Members can choose one of the following routes when meeting their CPD requirement:
The unit route is for members who plan and organise their own CPD. If you follow the unit route, you are required to complete 40 units of CPD each year, where one unit is equal to one hour of development. 21 units must be verifiable; the other 19 can be non-verifiable.
If you are employed for 770 hours or less over the course of a CPD year, then you may be eligible to follow the part-time or semi-retired route.
If you work for an organisation which is an ACCA Approved Employer - professional development, you may achieve your CPD by participating in your organisation's employee development programme; you are not required to follow the unit route.
If you have worked for an ACCA Approved Employer - professional development for all or any part of a CPD year, you can indicate that you have taken the employer route when you make your annual CPD declaration.
If you are also a member of another professional accountancy body, then you can choose to follow your other body's CPD programme instead of ours.
Full information on ACCA’s CPD requirements is available on the managing your CPD area of the website.
All ACCA members should complete CPD on an annual basis. If you have just become a member you must undertake CPD from 1 January the year after you became a member. You don’t have to complete CPD in your first calendar year of membership or if you’re on our register of lifetime members.
ACCA affiliates should focus on achieving the practical experience requirements (PER) for membership. However, if you are an ACCA affiliate and you have held this status for three or more years you should participate in relevant and sufficient CPD if you’re not fulfilling any PER.
Members are required to undertake relevant CPD to ensure that they maintain and develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in today's dynamic and demanding business environment.
All active ACCA members are required to complete CPD on an annual basis and submit an annual declaration to confirm this. Members on the register of lifetime members are not required to undertake CPD. If you do not comply with your CPD requirements, your ACCA membership will be at risk.
If personal circumstances mean you cannot complete your CPD requirements, then you may be eligible for a CPD waiver.
Our CPD programme complies with the CPD Standard (IES 7) released by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) of which ACCA is a member.
Submit it to ACCA as soon as possible via the Professional Development area of your myACCA account.
All members are required to submit an annual CPD declaration each year, no matter what CPD route is followed. You can submit your annual CPD declaration online at any point in the year by logging into myACCA. This must be completed by 1 January of the following year.
We recognise that sometimes members will not be able to fulfil their CPD requirements. Members may have a serious illness, be caring for a family member, be on maternity leave or taking a career break.
You can apply for a waiver for the period when you are not active in the workplace. A minimum of one month's absence from work is required in order to be eligible. Waivers will be granted pro rata to the period of absence from work.
You can apply for a waiver via your myACCA account where you can select the reason for your waiver as well as supply any supporting documentation (if requested)
If you are not required to supply supporting documentation with your application, you should retain documentary evidence related to the waiver application for a period of three years.
You will still have to complete your annual CPD declaration.
Please note that not all members are eligible to apply for a CPD waiver therefore please refer to the CPD waiver guidance for full details.
Yes. If you were awarded a waiver of all 21 verifiable units, you will still need to meet the non-verifiable requirement ie reading activity and confirm you have done this. You should make your CPD declaration to indicate this.
If you were awarded a waiver of some of the verifiable units, you will need to meet your remaining CPD requirement - both verifiable and non-verifiable - and submit an annual CPD declaration, selecting Unit route.
Please remember to keep evidence of your CPD activities as well as evidence to support your waiver.
There are many other forms of professional development that are acceptable to ACCA. For instance, work-based learning, coaching, mentoring, e-learning, networking, discussion groups, reading and undertaking research are just some of them. We also have a comprehensive range of services and tools to support you in planning, sourcing and achieving your CPD These are available via our dedicated CPD Resources page many of which are free or are being offered to members by our CPD partners at a discounted rate.
All members, regardless of their role, are required to meet the CPD requirement and must submit an annual declaration to confirm this. However, we ask members to undertake CPD relevant to their current roles. For example, if you work in IT, we will recognise your CPD activities which are focused on IT.
Studying for an additional qualification is a great CPD activity. Members undertaking such study may even have exceeded the CPD requirement. Send in your annual CPD declaration as soon as possible and keep evidence of your studies in case we require it.
Yes, you are eligible to meet your CPD requirement through the Approved Employer route if you have been employed by an ACCA Approved Employer – professional development stream at any point during the year. When you returned to work, you and your employer will have reviewed your ongoing development needs and agreed a plan of action to meet these.
You will remain eligible to meet the ACCA CPD requirement through following the IFAC body route, if you remain a member of your other IFAC member body and meet the requirements of that body’s IFAC complaint CPD policy. ACCA will respect any amendments, variations or waivers your other IFAC member body may decide to make.
You should submit your CPD declaration by 1 January each year - or as soon as you have completed your requirements. Information on how to do this can be found within the Help with your CPD Declaration section of our website
Full information on ACCA’s CPD requirements is available on the managing your CPD area of the website.