Study guide
About the CISP Exam: Blueprint, Logistics, and Study Plan
Certified IRA Services Professional CISP
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1 Introduction: The CISP Exam
About the CISP Exam: Blueprint, Logistics, and Study Plan
2 Chapter 1: IRA Documentation & Account Establishment
1.1 IRS Model Trust and Custodial Agreements (Forms 5305 and 5305-A) 1.2 Roth IRA Agreements and Prototype Documents (Forms 5305-R and 5305-RA) 1.3 Account Disclosures, 7-Day Revocation Rights, and Annual Financial Statements 1.4 Beneficiary Designations, Per Stirpes vs. Per Capita, and Disclaimers
3 Chapter 2: Traditional IRA Eligibility, Contributions & Deductibility
2.1 Traditional IRA Contribution Limits, Compensation Requirements, and Spousal IRAs 2.2 Active Participant Status and Deductibility MAGI Phaseout Ranges 2.3 Excess Contributions: 6% Excise Tax, Net Income Attributable (NIA), and Correction Methods
4 Chapter 3: Roth IRA Eligibility, Contributions & Conversions
3.1 Roth IRA Eligibility, MAGI Phaseouts, and Contribution Rules 3.2 Conversions from Traditional/SEP/SIMPLE IRAs and Backdoor Roth Strategies 3.3 Recharacterizations of Regular Contributions and Repealed Conversion Recharacterizations
5 Chapter 4: Retirement Plan Portability, Transfers & Rollovers
4.1 Direct Trustee-to-Trustee Transfers vs. 60-Day Indirect Rollovers 4.2 The One-Rollover-Per-12-Month Rule and Bobrow v. Commissioner 4.3 Qualified Employer Plan to IRA Rollovers and Mandatory 20% Withholding 4.4 Portability Between IRA Types and Inherited IRA Transfer Restrictions 4.5 Other Portability Transactions: Repayments, Recontributions, and Special Rollovers
6 Chapter 5: IRA Distributions, Premature Penalties & Withholding
5.1 Traditional IRA Distribution Taxation and Form 8606 Pro-Rata Basis Recovery 5.2 Roth IRA Nonqualified vs. Qualified Distributions and Ordering Rules 5.3 Premature Distributions, the 10% Penalty, and Section 72(t) Exceptions (Including SECURE 2.0) 5.4 Federal Income Tax Withholding (Form W-4R, Default 10%) and State Withholding
7 Chapter 6: Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for Account Owners
6.1 SECURE 2.0 RMD Age Milestones (73 and 75), Required Beginning Date (RBD), and Deadlines 6.2 Lifetime RMD Calculation: Uniform Lifetime Table vs. Joint Life and Last Survivor Table 6.3 Account Aggregation Rules and Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)
8 Chapter 7: Beneficiary Distributions & Inherited IRAs
7.1 Eligible Designated Beneficiaries (EDBs) and Lifetime Stretch Distributions 7.2 Non-Eligible Designated Beneficiaries and the 10-Year Payout Rule 7.3 Post-RBD Death Rules and the 2024 Treasury Final Regulations (Annual RMDs in Years 1–9) 7.4 Non-Designated Beneficiaries (Estates, Charities, Non-Qualifying Trusts) and the 5-Year Rule
9 Chapter 8: Retirement Planning Considerations: Beneficiaries, Trusts, and Estate Taxation
8.1 Beneficiary Selection: How Each Choice Changes the Payout and the Tax 8.2 Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries: See-Through, Conduit, Accumulation, and Special-Needs Trusts 8.3 Estate and Income Taxation of IRAs: Gross Estate, IRD, and the Section 691(c) Deduction
10 Chapter 9: Employer-Sponsored Plans: SEP IRAs
9.1 SEP IRA Plan Establishment, Form 5305-SEP, and Employer Eligibility 9.2 Statutory Employee Participation Requirements (Age 21, 3-of-5 Years, Compensation) 9.3 SEP Contribution Limits (25% up to \$72,000 for 2026) and SECURE 2.0 Roth SEP Option
11 Chapter 10: Employer-Sponsored Plans: SIMPLE IRAs
