What Experience Counts for CFP® Certification?

Qualifying work experience for CFP® certification requires a position whose duties and responsibilities involve personal financial planning. Roles such as wealth advisor, paraplanner and trust officer primarily focus on job activities that align with this standard, but other roles such as college-level teaching, financial planning research and informational content creation, including journalism and blogging, may also be considered.

There are many paths to completing the experience requirement. Qualifying experience includes primarily engaging directly with clients to build customized strategies for their personal financial goals; directly supporting a financial planner by helping create a personal financial plan and offer personal financial advice; indirectly supporting the personal financial planning process by demonstrating specific knowledge and competency; teaching financial planning-related topics as a full-time or adjunct faculty member at an accredited college or university; and serving as a student or trainee intern in the financial planning profession.

Activities unrelated to the personal financial planning process for clients do not count toward the experience requirement. Examples include corporate finance, office administrative tasks, product sales, marketing, information technology and time spent on training.

If you already have qualifying financial planning experience, start logging it in your CFP Board account to track your progress.

Need to earn qualifying experience? Review CFP Board’s ways to gain experience flyer or visit the CFP Board Career Center for ideas on where to start.

For more information, please visit CFP.net/experience or email the Experience team if you need additional assistance.