Certification Project

820 Words2 Pages

Professional certifications are not only a way to define one’s skill-set and help one on a career path, but they are also a way to verify a level of education, ethics, and professional competence. With several areas of concentration within the accounting branch of business, there are two that are of particular interest to me; Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Financial Planner. While I am not considering a career path that would lead to an accounting career, it was a simple matter to find interest within these two areas of concentration.
Certified Fraud Examiner is primarily affiliated with Forensic Accounting and is a certified public accountant. A Certified Fraud Examiner receives their certification from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. This would be an area of accounting that works with law enforcement to discover where fraud has been perpetrated and by whom (Wells, 2003). A Certified Financial Planner would be a career that could be a standalone job or working within a firm of financial planners, such as Edward Jones, a popular financial planning firm. A Certified Financial Planner receives their certification from the Certified Financial Planners Board. Primary roles associated with a Certified Fraud Examiner could be a forensic accountant, as mentioned earlier or an external auditor. Primary roles of a Certified Financial planner would be helping individuals or companies make plans for their finances; such as retirement planning, stock market investing, and building wealth, either personal or business.
There is a code of professional ethics for both the CFE and the CFP. For the Certifies Fraud examiner, the ‘code of professional standards’ calls out a detailed listing for each of the following areas: In...

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...ation is actually one of the fastest growing areas of certified accounting professionals (Wells, 2003).
While I find both of the accounting professions discussed of interest, I am not interested in pursuing a career within the accounting field. I do not believe that I am well suited, personality-wise, for the daily work with financial figures. Of the two careers, I find the Certified Fraud Examiner to be of the most interest to me. Solving mysteries is more in my wheelhouse than predicting the future.

Works Cited

Code of ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.acfe.com/code-of-ethics.aspx
Ethics & enforcement. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cfp.net/become-a-cfp-professional/cfp-certification-requirements/ethics-requirement
Wells, J. (2003, October). The fraud examiners. Retrieved from http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2003/Oct/TheFraudExaminers

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