When a business owner starts asking, “How do I leave this company on my terms?” they’re really asking for exit planning, not just a quick valuation or a one-time tax strategy.
That’s where the Certified Exit Planner (CExP™) credential comes in.
The CExP is a professional designation created by Business Enterprise Institute (BEI) for advisors who want to lead owners through a structured, multi-year exit planning process – from clarifying objectives to designing and executing the actual transfer.
If you’re new to the space, it's helpful to take a step back and understand what exit planning actually entails. At its core, exit planning connects:
The owner’s goals (life after exit, legacy, timing)
The business (transferable value, risk, readiness)
The personal financial plan (can the owner afford to leave?)
A Certified Exit Planner is trained to hold all three of those pieces together.
A Certified Exit Planner (CExP) is an advisor who has completed BEI’s structured training path in exit planning, passed exams, and demonstrated the ability to build full exit plans for privately held business owners.
Main highlights regarding the CExP credential:
Issuing organization: Business Enterprise Institute (BEI)
Audience: Professional advisors who work directly with business owners – typically CPAs, financial advisors, attorneys, valuation experts, consultants, and insurance professionals
A qualifying professional designation (e.g., CPA, JD, CFP, CLU, ChFC, CFA, MBA) or relevant work experience in business planning
Boot Camp for Advisors™
Advanced Exit Planning Series (nine online modules with exams)
CExP case study exam
30 hours of CE every two years to maintain the credential
Where a traditional advisor might focus mostly on investments or tax planning, a CExP is trained to design comprehensive exit plans that cover owner objectives, business value, exit routes, continuity, and personal wealth.
If you want a quick glossary-style definition, Maus’ Exit Planning Glossary describes an exit planner as the certified advisor who leads owners through a structured process to grow value and prepare for successful transition.
You don’t need to be within 6 months of a sale to benefit from a CExP. In fact, the credential is designed for owners who are 3–10+ years away from exit and want to be intentional about the process.
A CExP can help you:
What does “success” look like for you: a third-party sale, family succession, management buyout, or something else?
How much do you actually need to fund your post-exit lifestyle?
Are there legacy or family-business considerations?
Is your company structurally ready to transition, or heavily owner-dependent?
How does your business score across key exit readiness checks?
Do you have clean financials, documented processes, and a leadership team that can run the business without you?
Compare your options using frameworks similar to Maus’ guides on exit strategies for entrepreneurs and top 10 business exit strategies.
Understand how each route impacts control, valuation, taxes, and your role post-exit.
Connect your exit plan to a thorough financial analysis for retirement planning.
For many owners, the real value of working with a CExP is having one quarterback who can coordinate tax, legal, wealth, and deal advisors into a single, coherent plan.
If you’ve looked at exit planning credentials, you’ve probably seen both CExP™ and CEPA®.
Issued by BEI
Built around BEI’s own exit planning process and plan-creation tools
The Exit Planning Institute’s credential comparison lays out differences across CEPA, CExP, and CBEC – including price, time commitment, course format, and CE credits.
SmartAsset’s overview of Certified Exit Planners also contrasts CExP and CEPA, noting that both are widely used by advisors working with closely held businesses.
If you’re trying to understand CEPA specifically, Maus already has a dedicated piece on what a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) is and how the designation works.
From an owner’s perspective, both designations signal that your advisor:
Understands the full exit planning process, not just one discipline
Can help you integrate exit strategy, value growth, and personal wealth outcomes into a single plan
The Certified Exit Planner program is intentionally rigorous. It’s built to move advisors from “I know pieces of exit planning” to “I can lead the entire process and produce a real plan.”
The CExP is a three-part program:
The journey starts with BEI’s Boot Camp for Advisors™, which can be taken in person or virtually.
Boot Camp focuses on:
Exit planning foundations
How to approach business owners with exit planning conversations
Framing exit planning as a long-term, advisory relationship rather than a one-time transaction
Think of it as the “language and mindset” stage: you learn how to talk exit planning with owners in a way that resonates.
Next comes the Advanced Exit Planning Series – nine virtual modules that dive deep into:
Owner objectives and readiness
Business valuation and value growth
Exit routes and deal structures
Continuity and estate planning
Each module has its own knowledge exam, and advisors typically have up to 12 months to complete the full series, which can amount to 100–120 hours of study for working professionals.
Finally, candidates must pass a written case study exam that requires them to:
Analyze a business owner’s situation
Design a comprehensive exit plan
Demonstrate their understanding of BEI’s methodology and deliverables
Once they pass, they earn the CExP™ designation – and then keep it current by completing 30 hours of continuing education every two years, including BEI programs and other approved exit-planning education.
The CExP curriculum is intentionally broad because real-world exits touch strategy, tax, legal, finance, family dynamics, and personal planning. According to BEI and independent overviews, the program covers topics like:
Clarifying business, personal and financial goals
Defining the owner’s exit timeline and desired role post-exit
Exploring your version of “success” (freedom, legacy, liquidity, or all of the above)
This piece aligns closely with Maus’ guides on exit readiness and exit-readiness checks every owner should pass.
Estimating enterprise value and equity value
Measuring the “financial planning gap” between what the owner has and what they need
Tying the exit plan to a full financial analysis for retirement planning.
Identifying and strengthening value drivers
Reducing risk and enhancing transferable value
Connecting operational improvements to higher exit multiples
Maus’ content on exit planning processes advisors should master fits squarely into this part of the curriculum.
Selling to strategic or financial buyers
Private equity and M&A processes
How market conditions and deal structure affect valuation and after-tax proceeds
For owners and advisors wanting a broader lay of the land, Maus’ Top 10 Business Exit Strategies is a natural companion.
