FPAC vs Wharton - Which is the Best FP&A Certification for Career Growth with Paul Barnhurst?

I'm going to review the different FP and A certifications that are available for you. What programs are out there to help prepare me? What are the training? Full disclosure. I have relationships with many of these programs. I also have affiliates with many of them. With each affiliate you get a discount. So there is the Certified Corporate FP and a professional by the association for Financial Professionals Financial Planning and Analysis Certificate for program by Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep CG FPA from FPA Professionals Institute Financial Planning and Analysis Modeling Program by Wall Street Prep. I share these programs because I've been involved in them, but I want to be fully upfront and you have to decide your path into FP and A your path to advancing your career. One of these programs may be right for you. Maybe none of them may be right for you. They each have differences. They each have pros and cons. The reality is.

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You can change the way you FP and A Don't settle for one size fits all. Paris Tech brings flexibility and customization to the tool you already trust. Excel. It's flexible. It's customized. It's FPA your way on the ParisTech platform. Learn more at ParisTech.com FPayOurWay hello everyone. Welcome to FP&A tomorrow where we delve into the world of financial planning and analysis, examining its current state and future prospects. I am your host Paul Barnhurst, AKA the FP and A Guy, and I will be guiding you through the evolving landscape of fpa. Each week we are joined by thought leaders, industry experts and practitioners who share their insights and experiences, helping us navigate today's complexities and tomorrow's uncertainties. This week we have a special episode for you. I will not be joined by a guest, but today I'm going to review the different FP and A certifications that are available for you. I'm regularly asked about getting into FP&A and asked about what programs are out there to help prepare me. What are the trainings? So we're going to focus on those that have certificate programs or certifications. I'll explain the difference of those later and I'm going to give you an overview of each of them, my thoughts, my involvement, and other things about each of these programs. At the end, I'll talk about a few courses. I also am going to be coming out in the near future on my website with several resources. Full disclosure, I have relationships with many of these programs. I also have affiliates with many of them. With each affiliate you get a discount and There is an amount I receive, but I share these programs because I've been involved in them. I've taken many of them. I've done the FPAC from afp. I've done the AFM from fmi. I've worked with the Wharton Online. I'm one of the instructors. I'm also doing some work for the Certified Global FP and a professional that we'll talk about. So these are things I'm passionate about and believe about. But I want to be fully upfront as I share this episode. And you'll see in the show notes links to many of these programs with codes you can use to get discounts. So let's get started with the list of programs I'm going to cover today. And then we'll get into each program in a little more detail. So there is the Certified Corporate FPA Professional by the association for Financial Professionals, known as the ftac. This is the longest one out there. This is the first one I'll cover. The other ones I'll cover are the Financial Planning and Analysis Certificate Program by Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep, a relatively new program that's come out in the last year. There's also the Certified Global FPA Professional CG SPA from FPA Professionals Institute. It's also a relatively new one that's come out and we'll talk about that. Then we're going to talk about two programs from cfi, the Corporate Finance Institute. There's the Financial Modeling, Valuation and Analysis Certificate. There's the FP and a specialization that they offer. Next we have the cfpam, which is the Financial Planning and Analysis Modeling Program by Wall Street Prep. And then last but not least, we'll talk about the accreditation or the certification that you can earn from the Financial Modeling Institute. A little bit about that program, including the Advanced Financial Modeler. But before I talk about any of these programs, the reality is one of these programs may be right for you, none of may be right for you. They each have differences. They each have pros and cons. And you have to decide your path into FP and a your path to advancing your career. It's always great to learn. You should always be learning. That's the first thing I'll say about all of these programs is constantly be learning and working on improving your skills. So let's get started. The first one is the Certified Corporate FP and a Professional by afp. So let me talk a little bit about afp. AFP has been around for years. They're a large organization. They started Supporting Treasury. They have the certified Treasury Professional, which is a certification you can take in Treasury. It's the biggest one out there. They have many members, they have an online community, they have an online website. You can pay a fee and become a member. They have one of the largest finance conferences in the world this year. It's in Boston in October. They also have a