10.1 SIMPLE IRA Establishment: Form 5305-SIMPLE vs. Form 5304-SIMPLE 10.2 Employee Salary Reduction Contributions and SECURE 2.0 Higher Limits 10.3 Employer Contribution Formulas: 3% Dollar-for-Dollar Match vs. 2% Non-Elective 10.4 The 2-Year Rule, 25% Early Distribution Penalty, and SECURE 2.0 Roth SIMPLE Option 10.5 Employer Tax Benefits of SEP and SIMPLE Plans: Deductions, Timing, and Credits
12 Chapter 11: IRA Investments, Prohibited Transactions & Fiduciary Duties
11.1 Permissible vs. Prohibited IRA Investments (Collectibles, Life Insurance, S-Corp Stock) 11.2 Prohibited Transactions under IRC 4975 and Disqualified Persons 11.3 Consequences of Prohibited Transactions: Account Disqualification, Deemed Distributions, and Excise Taxes 11.4 Valuing Nontraditional Assets and Disclosing IRA Fees
13 Chapter 12: IRS Reporting, Tax Forms & Regulatory Compliance
12.1 Form 5498 Reporting: Contributions, Rollovers, Fair Market Value, and RMD Notices 12.2 Form 1099-R Reporting and Critical Distribution Codes (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, G, H, B, Q, T) 12.3 Form 5329 Excise Taxes, SECURE 2.0 Penalty Reductions (25%/10%), and Form 8606 Basis Tracking
About the CISP Exam: Blueprint, Logistics, and Study Plan
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
The ABA CISP exam has 150 multiple-choice questions with a 3-hour maximum, and a calculator is provided.
ABA scores every certification exam on a 200 to 800 scale, and the passing scaled score is 500.
The February 2026 CISP Exam Content Outline has seven domains: 13%, 16%, 20%, 20%, 11%, 10%, and 10%.
The CISP exam fee is $600 for ABA members and nonmembers, and the retake fee is $350.
A CISP holder needs 24 continuing education credits every three years and pays a $290 annual fee.
Last updated: October 2026
Why Start Here
The Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP) credential is awarded by the American Bankers Association (ABA) Professional Certifications program. It is aimed at people who open, service, and report IRAs at banks, trust companies, credit unions, and other U.S. financial organizations. ABA describes the ideal candidate as someone with operational and technical experience across all aspects of IRAs, not just one functional area. That matters for preparation: the exam moves from account documents to contributions, rollovers, distributions, beneficiary payouts, prohibited transactions, and employer plans, and many questions combine two or three of those areas in one bank scenario.
Exam Format and Scoring
- Item Current ABA rule
- Questions 150 multiple-choice questions
- Time Maximum of 3 hours
- Calculator Provided
- Scoring Scaled score from 200 to 800; 500 passes
- Pilot items A few unscored questions are embedded for statistical research
Results Instant pass/fail at most test sites; official score report by email within 6 weeks after the window closes
Delivery Meazure Learning U.S. test sites or live remote proctoring (ProctorU platform)
ABA's FAQ explains that the score is based on the number of questions answered correctly, which is then converted to the scaled score so that every version of the exam uses the same scale. The exam is not graded on a curve. Because only answered questions are scored, you should answer every item; the testing software lets you mark questions and return to them.
The Official Blueprint
ABA's CISP Exam Content Outline (February 2026) lists seven domains and 29 tasks. Treat the weights as your study budget.
