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Certification

Find answers to frequently asked questions relating to Certification.
Have a look at our webinars regarding Certification
The following are localised for the NZ Chapter, however IIBA Global also maintains an excellent certification FAQ list.

About the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) Certification

IIBA has created the Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®), a designation awarded to candidates who have successfully demonstrated their expertise in this field. This is done by detailing hands-on work experience in business analysis through the CBAP® application process, and passing the IIBA CBAP® examination. To be eligible to apply for CBAP, you must have
 
  • at least 7,500 hours of hands-on BA experience in the last 10 years.
  • within this experience, a minimum of 900 hours completed in 4 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Knowledge Areas, for a total of at least 3,600 of the required 7,500 total.
  • complete a minimum of 35 hours of professional development in the last 4 years.

About the Certification of Competency in Business Analysis™ (CCBA®)

The Certification of Competency in Business Analysis™ (CCBA®) is aimed at practitioners with

  • at least 3,750 hours of hands on experience in the last 7 years and at least minimum of 900 hours that has been completed in 2 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Knowledge Areas, for a minimum total of 1800 hours or
  • 500 hours must be completed in 4 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Knowledge Areas, for a minimum total of 2000 hours and complete a minimum of 21 hours of Professional Development within the last 4 years.

About the Entry Certificate in Business Analysis™ (ECBA™)

The Entry Certificate in Business Analysis™ (ECBA™) is aimed at new or student practitioners or professionals transitioning into business analysis from another role.

  • You will have needed to complete a minimum of 21 Professional Development (PD) hours within the last four years

All IIBA certifications are aligned with the knowledge areas defined in the BABOK® Guide. Read more about certification.

Why take the exam?

ECBA, CCBA and CBAP certifications are a public affirmation of your current level of professionalism, and your continued commitment to the BA profession. If you are working in the role of business analysis, systems analysis, requirements analysis or management, project management, consulting or process improvement, and have an advanced level of knowledge and experience, you will want to consider the many professional benefits of earning the CBAP® / CCBA / ECBA designation. They demonstrate:

  • Your knowledge of the skills necessary to be an effective Business Analyst.
  • A proven level of competence in the principles and practices of business analysis.

How much will taking the IIBA exams cost?

The ECBA, CCBA and CBAP certifications have two parts - a registration fee and an exam fee in USD 
IIBA members recieve a significant discount for these fees
View the latest fees in the FAQ section of IIBA global.

Who runs the exams?

The EEBA exam is one-hour on-line exam managed centrally by our parent body IIBA Global, formulated from the BABOK® Guide Body of Knowledge, consists of 50 multiple choice competency-based questions.

The CCBA and CBAP exam applications are also managed centrally by IIBA Global. Exams in New Zealand are conducted as online exams (CBT) administered by Prometric, IIBA's testing partner. Test dates and locations are agreed with Prometric.

How do I Get Certified?

  1. Read the about the Certification Process for ECBA, CCBA and CBAP and IIBA-ACC (Agile).
  2. Choose your certification level
  3. Read about the exam
  4. Apply and Pay for Certification.
  5. Pay for the exam.
  6. Register for the exam.
  7. Prepare for the exam (maybe join a CBAP Accelerator Group).
  8. Take the exam.

How do the ECBA, CCBA and CBAP exams differ?

Yes, the exams are different. The competency-based certification for each level are provided in the IIBA certification guide.  The ECBA (level 1) exam is about your practical knowledge or general awareness of Business Analysis. The CCBA (Level 2) exam is for skilled BAs woth applied knowledge of business analysis and 2 - 3 years working experience. The CBAP (Level 3) exam is for expert BAs who have over five years of practical business analysis work experience and the exam relies more on analytical questions and competency around each of the six BABOK knowledge areas.

Is there a guide to show me how to complete my ECBA/CCBA/CBAP application?

There is a guide for each of the 3 IIBA completencies levels. The other key part of your application is to collate your experience hours (see following topic for more details).

What are Professional Development Hours (PDs)?

