Financial examiners aren’t legally required to be licensed or certified. However, obtaining a voluntary professional certification is recommended. Certified financial examiners tend to make more desirable job candidates, and certification may qualify you to pursue senior-level positions within their organization.
The main professional organization that certifies financial examiners is the Society of Financial Examiners (SOFE). The first SOFE credential you may be eligible to pursue is the Accredited Financial Examiner (AFE) certification.
To qualify for this certification, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in accounting. Alternatively, you may qualify if you are a certified public accountant (CPA). You could also qualify if you have a bachelor’s degree in another field, such as finance, provided you can prove that the curriculum included sufficient coursework in finance or economics, accounting and business law.
You must also be a member of SOFE to qualify for the AFE certification. Furthermore, certification candidates must demonstrate at least two years of full-time work experience in a relevant position. Finally, an AFE credential requires the successful completion of four rigorous AFE exams, which are administered by SOFE. You’ll need to submit an application for approval by the SOFE committee before you can take your exams.
After you obtain the AFE credential, you’ll officially be a certified financial examiner. If you want to further enhance your job qualifications, you might choose to pursue the advanced SOFE credential: the Certified Financial Examiner (CFE) designation.
You must earn the AFE before you can earn the CFE. It’s possible to pursue both credentials concurrently, although the CFE cannot be granted until the AFE is granted.
Qualifying to pursue the CFE requires proof of certain educational requirements, such as coursework in management and general auditing. If you did not take this coursework during your bachelor’s degree program, you may still qualify if you complete a certification course or master’s degree program from an accredited school.
CFE credential candidates must also successfully complete four exams administered by SOFE. These exams cover the following topics: financial examination methods and management, enterprise risk management, reinsurance and financial analysis.