Certified Financial Planner

Certified Financial Planner™
The Certified Financial Planner™, CFP® and federally registered CFP (with flame design) marks (collectively, the "CFP® marks") are professional certification marks granted in the United States by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. ("CFP Board"). The CFP® certification is a voluntary certification; no federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold CFP® certification. It is recognized in the United States and a number of other countries for its (1) high standard of professional education; (2) stringent code of conduct and standards of practice; and (3) ethical requirements that govern professional engagements with clients. Currently, more than 74,000 individuals have obtained CFP® certification in the United States.

To attain the right to use the CFP® marks, individuals must fulfill the following requirements:

• Education - Complete an advanced college-level course of study addressing the financial planning subject areas that CFP Board studies have determined as necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services and attain a Bachelor's Degree from a regionally accredited college or university. CFP Board's financial planning subject areas include insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning;

• Examination - Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The 6-hour examination administered in two sessions includes case studies and client scenarios designed to test one's ability to correctly diagnose financial planning issues and apply one's knowledge of financial planning to real world circumstances;

• Experience – Possess at least three years of full-time qualifying financial planning-related experience, as measured by a 2,000-hour-per-year standard; and,

• Ethics - Agree to be bound by the CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct, a set of documents outlining the ethical and practice standards for for CFP® professionals. The Standards prominently require that CFP® professionals provide financial planning services at a fiduciary standard of care. This means CFP® professionals must provide financial planning services in the best interests of their clients.

• Continuing Education – In order to maintain the right to continue to use the CFP® marks, CFP® professionals must complete 30 hours of continuing education hours every two years, including two hours covering the Code of Ethics and other parts of the Standards of Professional Conduct, and must maintain competence and keep up with developments in the financial planning field. CFP® professionals who fail to comply with the above standards and requirements may be subject to the CFP Board’s enforcement process, which could result in suspension or permanent revocation of their CFP® certification.

Certified Public Accountant

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
CPAs are licensed and regulated by their state boards of accountancy. While state laws and regulations vary, the education, experience and testing requirements for licensure as a CPA generally include minimum college education (typically 150 credit hours with at least a baccalaureate degree and a concentration in accounting), minimum experience levels (most states require at least one year of experience providing services that involve the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management, advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills, all of which must be achieved under the supervision of or verification by a CPA), and successful passage of the Uniform CPA Examination.

In order to maintain a CPA license, states generally require the completion of 40 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) each year (or 80 hours over a two year period or 120 hours over a three year period).Additionally, all American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) members are required to follow a rigorous Code of Professional Conduct which requires that they act with integrity, objectivity, due care, competence, fully disclose any conflicts of interest (and obtain client consent if a conflict exists), maintain client confidentiality, disclose to the client any commission or referral fees, and serve the public interest when providing financial services. The vast majority of state boards of accountancy have adopted the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct within their state accountancy laws or have created their own.