The Benefits of
Certification for
FP&A Professionals
Sara Nichols
VP of Finance, Kforce Inc.
March 15, 2013
Content Based on AFP Whitepaper
2
Agenda
 Why the FP&A Certification?
 Role of AFP in the Certification
 FP&A as a Profession and Function
 Certification Development and Timeline
 Questions/Comments
3
Why the FP&A
Certification?
4
Role of Professional Certification
 Develops people- acquisition of
knowledge, skills and abilities
 Qualifies people- confirmation that people
have required knowledge, skills and
abilities
 Distinguishes people- differentiates
between proficiencies
 Recognizes people- acknowledgement of
people who consistently perform to
standards
5
Role of Professional Certification
Helps employers by:
 better defining and developing technical job
competencies
 identifying job candidates who have acquired those
attributes
Helps practitioners by:
 developing knowledge and skills required to perform
technical job competencies
 recognizing competence - elevating professional status
 advancing career and improving marketability
6
Role of AFP
in the
FP&A Certification
7
AFP Mission
To be the global resource and
advocate for the finance profession
 Network of 16,000 individual members and
150,000 registered subscribers worldwide
8
AFP Experience as Certifying Body
 Sponsor of the Certified Treasury
Professional (CTP) and Certified
Cash Manager (CCM) credentials
 Earned by more than 24,000
individuals in 54 countries since 1986
 2,500~ individuals register annually
to take exam
 83% of Fortune 500 companies hire
CTPs
9
AFP Experience as Certifying Body
AFP has demonstrated know-how to:
 develop and maintain a psychometrically
sound and legally defensible credential
according to industry approved best
practices
 develop and use professional standards to
certify individuals
 to facilitate and administer a certification
created by and for finance practitioners
10
Resource for Reliable, Unbiased Content
 30+ years as provider of educational
programs
 Original content, practitioner driven: not a
pay-to-play model
 Publisher of body of knowledge for a
certification
 Not-for-profit organization
11
FP&A as a Profession
and Function
12
What is Included in the FP&A Function?
Strategic Planning
and Budgeting
Financial Measures
and Performance
Metrics
Preparation of Financial
Presentations for BOD
Coordination with
Divisional Teams on
Key Deliverables
Financial
Planning &
Analysis
Ownership of Core
Processes and Enabling
Technology, Drive
Standardization
Analyze Results and
Trends, Model
Scenarios
Forecasting (demand,
cash flow,
performance)
Corporate &
Business Reports &
Analysis
13
FP&A as a Field / Function
 High value in being able to transform data
into knowledge (Where can the
organization produce greatest ROI?)
 Growing importance of function (Where is
the company going?)
 Practitioners taking on expanded roles in
FP&A practice within organizations
14
FP&A as a Field / Function
Sits at intersection of
 Accounting
 Treasury
 Finance
and
 Sales
 Operations
 Investor Relations
15
Challenges Facing FP&A Professionals
 Varied organizational reporting structures,
inconsistent visibility
 Limited professional development
resources available
 higher education
 continuing education
 best practices
 No agreement on job performance
competencies
 Little consensus on proper techniques
companies use to model and forecast
16
Field of Financial Planning and Analysis
“The hottest position today is financial
planning and analysis.”
(Korn Ferry International’s
Chuck Eldridge, 2009)
“64% of executive level (CFO, CEO) [survey]
respondents report FP&A hardest position
to fill.”