smaller form for AFP people, about 700 versus the larger one. That's about 7,000 in March. I'll be speaking at it this year. And so that's a little bit about AFP at a high level. They put out a lot of research. They're a not for profit organization. So they launched the FPAC in 2013 as a formal accreditation or certification. So they use the Caviar Group, which validates that this is accreditation. It meets certain standards. The test, everything else to put letters at the end of your name. So think CFA, think CPA, CMA. This is an accreditation that shows you understand FP&A and you can perform at a certain standard by taking these tests. The program, like I said, was launched in 2013. It's updated every six years. Just went through an update. There's several committees involved in the development of the content. They have many different professionals over 50 that help with it. The key differentiator between this and everything, but kind of FMI is that it is a credential. It's not a training program with a certificate. It is a self study program designed to get you an accredited certification. So in order to earn it, you must pass two exams, meet the education and experience requirements and agree to abide by the code of ethics. For afp, you can enroll in the program before you meet educational requirements, which are approximately bachelor's degree and three years of work experience. If you have a master's, I believe it's two. You can also have certain certifications. If you've earned them, they can take the place of your bachelor's degree. You can see the exact details online on their website. And once you enroll in the program, you have five years to complete it. The program consists of two, two different parts. There's part one, which here is financial acumen. There's three parts to that and it consists of a variety of multiple choice tests. You get three hours to take it. It's roughly 150 questions. Part two is financial analysis and these has a lot of spreadsheet based questions. This section, you get four and a half hours to complete it. So that's a little bit about the tests. The other thing to be aware of with this program, once you've completed and you earn it, you have to earn recertification hours similar to your CPE hours. For a CPA or CMA you have to do 45 hours and I believe it's every three years. Being a member of AFP can get you some hours going to their programs. There are a number of different ways you can earn those hours you need. They're all listed on the website. Let's talk cost for a minute. So the program will run you depending on when you do the early deadline or late, anywhere from 1000 to $1500. If you're an AFP member, you do early, it's a little over 1025. If you're a non member, it's 1520. But you also get the first year of AFP covered in that non member fee. So that's just a fee to take the exam. To take the two exams. Exam 1 can be waived with certain credentials that you already have, such as a CPA or cma. They're all listed on the website. So that's, that's the cost of the exams. Then there's the exam platform which I highly recommend, which is their training platform there again that's about 11 to $1200. So all in, you're looking at call it 21 to 2700 depending on which kind of accommodation you go for that. That's the way I would think of this program and how you pass after you study. And they recommend a couple hundred hours of study. I think it's 120 to 200 for each test is you have to get above a 500. And what they do is they take your raw scores, they scale them using a statistical process and tell you if you passed or failed. You never get your score. So there's no penalty for getting wrong answers. Now let's talk just a little bit more detail on the test. As I mentioned, part one is financial acumen. How that works out is there's three domains for part one. There's the concepts of business and finance systems and technology and business partnering with the concepts being the biggest section. Part two has analysis and projections models and analytics, business communication. So let me talk a little bit more about how they set this up. Like I said, they use committees. There's over 50 people involved. They have a job profile they create. And the idea is when you're done with the training, you'll be able to meet basic standards of performing that job. Now let me just share my thoughts. I did the FPAC Full disclosure AFP gave me the opportunity to do that and so I did that. And this year I will be training some people for taking the F Pack. I'm in the process of being one of their certified trainers, getting that material soon. My, my view is very good program. It prepares you. Overall, I really like it. I think the new exam platform is really good. I like that they added flashcards in a game center. They've kind of gamified it. They have a lot of video, 20 chapters. You get three full length practice exams. So it's very complete. There's flashcards that you can print. And so overall, very good program. I would have liked to see a little bit more on AI and Excel myself. I do like all the frameworks they've done. I will say the program is primarily for people early in your career. If you're more senior, you don't know that you necessarily need it. You could take it if you want. I took it more senior, but I really think it helps those early in your career. You know, if you're wanting to come from accounting and differentiate yourself, it's great. So that's a little bit about the, the program. I hope you find