CPA/ABV? CFL? CDFA®? - What does all of this mean?
What is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)?
In addition to passing the national CPA exam, The State of Arizona Requires to following in order to be licenses in Arizona
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 32-721(A) and (B), applicants must have 150-hours of education with a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited institution or a college or university that maintains standards comparable to those of an accredited institution. The 150 hours must include the following:
- 36 non duplicative semester hours of accounting, including at least 30 non duplicative hours of upper level coursework which means a course taken beyond the basic level, after any required prerequisite or introductory accounting course and does not include principles of accounting or similar introductory accounting courses.
- 30 semester hours of related courses which as defined in A.R.S. § 32-701(25) include the following:
- Business administration
- Statistics
- Computer science, information systems or data processing
- Economics
- Finance
- Management
- Business law
- College algebra or more advanced mathematics
- Advanced written communication
- Advanced oral communication
- General ethics
- Marketing
- Other courses that are closely related to the subject of accounting or that are satisfactory to the Board
For additional information:
What does Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) mean?
The Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV®) credential is granted exclusively by the AICPA to CPAs and qualified valuation professionals.
Accredited individuals must:
- Maintain regular, honorary, international associate, non-CPA associate or CPA exam candidate affiliate AICPA membership in good standing.
- Hold a valid and unrevoked CPA license or certificate issued by a legally constituted state authority or a bachelor’s degree or equivalent and complete the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and Standards Education for Finance Professionals course
- Pass the ABV Examination (requirement waived for candidates who have passed the ASA credential exam of the American Society of Appraisers, CFA exam level III of the CFA Institute or CBV credential exam of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators).
ABV credentialed professionals:
- Represent a 125-year-old established, trusted and regulated profession
- Are distinguished from other valuation professionals through training, experience, testing and education
- Have access to a community of like-minded professionals and the latest tools, resources and learning opportunities — and more — to be successful
- Have expertise backed by the world’s largest member association representing the accounting profession — the AICPA
- Are competent and confident in the subject matter and are committed to continued learning in business valuation
- Have demonstrated expertise in the specialized topic of business valuation
For additional information:
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA)?
The role of the CDFA professional is to help both the client and lawyer understand how the financial decisions made today will impact the client’s financial future, based on certain assumptions.
The CDFA professional will be responsible for:
- Identifying the short- and long-term effects of dividing property
- Integrating tax issues
- Analyzing pension and retirement plan issues
- Determining if the client can afford the matrimonial home—and if not, what might be an affordable alternative
- Evaluating the client’s insurance needs
- Establishing assumptions for projecting inflation and rates of return
- Bringing an innovative and creative approach to settling cases
The CDFA professional also:
- Provides the client and lawyer with data that shows the financial effect of any given divorce settlement
- Appears as an expert witness if the case should go to court, or in mediation or arbitration proceedings
- Is familiar with tax issues that apply to divorce
- Has background knowledge of the legal issues in divorce
- Is trained to interview clients so as to:
- Collect financial and expense data
- Help client’s identify their future financial goals
- Develop a budget
- Set retirement objectives
- Identify what kind of life style they want and can afford
- Determine the costs of their children’s education
For additional information: