CFE Exam Prep Course FAQs

No. The Prep Course is licensed to only one user. It may not be shared with anyone. Other terms and conditions apply as outlined in the End User License Agreement (EULA). 

Designed with the busy anti-fraud professional in mind, the Prep Course gives you the flexibility you need to prepare for the CFE Exam on your schedule. Including study questions and practice tests that simulate the actual CFE Exam experience, the Prep Course will help you prepare to pass the rigorous CFE Exam. 

The Prep Course is recommended to all exam applicants. The course, however, is not required.

The CFE Exam Prep Course focuses on four testing areas significant to the CFE Exam: Financial Transactions and Fraud Schemes, Investigation, Law, and Fraud Prevention and Deterrence. The Prep Course includes more than 1,300 study questions. After answering a question, you will be informed of the correct answer, receive a brief explanation about the answer and a reference for additional study if needed. The course also includes practice exams that simulate the CFE Exam. After completing the study questions, and scoring 85% or higher on each of the practice exams, you should be ready to pass the CFE Exam.

Not necessarily. Exam editions and versions are administered for a period of two years from the initial release date, not your purchase date. The version of the CFE Exam you will be provided is based on your ACFE purchase history. If your study materials or exam are expired, you will be provided the most current version of the CFE Exam. Please contact an ACFE Member Services Representative at MemberServices@ACFE.com for details.

Prep Courses and exams are valid for two years from the date published. If your Prep Course has expired, or you don't think you'll be ready to take the CFE Exam that corresponds to your Prep Course, you may be eligible to upgrade to the newest version of the Prep Course at a special price. Contact a Member Services Representative at (800) 245-3321 / +1 (512) 478-9000 for more information. 

No, the interactivity of the Prep Course is key to efficient, effective use of your study time.

If you are planning to use the Prep Course on multiple computers, we strongly recommend purchasing the online format. With the online format, you can easily switch between devices without needing to manually transfer your progress. 

If you choose the electronic download format, you may install the Prep Course on a maximum of two computers. Each time you switch computers you must follow the steps below to manually transfer your progress: 

1. Choose "Export Progress File" from the side menu.
2. Save a copy to your hard drive, email a copy to yourself or save a copy to a flash drive.
3. Install the Prep Course on the second computer using your license key.
4. On the second computer choose "Import Progress File."
5. Choose the saved file from the flash drive or your email.
6. Repeat this process every time you switch computers.

 

Please note, the Prep Course is only licensed to one user and may not be shared.

Make sure that you have applied for the CFE Exam and have submitted three professional recommendations, proof of education and experience, a recent photo and that you are an associate member of the ACFE. For additional details on the CFE Exam, visit the CFE Exam FAQ page. 

View all available CFE Exam preparation methods.

Special pricing is available for purchases of 10 or more Prep Courses. Contact a Member Services Representative at (800) 245-3321 or +1 (512) 478-9000 for more information. 

You will earn 35 CPE credits for completing the Prep Course. However, the primary purpose of the Prep Course software is to efficiently and effectively prepare you for the CFE Exam, not provide CPE credit. Unlike CPE provided for completing ACFE Self-Study CPE Courses, CPE provided for completing the CFE Exam Prep Course is not NASBA-approved. To claim CPE obtained by completing this course, please contact the organization for which you hope to claim this CPE credit to determine if they will accept it. Additionally, please note that any CPE earned prior to receiving the CFE credential cannot be claimed to meet CPE requirements for maintaining the CFE credential. This includes any CPE earned by completing the Prep Course. 

Technical issues related to the Prep Course are rare when system requirements are met. However, should you experience an issue, please follow these steps:

1. Verify that your device meets the technical requirements for the Prep Course. 
2. If you are still experiencing an issue, please view the troubleshooting section of this page.

