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Meeting your CPD obligation needn't cost the earth - in fact, it needn't cost anything

With many employers now cutting back their training and development budgets, some of you may be having to seek new ways to achieve CPD. Here, we outline the various options available to you to develop your professionalism at no expense.

With the help of ACCA

As well as free or low-cost seminars, ACCA has built up a vast array of free resources, many of them accessible online, to facilitate CPD activity:

• Read up - by reading technical articles in Accounting and Business, as well as ACCA's programme of thought leadership research, you can obtain CPD units.
• Have your say - start or participate in debates on the topics that interest you - by engaging fellow members in ACCA Discuss, you can canvass opinions that might inform your decisions at work or help to advance your long-term career plans.
• Build your knowledge - ACCA's Knowledge Library is a comprehensive compilation of reference material on a host of relevant issues.
• Improve your ethical standing - nobody can learn too much about how individual conduct can impact on us, our colleagues, or even our families. Schedule a visit to the ethics section of ACCA's website to see what's new and use the interactive learning tools.

At the office

Even if your employer has slashed the training budget or made redundancies, keep an open mind. CPD opportunities will transpire, if you know where to look:

• Put your name down - will in-house courses only teach you what you already know? How about volunteering to deliver some yourself, and develop skills in putting together materials and delivering presentations to an audience?
• Trading places - spending time in another team needn't demand formal or long-term secondments; you can learn how colleagues operate in just a day or a week; think of how your performance might be enhanced by an insightful spell with unfamiliar colleagues.
• Guiding light - why not take a trainee (or ACCA affiliate approaching membership) under your wing? Members who become mentors or coaches say they find themselves stretched in the most challenging ways - developing skills they'd find hard to acquire through their routine job responsibilities.

Under your own steam

You can earn CPD units via numerous recreational or volunteering activities:

• Networking - joining work committees or steering groups; or attending ACCA networking events can provide excellent opportunities to share practical learning experiences, which can supplement your knowledge.
• Pro bono - donating your time by giving professional advice on accounting and business issues to community groups or other not-for-profit organisations will make new demands on your skills and abilities; viewing your 'day job' in a different and more meaningful light.

For more information on CPD, visit www.accaglobal.com/members/cpd