Overall requirements
All of the major accountancy bodies in the UK have rules requiring their members to carry out CPD. Whilst the detailed rules differ the principle is always the same - that is to ensure that the individual carries out sufficient and appropriate CPD to enable them to do their job properly. In essence, this usually means that as a qualified accountant you will need to consider the expectations of your client and/or your employer, as well as the public at large, of you in your current role. You will then need to ensure that you carry out development activities to ensure that you can meet those expectations.

Illustration
If we take a simple example to begin with, perhaps you are a general practitioner, who deals with tax, audit and accountancy issues. Your clients would reasonably expect you to keep up-to-date with the changes in these areas and you might decide to use CCH e-CPD to do this. This is unlikely to be the end of the story however, as you will probably find you need to read journals, such as accountancy, and that you may need to improve your soft-skills, such as team management, or your understanding of a software package that is new to you.

Detailed requirements
As each major accountancy body has slightly different requirements for CPD set out below are brief summaries of the main requirements and links to the various bodies' CPD information.

ICAEW
The ICAEW requires all members to:

Reflect - upon your cpd needs
Act - carry out cpd of whatever type you choose to meet your needs
Impact - consider the impact your actions have had on your cpd needs
Declare - in about November of each year, that you have fulfilled your cpd needs
Provide evidence - if asked to do so

Except for transitional rules for 2005 which require those registered as auditors to carry out 50 hours of audit related CPD there is no other requirement to complete a certain number of hours or to use certain types of activity. Further details of the scheme can be found on the ICAEW website at http://cpd.icaew.co.uk

ACCA
Realise is the ACCA's new CPD regime. The emphasis, as with the other professional bodies, is ensuring that you carry out sufficient and relevant CPD to enable to meet the expectations that others will have of you in your professional role.

The Association has transitional rules that mean that the date the new system applies to you depends upon when you qualified and certain other factors. In addition there are two routes for compliance with the rules. Either employer will need to be an ACCA approved CPD employer or you will need to follow the unit route for an individual. Information on what employers need to do to become approved is given on their website (see below) but if you follow the unit route you will need to complete 40 hours (or units) of relevant CPD activity during the year. Of these 40 hours, 21 should be "verifiable", this means that you should be able to:

• clearly explain how the activity has contributed to your learning or development, and
• prove involvement in the learning/training activity through some documentary or other form of evidence.

CCH e-CPD is normally verifiable, as you can print off a certificate to show that you have completed a unit and then it is just up to you to show how it is relevant to your learning and development.

You can find out more about the ACCA's rules from their website www.accaglobal.com/members/cpd

CIMA
CIMA introduced its new rules in January 2006. The rules apply to all members and require an “output based” rather than an “input based” approach. This means it is not about measuring hours of activity done, but rather whether the member has achieved what they need to for CPD purposes. The approach requires members to follow these stages:

Define - your current and/or desired role
Assess - your continuing professional development needs
Design and act - design a programme and ensure that you carry out the activity necessary to be able to do your job properly
Reflect - on whether you activity has met your CPD needs or whether more is required
Evaluate - your CPD record and check your record for accuracy

You can find more information on CIMA's CPD rules at www.cimaglobal.com/cpd

Other Websites that you may find useful for CPD information are as follows:

www.ifac.org - The global organisation for the accountancy profession and the body that has implemented Education Standard 7 on which the UK bodies have based their CPD requirements

www.aat.org.uk/cpdzone - cpd information for members of the AAT

www.att.org.uk -cpd information for members of the ATT

www.aia.org.uk - cpd information for members of the AIA

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