The "certification" in CPA, CMA, CPM, ect... who "certifies" what?

We all know that CPA’s are certified public accountants and CMA’s are certified management accountants, etc. But lately, I’ve seen more and more “certifications” being offered for various business operations, such as CPM (Certified Procurement Manager) and CEC (Certified Employment Counselor), which are probably both worthwhile credentials. But there seems to be more business area specific titles these days, and I just ran across one I’d never heard of before. This one is for a “Certified Accounts Payable Professional” offered here:

http://www.iappnet.org/display2.cfm?section=CAPP%20Information

I am an Accounts Payable Manager (and in the job market at the moment). I just happened across the web site above for this organization offering a certification for accounts payable managers. The first thing that came to mind was the question “who certifies what” and “how are they authorized to do so”? I checked out the web page and there are certain requirements to be met before you can obtain the credential, but couldn’t just anyone create an organization and grant these “certifications” upon testing and verification of experience? What would keep me from starting a web page and opening an office to offer “CMM” (Certified Marketing Manager), “CARM” (Certified Accounts Receivable Manager) or “CCCM” (Certified Credit and Collections Manager)? My question is how does the organization above become “authorized” to offer these credentials? They don’t really say anything about being accredited, so I have to check with them, but shouldn’t there be accreditation or state approval for such credentialing?

While the idea of becoming a “certified” accounts payable manager might look great on my resume, I can’t help but wonder, “What it is really worth”? If anyone can start a “credentialing” company, then really… what are these designations really worth?

Your thoughts?

Thanks – Jay

 

These bodies fill three purposes:

1. Licensing or evidence of such - thus licensing is quite clear cut provided the 'licensing' is a valid or a generally accepted and recognised one as is accounting etc.

2. Peer acceptance which a degree not necessarily gives in some professions. The body has its own set of criteria for membership and in most professions this requires an acceptable degree [first, second, or first & second], and in most cases further competencies evidenced by suitable professional experience e.g. mentored, and possibly further examinations.

3. Accreditation of ones competence. The public as in a CPA will be more concerned with a persons comeptence rather than where they got their academic qualifications. The professional body fills this purpose and often professionals either wont bother listing their degrees, or if they do, more often than not dont list their source.

In the UK influenced countries our accreditation does not so much come from our degrees as in US, but from being accepted by our peers into learned societies or professional associations. We show the post-nominals as this is the 'way', and these attest to the validity of our degrees/experience. Unlike many US professional bodies, our memberships are stricly 'graded' memberships and THEY are our passport to professional acceptance, and acceptance as a professional by the public.

HOWEVER, because of this there is a growing band of what are not more than degree-mill versions of professional associations. They give people the the 'aura' of a professional recognition but they are:

a. Not recognised within the particular profession as a benchmark

b. They may be set up by or inconjunction with degree mills and therefore need to be treated cautiously. Warnborough and Irish Business School have quoted that their degrees are accepted at certian places, as did Clayton at one stage, and maybe still do.

I am aware of the one you mention and I smile ... the fact that you have never heard of it says a great deal

 

CPA is a license from the state in which one practices public accounting.

In Ireland they are Chartered Accountants. The profession requires education and examination prior to being allowed to practice.

CMA is not a license.

Physician's Assistants are likewise certified, they earn the designation PA-C, and this too is a license to practice.

Nurses are Registered, thus earning the RN ( nurses who have not taken the licensing examination are graduate nurses, GN's).

Most of those certificates are nonsense. One of the oldest of which I am aware, the certified financial planner designation, CFP, is not a license. It is a certificate issued by an organization. Indeed the CFP is a trademark as well. Examination of the home page of the site, http://www.cfp.net/default.asp , plainly demonstrates that.

CPA, RN, PA-C, those are not trademarks, at least not for their respective professions.

Not do denigrate any of those certifications, I don't have any of them. However all of the CFP's I have met have tried to sell me insurance or some other commission based investment.

They are certainly coming up with more and more certifications that sound quite impressive but may be degree mill type certifications.


