Roughly 35% or 60 questions out of the 170 questions on the CTP exam test your knowledge of basic facts and terms. As a group these questions cover material that represents the “basic” content of the BOK as opposed to the material that covers a more in depth treatment of concepts and principles and how they are applied in the practice of treasury management. As I’m sure you have found, the amount of space that is devoted to “basic “content in the BOK is substantial.

One strategy that you can use to make the study of this information more manageable, is to recognize that most of it can be put into three basic categories. So here are the categories and some strategies for studying the material that each covers.

1) Plus / Minus

This category includes content that is presented in a contrasting format such as Advantages vs. Disadvantages or Benefits vs. Costs. For example, questions could be designed to test your ability to differentiate between the Advantages / Disadvantages of processing remittances in a company processing center vs. outsourcing this activity to a bank lockbox. For these types of questions, put the “Pluses” on one side of a flash card and the “Minuses” on the opposite side. You might even consider using the color green for the Plus side and red for the Minus side of the flash card.

2) Lists

Throughout the BOK there is basic content that can be expressed as a list of items that define some concept. For example, the list of objectives of Cash Management which could be incorporated in an “Except” exam question format. The way to prepare for List questions is to distill the text into a list, identify those items that you are surprised to see included in the list, reduce those items to key words and put them on a flash card.

3) Vocabulary

As with all professions, each has its own distinct vocabulary and treasury management is no exception. Exam questions could be designed to directly test your understanding of a specific term. Or, knowing the meaning of a term that is being used as a distracter can help you to narrow the possible correct answers for a question that you are struggling with. One strategy that could help you to prepare for vocabulary questions is to review the glossary of treasury management terms, select those that you are unfamiliar with and put them on a flash card. Then, on the opposite side of the card put the concept, principle, process, etc. to which the term refers.

- George Schilling, CTP