Does CPD Apply If Your Job Is Not an Accounting Job?

A CPA working part-time in the plumbing department at Home Depot does not need to do CPD. A CPA working part-time as a controller for £25,000 a year does. A CPA who is fully retired but sits on a charity board does — in Nova Scotia. In British Columbia, on near-identical facts, they do not.

These are not hypotheticals. They are published answers to published questions, and the reasoning behind them is a single test that is far more useful than any hours figure.

The test is reliance, not job title

CPA Nova Scotia publishes a whole FAQ document of member scenarios, and almost every answer turns on the same question: is it reasonable to believe someone is relying on your competence as an accountant?

Asked by a CEO who happens to be a CPA, whose role does not require CPA skills, and who has a CPA CFO handling the finances, the answer is:

Yes, you are required to undertake CPD.

Because, as the body puts it, members serve in senior and executive roles where it is reasonable to believe that another party may be relying on their skills, knowledge, experience, or competencies gained through their professional training, education, development, or experience as a CPA.

Asked by a retired CPA working part-time at Home Depot in the plumbing department:

No, you are not required to undertake CPD.

Because The public is clearly not relying on your skills, knowledge, experience, or competencies gained through your professional training, education, development, or experience as a CPA.

Same person, same qualification, same amount of time at work. Different answer, because the reliance is different.

Income is explicitly not the test

This one is worth quoting exactly, because it is the assumption most members make. A semi-retired CPA working part-time as a controller for a start-up, earning about $25,000 a year, asks whether CPD applies. Yes — and:

Income level is not a good indicator of the extent of reliance on competence.

Part-time, low-paid and semi-retired do not reduce the obligation where someone is relying on the work. A controller at a start-up is being relied on.

The UK and the broader reading

ICAS answers the same question in one line. Asked whether a member whose current job has nothing to do with accountancy must still submit a CPD record:

Yes. Only Members who are fully retired and undertake no work are exempt from providing their CPD record.

And on what that record should contain: The CPD record for each Member should be relevant to the specific role they undertake, whether this relates to accountancy or not.

That is a different mechanism from the reliance test, and arguably a stricter one. ICAS does not ask whether anyone relies on your accountancy competence; it asks only whether you work at all. The CPD then follows your actual role, accountancy or not.

CPABC takes the same broad view of what counts:

The term “professional role” is defined broadly.

Members are required to engage in learning activities relevant to their current or future professional roles, even if those activities are not directly related to accounting, tax, or assurance — which it says may include leadership and communication skills as well as industry-specific knowledge.

So “my job is not accounting” is almost never an exemption. It is usually a statement about what your CPD should cover.

Two bodies, near-identical facts, opposite answers

This is the finding worth the most attention, and it is a genuine conflict between two provincial bodies in the same country.

CPA Nova Scotia is asked by a retired CPA who earns nothing from paid work but serves on the board of a charity. The answer:

Yes, you are required to undertake CPD.

Because The public (including your fellow Board members) might very reasonably believe you bring a certain expertise to the Board because of your CPA background.

CPABC is asked by a retired member whose only activity is volunteering at a charitable organisation. The answer:

The unpaid work that you do for the charitable organization would not in itself cause you to be required to comply with the mandatory CPD requirements.

It adds a professional-conduct obligation that bites regardless: members must sustain professional competence by staying informed of, and complying with, developments in professional standards in all functions in which you provide professional services or are relied upon because of your calling, even if you are not remunerated for your services.

So the mandatory CPD requirement does not apply, but a competence duty does. Nova Scotia reaches the obligation through reliance; British Columbia reaches a softer duty through the code of conduct.

The practical lesson is blunt: do not read one body’s guidance and assume it applies to yours, even within the same country and the same designation.

The scenario where the answer flips mid-question

The best illustration of the reliance test in the whole corpus is a pair of consecutive questions from the same member.

She is a CPA on parental leave who volunteers with her toddlers’ not-for-profit pre-school. She reconciles the bank statements monthly and prepares a simple cash flow statement for the other parents. She signs no tax or information returns. Does CPD apply?

You may be eligible for an exemption or reduction depending on the particulars of your situation.

Because While the work involves some bookkeeping skill, it is not at a level that would reasonably be seen to require the skills, knowledge, experience, or competencies of a CPA. The body notes she may qualify for a Temporary Exemption for up to 5 years and will require a re-entry plan if out of the workforce longer than 2 years.

Then the follow-up. The other directors have no business background, so she is asked to prepare and sign a grant application for provincial funding — requiring detailed financial information and compliance detail. Same leave, same volunteer role. The answer flips:

Yes, you are required to undertake CPD as you are now in a situation where the rest of the Board as well as the provincial funding agency may be relying on your skills, knowledge, experience, or competencies as a CPA in preparing the grant application.

Nothing about her employment changed. What changed is that a funding agency is now relying on her signature.

How to apply this to yourself

• Ask who is relying on you, not what your job is called. Board colleagues, funders, employers and clients all count. A plumbing department does not.
• Do not use income or hours as a proxy. At least one body says in terms that income is not a good indicator.
• Check whether your body uses a reliance test or a working test. Nova Scotia asks who relies on you; ICAS asks only whether you work at all.
• Watch for the moment reliance begins. Signing something is often the trigger.
• Remember a competence duty can survive an exemption. CPABC exempts the retired volunteer from mandatory CPD and still requires sustained competence under its code.

If you conclude the obligation is reduced or lifted, our guide to CPD for non-practising and retired accountants covers how the regimes handle that, and what review outcomes actually show explains why documenting the decision matters.

Frequently asked questions

I am a CPA but my job is not accounting. Do I need CPD? Almost certainly yes, though the reasoning differs. Some bodies ask whether anyone relies on your accountancy competence; others ask only whether you work at all.

Does part-time or low-paid work reduce it? No. CPA Nova Scotia states that income level is not a good indicator of the extent of reliance on competence.

I am retired but sit on a charity board. It depends on your body. CPA Nova Scotia says yes, CPD applies. CPABC says the unpaid work would not in itself trigger the mandatory requirement, but a competence duty still applies.

Does bookkeeping for a community group count as being relied on? Not necessarily — one body judged routine reconciliation as below the level requiring CPA competence. Signing a funding application changed that.

If my CPD does not have to be accounting, what should it be? Learning relevant to your actual role. CPABC names leadership, communication and industry knowledge.

CPD that fits the role you actually do, with Learnsignal

If the requirement follows your role rather than your job title, the useful CPD is whatever keeps you competent for the thing people rely on you for. Our certificated courses span technical, reporting, ethics and finance-leadership subjects. See also our guide to CPD record examples. The scenario guidance quoted here is published by CPA Nova Scotia.