Matthew, CFO (certified feck off)

 

These are questions that I asked several years ago when I first researched this topic. I don't pretend to know everything about every particular certification program, especially outside the US, but Peter French made many good points applicable to the U.S. certification situation. Two of his statements are particularly telling, (1)"... the fact that you have never heard of it says a great deal" and (2) "They give people the the 'aura' of a professional recognition....".

Professional certifications are usually voluntary and unregulated except by the granting body itself, unlike licenses or degrees which are regulated by various governmental agencies. Yes, just about anyone in the US can set up a professional association of some sort and develop a certification program, except possibly in some fields that may affect the public safety, security, etc.

A few certifications, such as CPA or ASE, are often used as a requirement for employment and as a de facto standard of competence because they have become so widely recognized within the profession as well as by the general public. While recognition by the general public is not always an indicator of a certification's effectiveness, it certainly contributes to it's value. However, this is not the case for the vast majority of certification programs, many which have proliferated within only the past few years and are hardly known within the profession itself.

There are many reasons for becoming certified as previously mentioned, such as peer recognition, self satisfaction, or for keeping skills current. Although even an unrecognized certification gives the holder the right to use a designation after their name, it can't provide them with the same rights and privileges as those holding the accepted 'gold' standard certification(s) within a profession (ie CPA or ASE).

 

I wasn't able to edit my previous post, but I do know a few certifications have become an absolute requirement for employment and function both as a license/certification. I didn't know the CPA served as a license in Florida before Matthew's previous post. Is this is true in all states? In any case, my opinions are based on my previous research which was limited to a single voluntary and self-regulated certification program.

So far, I find the discussion on certification fascinating and informative and look forward to more responses.

 

The field of professional certifications is not controlled as extensively as formal education and it seems that any association can offer certifications in their particular body of knowledge. Certification seems to run from simply indicating membership, to establishing competence in a particular field, to professional state licensing. There also seems to be a race being run today as to who can establish themselves as THE recognized body for issuing certification credentials in their focus area. This is a market process driven by revenue assurance like any other business.

I've observed an expansion of corporate function certifications in the past 5 years underscoring this new, expanding market and industrial phenomenon. I believe the demand is based on the need for employers to validate skill-based competence and workers to establish career differentiators. Certification can be used in addition to or instead of a degree in certain instances. If the certification market continues to proliferate, I envision some system in the future (not unlike accreditation) being employed by the market leaders ostensibly to establish the validity of certifications.

 

Kirkland, your opinions are very insightful.

Here is what one expert said on this. Taken from Levy, N. (1992, Feb), Designing a credentialing program to enhance ethics, quality assurance, accuracy and competition. (Remarks for the ASAE round table on certification, Washington, DC):

According to Levy, the success of a certification program is determined by market conditions, and measured by how widely it is accepted and how necessary it becomes for practicing in the field.

Certifications are generally grouped into three categories,: associative, demonstrative, and exclusive.

Associative credentials are granted to those who have expressed an interest in a profession by affiliating with a professional society representing it.

Demonstrative credentials are awarded when one has voluntarily made a demonstration of proficiency in the profession by experience, education, and passing an examination. The vast number of certifications fall under this category.

Exclusive credentials are granted by professional associations taking a position that individuals without the credential are not qualified to work within the profession. An example is certification in internal medicine. While not theoretically required to practice internal medicine, certification as a practical matter is required to practice in the field.

Sometimes, certification is required by law or market conditions to enter certain professions. State and local governments regulate or allow its use it as an alternative to licensing in certain occupations such as psychology or opticianry. _________________________________________________

Yes, the vast majority of certifications programs are self-regulated. They run the gamut from useful and necessary to just another piece of paper. In my opinion, the best way to insure that a particular certification will meet your needs is to check with your employer to see if they recognize it and will pay the costs. Nearly all (>90%) of employers in my survey indicated they would pay the professional certification expenses for thier employees. Doing this will give you the most bang for your time and effort.

