What is an Associate In Premium Auditing (APA)?

The Associate in Premium Auditing refers to a professional designation that the Insurance Institute of America (IIA) awards individuals who successfully complete the required six national exams. In other words, the APA is an individual who has been granted a professional status by the IIA to perform premium auditing duties as well as other financial obligations in an insurance firm. Out of the six exams, two are for the APA program, while the remaining four are for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter courses.

What does it mean to be an Associate In Premium Auditing - APA?

The Insurance Institute of America (IIA) oversees the activities of the Associate in Premium Auditing designation. The IIA was founded in 1978 to mainly educate insurance brokers/agents, risk managers, underwriters, including other insurance professions through seminars. The IIA has since broadened its scope with the support of the International Risk Management Institute. It now produces the most practical risk and comprehensive and insurance library of any available publisher. The APA program allows individuals to earn auditor designation, also known as NSIPA. The designing of the program is to enable the applicants to carry out audits in their firms with high standards of professionalism. The APA program focuses on expanding individuals' general knowledge so that they can familiarize themselves with the right procedures for auditing in various premium auditing scenarios. The program offers an in-depth education in the following areas:

• Insurance contracts
• Principles of insurance accounting
• Auditing procedures
• Casualty insurance company accounting
• Relationship premium auditing focusing on other insurance operations

The holders of the APA designation are widely sorted after experts by insurance firms. The is that they are believed to possess the best credentials for analyzing contracts as well as with comprehensive knowledge as far as parsing financial data is concerned. They have collective skills that are not limited because they also have the ability to apply auditing and accounting methodologies to various insurance products and contracts. Generally, the APA designation strengthens an individuals control and accounting protocols. These two are necessary for ensuring that insurers become competitive when it comes to product provision and pricing, without affecting their fiscal managements high standards.

Who should do the APA Program?

The program is recommended for professionals with extensive knowledge of insurance principles and those with accounting skills. The program is, therefore, beneficial to the following group of professionals:

• Premium auditors
• Underwriters
• Premium auditor trainees

APA Program Course and Exam Requirements

To earn the APA designation, the applicant must first meet certain course and exam requirements, including the ethics requirements. The level of the APA course is intermediate, and the program has a time frame ranging between 12 to 18 months.

Course Requirements

The program course is a self-study course, and it consists of three required courses and one elective course. They are as follows: Required Courses

• APA 91- Principle of Premium Auditing
• APA 92- Premium Auditing Applications
• CPCU 520 - Insurance Operations Regulation and Statutory Accounting

Elective Course (Applicant to choose one from the listed two)

• CPCU 540- Finance for Risk Management and Insurance Professionals
• CPCU 552- Commercial Liability Risk Management and Insurance

Examinations Requirements

The national exams are made available at a local testing center in two-month windows, as shown below:

• January 15 to March 15
• April 15 to June 15
• July 15 to September 15
• October 15 to December 15

The exam set up and duration varies depending on the course. For instance, APA 91 and APA 92 exams take a duration of two hours each. The exam has 85 objective questions (questions with multiple choices), and the administration is on a computer. On the other hand, CPCU 520, CPCU 552, and CPCU 540, each take three hours to complete. The three exams are in the form of an essay, and it is computer-administered. Note that an applicant is required to pay for the exams before taking them. Also, the results are released immediately an applicant completes the exams. 

Ethics Requirements 

To earn the APA designation, it is mandatory for an applicant to las the 50 questions exam contained in the Ethical Guidelines for Insurance Professionals online module. The Insurance Institute of America provides the ethics exam free of charge. However, for an applicant who wishes to obtain CE credits for successfully completing the objective, 50 questions, online exam included, then he or she has to part with $5 administrative charges. 

Other Considerations 

Note that there is no education or experience that an applicant is required to meet for him or her to do the APA program. Also, the candidate is not obligated to meet any requirements to do with the annual continuing education for him or her to pursue the APA designation. Lastly, there are also no annual fees required for the designee to maintain his or her APA designation.