It’s Never Too Late for Certification—Learning is a Lifelong Journey

By: Jeffrey C. Steinhoff, CGFM, CPA, CFE

Jeffrey C. Steinhoff, CGFM, CPA, CFE, a member of AGA’s Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. Chapters, retired earlier this year after 40 years of government service. His most recent position was managing director, Financial Management and Assurance, U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). He is an AGA Past National President and is known in the Association as the “father” of the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) Program.

For a financial management professional, learning is truly a lifelong journey. You have to always challenge yourself and never think that you have learned it all. You must always be looking to expand your horizons and learn new things. If you view your career as a job, it will always be a job. If you view it as a profession, it will be much more rewarding. But to get those rewards, you have to keep developing professionally. You have to keep learning. No one exemplified this more than the late Raymond Einhorn, AGA’s 11th National President and one of its founding members. Ray was active professionally and always learning until his passing at the age of almost 92. A month did not go by without me getting a call from Ray asking a professional question and wanting to get a copy of a GAO publication. To quote Ray, from AGA’s 2002–2003 Annual Report, “the hallmarks of professionalism and progress are continuing professional education and constant research.”

When AGA made the decision to move forward with the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) Program, there was a strong belief that the special and unique skills of government financial managers needed to be recognized. The program is doing great thanks to the hard work of the National Office staff and the strong commitment of AGA members throughout our 94 chapters. Ray Einhorn was one of the first wave of members who became a CGFM at the young age of 80 as did the late T. Jack Gary, AGA’s third National President, who was 83 when he became a CGFM. Both Ray and Jack truly viewed their career as a lifelong profession.

For a new financial management professional, it is really a no brainer. You should seek the CGFM designation early in your career. It is something that you will have for the rest of your life. Being a CPA for 35 of my 40-year federal career was very important to my career advancement and one of my proudest accomplishments is holding CGFM certificate No. 1 from AGA. Now some will say they are at a stage in their career where one more certification does not really matter. They may already have another certification, or they may be looking to a retirement date in the not too distant future. Well, I would submit that it is never too late to become a CGFM. Try it, and you will enjoy it

Why do I so fervently believe this? Well, last year I studied for and successfully completed the examination to become a Certified Fraud Examiner. This was just eight months before I retired from government and more than 39 years into my career. Being a CFE was certainly not going to do anything for my career. My job at GAO was very demanding. With long work days and horrible traffic in the Washington, D.C. area, the norm was leaving my home at 6:30 a.m. and getting home at 7:30 p.m. or later. All of my studies were on weekends, and there is a lot of material to cover. Early on in the process, there were a few second thoughts. What had I gotten myself into since to complete the study course, which was a prerequisite to taking the CFE exam, you had to correctly answer 1,600 questions? Trust me, 1,600 are a lot of questions. But once I got into it, the learning was enjoyable and there was a sense of achievement when it came full circle.

So, it is never too late for certification. Learning is a lifelong journey.

My question to the bloggers is rather simple: What do you think? Is it never too late for professional certification? Is learning a lifelong journey?

TOMORROW: AGA Asks You: What's the most important thing the next Administration needs to know about the current state of financial management? Share your opinions for a White Paper being developed by AGA and NAPA.

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Comments

[Jeff Steinhoff]

I agree wholeheartedly with Eva's comments. When she mentions technology and a fast changing world, can one ever stop learning? You can become obsolete very quickly if you simply stop learning and keep doing things the way we have always done them Just because it worked in the past does not mean it will work in the future. Also, we can learn so much from others, which is why networking in AGA is such a professional plus.

[Jeff Steinhoff]

I received the following comments from Eva Williams at my home email which I would like to share. Here are Eva's comments

"I agree that continuing professional education should be a requirement for financial and program managers. We work in such a technical and fast-changing world that we must try to benefit from the experiences of others. There is no better way to do that than in exposing ourselves to the pursuit on ongoing, lifelong self improvement through continuing
professional education. If we don't learn through the successes and failures of others we are bound to repeat their mistakes or at best, keep reinventing the same wheel."