that helpful to give you some ideas about the F Pack. Like I said, great program. I like afp. I've spoke at many of their events, so definitely a good one to consider. And the biggest thing to remember is it's a certification, it's not a training program. You're getting those letters at the end. I think that's the biggest differentiator between these and the other FPA programs I'm going to talk about. So let's jump into the second one. This is a new entrant. Lots of people have heard of it. It's the FPA certificate program. And one of the key differences is it's an online training program where the FPAC is a self study training program. It's eight weeks long. The commitment is about eight to ten hours a week. So think 60 to 80 hours in total. So it's going to be less time than you'll spend studying for the fpac. I know I spent probably over a hundred hours studying for the two tests. The program directors for this program are Christian Wittig. It's a cohort style program. So they offer it I think once a quarter, roughly about four times a year. Four or five times a year. The cost, this is going to be more expensive. This is one of what some people would call, you know, a drawback of this program is the cost. But let's talk about all the benefits you get with that. It's $4,800 or 960amonth for five months. Who is the program is designed by Wharton and Wall Street Prep. It's designed for both finance and non finance professionals in their early to mid career seeking to level up their FPNA skills. Now you can learn more about it if you search Wharton Online FPNA program, you'll find it. It's all you need to do. It's done by both, like I said, Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep. I am one of the instructors for this. Let me tell you a little bit of my relationship with them. Instructor I've reviewed some of the test exam questions that Christian would Take has written previously. I did the Excel section. I work with my partner Ron Monteiro and we did a section on business partnering. He's on the video but we worked on that. So here's what you get. Here's some of the resources and things you receive in this program. You're going to get a digital certificate for the program, but you must pass either the individual tests from each week or a final exam. I believe 75% but don't quote me on that. Here's what you get. You get lifetime access to career resources. You get the network of program graduates during the program. You're going to get in person and virtual networking events, weekly office hours and one to one coaching. So again you can see a real difference. This one has network. It's a training program where you get that network. Those coaching help you find a job that's different than F Pack. Although FPAC has a ton of resources, if you become a member of AFP as well. So you know if you're looking for a great training program, learning FP&A, you want the Wharton name, you want the benefits they have. It's a very solid program. Here's the curriculum for the program. Module 1 Introduction to FPA. This would be week one. Module 2 the planning cycle and annual budgeting. Module 3 Forecasting. Module 4 Financial analysis and FP&A. Module 5 Finance business partnering. Module 6 Financial modeling for decision support. Module 7 Reporting, presenting and storytelling. Module 8 Preparing for the future of FP&A this program probably has over 20 speakers slash faculty. Some of the people you'll get to hear from include Nicholas Boucher who does a lot on finance and AI myself Glenn Hopper, another AI person Ron Montero, Christian Wittig, Christopher Eitner, Wasia Kimon, who's the CFO Anders Lou Lindberg of the Finance Business Partnering Institute Chris Riley of Financial Modeling Education. There's a lot of great instructors in this program and so that's a little bit about the Wharton FP and a program. And now a brief message from this week's sponsor. Your FPA process is unique, so why settle for one size fits all solutions? Paris Tech brings flexibility and customization to the tool you already trust Excel. It also brings power with an advanced data engine. With Paris Tech, you can design, planning, analytics and reporting workflows that fit your business, your team and your goals. Whether it's streamlining, budgeting, building dynamic forecasts, or creating real time dashboards, Paris Tech puts you in control. Our experts work with you to tailor a solution that aligns with your needs. Because FPA should work your way, not the other way around. Ready to see how Paris Tech can revolutionize your workflow? Visit ParisTech.com FPA your way to book a call today and experience FPA your way Next, I want to talk about one that probably not many of you have heard. It's based out of India. It's called the Certified Global FPA Professional CGFPA from FPA Professionals Institute. It's designed for finance and accounting professionals. Recommend you have a degree in that area and so it's open to anyone. The program directors are Asif Masani and Dewal Privateer. Now Asif has written several books on FP and A from accounting to FP&A. I think one's an introduction to FP&A and he's writing other books. He's well known for the podcasts he's done for the information he shares for the courses he has. He's an expert in FP&A, working in IT for a decade, him and his partner. Between two of them they have 20 years of experience. The program is six months long, so it's the longest of all the programs. The time commitment is roughly three to four hours a week, so 