The deadline for submitting an application to the Certificate Program is six months after the government’s fiscal year end. Occasionally, circumstances arise that prevent a government from submitting by this deadline. In those cases, a government may apply for an extension so that their application may be submitted at a later date. Extensions are granted in 30-day increments. Subsequent extension requests will not be approved if submitted more than 15 days before the current extension expires. See extension policy.

Request an extension to the Certificate Program:

1. Go to https://lf.gfoa.org/Forms. If you are not already logged in to the AMS, you will need to enter the government’s username and password to login. (See Quick Facts below for login information.)
2. Select “Start Process” in the blue band at the top of the screen.
3. Click on the green “Start” button to the right of “Extension Request”. Complete the form. Choose “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” from the drop down menu under Award Program and complete the remainder of the form.
4. Ignore the field that asks for the Budget Adoption Date. (When applying for an extension to the Certificate Program, this field can be left blank.)
5. Click “Submit”.

Certificate program staff will review the request and an email with the decision will be sent to the email address entered on the extension form.

• When logging in, the username will be the government’s GFOA member number followed by a dash and another single digit, usually the number 1. If you do not remember the password, click “forgot password” and then “send recovery email” and you will receive a password reset link.
• If a government is unable to complete the application by the revised due date after having received an extension, a subsequent extension may be applied for, though subsequent extension requests may be subject to a more stringent review by GFOA staff. In most circumstances, a government may not submit an application more than six months after the original deadline.
• In most circumstances, a government may not apply for an extension two years in a row for the same reason (though they may apply for an extension two years in a row if the reason for the extension in the second year is different than the reason in the first year).

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