Overview
If you received an email from us titled "Action Required: Profile Update Needed for IAR CE Reporting", your completed course results could not be submitted to FINRA. This is almost always a profile mismatch, not a problem with your coursework — you have not lost your credits, and you do not need to retake or repurchase anything.
FINRA accepts a CE completion only when the first name, last name, and personal CRD number we submit match your FINRA registration record exactly. If any of the three differs, the submission is rejected and your credits will not appear in FinPro until it is corrected.
This article explains how to find the correct values, how to update your profile, and what happens afterward.
Step 1: Look Up How FINRA Has You Registered
Do not correct your profile from memory — check the official record first.
Search for yourself as an individual (not your firm)
Note exactly how your first name and last name appear
Note your personal CRD number
Two things to watch for:
Use your personal CRD number, not your firm's CRD number. These are different numbers. A firm CRD number will always be rejected, because credits must be attributed to you individually rather than to your firm. This is the single most common cause of a mismatch.
Match the spelling exactly as FINRA has it. If FINRA has your legal first name but you registered with a shortened version, or your last name is hyphenated or spelled differently in one place, that counts as a mismatch.
Step 2: Update Your Adviser CE Profile
Sign in at https://www.adviserce.com/
Hover over your profile name in the top-right corner
Select My Account from the dropdown
Correct your first name, last name, and personal CRD number so they match your FINRA record exactly
Save your changes
Step 3: What Happens After You Fix It
Once your profile matches your FINRA record, we resubmit your completed courses — you do not need to retake a course, repurchase anything, or resubmit anything yourself.
Resubmitted results are reported to FINRA within 3–5 business days.
FINRA then processes the submission and updates your record on their own timeline, so allow additional time beyond our reporting window before expecting to see the credits in FinPro.
If you were behind on credits from a previous year, FINRA generally applies newly reported credits to your oldest outstanding deficiency first.
You can confirm your credits by logging in to your FinPro account and reviewing your CE history.
Correcting the Name on a Certificate
You cannot edit a certificate yourself. Certificates are records of completion, so the details on them are locked — for security and to prevent fraudulent alteration. Correcting one is a support request:
Correct your profile first, at My Account, so the name there is right
Email [email protected] and ask us to update the certificate, naming the course and the correct spelling
Once we have updated it, download the corrected certificate from My Account → Certificates
Updating your profile on its own does not change a certificate that has already been issued, and it does not change a PDF you have already saved to your computer. Once we have made the correction, re-download it and replace any copy you have already filed with your firm.
Common Errors We See
What went wrong | How to fix it |
Firm CRD number used instead of personal CRD number | Look up your personal CRD at adviserinfo.sec.gov and replace it |
Nickname or shortened first name (e.g. "Mike" vs "Michael") | Use the legal name exactly as FINRA has it registered |
Misspelled or differently formatted last name | Match FINRA's spelling, including hyphens and spacing |
Course completed under a colleague's or an assistant's login | Courses must be completed under your own profile and login to be creditable |
Profile updated, but an old certificate already filed with the firm | Ask support to update the certificate, then re-download it — you cannot edit it yourself |
Still Not Resolved?
Check your previous year's FinPro record before assuming the resubmission failed. FINRA applies newly reported credits to your oldest outstanding deficiency first, so once your profile is corrected and your completions are resubmitted, the credits may be applied to an earlier year rather than the current one. This is set by the NASAA rules and carried out by FINRA — Adviser CE cannot direct a credit to a particular year. Review each year in your CE history, starting with the earliest showing a deficiency. See Why Your CE Credits Aren't Showing in FinPro.
If you have confirmed your name and personal CRD number match your FINRA record exactly, checked every year of your CE history, waited for the reporting window, and your credits still do not appear, contact us at [email protected] with your CRD number and the courses in question, and we will trace the submission.
For issues with the FinPro account itself — such as being unable to log in — contact FINRA directly at https://www.finra.org/registration-exams-ce/finpro.
Need Help?
If you have trouble logging in, accessing your courses, or confirming completion, please contact the Adviser CE support team for assistance at [email protected].