During a recent webinar on Certified in Entity and Intangible Valuations (CEIV), a new valuation credential, an audience member asked if there are any rules that grandfather in individuals with a great deal of experience in fair value for financial reporting. At this point, there is no exemption from any of the education requirements for experienced professionals, according to William Johnston (Empire Valuation Consultants LLC), chair of the ASA’s BV committee and the ASA’s CEIV program development representative.
Two-part process: Getting the CEIV credential is a two-part process that Johnston compares to getting your undergraduate degree and then a graduate degree. As an undergrad, you have to achieve a base level of business valuation education. If you already have a business valuation credential from the ASA, AICPA, or RICS (the VPOs that issue the new credential), then you’re all set in that regard. If you have certain other credentials from another organization, there may be some equivalency credit given. For example, at the ASA, if you have a CFA credential and five years of business valuation experience, you can qualify for a fast track to CEIV accreditation by joining the ASA and meeting some other requirements, such as ethics training.
After you complete the “undergraduate” phase, then, for what Johnston calls the graduate-degree part, you need to meet the experience and education requirements specific to fair value and the CEIV credential. This part of the process is the same for all three VPOs: You need to have completed 3,000 hours of fair value experience over the past five years, to take a two-part course, and to pass the two-part exam. The first part of the course is a body of knowledge on general accounting and valuation issues related to financial reporting; the second part is education related to the Mandatory Performance Framework (MPF), a set of best practices all CEIV holders must follow.
“We want to make sure that everyone is on the same high level in terms of the education and training for this new credential,” Johnston says. “We’re trying to raise the bar here and we want to make sure everybody is up to date on current developments.”
For more information, there’s a special website set up for the credential.
Extra: Just as we were going to press, the AICPA, ASA and RICS announced that the CEIV exam is now available. It is a timed, online exam divided into two parts, with each part containing 60 multiple-choice questions. The exam, which will take two hours to complete, is the same no matter which organization administers it.