I was too busy to do CPD
If you are very busy at work, it’s likely that you are learning and developing in the workplace, which ACCA recognises as valid CPD. Many of the activities you do at work, for example, attending meetings or discussion groups, on-the-job training and undertaking research and self-study, will enable you to maintain and develop your knowledge and skills.
Provided what you learn is relevant to your role or future career aspirations, then lots of different activities can count as CPD, including:
- webinars
- online courses by an external provider or provided internally by your employer
- face-to-face courses by an external provider or provided internally by your employer
- work shadowing
- on-the-job training
- undertaking research or self-study, for example to carry out a new task or project or to write publications and technical articles
- attending meetings (where new learning is gained)
- attending conferences
- attending workshops
- podcasts
- online articles
- committees/ panels/ discussion groups
- additional qualifications
- coaching or mentoring (either being coached or mentored by someone else, or completing learning to carry out coaching or mentoring yourself)
- networking
Work-based activities can be an excellent source of CPD, so look back through your work calendar and diary to help you remember any learning you’ve done during the year. You can then add this learning to your CPD record.
You can also browse our CPD resource finder for a range of free and paid-for events and courses near you, as well as articles, e-learning, webinars, research and qualifications relevant to your career path.
Remember that you may be able to carry forward CPD from last year. If you completed more than 21 verifiable units last year, you can carry forward up to 21 excess verifiable units to the current year. You must have exceeded the minimum requirement of 40 CPD units overall in the previous year. Non-verifiable units cannot be carried forward.
If you have had onerous caring duties at home, you could be eligible for a discretionary waiver of 7 units of verifiable CPD, even if you have not been off work. For example, if you have been working from home while also caring for dependants due to care facility/school closure, or your usual care-helper has been unavailable.
To qualify for the waiver, your onerous caring duty circumstances must have been in place for a minimum of three months, but this need not be in one continuous period. If you think you may be eligible for a waiver, you can read the waiver guidance and then apply for a waiver via myACCA.
You may find that, following the above, you have now met the CPD requirement for the year and you can complete your CPD declaration via myACCA.