Shaping Industry Experts With the CLFP

The CLFP (Certified Lease & Finance Professional) is a certification program for professionals in the equipment finance and leasing industry. The end-to-end course covers sales and marketing, credit, documentation, funding, and various accounting intricacies specific to the leasing and finance arena.

“It is a designation now that a lot of employers look fondly upon when they are trying to hire for positions because it indicates that the person who has the designation has basically gone through a very extensive process to learn everything about the industry as a whole…,” said Lia Wax, President of CLFP.

Within the last few years, COVID forced the academy to go virtual but has recently gone back to offering in-person classes in regions that span from the west coast to Philadelphia to Chicago and more. They have also launched an online self-paced option where a candidate can choose to do it at their leisure through a prerecorded self-paced product.

“Usually, the academies are hosted by somebody within the industry and then the company that’s hosting the ALFP (Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals) can decide whether or not they want it to be a private one for just their own employees or if they’re going to host the public one.”

The academy offers two options; a two-day option, which is two full eight-hour days of instruction and then we have a three-day option, which is four to four-and-a-half hours a day for three days. Between them both, they already have 12 courses scheduled up to June.

Once the course is completed, the academy maintains ongoing contact with students throughout the year, including an annual CLFP day.

People can also get together in various regions to network at different conferences. For example, the third day on NEFA’s agenda was closed by a CLFP toast to give those individuals the opportunity to discuss their journey in the industry with other members.

“I think the driving force here is to make sure that people in our industry are as educated and as informed as they possibly can be about the industry that we’re working in,” said Wax. “It’s great for somebody in sales or credit or accounting to know their facet of what they do, but I think the value-add for the foundation is we are able to provide education to applicants about all the different pieces that go into making up the industry and how it functions. And it helps us see the bigger picture.”