The following outlines in detail the CFP Board Continuing Education (CE) requirements for maintaining CFP® certification. CFP® professionals agree to adhere to these requirements and are responsible for reviewing and understanding updates as they occur.
The CE requirement is effective immediately upon initial certification, or after the 12th month following successful completion of the CFP® exam, whichever comes first. The number of CE credit hours for newly-certified CFP® professionals is prorated from the date of the initial certification to the end date of the initial certification period. CFP® professionals are required to complete 30 CE credit hours each two-year reporting period:
General CE credit is granted for completion of programs that cover CFP Board's Principal Knowledge Topics and do not fall under a topic exclusion. CFP Board strongly recommends that CFP® professionals complete pre-accepted CE programs that are registered with CFP Board by CE sponsors. Pre-accepted CE programs can be found using the Find a CE Program search tool. Non-sponsor CE programs that have not been registered with CFP Board can be submitted for consideration of General CE credit, but submissions must still meet CFP Board's CE program requirements in order to be eligible for CE credit.
Every CE reporting period, CFP® professionals must complete a pre-approved 2-hour CFP Board Ethics CE program that is specific to CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct. Exceptions are not made. A list of pre-approved CFP Board Ethics CE programs can be found using the Find a CE Program search tool and selecting the option to limit the search to CFP Board Ethics CE programs.
CE credit hours must be earned during the current reporting period, which ends on the last day of a CFP® professional's renewal month. Excess CE credit hours may not be applied to subsequent reporting periods. CE credit hours earned for any one program many not be split between two reporting periods. CFP® professionals can receive credit for completing any given CE program once within their two-year reporting period; credit will not be granted for duplicate completions.
CE programs must meet the following criteria to be eligible for CE credit:
Ethics CE programs have additional requirements. In order to be eligible for Ethics CE credit, a program must be pre-approved by CFP Board.
Program Topic Exclusions
CE credit will not be accepted for programs with content pertaining to practice management, public accounting, computer hardware and software, marketing or prospecting, sales, specific company or product presentations, or any other topic not included in the list of CFP Board's Principal Knowledge Topics.
CFP Board defines practice management as a focus on the planning, development and management of a CFP® professional's business operations, including topics such as office management, business model design, budgeting processes, leadership training, and other activities that do not directly contribute to the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for a CFP® professional to provide competent and ethical financial planning to clients.
CFP Board defines Live Programs as educational sessions in which the instructor or presenter conducts the program in real time; the instructor and students are engaged in the educational program at the same time.
CE credit hours are determined using the following criteria:
Any course submitted for CFP Board CE must be a minimum of 50 minutes of program content or 1.00 CE credit hour. Additional CE, awarded in 0.50 CE credit hours per 25 minutes can be awarded after the first 50 minutes of program content. For example, a 75-minute program is eligible for 1.50 CE credit hours.
CFP Board will approve, on a special basis, online courses, offered by CE Quality Partners, with less than 50 minutes of program content but a minimum of 30 minutes.
CFP Board defines Self-Study Programs as those in which the instructor and student are separated by time and location, or programs for which the student engages in the learning activity without an instructor. Self-Study Programs must include an assessment scored by the provider.
CE credit hours are determined using the following criteria:
Self-Study program hours are reviewed and accepted based on a two-part requirement.
CFP Board will approve, on a special basis, online courses, offered by CE Quality Partners, with less than 50 minutes of program content but a minimum of 30 minutes.
Non-sponsor CE programs that have not been registered with CFP Board, both Live and Self-Study, offered by colleges and universities (including community colleges) may be submitted for CE credit provided they meet CFP Board's CE program requirements. Both college credit and non-college credit courses may be submitted for consideration of General CE credit. CE credit awarded for completion of a college course may not exceed 28.00 CE credit hours during any reporting period.
CE credit hours are determined using the following criteria:
15.00 CE credit hours per one semester unit of credit. 10.00 CE credit hours per one quarter unit of credit. For non-credit courses, the standard live CE credit hour quantification method should be used (1.00 CE credit hour per 50 minutes of instruction time. For example:
CE credit for teaching and/or authorship may not exceed 50 percent of the total CE credit hours required during any reporting period. In a majority of instances, the maximum CE credit for teaching and/or authorship is 15.00 CE credit hours per reporting period. These activities are reported online using the online Non-Registered CE Self-Reporting form. There is no fee for self-reporting teaching/authorship CE credit.
CFP Board defines teaching as serving in the capacity of a faculty member or adjunct faculty member responsible for the planning and delivery of course material at the university level, where instruction and preparation time is equal to a minimum of 30 hours per quarter/semester.
To receive teaching CE credit, the CFP® professional must document the following:
Teaching Credit Exclusions
CE credit is not granted for presentations designed primarily for persons not engaged in financial services (ex. presentations to the general public, presentations for marketing purposes, television and radio talk shows, and participation in financial literacy programs) or for conference or program presentations.
CE credit hours are determined using the following criteria: One semester/quarter of teaching is eligible for 15 CE credit hours.