Certifications are not akin or substitutes for RA accredited college degrees or licenses. People often confuse licensing and certification, but they are not the same. Licensing is mandatory and protects the public from incompetent practitioners, while certification merely identifies those to have met a certain standard (according to the individual professional body). Many professional societies depend on the superficial validity of certifications to gain broad public acceptance by using designations, certificates, examinations, etc. It is up to each individual to investigate a certification's value beyond what professional societies advertise and consider the viewpoints of their peers, employer, and the general public as well.

 

I'm not an accountant of any kind, but as I understand it, CPA (certified public accountant) is not a degree and does not indicate membership in a professional association; it is an abbreviation for a certificate issued by a state allowing the certificate holder to practice public accounting.

As far as I can tell, anyone can indeed set up an organization and issue whatever certifications the organization wants to; the only restriction I'm aware of is title protection legislation that most (all?) states have passed. For example, I am a professional engineer in Vermont, and only engineers with a license from the state may use the title "professional engineer", or the titles "licensed engineer," "certified engineer" or "registered engineer" in a manner tending to indicate that the person is licensed and permitted to practice engineering.

This can lead to turf battles between the states and the private certifying organizations. For example does using the title Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) violate the state laws (assuming the certificate holder does not also have a state engineering license)? Some people think so.

 

I went to the the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and other sites to get more information on the CPA.

In a nutshell, the AICPA, which is a private professional organization, develops and grades the uniform CPA examination used by the Boards of Accountancy (government institutions) of each state. The Boards of Accountancy of each state use the CPA examination results along with other state requirements, such as education and experience, to evaluate the competency of each individual. When these requirements are met, the individual can submit an application before the State Board of Accountancy to obtain a CPA certificate.

Simply put, the CPA ends up being a state license based largely on the competency standards as defined by a private professional accounting organization (AICPA).

 

Thanks to you all for your responses. I am very appreciative for this group, the topics and the responses I’ve read here. I usually just “lurk” and read the various posts about DL and in doing so, I’ve learned a lot.

Outside of being a CPA, which requires a license, or even a CMA or CPM, which are both, recognized designations, I find it interesting that many people (who some may refer to as “naïve”) will simply see the initials after a person’s name and find it impressive that they carry this credential.

It was during an interview at a local University that I first heard of this CAPP credential. The Director of the department who was interviewing me held it. She was “certified” and it was apparent that the entire staff (including her boss) thought it was a rather impressive credential and seemed almost to be bragging about her as being a “Certified Accounts Payable Professional”. This isn’t some second-rate place of employment either… it is a very old and well-respected University in Southern California. I’ve been in the same field for over 15 years and honestly never heard of this certification myself and I left the interview wondering, but soon after forgot about it. Then, while searching the Internet, I came across the association that offers the credential. That’s why I posted it here. I wanted to see what you all had to say.

At first glance, I thought of obtaining the CAPP myself, if for nothing else, to hold some sort of “professional” designation in my very specific field. At first thought, I felt that maybe I’d have an edge over other job candidates out there. But as soon as I checked out the web page and looked into the credential a little further, the first thing that crossed my mind was the fact that ANYONE could set up an association or group and offer a similar “credential”. At this point, my feeling is that this “credential” might end up being more of a negative than a positive. If my first gut feeling were thinking this credential was “fabricated” just to give the “aura” of professionalism, then why wouldn’t anyone else feel the same way? I can’t help but wonder why everyone was so impressed with the Director at my interview.

I suppose I am old fashioned. If I am going to hold a proper credential in accounting, then I think it would be better to pursue a CPA license. But even that doesn’t seem to be a winning edge anymore. In my job search, I’ve found that employers are willing to accept MBA’s in lieu of a CPA (when the position is in corporate accounting, not public accounting). The emphasis seems to be more about human relations skills and not JUST accounting (the technical side).

So with that said, I think I am going to stick to my original plan of continuing my education and pursue my MBA degree. I think an MBA will open more doors for me in the long run and more universally accepted in various fields (marketing, human resources, etc). I don’t know if I am ready to stay pigeon holed in accounting anyway.

