You may notice a number of different letters after our names. These letters stand for the professional designations that our team has earned; achievements that we believe reinforce our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of service to our clients. These certifications require that professionals using a given designation complete continuing education and re-certify to keep their knowledge current and relevant to the concerns that our clients face. Continue reading this page to learn more about these forensic accounting certifications and what they stand for.
ASA – Accredited Senior Appraiser
The Accredited Senior Appraiser designation is awarded by the American Society of Appraisers (https://www.appraisers.org/). Individuals who wish to earn this accreditation must meet designated requirements for education, have at least five years of full-time appraisal experience, and provide professional letters of reference. Appraisers undergo a critical peer review and thorough testing process in appraising and valuation standards and ethics before the ASA can be awarded.
CBA – Certified Business Appraiser
The CBA designation is conferred by the Institute of Business Appraisers (https://www.go-iba.org/). Members must meet rigorous criteria to be eligible for the CBA accreditation, which includes completing considerable education in business appraising, testing, and critical peer review of demonstration reports as well as evaluation of professional references. To maintain the CBA accreditation, members must undertake continuing professional education to recertify every three years.
CVA – Certified Valuation Analyst
Qualified CPAs can apply for the CVA designation, which is for professionals providing business and intangible asset valuations, through the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (https://www.nacva.com/cba-mcba). The requirements for this designation include fundamental and advanced education and thorough testing that together demonstrate candidates’ adherence to industry recognized practice standards. Candidates for the CVA must also provide samples of work for peer review. Recertification is based on a points system on three-year intervals.
ABV – Accredited in Business Valuation
The American Institute of CPAs (https://www.aicpa.org/Pages/default.asp) awards the selective ABV credential to skilled CPAs who meet set requirements for experience and education. Candidates for the ABV must also demonstrate knowledge in the business valuation field by passing an exam and establish previous experience working in business valuation services.
CFF – Certified in Financial Forensics
Like the ABV, the CFF designation is awarded by the American Institute of CPAs (https://www.aicpa.org/Pages/default.aspx). Those who hold the CFF designation are CPAs in good standing with AICPA who can exhibit far-reaching expertise and experience in the practice of forensic accounting. To earn the CFF, CPAs must establish their core and specialized forensic accounting skills in a variety of service applications, including bankruptcy and insolvency, family law, valuations, fraud prevention, detection, and response, and economic damages calculations.
CFE – Certified Fraud Examiner
Specifically for professionals who are able to meet the standards of professional excellence held out by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (https://www.acfe.com/), the CFE accreditation demonstrates that an individual has met the academic, professional, and ethical standards of ACFE. Eligible candidates earn the CFE by passing a challenging application process that includes an examination on various topics and practices in accounting fraud investigation, detection, prevention, and deterrence.
CPA – Certified Public Accountant
The CPA designation is one of the most widely known professional accreditations in accounting, and most people are aware that CPAs are professionally qualified to handle accounting services beyond tax returns. What many outside of the accounting field do not know is that the CPA designation alone is not an adequate qualification for performing business valuations or economic damages services as the CPA qualification process does not include required preparation in these fields. Most professionals, including the Veriti team, learn the required additional knowledge to work in these areas through years of training in firms providing these services while earning the specialized credentials relevant to these fields covered on this page.
CrFA- Certified Forensic Accountant
A forensic accountant is a professional who is prepared through education, experience, and training to apply specialized skills and knowledge in accounting, auditing, and investigation to arrive at the financial truth, prepare legal opinions, and provide support in investigations. Forensic accountants provide such varied services as calculating or estimating economic damages and performing investigative accounting, such as examining real or suspected illegal activities.
To achieve the CrFA credential, an individual must hold the CPA designation and pass a comprehensive exam that covers theory and practice in fraud investigation, fraudulent financial reporting, and advanced forensics topics such as damages analysis, liability services, and cases of failure in auditing, taxation, consulting, and business valuation.
DABFA – Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Accounting
The American Board of Forensic Accounting (https://www.abfa.us/) confers the DABFA award to accounting professionals who have a record of professional achievements and contributions in the forensics field. A Diplomate is recognized as a distinguished top professional in accounting.
Veriti Is Committed to Education
Each of Veriti’s professionals completes at least 40 hours of continuing education each year to maintain our commitment to professional excellence. By doing so, our professionals are able to keep current with developments impacting our clients and the services we offer in fraud and forensic accounting, business valuation, and economic damages.
