Five steps to get ahead on CPD changes

With rapid developments in technology, changing regulatory requirements and increased scrutiny, professional development is vital to ensure accountants have the skills they need.

ICAEW’s revised CPD Regulations clarify the amount of CPD you should be completing each year and also introduce a mandatory ethics element.

ICAEW has produced a range of guidance and support to help you understand what your CPD requirements will be from 1 November. Here’s five steps to getting grips with the changes

Step 1: How much CPD do you need to complete?

The amount of professional development that you are required to complete from 1 November varies depending on the type of work you undertake and the organisations you work with. For example, a finance director at a large company is expected to undertake more than a member of the  finance team.

The regulations divide professional roles into six categories. The category you fall into dictates the minimum amount of CPD you need complete each year and for what proportion you need to provide independent evidence.

The default for members is category 3, which has the lowest requirements. Working for certain organisations, or in particular roles, places you in a higher category. For example, those leading internal audits for a public interest entity fall into practice category 1, while the head of finance at an small business would fall into non-practice category 3.

ICAEW has created an online CPD self-assessment tool where you spend a few minutes answering questions about your role and it will determine which CPD category you fall into.

Guidance and support:

• The CPD changes explained
• The CPD categories
• Support on understanding the terms used in the categories
• Who is exempt?
• Case studies and more support

Step 2: What counts as CPD?

What constitutes CPD is not changing. It can include a wide range of activities, including:

• listening to podcasts,
• receiving coaching,
• watching webinars,
• reading articles,
• learning from colleagues, and
• attending courses and events.

CPD is not restricted to activities focused on technical accounting or finance. The development of soft skills, such as communication, leadership and change management, are equally considered professional development.

For an activity to count as CPD, you need to show in your record how it is relevant to your role and how it has helped meet your learning needs.

CPD resources from ICAEW

A huge range of resources are included as part of your ICAEW membership, including the majority of faculty and community content which previously has been paid for.

For example, you can now access all of the technical support produced by the Tax, Corporate Reporting and Audit and Assurance Faculties. Examples of what you can find, include:

• articles discussing how technology is impacting audit,
• helpsheets on UK GAAP and
• guidance on changes to research and development tax reliefs.

Similarly, if you’re looking for support on a particular industry or professional specialism, you can also access ICAEW’s community content. You can boost your Excel knowhow by browsing the community’s tips and tricks and catch up with the latest in other industry sectors by looking at their webinar recordings. In April, for example, the Construction and Real Estate Community hosted an update on ESG reporting for real estate.

You can see the most recent content and find links to other key resources on our CPD learning resources page.

Guidance and support:

• What counts as CPD?
• Case studies
• CPD learning resources

Step 3: What does verifiable mean?

The revised regulations require that some of your CPD activity is verifiable. CPD is verifiable if you can provide independent evidence of the activity’s completion. This could include:

• an email confirming attendance at a webinar from the organiser;
• records of on-the-job training from a mentor, manager or tutor;
• a certificate of completion for a course, or
• correspondence with an expert in resolving technical issues.

The key things to remember about verifiable evidence is that must be factually accurate, corroborated by an independent source and in a format that can be included in your CPD record.

As part of the new online CPD record, launching in November, ICAEW will be providing a tool that will verify engagement with articles, videos and podcasts on icaew.com for CPD purposes. Joining any of ICAEW’s numerous free faculty and community webinars could also count as verifiable CPD, so long as they are relevant to your role.

Guidance and support:

• What is verifiable CPD
• Case studies
• Browse ICAEW webinars

Step 4: Understanding the ethics requirement

ICAEW does not mandate CPD topics, given the variety of work undertaken by our members. The exception to this is ethics. To satisfy the regulations you must complete at least one hour of ethics-related training each year and this activity must be independently verifiable.

To help members meet this requirement, ICAEW has created an Ethics CPD Course, which provides up to 12 hours of verifiable CPD. The free online course is broken down into four modules and covers specialist areas, including: audit, economic crime, insolvency and tax.

ICAEW will be updating the course annually to provide an hour of additional CPD on the latest development in ethics and continue this support for members.

Guidance and support:

• Ethics requirement
• Ethics CPD Course
• Trust and ethics

Step 5: Get ahead

The CPD changes don’t come in until 1 November, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until then to start thinking about your learning needs and planning out some CPD activities.

One area where you can get a heads start is on the ethics requirement. The Ethics CPD Course has already launched, and you can start completing the course modules in your own time and add your certificates to your online CPD record when it opens after the 1 November.