But perhaps, instead of bothering with all that, I should just open my own shop….. “Certifications “R” Us”. (Would you call that a “certification mill”?)

- Jay

 

Just to clarify this as I understand it. The CPA does not require a license. It becomes a state license based largely on a uniform certification exam developed and graded by a professional body (AICPA). The CPA examination must be passed before a license is granted by a state. Furthermore, each State Board of Accountancy defines additional requirements that vary from state to state. Therefore, the CPA functions both as a certification and a license for the profession.

College and university departments sometimes affiliate themselves with professional organizations for advice or guidance in developing/modifying programs modeled on standards of competence as defined by these organizations and for preparing students to pass certification exams. In cases such as these, certification designations affiliated with these professional organizations become sought after and achieve a higher status. Faculty members and staff often achieve these designations themselves as examples for their students. I'm not saying this is the case for this particular situation, but it may be.

 

Does it mean there is no institutional accreditation body (similar to those RA, AACSB etc) offering accreditation to professional examinations, i.e. accrediting the level of professional examinations which is equivalent to diploma or degree level???

 

That is a very good question. AFAIAA there are no DOE recognized professional associations offering certification examinations to individuals. If that were the case, it would be possible say, for the AACSB or RA, to certify individuals in addition to schools and/or their departments. This would be a conflict of interest. Why would anyone go through a program of study they could become directly certified by an accrediting body that certifies the schools?

The AICPA, for example, which develops and grades the CPA exam, cannot directly grant a GPA license to individuals; only the states have that right. Although it may be possible for individuals to sit for and pass the CPA certification exam, one cannot become a licensed CPA without meeting the requirements as set forth by each State Board of Accountancy. The CPA, like a few other fields such as psychology and opticianry, are special cases where these certifications also function as a license, but are regulated by the states. Most certification programs are voluntary, while licenses are mandatory. The number of different state licenses and voluntary certifications programs that exist are in the many thousands; where they overlap represents only a small percentage (I don't have the exact figures). By and large, a license is a license and a certification is a certification.

One advantage of certification is its use for evaluating the competence of individuals and creating a credential for specialty areas that are underrepresented or don't exist at all in college and university programs of study. For instance, many colleges and universities offer IT or CS programs in specialty areas such as networking, programming, and software engineering; but don't offer BS or MS degrees specifically for Sun Java programming or Novell Linux Engineering. The school may offer courses and sometimes certificates, but they are not as specific as those developed by the individual certifying bodies, in this case, the developers of these systems (Cisco, Novell, etc). So no credential for these specialties really exists except from the certifying bodies themselves. I seriously doubt that very many people would believe that individuals who pass these certification examinations have the equivalent of a college degree or license.

The fuzzy relationship between licensure and certification for a small number of specific fields regulated by government agencies sometimes misleads people into believing their particular certification is the equivalent of a license or college degree. Like I mentioned previously, professional organizations depend on the surface validity of credentials, designations, and such to gain wide public acceptance. However, this does necessarily mean that certifications unregulated by government agencies are meaningless, since they have can still have value to the individual and to the occupational field. Often, certifications become the de facto standard within occupations, regardless of government regulation.

Finally, the situation discussed in the previous post described a possible working relationship or affiliation between a university and a professional organization, not an accrediting relationship. Although its possible that a professional body offering certification to individuals also may accredit university departmental programs, I don't know of any. If someone else knows, please post the information, I would be interested.

 

Please excuse my grammar, I am guilty of not always proofreading my posts (laziness on my part). If anything is unclear, please point it out. Unfortunately, there is a 10 minute limit to edit posts for this board.

 

You are correct, the vast majority of professional organizations do not require membership to become certified.

The titles of designations and credentials awarded to those who pass certification exams often use terminology such as 'professional', and 'engineer' for reasons that are apparent. Whether any court litigation has taken place over this issue is unknown, at least by me. It is an interesting topic for research though. I wonder how many court cases (if any) exist where victims were mislead or ripped-off from dealing with individuals who were 'certified professionals'?