75 to 100 hours. So similar to Wharton, less time commitment than the ftac. They do recommend you have work in accounting or finance, but it's not required. They do want you to have a degree or an accounting cert or equivalent. The cost, the cost is $1500, so 1495 are five payments of 299. I do have a code that can get you a 200 discount on that. I'll share that in the show notes for this episode. So here's how it works. They have live sessions every Saturday for two hours. You need to attend at least 50% of the sessions live. They also Record them because there'll be different time zones and challenges. They have a lot. It's a live coaching program with 10 core model modules. Models. They personalized sessions with a career coach are provided. They do provide placement support and alumni community. So much like Wharton, there's a lot of resources to help you with that. Job search here even more so. And here's the curriculum. Like I said, they have 10 modules. So their modules are module one, an introduction to FP and a module two, financial analysis module three, strategy. Four is management reporting. Five is financial modeling. Six is an introduction to data analytics. Seven is budgeting and forecasting. Eight is AI for finance and FPA. Module nine is storytelling and presentations and 10 is business partnering. Like it's a really well rounded curriculum. Covers, you know, kind of all the major items that I think you'd want to see in a course. I'm big fans of the work OSSIF does. Requirements to take the exam. Like I said, you have to. To take the final exam, the requirement is attend at least 50% of the live online classes. To earn your exam certification, you have to get 50% otherwise you won't be certified. The code you can use for the discount is FPA guy. So FPA guy. Not FPA, but FPA guy. So FPA gu. That'll give you a $200 discount. Also, if you go to my website and use my link, I'll receive an affiliate as well. It's a little bit about that program. It's a great program. I'm meeting with OS up here in the near future to talk about adding some content, some resources for students to help round out that program. All right, so the next one here is from the Corporate Finance Institute or CFI. Many people may have heard of CFI. CFI has trained roughly 2 million students over its life. The founder is Tim Vapond. He's the co founder. And they have many different certificates. I think they have six, six different certificates. Specializations, tons of courses. A lot of it is focused on financial modeling. A lot of people in banking and that area. So what they say for their programs, depending on which one you take, your time commitment is going to be about 120 to 200 hours. Here's how their pricing works. Right now they have a 40% discount, but they have two programs. They have the full immersion, which is $847 a year. And that gives you access to all their courses. For $497 a year you can get access to the self study program. You can also get continuing Education credits. So if you're a CPA or CMA or CA or whatever accounting one you have, you should be able to get certification. There's no prereq required, but they do have nine prep courses that you can take to prepare yourself. So some basics on financial statements also maybe Excel. They also have a ton of articles online, a lot of stuff on video. They have created a lot of free resources in addition to their training. So for the FMVA which is the financial modeling valuation analyst, there are 43 courses to choose from. You must take at least 16 to be able to sit for the exam to earn the FMVA. 13 courses which are really focused on modeling. There's little on soft skills. You got to get a passing grade of 70% to earn your certificate. You get three hours to take the exam and there are 50 questions. So let me talk a little bit more about what all you get with this program. So you get access to all their contract. Like I said, they have six accredited certifications. They have 12 specializations when it comes to FPA. The only two I would consider specifically around this is your Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst. It's going to be really good on the modeling side certificate and their FPA specialization. Now one other thing I want to talk to the difference between the immersion program and just a self study with the immersion program. Well with both programs you get live office hours, you get a blockchain accredited certification, you get a members only online community with paying each year. So it's kind of like a subscription model. But you don't have to resubscribe. You're going to have your certificate forever. This they have an AI chatbot integrated into your course experience. If you do the full immersion you can ask an expert, get one on one guidance and you get personalized financial model feedback. So those are some of the things you get with that more expensive program. Now let's talk about the FPA certification from CFI. There's 21 courses for that. 936 lessons, 930 plus exercises. You're required to take 19 of the 21 courses. So there are two optional. You can anticipate a similar time commitment FMVA that I mentioned above, 120 to 200 hours. One thing I really like is it includes Power Query and Power BI Fundamentals which I think is something just about every FP and a person should learn. I haven't seen the Power BI in some of the other courses. I know Power Query is included in Wharton because I did that content myself. This has great modeling Skills. There's