Annexure

CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)

IAC requirements from 1 January 2016

The Institute has made “CPD” compulsory for all members as from 1 April 2006.

“CPD” is a requirement laid down by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and its affiliates i.e. PAFA and all statutory bodies in South Africa such as (SARS, SAQA, CIPC, etc.) and is incumbent upon all members of the IAC.

CPD requirements are set by the Board from time to time and notice thereof will be placed on the Institute’s website.

Why is continued professional development so important?

  • One of the underlying principles of any Institute is that its members should be competent to carry out their duties and responsibilities.
  • A member has a duty to maintain a high level of professional knowledge and skills to carry out his work in accordance with all relevant laws, regulations, technical and professional standards applicable to that work.
  • A member should only undertake work which he or she is able to carry out with professional competence.
  • A member should maintain his or her professional knowledge and skill. This requires a continuing awareness of developments in the accountancy and tax profession.

Definition of continued professional development

Continued Professional Development represents ongoing post-qualification development, aimed at refreshing, updating and developing knowledge and skills of professionals.

Qualifying activities for CPD purposes should maintain and expand a members’ capacity to enable them to discharge their professional obligations and should have the following characteristics:

  • An organized, orderly framework developed from a clear set of objectives.
  • A structure for imparting appropriate basic knowledge of a technical and practical nature.
  • Requires involvement from the member

Recording of CPD Hours

Members are required to keep a personal record and proof of their time spent on CPD activities and is required to update their CPD hours on the Institute’s online database on a regular basis, but not later than 31 December in each year.

What constitutes Structured CPD

  • Courses, congresses, seminars, workshops, lectures & conventions which are relevant to the field of accounting, tax, auditing and company law.
  • Attending meetings of technical committees
  • Researching and writing technical publications
  • Preparation and delivery of technical papers and seminars
  • Attending discussion groups (Practice groups) on the above subject matter.

What Constitutes Unstructured CPD

  • Reading of technical and business literature e.g. The Professional (The IAC’s Technical Bulletin), Management Today and various technical updates.

How many CPD hours do you need to obtain

In order to retain your membership status, you will need to obtain a total of 120 (one hundred and twenty) hours CPD, over a 3 (three) year cycle. However you need to do a minimum of 40 hour per annum (of which 50% must be structured hours).

The 120 (one hundred and twenty) hours CPD are structured as follows

  • 60 hours structured CPD and
  • 60 hours unstructured CPD

A breakdown of CPD hours for the various categories of membership:

  • Independent Reviewers / Accounting Officers and Accountants in Commerce

  • 40 CPD hours / annum (20 structured of which 2 must be Ethics + 20 unstructured dispersed evenly into the various categories on the website) and if any of these members carry Tax Practitioner status they will need to complete the following structured hours, 10 hours Tax , 2 hours Ethics , and any 6 business related hours
  • Technical Accountants (only)

  • 20 CPD hours / annum (10 structured of which 2 must be Ethics + 10 unstructured hours dispersed evenly into the various categories on the website)
  • Certified Tax Practitioners and Associate Tax practitioners

  • 10 hours tax , 2 hours Ethics , and any 6 business related hours

The Board further recommended that CPD hours need to be broken down into the following categories:

  1. Accounting (i.e. IFRS)
  2. Taxation
  3. Company Law
  4. Auditing & Review Engagements
  5. Ethics
  6. Other (which is appropriate to the type of work undertaken by the member).

Penalties for Non Compliance

Please note that the following penalties will be levied if a member fails to meet the CPD requirements:

  • First time offenders R 2 000 and catching up on outstanding CPD hours
  • Second time offenders R 5 000 and catching up on outstanding CPD hours
  • Third time offenders ` R 10 000 and catching up on outstanding CPD hours and
  • More than 3 offences IAC membership is cancelled.