AICPA and partners roll out valuation credential

The American Institute of CPAs has teamed up with the American Society of Appraisers and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on a new credential for financial professionals who provide fair value measurement services.

AICPA building in Durham, N.C.

The AICPA, the ASA and the RICS began working in 2013 on developing a single credential that offers a more consistent framework for fair value measurement. The three organizations wanted to make sure financial professionals have the necessary training, qualifications, experience and expertise to do this kind of work. They released a proposed framework last year (see AICPA collaborating on new valuation credential).

Financial professionals who receive the new Certified in Entity and Intangible Valuations, or CEIV, credential would need to follow new uniform guidance on how much documentation is needed to support their fair value measurement results in company financial statements when they are producing valuations of entities and intangible assets such as trademarks, patents and technology, customer sales lists, and non-compete agreements.

The uniform guidance behind the credential specifies the level of documentation necessary to enable investors, auditors and regulators to understand more easily how fair value measurement has been used to determine the values of businesses and intangible assets. The CEIV credential also requires regular monitoring of credential holders to make sure they’re following the new guidance.

“Auditors and regulators have sometimes found it difficult to see how certain values in financial statements were determined using fair value measurement,” said AICPA executive vice president for public practice Susan S. Coffey in a statement. “The uniform guidance provided by the CEIV credential should make it easier for all parties to understand how fair value measurement was used to develop those values. The quality oversight of credential holders will provide clients, regulators, auditors, investors and the public greater confidence that they are receiving accurate information in financial statements when fair value measurements are performed by someone holding the CEIV credential.”

To get the new credential, financial professionals need to meet certain eligibility requirements determined by the AICPA, the ASA and the RICS, in collaboration with the Appraisal Foundation and the International Valuation Standards Council, which also helped develop the new credential. Those requirements include demonstrating competencies in valuation and fair value measurement through training and assessments, along with passing a two-part CEIV exam that will be introduced early this year.

For more information, visit https://ceiv-credential.org/.

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