Questions About the Experience Requirement for CFP^® Certification?

If you’re unsure about whether your experience qualifies for CFP^® certification, you can start by entering your experience in your CFP Board account now! You can see what experience will qualify for the certification requirement and get a better understanding of how many hours you still need.

Additionally, CFP Board’s Experience Team will be hosting Office Hours on July 28 from 2-3 PM ET. Connect directly with them to get answers to your questions, learn more about the experience requirement and understand the submission process.

Before you attend Office Hours, you can also watch CFP Board’s webinar on frequently asked questions about the experience requirement to learn more about what qualifies and how you can enter your hours. Watch the webinar now!

CFP^® certification requires you to have 6,000 hours of professional experience related to the financial planning process, or 4,000 hours of Apprenticeship experience that meets additional requirements.

Qualifying experience includes activities involving the delivery of financial planning services to individual clients, rather than to businesses or corporate finance. Whether you engage with clients directly, supervise or support the financial planning process, teach financial planning-related courses, or participate in internships or the FPA Residency Program or FPA Virtual Externship, there are many paths to completing the experience requirement.