a workflow course where I think FP and a in general certification from CFI and the FMBA falls short of other programs is they lack the business partnering, the influencing, the storytelling. You'll want to supplement the training you get here with some soft skills training. Would highly recommend my course. I have some great stuff on soft skills. Christian Wittig has one, Carl Seidman, Saeed Nadeem and there are others. But I really, I'm a big fan of my course. It's the best price. You get two instructors, 10 hours. We cover a lot of these soft skills. So maybe a great way to supplement. You want to do the FMVA or the FP and a specialization. Some of the program instructors include Tim Vapond, Carl Seidman, Jeff Smit and others. For these programs now kind of give you my view on this. For the FP and a certification, I think they're good programs. They're really a training. The way to think of it, it's a training program that you get a certificate at the end and it's focused on modeling and your hard skills, your technical skills. They have a little bit on presentation, a little bit of storytelling. But that's the core area of this program. So let's go through the ones we've talked about right now. Afp, as I've mentioned before, is a credential. It's all about showing that you can do the work, you know, by taking the test. Often you have to build models, do some stuff in Excel, very basic, but build some things to get answers in Excel. Especially for part two, you know, Wharton, great program, great resources. Again, it's a certificate, it's a training program. You have a network, it's going to be your most expensive. Then the one from Financial Professionals Institute, the Global Certified fpa. Great program. Our Certified Global FPA Professional. Definitely more known in India. I think a little more geared toward that area. Both the program directors are from there, but it can be for anyone, globally. Anyone can take it. Good program. You know, I really like the course content and then cfi. Of all the programs, I would say it's the least complete FP and a certification program. But it's very good. It's the most well known. People recognize it on a resume. Obviously they have good content or they wouldn't have trained 2 million people. So that's my take on from Corporate Finance Institute. So now let's move on and talk about the next one here. We're going to only touch on this one for a few minutes. There Is the financial planning and analysis modeling or the CFPAM program. It is eight courses, 28 hours of instruction plus you know the work you do on your own. You can earn 31 CPE credits. You do receive a certification. It's offered by Wall Street Prep. I believe the cost is 499. It's self study. So keep in mind this is the program they built before. They did the program with Wharton. The full certificate program they offer now which is in conjunction with Wharton Online. This is really heavily on modeling. So a little bit about it. You know it has the recommended path that's kind of an eight steps. You do an introduction to fpa, building the operating model, the income statement, building the operating model of the balance sheet. That'd be week three building the operating model of the cash flow statement. Again week three. Week four, pulling together the operating model. Week five, project management, long range planning and analysis. Our lrp, you know, week six is presentation best practices and building dashboards. And then you have an appendix as corporate finance principles. So you can see it's very much structured on modeling. I think of it as a modeling course geared toward budgeting. Building a three statement model which is not something necessarily every company needs to do but very helpful to understand when they break out the percentage. The Overview is about 15%. Storytelling projections and dashboards is about 15%. You know, corporate finance and strategy is 5%. And then most the rest is really around the model, building the model, the income statements, those type of things. So about I kill maybe 20%. 30% is either overview or a little bit on those soft skills and then the rest is on the modeling. So that's that program, they still offer it even though they have the more advanced one. 100% self study. So very similar to CFI. I mean it's the least cost, probably least commitment from a time perspective of any of the training programs. I also don't think it will carry the weight of the others. Honestly I had never heard of it till recently. So you know, on this list I. This is not one I would put as the highest recommendation. I think there are other programs you can take that demonstrate you're a good modeler without doing this. But if you are interested, check it out. I'm sure it's great training but I don't think it's as complete a program as the others I've listed here. So that covers the FP and a certifications. And now I want to talk to one that I'm very passionate about and I think it's A great route for FP&A professionals. Before I do that, let's just recap. We talked about the Certified Corporate FPA Professional by afp, the FPA Certificate Program by Wharton, the Certified Global FPA Professional from FPA Professionals Institute CFI and the Financial Planning and Analysis Modeling by Wall Street Prep. Now I want to talk about Advanced Financial Modeler and the programs offered by fmi. FMI is the Financial Modeling Institute as they like to say the most respected accreditations in financial modeling, which I agree with.

