Certifications in Finance

 Certified Cash Manager (CCM)

Certified in Financial Management (CFM)

Chartered Financial Analyst Designation (CFA)

Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

The following information is from the book: Careers in Finance by the Financial Management Association. 

Certified Cash Manager (CCM)

The sponsor:  The Treasury Management Association (TMA) is the largest individual membership association representing those in the treasury and related financial professions.  With members whose titles range from Analyst, Assistant Cash Manager and Accountant up to CFO, Treasurer, and Controller, TMA represents the spectrum of professionals in financial occupations.  To support those members whose primary responsibilities are in cash management, TMA sponsors the Certified Cash Manager (CCM) credential. 

The exam:  The CCM is a test-based credential, being earned by passing a 200-question multiple choice test which is based on a common body of knowledge contained in TMA;s Essentials of Cash Management.  Essentials of Cash Management is revised every three years by professional editors who are supervised by a committee of volunteers from the profession who practice treasury management and who hold the CCM.  A separate task force of volunteers, all CCMs, writes a pool of questions, from which are drawn the 200 questions for the exam. 

The body of knowledge:  Essentials of Cash Management covers sixteen areas of cash and treasury management, including traditional areas of collections & disbursements, receivables & payables, corporate finance, and financial institution relationship management.  Also included are short-term portfolio management, global treasury management, information & technology management, risk management, and electronic commerce. 

Eligibility:  Qualification to take the exam is determined according to one of two criteria.  First, any applicant with two or more years of experience in treasury and/or cash management, or a graduate degree in business and one year of experience is eligible to take the exam.  The definition is intentionally broad and includes those who teach finance and/or accounting as well as those who provide services to the treasury profession, such as bankers.

CCM-Associate Program:  The second route to taking the exam is to successfully complete a finance course, undergraduate or graduate, based on the content of Essentials of Cash Management.  Upon graduation those individuals become eligible to take the CCM exam at its first offering.  Those who pass are classified as CCM-Associates and given five years to attain the two years of experience.  Once the experience component is met the “Associate” is dropped from the credential.  Currently over thirty colleges and universities have registered their CCM-Associate programs with TMA. 

For more information, go to http://www.afponline.org 

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Certified in Financial Management (CFM)

The Certified Financial Management (CFM) designation requires candidates to have at least a bachelor’s degree in any area from an accredited college or university, or achieve a satisfactory score on the Graduate Record Examination or the Graduate Management Admission Test, or hold a professional qualification comparable to the Certified Public Accountant; to pass all four parts of a comprehensive examination; and, to complete two years of professional experience in management accounting and/or financial management prior to, or within, seven years of having passed the examination.  Examination material covers economics and corporate finance, organizational behavior, financial statement analysis, risk management, management reporting and analysis, decision analysis, capital budgeting, information systems, and management controls. 

For more information, go to http://www.imanet.org/content/Certification/Overview/Certification.htm

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Chartered Financial Analyst Designation (CFA)

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program is a practical, applied, generalist program designed for investment professionals.  Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, pass a sequence of three comprehensive examinations of six hours each, have at least three years of experience related to the investment decision-making process, and abide by the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.  The program covers ethical and professional standards, quantitative methods, economics, financial statement analysis and corporate finance, global markets and instruments, analysis of debt instruments, analysis of equity investments, analysis of alternative investments, and portfolio management.  Scholarships for both faculty and students are available.

For more information, go to - http://www.aimr.org/ 

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Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

The following information is from the CFP Board of Standards Website

Certification Process - What steps do I need to take?

The Four "Es" of CFP^TM Certification

To become certified, you are required to meet the following four initial certification requirements (known as the four "Es"):

These four components are briefly described below; subsequent sections of this booklet provide detailed information about each component. While the CFP certification requirements may be changed fro m time to time, you will be expected to meet the requirements that are in place at the time you apply for the CFP™ Certification Examination.

Education
To become certified by the CFP Board, you will need to be knowledgeable in the financial planning topics depending on which date you sit for the CFP^TM Certification Examination. More...

Examination

After you have successfully met the education requirement, you will be eligible to apply for the CFP™ Certification Examination. The CFP™ Certification Examination assesses your ability to apply your financial planning knowledge, in an integrated format, to financial planning situations. Combined with the education and experience requirements, it assures the public that you have met a level of competency appropriate for professional practice. More...

Experience
Because CFP certification indicates to the public your ability to provide financial planning without supervision, the CFP Board requires you to have experience in the financial planning process. Three years of relevant experience is needed if you have an appropriate college degree or five years if you don't. The work experience requirement can be completed either before or after successfully completing the CFP™ Certification Examination. More...

