Regulatory Matters CPD Online

Guidelines

The Commitment

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is mandatory for all members. The ICABC Council urges all members to accept a commitment to regular CPD throughout their working lives. Please remember that it is the spirit, rather than the letter, of Council's CPD Guidelines that counts. The intent is for you to satisfy yourself that the types and quality of professional development activities you choose meet your CPD needs. You are the judge.

How much?

Under the new International CPD requirements, beginning January 1, 2008, 120 hours of CPD are required in the 3-year period ending December 31, 2010 with an annual minimum of 20 hours each year.  Half of these required hours, 10 hours annually and 60 hours over the 3 year cycle, must be in verifiable categories.

With a broad range of acceptable CPD activities outlined in the following Guidelines, it is Council's intent that CPD be a positive learning experience for all members. [Regulations 1002/1 to 1002/5]

Recording

It is important for you to keep a detailed record of your CPD activities as a selected sample of members will be asked to provide documentary evidence to support their reported hours. This personal record is for your retention and need not be submitted unless requested. [Regulations 1011/2 (vi)]. Records should be kept for one year after the end of the three-year cycle.  A sample CPD Activity Log maybe maintained on the website.

Reporting

Please review the CPD that you undertook in 2008, and complete and return the CPD reporting form to the Institute by January 31, 2009. Your CPD reporting form maybe completed and submitted online or you may download the form from the Institute website: www.ica.bc.ca/kb.php3?catid=663 and fax it to the ICABC.

Exemptions

Members are eligible for exemption from the CPD requirements if he/she is "on leave from the workforce", "retired" or "inactive" AND they receive NO remuneration for activities where another party may reasonably be seen to be relaying on his or her skills as a CA

      AND/OR

They do NOT serve on a board or governing body of a public company or reporting issuer as contemplated by Rule 204.

Please refer to Exempt Categories for details and definitions.

If you believe you have any other valid reason for not meeting the annual CPD requirements, you may request an exemption from the PD Review Committee. The Committee will review each request on a confidential basis. Based on the information submitted a determination will be made and forwarded to you.

Non resident members

A member who resides outside of BC and who meets the CPD requirements of another Canadian provincial Institute/Ordre or who resides outside of Canada and is a member of another accounting organizations where CPD requirements of that foreign accounting body are substantially similar to the ICABC’s requirements must report annually that they have complied with the requirements of the other accounting body.  However, non-resident members who do not meet CPD requirements that are substantially similar to the ICABC requirements are required to meet the minimum CPD requirement of the ICABC.

If you believe you have any other valid reason for not meeting the annual CPD requirements, you may request an exemption from the CPD Review Committee. The Committee will review each request on a confidential basis. Based on the information submitted a determination will be made and forwarded to you.

Pro-Rating of CPD Hours

You are eligible to pro-rate your annual and three year total CPD hour requirements if you have:

• become a new CA
• moved in or out of any of the exempt categories

Examples of how you might pro-rate your requirements are as follows:

Assume you have returned to the workforce after a maternity leave during which you met the CPD exemptions on September 1, 2008. You would be responsible for CPD for September to December 2008, which results in a pro-rated annual requirement of 7 hours (4/12 months x 20 hours per year = 7 hours, of which half or 3.5 hours must be verifiable). For the three year reporting cycle ending December 31, 2010, your pro-rated requirement would be 55 hours (28/36 months x 120 hours = 94 hours, of which 47 must be verifiable).

Good Course Guide

Members of the Institute hold themselves out to perform services that demand expertise within a broad range of related skills. The concept of professional competence is therefore to be broadly interpreted, and members or their employers are in the best position to judge if the subject matter of an event will be, for them, "useful CPD."

Questions members can ask themselves in determining what might qualify as useful CPD:

• Is it at the right level and depth for me?
• Do I need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject and, if so, to what level?
• Are the presenters technically competent to meet the objectives that they have set themselves?
• Will it be properly structured?

