The financial planning specialisation, CPA (FPS), is available to those members who can demonstrate their eligibility through experience and education within the financial services industry.
The CPA Australia Financial Planning Specialisation designation, CPA (FPS), distinguishes CPAs who specialise in financial planning. It is available to those members who have been working in the financial planning industry and can demonstrate their eligibility for the specialisation through fulfilling the experience and education requirements of the designation.
The aim of the specialist designation is to:
achieve public recognition for those who hold the specialisation
enhance the quality of financial planning services that members provide
increase practice development and career opportunities for CPAs
The specialisation is only available to members of CPA status and is based on a points system, where a minimum of 100 points must be accrued.
All CPA Australia members who provide financial product advice must be licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), however, it is not compulsory for a member to be licensed to attain the CPA (FPS) designation. This allows members who work in the financial services industry, but who do not provide financial product advice, to be eligible to apply for the designation. Members in this category include:
academia
funds management
providers of specialist services (e.g. software, research)
Member benefits
The FPS designation distinguishes CPAs who specialise in financial planning. In addition, the FPS credential displays your higher level of skills and knowledge, enhancing your marketing efforts. To support your efforts, you receive a number of benefits, including:
promotion of the CPA (FPS) designation by CPA Australia
certificate issue
public awareness of the FPS designation
registration on CPA Australia's 'Find a Financial Planner' online facility
ongoing CPD specifically related to financial planning
The points system
To apply, members must earn a total of 100 points, with a minimum of 20 points applied across the following three areas: experience; education / learning; and examination. The remaining 40 points can be obtained in either experience or education / learning, recognising existing knowledge and expertise.
Experience A combination of the number of hours and the type of experience gained within the past five years will determine the number of points earned. Experience will fall into six categories:
personal financial planning process
personal income tax planning
risk management planning
investment planning
retirement planning
estate planning
Education / learning Points can be earned from assessable training courses through to post-graduate degrees, with the number of points allocated according to the level of study completed. All courses must have an assessable component.
Examination To build credibility into the FPS designation and make it unique to CPA Australia, all members are required to successfully complete an examination. Twenty points have been assigned to this component. The examination is based on existing legislation at the date of the exam. The FPS exam is held in each state at CPA Australia divisional offices. The cost to enrol for the examination is $220.00.
It is strongly recommended that you complete the online self assessment tool to confirm that you satisfy both the experience and education criteria before you enrol for the FPS examination.
Further information
to find out more about the CPA (FPS) designation view the CPA (FPS) handbook
