For a lot of working professionals, there comes a time in their life when they start searching for ways to take a step forward in their career. For project managers, their search ends with project management certification from PMI. But apart from project managers, even a lot of CPAs now get PMP certification.
But is getting management certification actually beneficial for accountants? Are project management certification credentials worth it for the CPAs? Let us have a look.
Overview of PMI and PMP
The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Founded in the year 1969, PMI is a not-for-profit association for professions like program, project and portfolio management. The association sets the standard for project management, supervises PMBOK, and also administers the designation of PMP.
The candidates who go through PMP certification training are extensively taught every major aspect of project management and the precise methodology of the course perfectly complements the skills of CPAs.
The methodology is designed by project managers and begins by establishing the foundation of a project and then defining every stage of a project cycle which includes planning the project, its initiation, execution, controlling and monitoring and conclusion. With the help of this structure, project managers are able to keep up with the toughest of situations, enabling organisations to increase their success rate significantly.
PMP certification eligibility requirements
To be eligible for PMP certification, candidates are required to have at least three years of experience in project management. This experience should include a minimum of 4,500 hours of leading and directing projects. Apart from this, you also need 35 contact hours to be eligible for the exam. Contact hours mean the number of hours you spend on formal project management training and education.
As a PMP, you also need to meet the requirements of continuing education be earning PDUs (Professional Development Units). You can earn these units through several activities like attending organisational meetings, education, and volunteering.
Changes in the finance function across organisations
A lot of activities and roles of CPAs in organisations are getting project-oriented. This clearly reflects the important role that the financial functions play in an organisation and how it engages all the different business activities and functions.
To understand important aspects of how a project can be funded in the best possible way or the financial benefits of a project, it is integral to get financial ‘lens’ on the projects. All these activities require particular skills like the effective planning of projects, proper forecasting of finances and management of resources.
It is with the help of management qualifications like project management certification that CPAs can understand and implement these skills better.
Importance of PMP for CPAs
In a lot of organisations, the CPAs are required to be a part of high-impact, complex projects in which the cost pressure is high. While the CPAs are already recognised for their technical knowledge related to finance and accounting, the PMP certification enables them to make sure that they are able to provide successful implementation and service delivery.
The management methodologies that the accountants get to learn throughout their PMP certification training can be implemented in several circumstances like internal and external audits and projects. By using the skills learned in management training, the CPAs can create better audit and project plans to improve engagement efficiency significantly.
As a result, organisations that hire CPAs with PMP certification are able to offer better services to the clients. Moreover, PMP certified professionals are already very popular for their abilities to cut costs and offer better success rates.
CPAs that are PMP certified have the technical skills to master the finances as well as strong and precise knowledge of the methodology that can be followed to complete complex projects. All these reasons make PMP certification highly beneficial credential for the CPAs.
