What counts as CPD and what is verifiable?

Under ICAEW's CPD Regulations members, and other individuals regulated by ICAEW, have to undertake a prescribed minimum number of hours of continuing professional development (CPD) each year.

The number of hours required depends upon which CPD category best fits your role. Each CPD category sets out the minimum number of hours and the  proportion of those hours that must be verifiable.

Relevant CPD

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

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

How to verify CPD activities

For a CPD activity to be verifiable there must be evidence of its completion that is:

• objective - fact based, rather than based on personal perspectives;
• corroborated - can be confirmed to be accurate by an independent source; and
• retained - in a format that can be included in your CPD record. 

Verifiable CPD is not limited to structured courses. Independent evidence can be provided for a wide-range of actions from your day-to-day work, from attending peer discussion groups and consulting experts, to on-the-job research of technical areas and writing academic articles.

Verifying CPD activities on icaew.com

As part of the new online CPD record, ICAEW’s AddCPD tool verifies your engagement with articles, videos and podcasts on icaew.com. AddCPD enables you to add the page you're browsing to your online CPD record and verifies that activity.

Whenever you see the AddCPD logo on the bottom right of a page, then that content can also contribute to your verifiable CPD hours.

More examples of verifiable CPD

The list below provides example CPD activities and how they can be evidenced. Please note that only one form of evidence is required for each verifiable CPD activity in your record.

CPD resources included in your ICAEW membership

As part of your ICAEW membership you have access to a range of resources that can support you in meeting your CPD obligations, many of which will be verifiable using the AddCPD tool. These include:

• faculty content covering: audit and assurance, corporate reporting and tax;
• content produced by more than 30 communities, focused on individual industry sectors and specialisms;
• practical guidance and helpsheets from ICAEW's Technical Advisory Services;
• current affairs updates through ICAEW insights, which offers daily updates, as well as three regular podcasts, and
• online training courses, covering ethics, technology and charity trustees’ responsibilities.