Domain Weight Tasks Where this guide teaches it
1. IRA Documentation and Maintenance Requirements 13% Plan establishment and maintenance; disclosure statements, notices, and delivery methods; beneficiary designation; reporting and associated penalties Chapter 1 and Chapter 12
2. IRA Contributions 16% Eligibility, limits, and deadlines; deductibility and other tax issues; excess contributions Chapters 2 and 3
3. Retirement Plan Portability 20% Transfers; rollovers; conversions; recharacterizations; other transactions (repayments, recontributions) Chapters 3 and 4
4. IRA Distributions 20% Taxation and withholding; RMDs; beneficiary distribution rules; penalties and exceptions Chapters 5, 6, and 7
5. Retirement Planning Considerations 11% Beneficiary selection; trusts as beneficiaries; estate and income taxation Chapter 8
6. IRA Fees and Investments 10% Prohibited transactions, prohibited investments, and exemptions; fees and disclosure; nontraditional investments; account valuation Chapter 11
7. Employer Plans – SEP and SIMPLE 10% Eligibility; employer tax benefits; establishment and maintenance; contributions; portability; distributions Chapters 9 and 10
Portability and distributions together are 40% of the exam. Contributions add another 16%. If your daily job is mostly deposits and account opening, plan extra time for RMD calculations, beneficiary payout rules, and the employer-plan chapters.
Testing Windows and Which Law Is Tested
ABA uses month-long testing windows. You choose a window when you buy the exam and apply, and Meazure Learning sends scheduling instructions about 30 days before the window opens. The published windows as of October 2026 are:
- Testing window Application due
- March 1–31, 2027 January 8, 2027
- May 15–June 15, 2027 March 16, 2027
- September 15–October 15, 2027 July 19, 2027
- December 1–18, 2027 October 4, 2027
ABA notes that the February/March exam covers laws, regulations, and contribution and income limits in effect through December 31 of the prior year , while the May/June, September/October, and December exams cover the SECURE 2.0 elements in effect for the current tax year. A March 2027 candidate should therefore know the 2026 limits, such as the $7,500 IRA limit, the $1,100 IRA catch-up, and the 2026 phase-out ranges.
Fees, Retakes, and Changes
Exam fee: $600 for both ABA members and nonmembers, paid by credit card when you buy the exam. If ABA denies the application, it refunds the fee minus a $100 application fee.
Retake fee: $350, purchased through ABA's Certification Manager.
Retake timing: At least 3 months must separate the start date of your last window from the start date of the retake window. The test is based on window start dates, not the dates you actually tested.
Overall deadline: You must pass within 3 years of your first attempt or submit a new application and full fee. There is no limit on the number of attempts.
Rescheduling inside a window: Meazure Learning requires at least 2 business days' notice and charges a $50 fee.
Eligibility
ABA offers two experience tiers, and the experience must be U.S.-based :
Two or more years of dedicated IRA operational or technical experience plus completion of one listed program: the Ascensus IRA Institute, the ABA IRA Online Institute (with Ascensus), the Cannon Financial Institute IRA Professional School, The Entrust Trust Company IRA Academy, or the Ruiz Consulting IRA College.
Four or more years of dedicated IRA operational or technical experience.
You must meet the requirement by the time you test, and ABA will accept an application if the education is scheduled to finish before the exam date. Every candidate signs the ABA Professional Certifications Code of Ethics statement and must disclose certain convictions or findings of liability.
Keeping the Credential
To maintain the CISP you need 24 CE credits every three years , an annual fee of $290 (the notice arrives by email in October and the fee is due by January 31), and continued adherence to the Code of Ethics. The same training program may be counted only once in a three-year CE cycle.
How to Use This Guide
ABA recommends the Ascensus IRA Compliance Manual and IRA Fact Book, IRS Publications 590-A, 590-B, and 560, the relevant Code sections, and the Form 5498 and 1099-R instructions. This guide follows the same sources. A practical plan is to read each chapter once, work its quizzes, and then rework every numeric example (deduction phase-outs, NIA, pro-rata basis, RMDs, and beneficiary divisors) by hand with a basic calculator, because the exam supplies one and expects you to use it.
Tip
ABA's sample questions mix pure IRA rules with general bank compliance. One asks which data the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act protects (nonpublic personal information) and another asks which form reports federal tax withheld from an IRA (Form 945). Expect a few questions that test the bank side of IRA administration.