Welcome to the profession of personal finance. As a newly certified individual, you’ll find that emerging knowledge and best practices are constantly evolving. As a professional, it will be critical to remain informed about changes in the field.
To ensure the integrity of all professionals in our field, renewal of certification is required every two years. Your responsibility as a renewing certificant will be to:
- Demonstrate reinforcement and expansion of a full spectrum of personal finance and counseling knowledge and skills
- Participate in ongoing professional development activities and lifelong learning
- Engage in continuing education and professional activities that expand learning opportunities and promote competency
- Record your achievements as they are experienced
AFCPE® Essentials Courses
Required Each Year: $75 Certification Fee
Late Fees: Late fees will be incurred for each month that an annual fee is not paid. After six months of non-payment, your certification will be revoked.
Continuing Education Requirements
The certification reporting period is two years, ending on June 30 of every even year. Certification may be obtained at different times during a reporting period. See the AFCPE® Continuing Education Guide for full details.
Required Every 2 Years: 30 CEUs
Requirements Based On Your Inaugural Reporting Period
You’ve earned your designation. Now what?
Year 1 of the Reporting Period
Year 2 of the Reporting Period
Subsequent Reporting Periods
Full CEUs required
Note: If you fail to maintain your credential by reporting the required CEUs during the two-year reporting period, your status will be listed as “lapsed” for a maximum period of six months with an approved extension application. You must pay extension fees and obtain the required number of CEUs in order to reinstate your credential within the extension period. If you do not comply with the reinstatement requirements within the maximum period of six months, the Certification Council will revoke the credential.
Accepted CEU Activity Types and Requirements
Programs must pertain to personal finance subject matter, must enhance your ability and expertise, and must meet the requirements of your certification. For full details, see the AFCPE® Continuing Education Guide.
Examples of Accepted Subject Matter:
- Behavioral Training
- Budgeting
- Counseling Theory
- Credit
- Debt Management
- Education Theory and Skill Development
- Estate Planning / Retirement
- Financial Coaching
- Insurance
- Housing
- Personal Tax
- Student Loans
- Ethics*
- Standards of Practice*
*Note: The only required category is Ethics and/or Standards of Practice. Certified professionals are required to earn 2 Ethics and/or Standards of Practice related CEUs per reporting period.
CEU Type, Activity, and CEU Credits Allowed
Ethics/
Standards of Practice
Activity
Ethics or practice standards training
CEU Credits Allowed
REQUIRED: 2 CEUs per reporting period
AFCPE® Annual Symposium and Pre-Conference
Activity
Live Stream
or recording
CEU Credits Allowed
Based on available programming
Presenter
3 CEUs per year
Attendee
15 CEUs per year
Non-AFCPE® conferences or local professional financial training
Activity
Attendee
CEU Credits Allowed
Maximum of 6 CEUs per day
Maximum of 15 CEUs per conference
Webinars
Activity
Participate in web-based financial trainings with instructor
CEU Credits Allowed
1 CEU per hour of instruction
Maximum of 3 CEUs per webinar
Research and Publishing
Activity
Publish article for AFCPE® blog or on reputable national, regional, or military publication.
Submission Guidelines
Editor Contact: Rachael DeLeon
CEU Credits Allowed
Maximum of 2 CEUs
Publish or review a research journal article, research paper, or book on a personal finance topic
Submission Guidelines
Editor Contact: Jing Jian Xiao
Maximum of 10 CEUs
Publish or review a newsletter article or book review in The Standard quarterly newsletter.
Submission Guidelines.
Maximum of 2 CEUs
AFCPE® Member Opportunities
Activity
AFCPE® Journal Reviewer
CEU Credits Allowed
3 CEUs per year
Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning (JFCP) Quiz
2 CEUs per quiz
Education
Activity
College-level personal finance, financial counseling or education course (completed)
In-person training program with established coursework and measurable evaluation of comprehension
Self-guided coursework with measurable evaluation of comprehension
CEU Credits Allowed
Maximum of 5 CEUs per credit hour; 18 CEUs per class
1 CEU per hour; maximum 6 CEUs per day; 18 CEUs per course*
1 CEU per coursework hour; 18 CEUs per course*
*Must show proof of completion and provide an agenda or other document substantiating the number of hours
requested.
Creating Educational Material
Activity
Creating new material or content
CEU Credits Allowed
3 CEUs per 1 hour of content; maximum of 10 CEUs per curriculum
Updating existing material or content
1 CEU per 1 hour of content; maximum of 5 CEUs per curriculum
Professional Designations & Certifications
Activity
AFCPE® certifications
CEU Credits Allowed
AFC® adding FFC®:
8 CEUs
Approval Process and Forms
All forms are available at myAFCPE. CEU approval forms are not required until after your certification is completed and official. You may submit your approval forms before or after the requested program; however, approvals do require proof of participation for CEU credit. Please use separate approval forms for each request. For full details on submitting CEUs, please see the AFCPE® Continuing Education Guide.
Individual Approval Process
- Request CEUs using the Individual CEU form at myAFCPE.
- AFCPE® will review and accept or deny your request via email within five business days. You are responsible for retaining documentation of the request and the response for your records.
- If you receive pre-approval, you must then submit verification of your participation.
- All CEU approval requests must be submitted within six months of program completion.
Note: If you are attending a conference that is not pre-approved, please submit a conference agenda and a list of all the sessions you will attend.
Group Approval Process
We can help. Submit questions to ceu@afcpe.org.
Quarterly reports are sent via email to each certified professional for the current reporting period. The report includes a summary of your CEU records.
The AFCPE® office may randomly select CEU reports for audit each reporting period.
An audited certificant will be asked to submit proof of attendance and, if pre-approval was requested and granted, the CEU approval form or notice provided by the AFCPE® office.
Certificants are required to keep proper records and documentation.
If annual fees and CEU requirements are not met, and an extension request has not been submitted and approved, the credential will be revoked and re-certification will be required. Review the Certification Reinstatement Policy, to learn more about your options for recertification.
Trademark User Guidelines
AFCPE®’s certification marks represent the highest standards of excellence in the field of financial counseling and are valuable assets of AFCPE®. Professionals authorized by AFCPE® to use its certification marks benefit from both our long history of high ethical and educational standards and the public recognition of AFCPE®’s certification marks as symbols of professional accomplishment. Please help uphold the value of the trademarks by adhering to strict use and reproduction guidelines.
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