Accredited Financial Examiner (AFE)

To be eligible for the AFE designation:

Education requirements:

A bachelor's degree, master of science (MS), or M.B.A. in accounting

OR

A bachelor's degree in another field of study + proof that you have successfully completed the following courses:

  • Accounting Fundamentals (6 semester hours)
  • Finance or Economics (3 semester hours)
  • Business Law (3 semester hours)


Examination requirements

You must pass the four AFE examinations administered by the Society of Financial Examiners:

  • AFE1 Life and Health Insurance Fundamentals
  • AFE2 Property and Liability Insurance Fundamentals
  • AFE3 Life and Health Insurance Accounting
  • AFE4 Property and Liability Insurance Accounting

Work-related experience requirements

You must be an insurance department employee, or self-employed with a contract for services directly with an insurance department, or be employed with a company that has a contract with a state insurance department and have two (2) years of insurance department experience related to financial solvency regulation within the last three years.

Membership requirements

To qualify for the AFE designation, you must be a General Member in good standing in the Society of Financial Examiners.

Application approval requirements

To receive the AFE designation, you must submit an application to SOFE headquarters and it must be approved first by the Membership Committee, who will then recommend it for approval by the Executive Committee of the Society. Upon approval by the Executive Committee, the designation will become effective.

Before Applying:

To maintain the AFE designation:

Annual requirements:

You must earn and submit a minimum of twenty (20) credit hours each year.
Included in those 20 hours must be:

  • The current year's NAIC Update (Examiner or Analysis)
  • Two (2) hours of Ethics credits

Triennial requirements

If you are an AFE/CFE designee, you are required to earn and submit 120 hours during the triennial period.

Current three-year reporting period January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025
Three-year reporting deadline January 31, 2026