Professional Development hours additionally refers to the hours spent taking courses (classroom or online; external or internal to your organization).
View the latest fees in the FAQ section of IIBA global

Is the PD what you need to get the cert, or what you get as part of the certification?

PD points  related to recertification and are award for things like

  • online study or courses you have done as a way of proving you have done some study that is related to the BABOK knowledge areas. 
  • course done through an EEP (Endorsed Education Provider). 
  • non EEP study can be awarded points e.g. University Degree but will need to be assessed by the IIBA before awarding points.

What all qualifies under 'professional development' hours?

Professional Development refers to training and/or education that will assist you in further developing your skills and/or knowledge for a given area.
ECBA professional development can consist of any of the following activities:

  • Classroom and online courses (e.g. EEP endorsed courses )
  • Webinars - live or recorded (e.g. IIBA Webinars)
  • Conference track sessions, tutorials, keynotes & workshops
  • Chapter events (i.e. presentations, study groups, workshops, conference days)
  • Self -directed learning (i.e. reading/reviewing the BABOK® Guide v3.0)

CCBA and CBAP. For a course to qualify towards the Professional Development requirement, it must meet the following criteria:

  • It must be moderated/facilitated similar to a formal course (i.e., there must be a moderator for the session, or a facilitator/instructor who leads the group/individual through the material).
  • There must be a measurable learning objective (or set of objectives), and those must be directly applicable to the role of the business analyst (i.e., in terms of either changing behavior or improving skills).
  • It cannot simply be a presentation on a specific topic:
  • There must be the opportunity for students to interact with the material (e.g., be able to ask questions, make the learning meaningful)
  • An opportunity to practice the task or objective being presented and, be assessed by the facilitator/moderator.
  • The subject matter must be directly aligned with the BABOK® Guide.
  • To qualify, courses must also be completed by the application submitted date and have a start date within the last four years from the application submitted date.

Important Note: The content of these professional development activities must be aligned with the BABOK® Guide v3.0.

All courses that are part of IIBA International’s Endorsed Education Provider (EEP™) program automatically qualify towards the professional development requirement for the certificate or for any certification. This is because they have already been assessed and validated by IIBA to ensure they meet the above criteria.
To verify if any courses already taken are a part of our Endorsed Education Provider (EEP™) program, you can perform a search on IIBA International’s website  Endorsed Education Providers link

How do I record which professional development I have done?

It is a very good idea to keep a record of the date, course detail, PD type and contact person for each qualifying event.

In the IIBA Global portal - after you login you can enter professional development reocrds aligning to BABOK .
To do this go to My Profile > Professional development, then enter the course or workshop details.
These will be available to you for IIBA certification or recertification

Consider the following tips:

  • Use a spreadsheet or list to keep a record.
  • For an event like BADD, create and categorise a record for each session you attended across the day.
  • Keep emails that confirm you attended.
  • Keep receipts from IIBA webinars confirming you attended.
  • Save your records into a folder on ondrive or google drive so you have a record of your study.

Is there a template to collate my experience hours for Certification?

You can use these templates as a guide to setting up your work experience records. Three examples:

  1. Here is also an example from Watermark Learning.
  2. And another example from the BA Coach.
  3. Here is another example. Open the file and then choose file > download to view in Excel.

Do the Certifications Expire?

They are for 3 years, and renewable, based on extra study for the ECBA, CCBA and the CBAP. 
The ACC and CCA is valid for 1 year.

What happens when it expires?

You don’t resit the exam unless you don’t recertify.  To recertify you need to accumulate CDU points between the renewal dates (ie: over the 3 years you hold the certification) through various methods e.g. self study, webinars etc.

Do you need to be a member to sit the certification exam?

No, but it will cost you more. It pays to be a member as there are lots of added benefits such as the online digital library.

Is the ECBA a prerequisite for CCBA?

No.  The certifications are not dependent on each other.  Each one is aimed at a different level in one’s career.

Can professional development hours be used for the ECBA - and then later for the CCBA? 

Yes as long as they fall within the time period for eligibility.

Any updates will be posted on the iiba.org website as well as in our newsletter.