Verifiable vs. Unverifiable Learning Activities – Guidance for Members

Learning activities are activities with significant intellectual or practical content that provide for the development of new or existing competencies in areas that are relevant to a member’s overall individual professional responsibilities and growth.  Learning activities, which result in some product or for which there is some other evidence that the learning activity was undertaken, are considered to be “verifiable”.  “Unverifiable” learning activities are those learning activities, which do not result in a product or for which no other evidence of the learning exists.  Appropriate learning activities are circumstance-specific and each member requires different professional competencies.  Therefore, the choice of relevant learning activities must be considered in the context of each member’s own professional responsibilities.

Examples of verifiable learning activities include:

• Participation in courses, conferences and seminars
• Organized employer-based in-house training seminars
• Participation in research or study projects in areas that expand the professional knowledge of the member and the result in publications, presentations, reports or similar documentation
• Participation and work on technical committees or formal study groups
• Published professional writing or academic writing
• Writhing technical articles, papers or books
• Teaching a course or PD session in an area that is relevant to a professional role
• Participation as a speaker in conferences, briefing sessions or discussion groups
• Formal Study (leading to a degree or diploma)
• Professional re-examination or formal testing
• Self study or computer based training involving successful completion of an examination or leading to a designation

Examples of unverifiable learning activities include:

• On-the-job training for new software, systems, procedures or techniques for application in a professional role
• Self study that does not involve an examination or other objective certification of completion, such as conference reference material or self-study CDs
• Casual reading of professional journals or magazines that is not part of research for a specific application in a professional role

3rd Party Reliance – Guidance for Members

Chartered Accountants who are not actively employed or engaged in practice of the profession because they are retired or on leave from the workforce may still hold positions where another party may reasonably be seen to be relying on their skills as a CA. Such “inactive” members may continue to serve on boards or in similar governance positions of organizations or even as volunteers in the grassroots of an organization.

These CAs should assess the degree to which the organization and its stakeholders rely on their skills as a Chartered Accountant in fulfilling that position. In assessing reliance, the CA should consider the risk associated with the organization and the nature of his or her role within the organization.

It is reasonable to believe that another party is relying on an otherwise inactive member’s skills as a Chartered Accountant where:

• the member is remunerated for his or her service and/or
  
  
• the member serves on the board or governing body of a public company or reporting issuer as contemplated by Rule 204;

Accordingly, these members will be required to meet the minimum CPD requirements.

Specific Guidance on Volunteer Roles

This concept becomes important when dealing with a member who might otherwise be “retired” or “on leave”, but who continues to serve on a board or other similar body with governance and oversight responsibilities. There are three levels of reliance on a member’s skills as a Chartered Accountant that must be considered.

• It is reasonable to believe that another party is relying on an otherwise inactive member’s skills as a Chartered Accountant (see above). These members will be required to meet the minimum CPD requirements.
  
  
• It is reasonable to believe that diminished reliance by another party on an otherwise inactive member’s skills as a Chartered Accountant may exist where the member fills a volunteer role (other than those described above) which may involve signing financial statements, information returns or other government filings, grant applications or similar documents. Members in such a volunteer role are not required to comply with the CPD program but, however, these members should ensure that they are current and proficient in the competencies required in these roles on a ongoing basis and pursue CPD where appropriate over three years, where all or a portion of those learning activities may be unverifiable.
  
  
• Members who volunteer in roles that do not involve any reliance on the member’s skills as a CA are exempt from the minimum CPD requirements.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the Guidelines, please contact:

• Lisa Murray, Professional Development Assistant at 604-488-2614, murray@ica.bc.ca
  
  
• Stella Lam-Leung, CA, Associate Director of Professional Development at 604-631-2570, lam-leung@ica.bc.ca
  
  
• Moira Bryans, CA, Director of Professional Development at 604-488-2640, bryans@ica.bc.ca