Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Not all certifications that use post-nominal letters are an acknowledgement of educational achievement, or an agency appointed to safeguard the public interest.
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certified Accountant or Certified Public Accountant, or Registered Public Accountant. Such professionals are granted certain responsibilities by statute, such as the ability to certify an organization's financial statements, and may be held liable for professional misconduct. Non-qualified accountants may be employed by a qualified accountant, or may work independently without statutory privileges and obligations.
A homeowner association, or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity in the United States, Canada, The Philippines and certain other countries often formed either ipso jure in a building with multiple owner-occupancies, or by a real estate developer for the purpose of marketing, managing, and selling homes and lots in a residential subdivision. The developer will typically transfer control of the association to the homeowners after selling a predetermined number of lots.
A condominium is an ownership regime in which a building is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual owners. These individual units are surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned and managed by the owners of the units. The term can be applied to the building or complex itself, and is sometimes applied to individual units. The term "condominium" is mostly used in the US and Canada, but similar arrangements are used in many other countries under different names.
The Canadian Securities Institute is a Canadian organization that offers licensing courses, advanced certifications, continuing education and custom training for financial services professionals in Canada and internationally.
The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the US-based CFA Institute to investment and financial professionals. The program teaches a wide range of subjects relating to advanced investment analysis—including security analysis, statistics, probability theory, fixed income, derivatives, economics, financial analysis, corporate finance, alternative investments, portfolio management—and provides a generalist knowledge of other areas of finance.
Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need for real estate to be cared for and monitored, with accountability for and attention to its useful life and condition. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.
A property manager or estate manager is a person or firm charged with operating a real estate property for a fee. The property may be individual title owned or owned under the sectional title, share block company owned, and may be registered for residential, commercial office, and retail or industrial use. In 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Occupational Statistics reported that there were 329,000 property managers employed in the United States, with the number expected to grow to by 50,000 by 2016.
A vacation rental is the renting out of a furnished apartment, house, or professionally managed resort-condominium complex on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. The term vacation rental is mainly used in the US. Other terms used are self-catering rental, holiday home, holiday let, cottage holiday and gite.
Water damage describes various possible losses caused by water intruding where it will enable attack of a material or system by destructive processes such as rotting of wood, mold growth, bacteria growth, rusting of steel, swelling of composite woods, de-laminating of materials such as plywood, short-circuiting of electrical devices, etc.
The Certified Financial Planner certification is a professional certification mark for financial planners conferred by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards in the United States, and by 25 other organizations affiliated with Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB), the owner of the CFP mark outside of the United States. The certification is generally considered the gold standard in the financial planning industry. The certification is managed by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which was founded in 1985 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; it is neither a government designation nor an accredited degree.
The American Academy of Financial Management (AAFM) was a US-based board of standards, certifying body, and accreditation council focused on the finance sector and wealth management professionals. AAFM was superseded by the Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM).
Association management is a field of management which focuses on the management of associations. There are more than 25,000 national associations and 65,000 local, state or regional associations in the United States. These organizations employ more than 500,000 professionals.
An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist, is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the United States, and the European Union. Other names used to designate the profession include agricultural scientist, agricultural manager, agricultural planner, agriculture researcher, or agriculture policy maker.
Following is a partial list of professional certifications in financial services, with an overview of the educational and continuing requirements for each; see Professional certification § Accountancy, auditing and finance and Category:Professional certification in finance for all articles. As the field of finance has increased in complexity in recent years, the number of available designations has grown, and, correspondingly, some will have more recognition than others. Note that in the US, many state securities and insurance regulators do not allow financial professionals to use a designation — in particular a "senior" designation — unless it has been accredited by either the American National Standards Institute or the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.
A reserve study is a long-term capital budget planning tool which identifies the current status of the reserve fund and a stable and equitable funding plan to offset ongoing deterioration, resulting in sufficient funds when those anticipated major common area expenditures actually occur. The reserve study consists of two parts: the physical analysis and the financial analysis. This document is often prepared by an outside independent consultant for the benefit of administrators of a property with multiple owners, such as a condominium association or homeowners' association (HOA), strata, containing an assessment of the state of the commonly owned property components as determined by the particular association's covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and bylaws. Reserve studies however are not limited only to condominiums and can be created for any "common interest community" (CIC) properties such as resort properties, community/neighborhood associations, coops, etc.
The California Society of Municipal Finance Officers is a professional association of state, county, and local government finance officers in California. The California Society of Municipal Finance Officers is the statewide organization serving all California municipal finance professionals, an affiliate of the nationwide Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Membership is open to anyone in the State of California actively engaged in government finance in any city, county, or special district.
The National Apartment Association (NAA) is a non-profit trade association in the United States of apartment communities, owners and vendors. These member companies are also part of NAA with their membership at the local level. Members represent the various facets of the multifamily housing industry: apartment owners, management executives, developers, builders, investors, property managers, leasing consultants, maintenance personnel, vendors and related business professionals throughout the United States and Canada. NAA has its headquarters in Arlington, VA. Robert Pinnegar currently serves as the organization's president and chief executive officer.
The International Right of Way Association (IRWA) is considered the central authority for right of way education and certification programs, as well as professional services, worldwide.
The Insurance Institute of Canada is a not-for-profit organization which provides nationally standardized professional development programs for the insurance industry in Canada. Founded in 1952 and headquartered in Toronto, the IIC is an umbrella organization of 19 provincial and regional chapters across Canada.