System Requirements:

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or above
• Screen resolution of 1280x1024 or greater
• High-speed Internet connection

Browser Requirements:

• Internet Explorer 7 (Internet Explorer 8 or above recommended)
• Google Chrome 17 or above (latest version recommended)
• Firefox 10 or above (latest version recommended)
• Safari 5.1.7 or above (latest version recommended)
• Apple iPad, iOS 5 or above recommended
• Browser must be set to allow Javascript as well as cookies.

System Requirements:

• Processor: 2 GHz Processor
• RAM: 1 GB Ram
• Operating System: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 - Important: Running Windows through virtualization (Parallels, VMWare Fusion, etc.) is not permitted
• .NET Framework 4.7.2
• Disk space: 150MB of available disk space
• Display: Color display running at 1024x768 minimum (1280x1024 recommended)
• Internet: An Internet connection is required for product activation and to submit your Prep Course and CFE Exam results

Download Requirements:

• 150MB Hard Drive Space
• Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
• Internet Connection (required for download, activation and to submit results)

Open the CFE Exam (not the CFE Exam Prep Course) and then click on ‘Check for Updates’ and select ‘From the Web’. Once this is done, attempt to open the Prep Course software.

If the issue is not resolved, please follow the steps below:

1. Log in to your account at ACFE.com, click on My Account and then click on CFE Exam Prep Course. 
2. Click the link to download the Prep Course software. DO NOT uninstall the Prep Course software that is currently installed on your computer. 
3. Double-click the Prep Course icon that was added to your desktop and select ‘run’.  
4. Select the Repair option from the pop-up window.
5. Once it is done repairing, try running the Prep Course software.  

This error occurs if you are trying to import a progress file from another version of the CFE Exam Prep Course. For example, you export a progress file from a 2020 Prep Course, then purchases a 2021 Prep Course and attempts to import their progress from the 2020 Prep Course into the 2021 Prep Course. The Prep Course is updated each year and because of this progress cannot be transferred between different versions.

This error message will appear if you are entering a Prep Course license key into a different version of the Prep Course. For example, you attempt to enter the license key for a previously purchased 2019 Prep Course into the newer 2020 Prep Course. Please make sure you are using the correct license key that correlates with that version of the Prep Course. You can find your license key by logging in to your ACFE.com account.

When using a home computer and network, you might want to try temporarily disabling any firewalls or internet security. If you are on a work computer, you may need to contact your IT department and ask them to temporarily disable the firewall or security program.

You can also ask them to “whitelist” our Prep Course software and the following four URLs:

http://services.acfe.com/IssueReporting.svc 
http://services.acfe.com/ExamSubmission.svc 
http://services.acfe.com/ExamKeyRequest.svc 
http://services.acfe.com/License.svc 

If your IT staff is unable or unwilling to do this, you may need to use a home computer and network to use the installed version of the Prep Course. 

If you experience issues while you are taking the first section of the exam and were not able to complete it, please contact ACFE Member Services at (800) 245-3321 / +1 (512) 478-9000. It may be necessary for us to generate a new exam key for you. Providing an exam key typically takes one business day. 

If your exam crashes during a section of the exam and you have already completed at least one other section, please email MemberServices@ACFE.com informing us of the crash. Please include the date and time you took the exam and what section crashed. You will then have to complete any remaining sections and submit the exam to us. Once the exam is submitted, we will grade the completed sections and provide you with a new exam key to take the remaining section. 

For the Prep Course to run properly, please change the screen resolution to a color display running at a minimum of 1024x768 or 1280x1024 (we recommend a display of 1280x1024). If you are using a Netbook, this may not be possible, as the screen size may be too small. If you are unable to set the screen resolution to 1280x1024, the Prep Course program will be unable to run since the device does not meet the minimum requirements. 

If your display settings meet the minimum requirements and you are still having issues and using Windows 7 or 8, please make sure your font size in Windows is set to the default (smaller) setting. 

You may need to right-click the Prep Course program icon and run it as an Administrator. If you are on a work computer, you might have certain restrictions. Contact your IT team and they will be able to correct this issue for you.