hours, and a report.
References
Two business and two professional references are required, reduced to two total when you document an additional qualifying financial credential. Your application also requires a CV or resume and eligibility evidence.
Fees and Money Facts
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone MAFF exam | USD 625 | Listed on NACVA's certifications page; no separate member and nonmember exam rates shown |
| Application fee | USD 100 | One-time; CV/resume and eligibility evidence required |
| Practitioner membership | USD 599 per 12 months | Membership is optional, but active status requires annual dues or a nonmember credential administration fee |
| Nonmember MAFF designee fee | USD 499 annually | Appears on an undated reestablishment chart; effective date unverified |
| Foundations training and exam | USD 3,523 member / USD 3,915 nonmember | Five-day, 45-CPE-hour program, before early-registration discounts |
| Self-study, training only | USD 1,499 | Does not include the exam |
| Self-study, full package | USD 2,599 | Includes the MAFF exam and Q&A guide |
| MAFF Exam Q&A Study Guide | USD 495 | Electronic; awards no CPE |
On study materials: the Q&A guide's product descriptions disagree on practice question count (roughly 1,600 versus 1,700). Whichever is right, that number is a practice-bank size, not the length of the certification exam, which is 400 questions.
Attempts, Windows, and Results
- Attempt limits: at most three attempts per year and no more than one per month
- Retest fee: applies, though the amount is not verified here
- Sitting window: two months after application approval or optional NACVA training completion
- Extensions: paid monthly extensions are available for up to ten additional months
- Passing standard: criterion-referenced under the LFB; no numeric cut score is published
- Results: normally one to two weeks
Because the window is finite, schedule your sitting with your study plan, not after it. See MAFF exam dates and scheduling for how to work backward from a target date, and MAFF passing score for what a criterion-referenced standard means when no number is posted.
Published Outcomes: Read Them Carefully
NACVA's MAFF FAQ reports annual results. The percentages below are calculated from the published counts; they are not published first-attempt rates.
| Year | Passed / Examinees | Calculated Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 19 of 21 | 90.5% |
| 2024 | 17 of 19 | 89.5% |
| 2023 | 22 of 25 | 88.0% |
| 2022 | 15 of 20 | 75.0% |
Three cautions. First, the cohorts are tiny, so a single result shifts the percentage noticeably. Second, no 2026 outcome or attempt breakdown is provided. Third, the same FAQ says about 20% fail on average, without defining the averaging period, which is a general statement and not a description of any individual year. The FAQ also reports 421 MAFFs as of 2025. For interpretation, read MAFF Pass Rate: What the Data Shows.
Recertification Quick Facts
- CPE: 60 applicable hours per three-year cycle, plus attestation
- Fee: USD 400 per cycle, due December 31
- First cycle: begins with the first full calendar year after certification
- NACVA course offset: 15 to 29 hours of NACVA courses offsets USD 200; 30 or more hours offsets the full USD 400
- Annual credential or membership fees: remain separate
- Records: keep supporting documentation for three years after the reporting cycle; compliance is subject to audit
- Policy changes: attestation rules apply from 2025 onward, and the former bonus-point and recommended-course program ended December 31, 2025; older 36-hour descriptions are not current
Inactive-status rules are published separately on NACVA's inactive status page. If you are weighing long-run costs against career upside, the ROI analysis, salary guide, and MAFF jobs overview cover the other side of the ledger.
Sequencing Your Review by Domain
Since the exam is closed book and heavy on recall, order your review so the foundational vocabulary lands first and the technical, least-familiar area gets repeated exposure. Adjust the timing to your own background; a litigation CPA and a valuation specialist will weight these weeks differently.
Foundations (20%)
- Master the engagement, evidence, ethics, and reporting terminology that every specialty section assumes
- Build a one-page glossary you can recite without notes
Damages and Valuation (36% combined)
- Cover Commercial and Personal Damages, Business and IP Damages, and Business Valuation in Litigation together, since they share causation, discounting, and measurement logic
Matrimonial and Business Fraud (24% combined)
- Focus on asset characterization and income analysis, then fraud schemes, red flags, and controls
Bankruptcy and Digital Forensics (20% combined)
- Give extra repetitions to Digital Forensics if your background is purely accounting
Full-length timed practice
- Simulate the five-hour, 400-question format with only a basic calculator and one scratch sheet
You can run timed sets in the MAFF practice test environment to rehearse that pacing, and the MAFF training overview compares official and independent preparation routes. Candidates who want structured question practice across all eight sections can start at the main practice site.
Key Takeaway
The public blueprint is your anchor. Paid guides and courses are optional supplements, and their contents do not replace the official outline. Map every study resource back to the eight sections and weights above, and drop anything that does not fit.
FAQ
The exam has 400 multiple-choice questions to be completed in five testing hours. The handbook does not disclose how many items are scored versus unscored.
Part I, Foundations of Financial Forensics, carries 20%. Five specialty sections carry 12% each, and Bankruptcy/Insolvency/Restructuring and Digital Forensics carry 10% each.
No numeric cut score is published. The Litigation Forensics Board uses a criterion-referenced passing standard, and results typically arrive in one to two weeks.
Basic education and experience must be met before sitting. If you pass but are missing the advanced requirement, MAFF Candidate status gives you up to three years to document it, while complying with recertification.
Up to three attempts per year, with no more than one per month. A retest fee applies, but the amount was not verified, so confirm it with NACVA before scheduling a retake.
Keep this sheet beside the full cheat sheet hub and the acronym explainer if you need to double-check that every fact you are memorizing belongs to Master Analyst in Financial Forensics.