[Jeff Steinhoff]

Bill --

Thanks for the follow up comment. We were close about 15 years to requiring CPE for all financial managers at the federal level. The JFMIP included such a requirement in a document set to go to print. We seemingly had full concurrence from OMB, OPM, Treasury, and GAO. But suddently everything changed as a result of last minute concerns over the cost and what was viewed as changing the conditions of employment for financial management personnel. It was very disappointing at the time to be so close and yet 15 years later still so far away.

Jeff

[Jeff Steinhoff]

Jeff --

Thank you for your comments and for being a role model in terms of the CGFM program and exhibiting leadership.

Jeff

[Bill Anderson]

I agree that CPE should be a requirement for all government accountability professionals and not just CGFMs and auditors. Today we all work in a technical and fast changing world that requires us to not only maintain but to also enhance our knowledge, skills and abilities in our chosen profession. There is no better way to do that than by exposing ourselves to CPE
on an ongoing basis. As you original stated, learning is a lifelong journey, and ALL government accountability professionals should participate in CPE.

[Jeff Hart]

I couldn't agree more, Jeff, and I admire you for going after the CFE late in your government career. I’m proud to hold CGFM certificate #34, which I received during the grandfathering period. At that time, I remember regretting that I didn’t obtain the CIA designation back in the 1970s when they were grandfathering people into that program. I wasn’t going to let that happen again, and that’s why I was among the first to submit my paperwork for the CGFM.

Before and during the time I was AGA National President, I often spoke about the CGFM program and how important certification was. However, when people asked me about the exam, I felt I couldn't talk about the exam from personal experience, and frankly, I felt somewhat lacking in credibility since I had not received my CGFM "by exam". While I had completed the first two parts several years ago, I had never taken the time to study for and take part 3.

So, partly as an act of simple "leadership by example", I committed to taking part 3 before I completed my term as President. I set a goal, and I'm proud to say I met that goal (barely) when I sat for the exam at the PDC last year in Nashville. So now I can truly speak from personal experience, and when I talk about all the reasons others should invest the time, and money, and effort to become a CGFM, I think I have a little more credibility. I think younger people call this "street cred". So maybe that means I can be especially influential with some of the younger members of our profession (smile).

I would encourage everyone in our profession to get the CGFM. It’s never too late. It is a lifelong journey, or at least it should be.

[Jeff Steinhoff]

I would like to pose another question to bloggers. Should all financial managers be required to meet an 80 hours biennial CPE requirement similar to CGFMs and auditors as matter of government policy? Today, at the federal level at least, there is no such requirement with the exception of auditors under the requirements of Government Auditing Standards. The reason often cited for not adding such a requirement is cost. But can government afford not to spend the money necessary to train the finance staff who carry out the accountability mission for a $3 trillion annual enterprise? I think not but would be interested in the views of others.

Jeff

[Jeff Steinhoff]

Dianne --

Thank you for comment. You correctly hit of the nexus of the what it takes for life long learning. It should never be viewed as an onerous task or a compliance exercise. It must be viewed with an eye on the purpose of a CPE requirement -- to maintain and enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities. The result if done well is a better, more well rounded professional and increased service to the accountability community and the public. Life long learning is at the heart of AGA's mission, both in terms of the outstanding training opportunities but also in terms of opportunities to lead and be involved with the broader accountability community at all levels of government, academia, and the private sector.

Jeff

[Jeff Steinhoff]

Bill --

Thank you for the comment. Ray and Jack are honored by AGA on annual basis through the Einhorn-Gary Award. They represent the highest level of professionalism. As charter members and founders of AGA, Ray and Jack truly understood the importance of professional development and of the richness in learning that associations with other professionals brings.

Jeff

[Dianne Guensberg]

I agree wholeheartedly with Jeff's comments. Also, I want to stress the importance of obtaining meaningful, relevant continuing professional education (CPE.) While many of us who are required to obtain CPEs to maintain our certification, we often look upon this requirement as an onerous, thankless task. However, if one looks at this as "life-long learning" and a way to strive to improve our work and acheive more, it is much more pleasant and fulfilling.

[Bill Anderson]

I completely agree that learning is a lifelong journey. Raymond Einhorn and T. Jack Gary are really great examples of accountability professionals who truly demonstrated the hallmarks of professionalism and the fact that learning is a lifelong jorney.