Accounting Technicians Ireland: Membership and CPD Requirements Explained

Accounting Technicians Ireland (ATI) is the professional body for accounting technicians in Ireland, and its membership comes with ongoing obligations once you qualify. This guide pulls together what ATI's own pages say about membership grades and about Accounting Technicians Ireland CPD, notes where the pages are silent, and suggests how to keep your own records. If you manage a finance team in Dublin, it also helps you plan development for technician-level staff. For wider options, see our guide to CPD training for Dublin finance professionals.

ATI membership grades

According to ATI's membership page (published 21 October 2024; the page metadata shows it was last modified on 2 June 2026), students enrolled in one of ATI's two-year programmes can progress through several grades:

• Student: enrolled in an ATI programme.
• Affiliate Member: has passed all required exams and is invited to submit the work experience portion of the ATI Diploma. Affiliates cannot use the MIATI designation.
• Full Member (MIATI): has completed two years of work experience and is a fully qualified accounting technician.
• Fellow Member (FIATI): requires eight consecutive years of ATI membership, active participation in ATI events and activities, and completion of the formal Fellow application process.
• Accounting Technologist Full Member (CIATI): has completed the BSc (Hons) in Accounting Technology.

The page says full membership requires all exams passed and two years of relevant work experience in an accounting or finance environment. It adds that the annual subscription is paid each January and should be renewed every year to keep membership and benefits. We do not quote subscription amounts here because they change; check the page for current figures.

What ATI says about CPD

ATI's continuous professional development page (page metadata: published 27 May 2025, modified 22 May 2026) is the clearest source. It says:

• Hours: every Member must complete 15 CPD hours per calendar year.
• Ethics: at least one of those hours must focus on ethics.
• Who: participation is mandatory for Members, and Members are exempt for their first full year of membership. The page does not state a separate requirement for Fellows.
• Delivery: ATI offers CPDlive (live, interactive webinars) and CPDgo (on-demand content, including 15-minute Express topics and one-hour OnDemand sessions), which the page says are included in the annual Member and Fellow subscription.

The page describes the requirement on a calendar-year basis. The CPD page itself does not use the terms "structured" or "unstructured" and does not cover record keeping, returns, deadlines within the year or non-compliance. ATI's separate CPD Compliance Rules and CPD Guidance documents (2024 versions read) do cover these: they say CPD should be completed by 31 December and recorded in the MyCPD tool by 31 January, and describe a random audit and a non-compliance process. Check ATI's site for the current versions.

A point to check

ATI's membership page says members can manage CPD and track their yearly CPD count through MyCPD (the CPD Compliance Rules say CPD must be recorded there), and that members can access up to 30 hours of CPD annually, but it does not state a mandatory hour figure. The CPD page does state 15 hours. Read the 30 hours as the amount of content ATI makes available and the 15 hours as the requirement, and confirm with ATI if you are unsure.

Ethics and professional standards

ATI also publishes an article on ethics in accounting (published and last modified 5 November 2024). It is general in tone and does not set out membership obligations. It describes the IESBA code's five fundamental principles: integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour. The "professional competence and due care" principle is described as maintaining knowledge and skills and following technical and professional standards, which is the idea that continuing development is meant to support (our reading, not ATI's wording).

ATI's professional standards page, as we read it, does not describe a code of ethics, complaints or disciplinary process, and the membership page does not mention a code of ethics. We therefore cannot say how ATI's disciplinary rules work. If you need that, contact ATI's Member Experience Team, which the membership page says handles membership, CPD and work experience queries.

What employers can reasonably ask

The ATI pages we read do not describe membership as a legal requirement for any role, and we make no such claim. What they do say is that CPD is mandatory for Members, so an employer who supports a staff member's membership has a practical interest in the hours being completed. Our suggestions for employers:

• Agree up front whether CPDlive and CPDgo sessions can be completed in work time.
• Ask staff to confirm at mid-year how many of their 15 hours they have completed, so there is no December rush.
• Include at least one ethics session in each person's plan, since the page requires one hour on ethics.
• Do not require evidence beyond what ATI itself asks for, but keep a simple internal record for performance reviews.

Keeping your own records

ATI's CPD Compliance Rules (2024 version read) say members must record CPD in the MyCPD tool and keep evidence of it. Beyond that, a practical approach (our suggestion, not an ATI rule) is to keep your own log. Note the date, title, provider, duration and what you will apply. Save any attendance confirmation or certificate. Our suggestion is to keep the log for several years, since ATI has not published a retention period in the documents we read. Tracking through MyCPD, which the membership page mentions, is the natural place to start.

Members who also belong to another body, or move into a different grade, should check each body's rules separately. ATI's 2024 CPD Guidance says members of another professional body may be able to apply for a concession against the 15-hour requirement if they can evidence that other body's CPD; each body's rules should be checked separately.

You can also compare providers in our overview of finance training courses in Dublin.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

How many CPD hours do ATI members need each year?

ATI's CPD page says every Member must complete 15 CPD hours per calendar year, with at least one hour focused on ethics.

Are new members exempt from CPD?

The CPD page says Members are exempt for their first full year of membership. ATI's 2024 CPD Guidance words this as the first calendar year, so confirm how it applies to you.

Does ATI provide CPD?

Yes. The page describes CPDlive webinars and CPDgo on-demand content, included in the annual Member and Fellow subscription.

Does ATI say how long to keep CPD records?

Neither the CPD page nor the 2024 CPD Compliance Rules we read state a retention period. Ask ATI, and keep your own log in the meantime.

What is the MIATI designation?

The membership page says it is reserved for Full Members, and that Affiliate Members cannot use it.

Check ATI's pages again each January, and keep your learning log up to date through the year.