[Nate]

Today one of the 3 partners at the small office I work at came into my office and told me he and the other partners talked over lunch and they think I’d be perfect for the ABV credentials and that it’d bring a lot of value to the firm and make me and the firm very marketable. I was hoping an experienced ABV on here could give me a quick breakdown of how difficult it is to obtain the credentials (experience needed and difficulty of the exams), the type of work, benefits, and cons of being an ABV, and how long it takes to prep for the exams. My wife and I are expecting our first child in June and the last thing I want when my first child is born is to be focused on studying, and since I am a CPA now I don’t plan on having that be the case.

The other two career paths I have interest in are the PFS credentials and CGMA and go private (Sr Accountant to Controller to CFO). Also would appreciate advice on how the three career paths compare.

Thanks in advance for any advice from anyone!

[DDylan]

I passed both ABV exams a few weeks ago. They are super easy. Not even much calculation in the exam. Ironically, most of them are conceptual questions over calculation/number questions despite that this is for a “valuation” credential. Maybe only 1 or 5 (definitely fewer than 5) questions that need you to actually calculate a number or value…

Another thing I’d like to mention is that the exam review material is very poorly written. I, a non-native English speaker, can easily identify the inconsistency, poor wording, and even typos.

Overall the exams are pretty easy..I passed both in the first try, and did not study much—just flip over the books to make sure I am familiar with the topics.

Unlike CPA exams, you will know pass or fail as soon as you submit your exam…

[chandler]

Hi there. Obviously, I am not an ABV, but there is one in our office. I think the biggest hurdle is meeting the experience requirements. You'll need 1,500 hours of valuation experience in the prior 5 years from the time you submit your application. Obviously this may not be an issue if at least one of the partners in your firm is an ABV AND your firm already does some valuation engagements. We have a partner who is an ABV at my firm, but we don't do enough valuation engagements that I would hit 1,500 hours even if I worked on every valuation one we got.

[Nate]

@DDylan, how many hours of studying did you put in for each exam? Just wanting to make sure this is doable with busy season coming up and my first child arriving next June, I definitely will put family first so I won't let anything get in the way of that. I will probably ask for additional PTO for study time, I don't want to use my personal time to study, I already did enough of that with the CPA exams, along with paying for each exam, application, and study materials. This time it'll have to be on the firm's time and money, not my own.

@Chandler, none of the partners have the ABV credentials nor do they do any valuation engagements, but according to them clients are wanting that service and I guess they see me as the perfect for to provide it. It's probably not possible to do it at the firm I'm working at, if anything I'd need to work elsewhere then come back it appears. I mentioned the 1,500 hours but they seem to think we could work around it and they really want me to go for this credential.

[Author]

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