Certa, a new software platform that manages licenses, certifications and continuing education, launched today after six months of beta testing.
Certa, created by co-founders Damian Martinez and Kevin Michaels, allows organizations and professionals to fully automate licenses and certifications to prevent being fined, suspended, shut down and avoid additional risk due to complex compliance issues. The platform empowers administrators and HR professionals to automate compliance requirements to ensure a business can run smoothly. Certa is available in an easy-to-use web or mobile app format.
“We saw a gaping void in the market for a tool that would manage the complex compliance process for many industries such as real estate, healthcare, city governments, financial services, legal and many other industries that require ongoing professional certifications and continuing education,” said Michaels. “Our clients are both organizations who need to manage employees or contractors’ certifications or individual professionals who need to stay on top of their own licenses. We make it simple to never skip a beat.”
Certa allows organizations to instantly know which certifications are expiring or need continuing education, providing reports on all active and expiring licenses and certifications. The platform also automatically notifies employees of upcoming renewals without needing to spend time in software. For individuals, Certa allows professionals to manage dozens of unique license and certification types in one app, on any device.
The idea for Certa came to Martinez while working in the municipal government space and wanting to find a smarter way for water utilities and city personnel to manage their continuing education in an app. Since nothing existed, Martinez and Michaels pulled together a team and built one. Once the original problem was solved, the duo realized if they pivoted the app, they could make it flexible for any industry with similar challenges.
While working with local Realtors, the team added new functionality to the platform to support the needs of real estate professionals. Now agents and brokers can manage time spent, course progress, test scores, and CE hours across multiple states. Managing brokers have a simple dashboard to see their salespersons’ progress and automatically notify them via push notifications or e-mails to ensure no lapse in licensing. Through this process, Certa became the first and only platform offering a true native app for real estate license management and continuing education.
“Every day, more than 1,000 small businesses are fined, suspended or shut down due to non-compliance issues,” said Martinez. “It sounds simple, but you would be surprised by how complicated it can be to stay on top of the renewal timeframes and continuing education requirements that are needed for many licenses annually. We plan to constantly refine Certa and individualize the platform for every new industry we bring on. Essentially, every organization who comes on board early in the launch has the chance to shape the way the platform is built for their specific need without paying for custom software.”
Currently, Certa’s platform supports state and national organizations such as the Arizona Department of Real Estate, California Water Boards, American Nurses Credentialing Center, Arizona Board of Cosmetology, and many other reputable organizations.
“Tracking and monitoring required certifications and continuing education units (CEU’s) required for your job is a serious task that if not properly tracked and maintained can potentially jeopardize your career,” said Darron Poulsen, water resources director for the City of Pomona and Certa client. “Within my industry, certification renewal is every three years making it easy to forget due dates and necessary CEU’s. With Certa, I have at my fingertips the due dates of my department’s next renewal with options to put reminders in the system to alert me and my management team when the due date is getting close. The ability to take a picture of a CEU certificate or upload a pdf file and save it to the app means I don’t have to go searching every three years for the documentation. Certa has made me more confident that my department will be able to stay in compliance and protect our jobs.”
Certa is a flexible platform that can manage any license and certification, and costs around $1 per user per month for organizations. For more information, please visit www.certa.net or download the app through the Apple App Store. Available in Google Play Store in July 2019.