Ethics
When you have completed the education, examination and experience components of the CFP certification process, you will receive a Declaration Packet from the CFP Board. This packet includes a Declaration and Agreement form, that must be signed by you, asking you to disclose whether you have ever been a party (or involved) in any criminal, civil, governmental, or self-regulatory agency proceeding or inquiry. CFP certification also requires you to agree to adhere to the CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Financial Planning Practice Standards, and acknowledge the CFP Board's right to enforce them through its Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. More...

After Certification - What's next?

Authorization to Use the CFP Marks

The marks CFP™, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and are owned by the CFP Board and are protected by trademark law. The CFP Board carefully monitors all usage of the CFP certification marks to ensure their integrity. The unauthorized use of the marks, including such terms as “CFP candidate,” is viewed as a serious matter. Only those individuals who have fully satisfied the CFP Board’s requirements are authorized to use the marks. Remember, if you use the CFP marks prematurely, or in some other unauthorized way, you could jeopardize your ultimate right to use them.

Declaration Packet

When you have completed the education, examination and work experience requirements, you will receive a Declaration Packet from the CFP Board. This packet includes a Declaration and Agreement form and an application for CFP certification, along with an invoice for your initial certification and application fees. The completed forms and fees must be returned to the CFP Board within six months of issue. The fees must be paid and the Declaration and Agreement form completed, signed and reviewed by the CFP Board before any certification can be issued. To renew your CFP certification, you will be required to complete and sign a renewal form, complete and report continuing education, and pay a certification fee.

Initial Fee

In addition to an application fee, you will be charged an initial certification fee. This fee will be prorated from the date of your CFP certification to the end of your birth month in an odd or even year, based on your birth date. From then on, you will receive an invoice every two years, approximately two months before your certification expiration date. The fee helps cover the costs associated with ethics enforcement, protection of the marks against infringement, maintenance of professional standards of practice, and public awareness activities related to the CFP marks.

When you have met the four initial CFP certification requirements and paid the initial application and certification fees, you will be sent a congratulatory letter. This letter authorizes you to use the CFP Board’s certification marks CFP™, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

Finally, you will receive a wall certificate, a CFP Board ID card and the CFP Board’s CFP™ Certificant Manual, detailing current policies and procedures. Periodically, the CFP Board will send you updates on changes as they occur.

Renewal and Continuing Education

If you do not complete the CFP certification process within the same calendar year in which you pass the CFP™ Certification Examination, you must accrue continuing education credits at a rate of 15 credits per year. Once you have been authorized to use the CFP marks, you must meet the CFP Board’s renewal standards to continue to use them. You will need to complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years in the financial planning topics listed in the Examination Section. This requirement includes two hours from a pre-approved course on the CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility or Financial Planning Practice Standards. In addition, you will need to complete and sign a renewal form (which includes Declaration and Terms and Conditions of Certification sections) and pay a renewal fee. The continuing education requirement is explained in more detail in the CFP™ Certificant Manual.

International CFP Certification - Can I use the CFP marks internationally? I don't live in the United States, what is the certification process for me?

International Reciprocity

The CFP Board has currently signed agreements with organizations in almost 20 foreign countries that administer or seek to administer CFP certification programs. To learn about these organizations, which together with the CFP Board make up the International CFP Council. If you are a resident of one of the countries represented on the International CFP Council and have been authorized to use the CFP marks in that country, you can apply for CFP certification in the United States (U.S.) by (1) providing proof of current certification status in your country, (2) passing the first f o u r-hour session of the CFP B o a rd’s CFP™ Certification Examination, (3) agreeing to abide by the CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Financial Planning Practice Standards, and (4) paying the appropriate fees.

Once the CFP Board grants you the right to use the CFP marks in the U.S., you will be subject to U.S. renewal requirements. If you are authorized to use the CFP marks by a CFP Board-affiliated organization in another country but have not applied for CFP certification in the U.S., you can use the CFP marks in the U.S. provided you fully disclose the country in which you are certified. The following example shows how you might disclose the necessary information on any material that displays the CFP marks:

John Jones, CFP
Jones Financial Services
123 Any Street
Big City, CO 80202

International applicants who are not certified by an organization authorized to grant the CFP certification marks must meet the U.S. certification requirements of education, examination, experience and ethics. Individuals cannot take the exam based on degrees and/or courses completed at international institutions. To find out whether international education can be accepted for transfer credit by one of the CFP Board-Registered Programs.

For more information, go to http://www.cfp-board.org/

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