As a result of International Education Standard for Professional Accountants 7 which was issued by the International Federation of Accountants, new CPD Regulations came into force on 1st July 2008. The main consequence of these Regulations is that all members (unless they meet the exemption criteria) are required to undertake Continuing Professional Development and keep a record of this.
In addition, the Quality Assurance Committee on behalf of CARB is required to monitor members' compliance with the Regulations. The Regulations, Guidance and the Frequently Asked Questions are available at www.carb.ie/cpd.
Requirements
It is up to each individual member to be confident that he/she has undertaken sufficient relevant CPD to keep up to date. The Regulations should be regarded as the minimum CPD required but some members, because of the nature of their work, may need to undertake more CPD to maintain that competence.
CPD Approaches
Until 1 July 2008, members were required to complete a specified number of structured and unstructured CPD hours per annum. Now members are able to choose a different approach. Each member must operate one of the following approaches:
(a) The input-based approach where members are required to achieve a minimum of 20 hours structured and 50 hours unstructured CPD per annum. Members who operate this approach, who are members in practice or members employed in practising firms, are expected to achieve a minimum of 10 hours structured CPD per annum in each service area in which they practice:
- Audit / Accounting
- Investment Business
- Insolvency Practice
- Tax
These requirements may be averaged over a rolling three year period but in any one year the member must undertake a minimum of 20 hours structured or unstructured CPD.
(b) The output-based approach where members demonstrate through the preparation of a development plan that they have explicitly considered and met their specific training needs. It involves a move away from the traditional hours based scheme and there are no prescriptive hours. Instead the member is required to:
- Self Assess what is expected in the member's current and future roles;
- Plan and carry out the member's training and development goals;
- Reflect on the effectiveness of these activities in meeting these goals;
- Record the three steps above.
(c) The Combination Approach where members achieve a combination of structured or unstructured CPD per annum, together with evidence to demonstrate achievement of outcomes as with the output approach.
CPD Records
Each member is responsible for maintaining and retaining his CPD records which must be held for a minimum of five years. Guidance on the content of CPD records can be found in "Appendix 4 of the Guidance on Continuing Professional Development" at www.carb.ie/cpd.
CPD Monitoring
All members' CPD compliance is now subject to monitoring. This will be achieved by:
(a) the submission by all members of an Annual Declaration of Compliance; and
(b) periodic inspection of the members' CPD records.
A sample of the Annual Declaration can be found at www.carb.ie/cpd. Each member's declaration will be completed online in the Annual Return section of the CARB website, so it is essential that all members keep the CARB informed of their details including current email addresses.
Members who cannot show that they comply will be expected to explain the reasons and to show how they otherwise meet the requirements to sustain their professional competence. CARB has powers to impose sanctions including:
- Refusing, restricting or withdrawing any licence it has issued;
- Agreeing a regulatory penalty;
- Referring a member to the Complaints Committee for possible disciplinary action.
As stated above, all members are required to undertake CPD unless they meet the exemption criteria. These criteria are very specific and relate only to the following:
- Retired Members - Members who are retired and not carrying out any professional work of a business or financial nature (paid or unpaid).
- Unemployed.
- Career break for family or other reasons.
However, following or immediately preceding a return to work, exempt members must undertake sufficient CPD to ensure that their competence is refreshed and up to date.
CARB would strongly recommend that each member reads the Regulations, Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions on the CARB website at www.carb.ie/cpd. Any queries can be emailed directly to cpdqueries@carb.ie.