The standards board for the Certified Financial Planner designation is considering adding a Financial Plan Development Course requirement to its education standards.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards issued a request for comment Aug. 3. Comments will be accepted through Oct. 2.

CFP Board’s education standards – which include coursework in the major financial planning areas including general principles of financial planning, insurance planning and risk management, employee benefits planning, investment planning, income tax planning, retirement planning and estate planning – provide individuals with the core knowledge needed to practice personal financial planning and are a fundamental part of the requirements for individuals who wish to attain CFP certification.

In recent years, education programs registered by the CFP Board have added components to their programs integrating financial planning topics into practical applications, a move toward best practices. Earlier this year, CFP Board’s international counterpart, Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd., adopted a Financial Planning Curriculum Framework that includes a comprehensive case-study component. Based on that framework, in April 2009, CFP Board’s Council on Education recommended the addition of a comprehensive financial plan development course to the current education standards.

The purpose of the proposed Financial Plan Development Course requirement is to have individuals seeking to attain CFP certification demonstrate their ability to integrate and apply the financial planning topic areas to a scenario based on the types of situations a practicing financial planner might be expected to address with clients.

According to the CFP Board website, the proposed framework for the Financial Plan Development Course includes: individually written and orally presented financial plan, comprehensive (to include all subject areas) and integrative in nature, guided by CFP Board’s Financial Planning Practice Standards, with a minimum of 45 contact hours, or equivalent to 3 semester credit hours. Also, the assessment should be based on written and oral presentation.

If adopted as proposed, the Financial Plan Development Course requirement will necessitate amendments to CFP Board’s criteria for CFP Board-Registered Programs to require that their curricula include a Financial Plan Development Course.

The proposed effective date for the Financial Planning Development Course requirement is January 1, 2012. If adopted with that effective date, successful completion of a Financial Plan Development Course offered by a CFP Board-Registered Program would become a prerequisite for all individuals wishing to take the CFP Certification Examination at a later date.

Comments may be sent to CFP Board by e-mail.