Management buyouts (MBOs) and employee buyouts
Leveraged recapitalizations and installment structures
Balancing control, risk, and affordability for internal successors
Contingency planning if the owner dies, becomes disabled, or must leave suddenly
Buy–sell agreements and key-person risk
Keeping the business stable during and after a transition
Coordinating exit proceeds with the owner’s estate plan
Tax-efficient wealth transfer
Philanthropic goals and legacy planning
This dovetails with retirement-focused content like Maus’ 7 percent rule and long-term income planning posts.
Navigating family roles, expectations, and conflicts
Structuring family succession in a way that protects both relationships and enterprise value
Maus’ guides on family business succession plans and the role of family members in business succession planning mirror many of the same themes CExP candidates study.
Using deferred comp and incentive plans to retain key people
Aligning management’s upside with long-term value and exit timing
CExP-trained advisors are especially valuable for:
Lower middle-market owners (typically $5M–$100M in revenue)
Family businesses where succession and governance are complex
Owners who want to understand their exit options well before they’re forced to sell
Whether the eventual exit is a third-party sale, ESOP, internal transfer, or family succession, having a Certified Exit Planner in your corner helps you connect strategy, value, and personal outcomes.
The CExP is popular with:
CPAs, wealth managers, and attorneys
M&A and valuation professionals
Consultants and business coaches
Because CExP requires both training and case-study work, it’s often positioned as a way to move from “product sales” to ongoing, strategic advisory relationships with business owners.
Advisors who hold both CExP and CEPA often use Maus as the platform that ties those methodologies into one repeatable process.
Certifications give you the framework. Software turns that framework into a consistent client experience.
Maus is built specifically for exit planners and CEPA/CExP-style advisors, with tools that support the entire journey:
Attract – Position yourself as the exit-planning expert, using content and lead-gen assets like the Exit Planning Starter Kit to start deeper owner conversations.
Engage – Use ValueMax® to run assessments, benchmark value, and visualize value gaps that your plan will close.
Build – Track progress across value drivers, risk factors, and exit-readiness metrics over time.
For CEPA-holders, Maus even has a dedicated CEPA software page that shows how the platform supports the Value Acceleration Methodology™ in day-to-day advisory work – but the same tools apply just as well to BEI-trained CExPs who want to operationalize exit planning.
To go deeper on exit planning concepts that CExPs use every day, explore:
Exit Strategies for Entrepreneurs: How to Align Your Strategic Plan
Top 10 Business Exit Strategies (and How to Choose the Right One)
And for external perspectives directly on CExP:
BEI’s official Certified Exit Planner (CExP™) page
SmartAsset’s guide to Certified Exit Planners
A Certified Exit Planner helps business owners design and execute a structured exit plan. That usually includes:
Clarifying personal, financial, and business objectives
Assessing exit readiness and transferable value
Evaluating exit options (sale, internal transfer, ESOP, family succession, etc.)
Coordinating the work of tax, legal, valuation, and wealth advisors
Where a traditional advisor might focus on a single discipline, a CExP acts as the quarterback of the exit planning process, similar to how CEPA-trained advisors are described in Maus’ exit planning transition team guide.
Both CExP (from BEI) and CEPA (from the Exit Planning Institute) are well-recognized exit planning credentials, but they differ in:
Issuing organization and ecosystem
Methodology (BEI’s system vs. EPI’s Value Acceleration Methodology™)
Training format, cost, and CE credits
EPI’s certification comparison breaks down CEPA vs. CExP vs. CBEC in detail.
If you want a deeper dive into CEPA specifically, see Maus’ article on what a Certified Exit Planning Advisor is.
You’re a good candidate for CExP if:
You already advise business owners (CPA, wealth manager, attorney, consultant, valuation expert, etc.)
You want to move from “problem-of-the-day” work to long-term, strategic relationships
You see exit planning as a way to deepen client value and differentiate your practice
Advisors who later pair CExP with tools like Maus can turn that expertise into a repeatable, systemized service offering – not just one-off projects.
Officially, the CExP is completed in three stages:
Boot Camp for Advisors™ – live or virtual workshop (roughly 9.5–12 CPE hours for CPAs and 5–8 CFP credits, depending on format)
Advanced Exit Planning Series – nine online modules with exams; BEI estimates around 100–120 hours of study over up to 12 months
CExP Case Study Exam – self-paced essay exam (BEI suggests 20–40 hours) where you build and defend a full exit plan
So while the live training is compact, the overall time investment is significant, especially for working professionals – which is part of why the credential carries weight.
The CExP curriculum covers:
Understanding and identifying owner objectives
Quantifying business and personal financial resources
Maximizing and protecting business value
Ownership transfers to third parties and insiders
Business continuity and contingency planning
Personal wealth and estate planning
Family business planning
Deferred compensation and incentive planning
Those topics mirror many of the themes in Maus’ articles on exit planning stages, family business succession, and retirement analysis.
Yes. CExP holders must complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years and pay an annual renewal fee, with at least half of those hours typically coming from BEI programs.
CE can include BEI conferences, workshops, and other approved exit planning content – including advanced work on exit strategies, business valuation, and owner readiness.
Whether you’re CExP- or CEPA-trained (or both), Maus is often used to:
Run exit readiness assessments and value-gap analysis
Document the owner’s goals, exit options, and action plans
Track value drivers and risk over time
Produce consistent, branded deliverables for your exit planning process
If you’re considering CExP and want the software side dialed in from day one, exploring Maus alongside your training is a smart way to connect the dots between credential, process, and implementation.