(APQC/ American Productivity and Quality Center,
Sept, 2012)
17
Certification
Development and
Timeline
18
FP&A Certification Drivers
Need for:
1. Defined universal principles and
standards of practice for the complex
FP&A profession
2. Practitioners to be recognized for their
understanding of those complex
processes, tools and best practices and
therefore well-positioned to drive strategic
business decisions at companies
19
Process of Designing a Valid,
Defensible Certification Program
Sequential steps:
1. Job Analysis- job tasks and the knowledge,
skills and abilities (KSA) needed
2. Test Specifications- importance of tasks,
KSAs by domain, cognitive level of knowledge
3. Body of Knowledge- principles and
standards of professional practice
4. Assessment- bank of items
5. Cut Score- minimum competency level
20
FP&A Job Analysis Process and Findings
 12 FP&A volunteers recruited
 Diverse group
 Years experience, industry, members/nonmembers
 2 ½ day facilitated discussion
 Identified consensus of tasks and processes
 Created profile of the AFP Certified FP&A
Professional
 Review of survey instrument and results
21
JTA Survey: Highlights of Findings
 Tasks always performed and
extremely important
 Validate data (i.e. assess quality/consistency
of data)
 Build budgets, forecasts, annual plans
 Use basic and advanced spreadsheet
functions
 Tasks seldom performed, low
importance
 Work with rating agency professionals
22
JTA Survey: Highlights of Findings
 Extremely important knowledge,
skills, abilities (KSAs) needed:
 Ability to communicate with and gather
information from business partners
 Ability to integrate information and data into
analysis
 Ability to create financial statement projections
 Ability to perform variance analysis and
reporting
23
JTA Survey: Highlights of Findings
Extremely important KSAs, cont’d
Knowledge of database structures
and functions
Ability to implement basic
spreadsheet functions
Ability to implement advanced
spreadsheet functions (cross
tabulations, matrix tables, macros,
etc.)
24
JTA Survey: Highlights of Findings
 70% of respondents have graduate
degrees
 Global profession- 30% non-U.S.
 51% have 2-5 individuals in
immediate FPA group
 Financial Planning and Analysis in
most job titles
 Reports to CFO, VP/SVP Finance,
Treasurer or Controller
25
FP&A Test Specifications
 Multi-part exam
 Part 1: Financial Acumen- 100-150 items
• Domain A- Gathering and interpreting information
• Domain B- Communicating/coordinating work with
other professionals
 Part 2: Financial Analysis-100-150 items
• Domain A- Analyzing information
• Domain B- Building financial projections
• Domain C- Using technology/software
26
Development Timeline
 ID reference materials (reading list, item
citations)
 Write items (~1,200)
 Develop exam prep product (available Sep
2013)
 Deliver Beta exam (Sep/Oct 2013)
 Registration open (Nov 2013)
 Deliver live exam (Feb 2014)
27
Development Timeline
 Finalize
 Requirements including education, experience,
continuing education, etc.
 Pricing and exam delivery options
 Grandfathering criteria, policies and
procedures
 Exam update process/frequency
28
The New FP&A Credential
Will…
 Set standards in the corporate FP&A profession
 Be a symbol of excellence
 Signify that an individual has:
 demonstrated the knowledge and skills
required to perform competently in today's
complex finance environment
 passed a rigorous examination
 agreed to abide by a professional code of
ethical conduct
 committed to keeping knowledge current by
meeting continuing education requirements
29
FP&A Resources from AFP
 FP&A Newsletter
 Monthly, 11,000+ subscribers from 110 countries,
editorial advisory board
 Facilitated Roundtable Discussions
 Led by Brian Kalish, around the country/world
 Track at AFP Annual Conference
 Educational sessions, networking events
 Webinars, virtual seminars
 LinkedIn Group
 Research
 Cost of Capital Survey
30
Get Involved!
 Let us know what you want to learn about
 AFP Annual Conference
 Webinars, seminars
 Share your knowledge
 Write an article (750 words)
 Participate in a FP&A Roundtable
 Volunteer on committees
31
Certification for FP&A Professionals
Donna Berzellini
Managing Director,
Certification, AFP
Brian Kalish
Finance Practice Lead,
AFP
dberzell@AFPonline.org
bkalish@AFPonline.org
301.961.8809
301.961.6564
www.FPAcert.org
32
Certification for FP&A Professionals
Questions and Comments?
33