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Big fan of FMI have been for years. I was introduced to it originally by Lance Rubin oh about six years ago. When I said I want to get better at modeling. He's like I recommend you take this. I'm a huge fan of the program. He actually also recommended Danielle Stein Fairhurst book and so I follow them ever since when I created the Financial Modelers Corner podcast. They're the first ones I reached out to to be a sponsor because I believe in them. I was registered to take this test in 2020. Covid hit it got delayed. I didn't complete it till February of 24th but I'm very glad I did it. It made me a better modeler. So they have both a board and advisory council. They're not as I'd say as rigorous of a certification as fpac. What I mean by that is they don't have an external third party validating. They meet all the requirements for the job every year but they do accredit it. They they're a very professional organization. I love what they're doing and they're really all focused on can you build an integrated three statement model for level one? Level two gets into more complexity and level three so this is for anyone in modeling could be Banking could be pe. It's not FPA specific, but I think it's a great way to demonstrate to your employer, Look, I know how to design a model. I can build a model that is well designed. Is in has told me again and again. I had him on a podcast more than once. The number one issue with models, and there's not even a close second, is design. It always comes back to poor design. And that's why I'm such a big fan of FMI and is studying for the program really teaches you good design principles for modeling. So let's talk about what they have and a little bit more about them. They have a board and an advisory council. They're very active on LinkedIn. Financial Modeling Institute. They have about 70,000 followers. When you register for the courses, you get one year of membership to their active community. They have four different kind of levels. There's really three levels but one another program in there. So they have what's called the FMI Foundations in financial modeling. You do take a one hour multiple choice exam. It's about 15 hours to complete it. You do not get a certification. You can have a digital badge and that's 200. So basically it's a great way to study the foundations of modeling. It's taught by in. Those foundations are also used by cfa which I'll talk about in a minute. Chartered Financial Analyst. Level one is the Advanced Financial Modeler. That's where you have to take a proctored four hour exam and you have to build an integrated three statement model from an example. You have to do scenarios. You have to have an executive summary, be able to print it, do all the best practices of building a financial model. Generally they recommend at least 50 to 100 hours to prepare for it. And you get the AFM accreditation. The cost is $725. Then you have level two, the chartered financial Modeler. This demonstrates you're an exceptional financial modeler. I've heard this one's really tough. It is a real challenge. You have to do problem solving skills. Again, It's a proctored four hour exam. You have to have completed the AFM to do the CFM. There are no prerequisites for the AFM for level one. There is for level two. It's 75 to 120 hours of study time is what they recommend. Cost of the same $725. Then they have what they call level three. Level three is more of a recognition. It's called the Master Financial Modeler. It's be recognized for your expert Experience, skills, leaderships and contributions to the field of financial modeling. It's an application process. They recommend you complete your cfm, but it's not required as an application process. And you receive the mfm. There's no cost associated with that. So those are the four different levels. Let me tell a little bit of why this was started. In has ran a training business for years, the Marquee Group. And what was happening is people were putting it on their resume and then they were. The employers were reaching out to in and saying, hey, is this person any good at modeling? And he'd respond with I don't know, maybe. Yes, no, I have no idea. They took a course. So he said we need a certification similar to a CPA is certified or other people that work on deals. And so he created this as a way where he can say yes, they, this person has met a minimum standard. They know how to build a fully integrated three statement model using best practices or if you've done level two, they know how to build