Certification

How to Become a Certified Daily Money Manager

The qualification and application requirements, forms, and resources necessary to achieve the Certified Daily Money Manager designation are described below. To achieve certification, candidates must successfully complete the CDMM exam, experience, and ethics requirements and then continue an ongoing continuing education program to sustain their skills and certification.

CDMM Five-Step Certification Process

Links to all referenced forms and resources can be found below.

  1. Submit an Application
  2. Submit Documentation of Experience/Hours Worked with your application
  3. Pass a Background Check
  4. Pay a non-refundable Application Fee
  5. Pass a Certification Examination

Once you have been approved to take the exam, the approval is valid for a one-year period. If you don’t take the exam in this timeframe, you will need to re-apply and meet the criteria again.

Application

Submission of the CDMM certification application is the first step toward earning the designation as a Certified Daily Money Manager.

When submitting your application, include an attachment documenting your experience / hours worked as described below.

  • The application includes a background check.
  • If answering yes to any of the following application questions, the application must submit a summary of the case:
    • Have you been a defendant or respondent in any criminal action relating to your professional or business conducts, or are you currently named as a party to such an action?
    • Have you been a defendant or respondent in any civil action relating to your professional or business conducts, or are you currently named as a party to such an action?
    • Have you ever been censured, fined, reprimanded, or otherwise disciplined by any professional credentialing organization, or has such an organization named you as a subject of investigation or complaint?

Documented Experience / Hours worked

The Certified Daily Money Manager program is geared to test and validate more than the theoretical basis or the knowledge of “how” to perform a job. The certification process validates the demonstrated ability of the individual to do the job.

The CDMM work experience requirement assures that an applicant has had sufficient opportunity to apply learned skills and knowledge and has also been exposed to the nuances and challenges of the daily money management profession, learning how to adapt and confront these experiences. Thus, to be eligible for the CDMM Certification, an individual must have experience in the field.

  1. Your work experience must be performed for individuals or small business by the applicant in the capacity of a daily money manager for clients.
  2. Working within a corporation or company doing similar tasks where that company does not perform daily money management services is not acceptable.

The following hours of daily money management experience is required:

  • A minimum of 1,500 hours of paid daily money management work experience in the last three (3) years (which equates to less than 10 hours per week).

Or

  • A minimum of 1,250 hours of paid daily money management work experience in the last three (3) years, plus a maximum of 250 eligible pro-bono or volunteer hours in the last three years is required.

For an example of how to record your experience and hours worked, please see Documentation of Work Experience.

Background Check

The application process includes a background check. All candidates must agree to a background check.

When the background check reveals anything but a traffic violation, the application will be reviewed by the Certified Daily Money Manager Certification Board to determine whether the applicant may sit for the exam.

  • When a background check reveals a felony, the application is automatically denied.
  • When a background check reveals a bankruptcy:
    • An applicant who has had a bankruptcy within seven years of less must provide the CDMM Certification Board with a credit report through the mail prior to the application being approved.
    • An application who has had a bankruptcy more than seven years ago may still be eligible to sit for the exam.

Fee

The non-refundable application fee to sit for the first exam is $300 for members of the American Association of Daily Money Managers, and $450 for non-members. If accepted, the fee includes admission to take the examination once. If your application is not accepted, AADMM will retain $50 for administrative fees costs and will refund the balance paid.

Note that all fees connected with the certification program are subject to change without notice.

Examination

Once deemed eligible, the applicant will be required to sit for an examination consisting of 100 multiple-choice questions based on content related to bill paying, basic finance/bookkeeping, payroll and taxes, types of expenses, and standards of practice. You must have a scaled score of 75 to pass the examination. A detailed outline of the CDMM examination content is available for download.

Unsuccessful candidates may retake the examination at any time during their 1-year approval period. The retesting fee is $100 for American Association of Daily Money Managers members and $200 for non-members.

Proctored exams are offered at the Annual conference or exams can be setup at testing centers in your local area. Once you have been approved to sit for the exam, your approval notification will provide instructions on how to schedule the exam in your local area

It is important to remember certification is a voluntary process. No one should feel compelled to sit for the exam. If you are not comfortable with all areas of the test or do not feel properly prepared, we recommend that you wait for another testing period.

AADMM offers a Certification Review course periodically to help DMMs prepare for the exam as well as a Certification Study Guide available for purchase from the association’s bookstore.

The application form, frequently asked questions, and essential information about testing are available from the links below.

Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics

CDMM® Proper Use Guidelines [PDF]

Questions? Contact certification@aadmm.com [mail to link?]

Recertification

To maintain the Certified Daily Money Manager designation, recertification is required every three years.

CDMM certificate sample

Already Certified?

Click below to learn how to maintain CDMM® certification.