AP Business with Personal Finance Credential
The Credential and How to Earn It
The AP Business with Personal Finance Credential demonstrates to employers that you’ve developed key skills in business management, entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance. You can earn the credential by achieving a qualifying score of 3 or higher on the AP Business with Personal Finance Exam. The AP Business with Personal Finance Credential has been endorsed by hundreds of companies in the U.S., including Edward Jones, Nissan, Fidelity Investments, Aon, and Eli Lilly. College Board continues to establish new relationships with companies that value the skills represented by your credential.
Your Verified Skills
The AP Business with Personal Finance Credential validates that you can:
- Use business and personal financial data to identify trends and assess business performance and progress toward personal financial goals
- Identify market opportunities (e.g., a customer problem, need, or want) and develop product ideas to address them
- Create and test business hypotheses to improve on a product idea and components of a business canvas, including problem-solution fit, product-market fit, and effective promotional materials
- Apply accounting concepts and financial principles to determine the financing needed to grow or launch a business
- Analyze internal, market, and external factors to identify problems or opportunities and recommend courses of action for a business or individual
- Create business communications (e.g., product pitches or components of a marketing plan) for a specific audience and purpose
How to Make the Most of Your Credential
Whether your next step is college, a career, or both, the AP Business with Personal Finance Credential opens more doors and gives you a foundation to build on.
Join the Workforce
The AP Business with Personal Finance Credential prepares you with qualifying skills for a career path that includes high-skill, high-growth, and high-paying jobs. Explore the roles along the path below.
| Your Career Path | Career Opportunities |
|---|---|
| Where you can start | Customer Service Representative Office Clerk Retail Salesperson |
| Where you can grow | Administrative Services Managers Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerk Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist Financial and Investment Analyst |
| Where you can lead | Advertising and Promotions Manager General and Operations Manager |
Visit the BigFuture Career Clusters page to discover more jobs in business management and administration, finance, and marketing.
Pursue a Degree or Certificate
Your AP scores could earn you college credit or advanced placement (meaning you could skip certain courses in college) in a community college, four-year college, or a certificate program.
Stack Your Credentials
Because the job market is always changing, many professionals keep learning throughout their careers and build a dynamic skills portfolio by earning additional professional credentials. The AP Business with Personal Finance Credential is the start of your professional portfolio. After earning this credential, you can “stack” related industry-recognized credentials throughout your education and professional development, such as Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Pragmatic Certified Product Marketer, or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM).