Completing and tracking your CPD

What is CPD?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is lifelong learning for professionals, and includes activities that expand your knowledge and teach you new skills. As a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), CPA Australia has an obligation to ensure that our members are actively developing and maintaining professional integrity.

How do you benefit from CPD?

In addition to meeting your requirements as a CPA Australia member, engaging in regular CPD activities can help to grow your career by exposing you to new concepts and ideas. Committing to ongoing learning also helps to safeguard the integrity of the accounting profession and protects the public interest.

To gain maximum value from your CPD activity, we recommend considering these questions:

• What is the relevance of the activity to your current and/or future role?
• What are the intended learning outcomes?
• What benefits will be gained for you, your employer, your staff or your clients?
• Are there long-term benefits to undertaking the activity?

Any activity that increases your knowledge, skills and ability to do your job can be included as CPD. This ensures that CPD is relevant to your field of work and career plan.

Member CPD Requirements

All CPA Australia members (except those excluded in the By-Laws) must undertake relevant CPD each year. The required hours are spread out over a three-year period, but include a minimum number of hours in each year of the triennium.

Note: CPA Australia members are required to complete a minimum of 2 verifiable CPD hours per year on ethics-related topics, and 10 hours over the triennium.

Special requirements

• All members must undertake CPD (except those excluded in the By-Laws)
• Members who hold a statutory registration must complete CPD in relation to the specific field. Members must comply with both the By-Laws and their statutory obligations.

When does your triennium start?

Your rolling three-year CPD period (triennium) relates to your CPA Australia join date:

• If you joined CPA Australia before June 30, your three-year period starts January 1 that year and concludes on each 3rd anniversary.
• If you joined CPA Australia after June 30, your three-year period starts January 1 the following year and concludes on each 3rd anniversary.

Your triennium can be calculated from this date forward.

Record keeping

It's important to keep a record of your CPD activities each year to ensure you're meeting your annual requirements. Discover more about the online tools we provide to help you with recording your hours.

Ways to complete CPD

Any activity that increases your knowledge, skills and ability to do your job can be included as CPD.

Examples of CPD activities:

• conventions and conferences
• webinars, seminars and workshops
• discussion group meetings
• in-house learning
• tertiary and professional body courses
• researched/technical publications
• online learning
• reading, listening to or watching media
• mentoring

Other recognised CPD activities

• Professional level segment: Completing a Professional Level Segment at CPA Australia will automatically be recorded as 120 hours for the year if you pass it, and 20 hours if you fail or do not sit the segment.
• External study: Formalised study completed with an external provider can be recognised as CPD. Log under "courses, webinar, seminars or workshops" in the CPD Diary.