Certified Professional - Fund Accounting

Fund Accounting professionals working with fund administration service providers are responsible for calculating NAVs (Net Asset Values) and P&L (Profit and Loss) accounts for Mutual Funds, ETFs, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity Funds. This includes pricing and valuation for a range of assets, whether liquid or illiquid, such as equities, fixed income, ETFs, derivatives, institutional loans, private equity, and real estate. Fund Accountants working for Hedge Funds and Private Equity funds are also responsible for calculation of Performance fee and managing other aspects of accounting for these alternative investment funds.

 

The Skill Board Associate Certification in Fund Accounting assesses a candidate’s knowledge in key areas that includes Securities Pricing, Portfolio Accounting, Fee Calculation, and NAV Computation. The assessment process evaluates the candidate through an online remote-proctored certification assessment.

 

The Certified Business Operations Professional (CBOP) - Fund Accounting certification is awarded to candidates who have more than five years of career experience in Capital Markets business operations and who successfully pass the assessment for the CBOP - Fund Accounting certification.

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Who should get certified
  • Business Analysts with 5+ years of experience working in custody and asset servicing.
  • Developers and QAs with 5+ years of experience working on valuation and accounting applications.
  • Business Operations Associates with 5+ years of experience working in investment management, custody and asset servicing. firms
  • Banking professionals with 5+ years of experience who are exploring career opportunities in Securities operation
Candidates are evaluated for
  • Knowledge of Securities Products and Valuation of Securities.
  • Knowledge of the Chart of Accounts and General Ledger (GL) preparation for an Investment Fund.
  • Understanding of the Trade Lifecycle, the impact of Corporate Action events on NAV, and Reconciliation Control
  • Knowledge of NAV Calculation, including the calculation of Management Fees and Performance Fees.
  • Distribution of Income and Capital Gains.
Maintaining the certification
  • Certified Professionals are required to recertify after 5 years either by taking a recertification assessment or through continuing education credits.
  • Continuing education credits may be earned by taking industry certifications, participating in industry conferences including professional presentations and writing industry thought papers that get published on skillboard.org or other online forums.
Assessment weightage by Knowledge Area
DomainWeightage

Securities Basics and Trade processing

Fundamentals of Equity, Fixed Income, FX, Exchange Traded Derivatives, OTC Derivatives products. Pricing and Valuation of Financial instruments, Steps in NAV Calculation, Journal Entries and Accounting for Capital Stock Activity, Expenses, Income,, Corporate Actions, Fund Distributions, Trade Settlement and Funding. Accounting for International investments, FX settlements, Accounting for Mark to Market changes.

10 - 20%

Portfolio Accounting and NAV calculation

Fundamentals of Securities Pricing and Financial Asset Valuation, Steps in NAV Calculation, Journal Entries and Accounting for Capital Stock Activity, Expenses, Income,, Corporate Actions, Fund Distributions, Trade Settlement and Funding. Accounting for International investments, FX settlements, Accounting for Mark to Market changes.

30 - 50%

Control processes in NAV computation

Trade Review, Reconciliation - Cash and Securities Recon, Mark to Market, NAV Impact Analysis, Fund Pricing policies

10 - 20%

Tax lot accounting

Computing capital gains using FIFO, LIFO, Average Cost, Identified lot, Highest cost first out, Lowest cost first out.

5 - 10%

Hedge Fund Accounting

Hedge Fund Structures, Hedge Fund Accounting fundamentals, GAV v/s NAV, Concept of Hurdle Rate, Management Fee and Performance Fee calculation, Equalization concepts - Series of Shares method and Equalization Credit Method. Fund Statements and Financial Reporting

10 - 20%

Private Investment Accounting

Core concepts in Partnership Accounting, Business of Private Equity and Private Credit. Private Equity Financial Transactions, Financial Statements and Cash Flow management. Accounting for Capital Commitment and Capital Calls, Distribution concepts (Preferred Return and Carried Interest calculation and Performance Fees Waterfall distribution), Fund Performance Metrics - IRR and MOIC, Accounting for Subscription lines of credit (Subline) and Impact on Fund Performance, PE Investment Valuation concepts

10 - 20%

IFRS and US GAAP

Difference between US GAAP and IFRS, IFRS Framework and Principles, IFRS 9, 10, 12, 13 and Presentation of Financial Statements (IAS 1)

0 - 10%