Like Capstone 1, in CFE Day 1 you’ll be required to assess and provide recommendations on several strategic issues and operational issues. You will be expected to prepare a Situational Analysis (SA) that covers the company’s mission/vision/values, KSFs, constraints, quants, objectives and internal/external analysis (SWOT). You can read about the basics of CFE Day 1 here.

SA provides the foundation for your qualitative analysis of the strategic and operational issues. Most candidates find it easiest to integrate and refer to SWOT component of their SA.

Does Day 1 SWOT come from Day 1 or Capstone 1?

The key for Day 1 is to focus on the items that have changed from Capstone 1. Therefore, ~80%/90% of your SWOT should come from new information provided to you in new Day 1 case.

During Day 1 exam, the prior factors, such as economical environment, competition, regulations etc. will be replaced by current information. If you are provided with new information, there is a reason it’s there, and these should be added to your SWOT.

However, you will find that ~10%/20% of your Capstone 1 SWOT points are still relevant and can still be included in your Day 1 SWOT.

Let’s look at an example using a recent Capstone 1 case called Waste Disposal Inc. (WDI).

In Capstone 1, a key strength was the experienced management team (see first image below). This still would be applicable on Day 1 as owners are still actively managing. But notice how there are more items from Day 1, such as changed government regulations, competitive position and the consulting division (see second image below). These new factors are more relevant now and must be added to your SWOT.

Capstone 1:

Day 1:

So while you should be familiar with Capstone 1’s SWOT analysis, it’s not the primary focus for Day 1. Therefore, you can include a limited amount of Capstone 1 points to SWOT.

Make 80-90% of your Day 1 SWOT based on new Day 1 factors, and 10-20% based on Capstone 1. 

For more information on the Day 1 Situational Analysis, check out the following article.

Extra resources

Mastering Day 1 SWOT takes time and practice. Studying diligently and consistently is essential to passing CFE and achieving academic success, so stay focused, set clear goals, and prioritize your learning to achieve results. You can get extra CFE practice cases and exam resources here.