I agree that the term 'engineer' has been especially overused, not only in certifications, but in society in general. This has probably had a significant impact on its meaning over time.

 

The possibilities in the certification area are endless. For instance, the members of this board could start a certification program. First, a professional organization would be formed, say perhaps one with this name:

The Distance Education Evaluators Association

After the DEEA incorporates, it could charge a membership fee and develop a certification program. In addition to regular membership, there could be three levels of certification perhaps like this:

Senior Certified Educational Evaluation Specialist (SrCEES)

Certified Educational Evaluation Specialist (CEES)

Associate Certified Educational Evaluation Specialist (ACEES)

It could then grandfather-in those members with a certain number of posts, perhaps 1000, to the SrCEES level, and those with 500 posts to the CEES level without taking an exam. All others must take an examination and have a certain level of education and experience to become certified. The certified members could then set up a fee schedule for their services.

Sounds far-fetched? Not really. It could be that simple.

 

Thanks Mitchell for all your insights. The strange thing is that I myself felt somewhat “impressed” with the CAPP designation before I started looking into it further. As you said, it would be easy enough for any group to create such an organization and begin “certifying” people. I suppose this is yet another case of not being able to tell a book by it’s cover.

The really hilarious part of my whole interview process was the fact that the current A/P Manager was in the process of being ousted! (Well, actually, nudged into another department within the University, probably due to the fear of a lawsuit.) They were interviewing for her replacement because the Controller told me that she didn’t really have her act together and they needed someone with more experience. They actually seemed more impressed with the CAPP certification than with her! Go figure!

 

At first, I was a little confused about the CAPP situation until I read your latest response. Somehow, I got the idea you were interviewing with an academic department rather than a university staff department (this is an education discussion group after all). Anyway, it looks like the impression the CAPP made on the staff was more likely related being uninformed and impressed by credentials focused on a familiar job function. It works similar to this scenario:

Suppose you were the owner of a dog of a specific breed, say an Irish Wolfhound. You want to have your dog groomed and you take him to a dog grooming establishment. Once there, you have a choice between two groomers: (1) a groomer who is a certified professional dog groomer with 5 years experience, and (2) a new groomer who is a certified professional Irish Wolfhound groomer with 1 year of previous experience. I think it's safe to say that in a case such as this, the specialized groomer (Irish Wolfhound) would probably appear much more impressive to the customer. Suppose further that Irish Wolfhounds made up 90% of the dog breeds serviced at this establishment. Which groomer would be perceived as the most potentially valuable to the owner? Now, suppose you were a dog groomer looking for work at this establishment. Which certification would you perceive as potentially being the most valuable to you? Remember, I indicated that the groomers were of unequal experience. The value of the certification becomes attributed to "perception" more than ability, even if the experienced groomer has groomed Irish Wolfhounds for a longer period of time. It is perception, which may or may not be backed up with anything concrete, that is used by certified individuals and associations to gain acceptance. It can work in the short-term, but rarely in the long term.

 

I can think of a situation which is nearly what you describe. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, ABET for short, http://www.abet.org, accredits professional programs in engineering and technology. They are controlled by member societies, that is, all or most of the national engineering societies. One of these societies is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics engineers, IEEE for short, http://www.ieee.org. Part of IEEE, the IEEE computer society, offers the Certified Software Development Professional certification (http://www.computer.org/certification).

Gerry Ashton PE

 

Thanks for the interesting info. Yes, it's close, but the ABET doesn't directly certify individuals.

I am a former IEEE member, but I wasn't aware until now that any IEEE society had a certification program. The Computer Society Web site contains excellent information about the program and about certification in general. They do a very good job differentiating between certification, accreditation, and licensure. I think the program is badly needed because it cuts across all product lines by defining a body of knowledge for all computer-related certifications. The IEEE is of course, a well-known and respected organization, so this certainly adds value in terms of credibility and name recognition. From what I seen so far about this program, I highly recommend it. In fact, if I had one choice for an IT certification, this is probably the one I would choose.