Certification mechanics

Education, exam, experience and ethics - and which one actually gates you.

The four CFP requirements, and the only one that gates the examCFP certification has four requirements: education, exam, experience and ethics. Only the coursework must be finished before you sit - the bachelor's …
The education requirement: the only thing that gates the examCompletion of a CFP Board Registered Program, covering the Principal Knowledge Topics and including a capstone, must be verified before you sit the ex…
Choosing a Registered Program: what actually differsAll Registered Programs cover the same required content and include a capstone. They differ on format and pace, cost, whether academic credit is award…
The accelerated path: credentials that substitute for courseworkHolders of certain credentials - including CPA, CFA, ChFC, CLU, an attorney license and some doctorates - may satisfy the coursework through transcrip…
The capstone: building a plan rather than learning a domainA required course in which students develop a comprehensive financial plan for a client scenario, integrating all the domains. It is the closest thing…
The degree requirement, and the five years you have to meet itA bachelor's degree or higher in any discipline, from an accredited college or university, completed within five years of passing the exam. The subjec…
The experience requirement: 6,000 hours, or 4,000 supervisedSix thousand hours of professional experience related to the financial planning process, or four thousand hours through the apprenticeship pathway und…
The apprenticeship pathway: fewer hours, more supervisionFour thousand hours under direct supervision by a CFP professional, covering all seven steps of the financial planning process. It is a third shorter …
The ethics declaration: agreeing to be boundThe ethics requirement involves committing to CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, disclosing relevant history through the declaration…
The background check, and what it looks atCFP Board conducts a background check covering criminal, regulatory, employment and financial history, and compares it against your ethics declaration…
Continuing education: thirty hours, two of them ethicsThirty hours of continuing education every two-year reporting period, of which two must be CFP Board-approved Ethics CE. The remaining twenty-eight mu…
Renewal: the annual fee, the CE, and the declarationRenewal requires payment of the annual certification fee, completion of thirty CE hours every two years including two of ethics, and a renewal declara…
Reinstating certification after a lapseReinstatement generally requires catching up continuing education, paying outstanding fees, and making a current ethics declaration. A longer lapse ca…
Using the marks correctly, which is narrower than people assumeThe marks are used as adjectives following an individual's name, with the certification mark symbol, and refer to a person rather than a firm. Misuse …
The marks are not a license: what you also need to practiceCFP certification is a professional credential, not a license to practice. Giving investment advice for compensation generally requires adviser regist…