exceptional. They know a lot more skills beyond just the basics. And so it's a way for employers to be able to look at it and say, oh, this person's qualified. I did it and I was a better modeler for it. It helped me really learn a lot of principles about linking certain things and schedules and structure that I had never really been taught. I'd learned them more and more over time, but hadn't. Hadn't been taught. So one other thing I want to mention, I mentioned the cfa. So afm, the program is very similar to what CFA offers for their financial modeling. So they have a practice skills module where you can do financial modeling. That practice skills module is offered by fmi. So very similar, similar to what you get there. You just don't get the exam, you don't get the community that comes with it. You get a one year community and they have great webinars, great resources. You can talk to people about modeling. Financial Modeling Institute, big fan of what they do there in the community. So just be aware if you've done the CFA level one and the practice skills module on modeling, you've done a lot of what's in the fundamentals. You're seeing a lot of the stuff that you need to be able to do to pass the fmi. All right, so CFA people ask me, why haven't I listed the CFA as a certification? Well, cfa, cpa, cma, I don't think of those as FPNA certifications or modeling ones specifically. They're great. Many people Take them before, but they were not the focus of this, this podcast. So what I want to say now is, is that you're trying to decide what to do. Remember, none of these are required. You could have a great career and be very successful without certifications. You can take great trainings. I offer several others offer great trainings. You can have a great career without taking any of these. There are many great training programs as I mentioned Carl Seidman, myself and Ron Montero, Christian Wittig and others. But I do think certifications is a great way making a career change. You want to stand out, you want to show your employer you're serious. There's a lot of great programs. If the goal is to get a credential, then FMI and fpac. FPAC for FP and a FMI for financial modeling. I think a great way to go is to get the financial modeling one. Especially if you want to work for smaller companies in FPA and then take an online course or do some book reading to supplement yourself. That's also probably a little less expensive than others with you know, FMI being $800. If it's really about network name, you know, everything that comes with a great training program. Wharton's really good. You know, if you're, if it's about an FPA credential, then obviously afp, if you just want to do some self study, get a certificate, very good program, a lot of modeling, corporate finance institute. You also have, you know, the Wharton option. Then you also have the program there in India from asaf, which is a great one, very reasonable cost, very complete program that you could take as well. Maybe you really like the idea of only two hours on Saturday, only have to attend 50% of the sessions live. And you think it's a great program. It makes sense. You got the certified global FP and a professional from FPA Professionals Institute. So there you go, that's a roundup. I hope you found this helpful. I have a ton of resources on my website. I have relationships with pretty much all of these organizations and they're all quality. I don't think any of them are bad, but they have pros and cons and you have to decide what's right for you. Only you can do that. But I hope you found this helpful. As you go through your journey, feel free to reach out to me with questions. I'm always here to help you and I'd love to have you in one of my future courses. Your company, you know, if you need company training or individual, please come join one of my courses. We have fabulous reviews. I will say they are really good. Of course I'm biased, but again, thank you. But more important than anything, go forth and be a great business partner. Serve your business, help them make better, faster decisions and help them move forward to be prepared for the future of tomorrow. Thanks for joining me for this week's episode.

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You great guests from around the globe. As a reminder, you can earn CPE credit by going to earmarkcpe.com, downloading the app, taking a short quiz, and getting your CPE certificate to earn continuing education credits for the FPAC certification. Take the quiz on earmark and contact me, the show host, for further details.