Certification Information

MMAAA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

Many years ago the Massachusetts Municipal Auditors’ and Accountants’ Association (MMAAA) established a Certification Program to provide a measurement of achievement for governmental auditors and accountants.  The Program, which is purely voluntary and restricted only to members, is offered by the Association to advance the professionalism of its members.  
Members who pass both the Practical (Accounting) and Legal examinations and meet all of the educational and experience requirements are recognized as a Certified Governmental Accountants (CGA) by the Association. The examinations, which are very in-depth, test a member’s knowledge of municipal accounting and law.  The examinations are held at the Annual School (usually at U-Mass, Amherst in March), and the certificates are awarded to those newly certified members at our Annual Meeting (usually at Cape Cod in June).

Dear Members: MMAAA offers a certification program of Certified Governmental Accountant (CGA) as promulgated by our Association. While the examinations have been prepared by an independent source there should be no misunderstanding that the CERTIFICATION PROGRAM is the Association’s program and the Association is issuing the Certifications. The examination is purely voluntary and offered by your Association to advance the professionalism of its members. In addition to passing the exams, all applicants must satisfy education and experience requirements prior to becoming certified. Once certified, in order to keep the Certified status, the members must maintain active membership and attend the MMAAA Education Program at least once every three years.

LEGAL EXAM: This 30 Minute exam consists of 25 multiple choice questions. Each question is worth 4 points. Minimum passing grade is 72.

PRACTICAL EXAM:This 2 ½ hour exam consists of 10 problems worth 10 points each. Problems require specific journal entries and calculations. You may be required to prepare financial statements. Questions involving mathematical calculations must have an exact answer. Some problems allow for partial credit. Minimum passing grade is 70. The following suggested topics are recommended for your review: Recording Town Meeting or City Council Appropriations; Recording Tax Recap Sheet Items; Recording current year Cash Receipts and Disbursements; Recording Tax Titles and Tax Possessions; Recording Departmental Committed Bills and associated Cash Receipts, Refunds and Abatements; Recording Loans Authorized and Bond Anticipation Notes; Recording Year End Adjusting and Closing Entries; Recording Year End Accruals and Opening Reversal Entries; General Account Classification by title - Asset, Liability, or Fund Balance; Recording Journal Entries for Capital Projects; Calculation of Available Funds (Free Cash); Reconciliation of Cash – by Treasurer and Auditor/Accountant; Calculation of Principal and Interest Payments on Long-Term Bond Issues.

 IMPORTANT REMINDERS: DURING THE EXAM: Pens/Pencils and non-programmable business calculators will be allowed during the exam. No other materials/books/papers will be allowed on the table. All cell phones and electronic devices, other than calculators, must be turned off during the exam.
Please note that smartphones and other similar devices cannot be used as calculators for the exams.