Definition and Crediting of Authorship CE
CFP Board defines authorship as scholarly original work, and/or research directly related to the development of courses, papers, presentations or other materials that contribute to the financial planning body of knowledge. Authorship may also extend to the development and presentation of general CE programs pre-approved by CFP Board.
Eligibility for Authorship CE is based on the following:
CE credit hours for Publication of Topical Work is determined using the following criteria:
CE credit hours for the Presentation of Topical Work is determined using the following criteria:
CE credit hours for the CE Development and Presentation of General CE topics is determined using the following criteria:
Authorship Credit Exclusions
CE credit will not be granted for short newspaper and magazine articles (not pre-approved for CE); Q&As and company newsletter articles for clients; articles intended for an audience not in financial services (ex. presentation to the general public, presentations for marketing purposes, television and radio talk shows, and participation in financial literacy programs).
CFP® professionals can access up-to-date information regarding CE credit hours that have been reported for them by logging into their online account. CFP® professionals do not have to self-report CE credit hours for program completions reported to CFP Board directly by CE sponsors.
CE sponsors are required to report completion of pre-accepted CE programs within 14 days of program completion. Upon receipt, credits appear in CFP® professionals' accounts immediately. When CE credit hours are uploaded, an automated email notification from CFP Board is sent to the individuals receiving the credit.
Self-Reporting CE Credit Hours
A CFP® professional may also self-report registered programs through their online account in order to apply credit in advance of the 14 day time-frame allotted for CE sponsor reporting. CE sponsor-reported records will overwrite self-reported records in our system, which will prevent the CFP® professional from receiving duplicate credit.
Non-Registered CE
Non-registered programs are those that have not been submitted for review and credit hour determination to CFP Board through an active CE Sponsor. These course completions may be reported using the online reporting form for consideration of CE credit.
A nonrefundable $60.00 reporting fee is required for each non-registered CE program at the time of submission. This fee must be paid before CFP Board reviews the submission. Programs will be reviewed to ensure they meet CFP Board's CE requirements prior to acceptance. Program reviews will be completed within 3 to 5 business days of submission. Only online submissions using the online reporting form will be accepted.
CFP Board may request the following documentation provided by the non-registered educational provider:
CFP Board may request the following documentation provided by the non-registered educational provider:
Important Note: Non-Registered self-study CE programs must have a minimum of 5 assessment questions per hour of CE credit. Exceptions are not granted.
Documentation Retention Requirement
Documentation for CE hours reported to CFP Board must be retained by the CFP® Professional for a minimum of three years after program completion. At minimum, that documentation should include:
Each CFP® professional is responsible for demonstrating full compliance with the CE requirement. CFP Board may at any time request documentation of any registered CE credits self-reported by the CFP® professional.
Unsupported, misstated or fraudulent reporting of CE credits is a violation of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and may be grounds for disciplinary action up to revocation of the CFP® certification.
CFP Board conducts random audits of self-reported registered CE programs where the CE Sponsor has not subsequently reported on the Certificant’s behalf. When audited:
Resulting Deficiencies will be handled in this manner:
Reporting Period Remains Open: If the reporting period is still open, the CFP® professional will have until the reporting period expiration date to report additional credit hours to fill the deficiency.
Reporting Period has Closed: If the audit results in a deficiency for a recently closed reporting period and the CFP® professional has recertified, the deficiency can be remedied in one of three ways:
Ethics CE Completion Not Verified: When an Ethics CE completion cannot be verified by the CFP® professional, a new program must be taken with the completion reported by the CE Sponsor within 15-business days from date of denial notification.
If there is no response to the audit notification and/or a CE deficiency is not remedied as prescribed above, a Deficiency Notice will be sent to the individual.
CFP Board may reverse a Certified status to a CE Audit Relinquished status for those who’s reporting period has recently closed. In this case, the CFP® professional will lose authorization to use the CFP® marks and must reinstate per the reinstatement policy.
In circumstances where the CFP® professionals’ CE reporting may reflect adversely on his/her integrity or fitness as a certificant, upon the CFP® marks, or upon the profession, CFP Board may conduct an investigation to determine whether there is probable cause to believe grounds for discipline exist.
In the case of relinquishment, the CFP® professional will be responsible for a $100 Reinstatement Fee assessed at the time of reinstatement. There is no reimbursement or credit of any portion of the Annual Certification Fee for the time the CFP® professional remains relinquished.
Requests for a waiver of the CE requirement due to extenuating circumstances are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Written requests along with supporting documentation should be made to CFP Board through the Policy Exception Request Form.
The Continuing Education Standards and requirements stated in these sections are subject to revision. Changes and additions are on CFP Board's website. CFP® professionals are responsible for staying up-to-date and meeting the current standards.
Last policy update: October 15, 2018
At CFP Board Connections Conference, Oct. 5-7 in Las Vegas, you’ll gain actionable ideas, build valuable connections across the financial advice ecosystem and earn up to 15 CE credits while exploring the trends shaping the future of financial planning.
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