ICAEW CPD Requirements: What ACA Members Need to Know

ICAEW CPD Requirements: What ACA Members Need to Know

ICAEW members must complete between 20 and 40 hours of CPD each year under the CPD Regulations that took effect on 1 November 2023, with the exact figure depending on which of six CPD categories their role falls into. A set proportion of those hours must be verifiable — backed by retained evidence — and at least one hour of verifiable ethics training is mandatory for everyone in scope. The CPD year runs from 1 November to 31 October, and members confirm compliance through an annual declaration.

If you qualified before the 2023 reforms, the regime you trained under — the old reflective "develop, act, reflect" model with no fixed hours — no longer applies. This guide walks through the current rules: the categories, the hours, what counts as verifiable, the ethics requirement, record-keeping duties and who is exempt.

How do ICAEW's CPD Regulations work since November 2023?

From 1 November 2023, ICAEW moved from a purely output-based approach to a hybrid model that combines reflective practice with minimum annual hours. The Continuing Professional Development Regulations now apply to ICAEW members, ICAEW CFAB and BFP holders in relevant roles, and "relevant persons" in ICAEW-regulated firms — including some non-members, such as principals in ICAEW member firms.

The core mechanics are straightforward:

• The CPD year runs from 1 November to 31 October, not the calendar or tax year.
• Your role places you in one of six CPD categories — three for members in practice and three for those working outside practice.
• Each category sets a minimum number of total hours and a minimum number of verifiable hours within that total.
• At least one hour of verifiable ethics training is required every CPD year, whatever your category.
• You must keep CPD records and make an annual CPD declaration, and ICAEW's Quality Assurance Department (QAD) carries out compliance monitoring.

How many CPD hours do ICAEW members need?

The answer depends on your category. ICAEW publishes detailed descriptions of the work that places you in each one, along with an online CPD self-assessment tool, but the headline numbers are as follows.

Members in practice

• Category 1: 40 hours of CPD per year, of which at least 30 hours must be verifiable. This captures the highest-risk work — for example, audit work on listed and other public interest entities and certain other regulated activity.
• Category 2: 30 hours per year, of which at least 20 hours must be verifiable. This typically covers other audit and regulated work not caught by category 1.
• Category 3: 20 hours per year, of which at least 10 hours must be verifiable. This is the default for practice members whose work does not fall into the higher categories — many general practitioners providing accounts preparation, tax compliance and advisory services sit here.

Members not in practice

• Category 1: 40 hours of CPD per year, of which at least 15 hours must be verifiable. This covers a narrow band of high-responsibility roles, such as certain senior positions in major financial institutions or public interest entities.
• Category 2: 30 hours per year, of which at least 10 hours must be verifiable — for example, senior finance roles with significant responsibility in larger organisations.
• Category 3: 20 hours per year, of which at least 5 hours must be verifiable. This is the default category for members in business, and it is where most members working outside practice land.

Two practical points are worth noting. First, the category descriptions — not your job title — determine where you sit, so it is worth re-running ICAEW's self-assessment whenever your role changes; ICAEW has reported that miscategorisation was one of the most common errors in the first years of the new regime. Second, if you hold multiple roles that fall into different categories, you must comply with the most demanding one.

What counts as verifiable CPD?

Verifiable CPD is any relevant learning activity whose completion you can evidence. ICAEW's test is that the evidence must be objective (fact-based rather than self-asserted), corroborated (capable of being confirmed by a third party or system) and retained (stored in a form you can produce if asked).

Common examples of verifiable activity include:

• Structured online courses and webinars where completion is recorded or a certificate is issued
• Conferences, technical seminars and in-house training with attendance records
• Professional qualifications and exams
• Writing technical articles or delivering training, where the output itself is the evidence

Reading technical updates, listening to podcasts or informal on-the-job learning still counts towards your total hours — it is simply non-verifiable, so it cannot be used to satisfy the verifiable minimum. The activity must also be relevant to your role: it should address a learning need you have identified to stay competent in the work you actually do. CPD-accredited online learning, such as the courses on Learnsignal's CPD platform, generates completion evidence automatically, which makes it one of the simplest ways to bank verifiable hours.

What is the mandatory ethics requirement?

Every member in scope must complete at least one hour of verifiable ethics training each CPD year, regardless of category. The hour counts towards both your total and your verifiable minimum, so it is not an extra hour on top — but it must specifically address ethics, and you must be able to evidence it. With ICAEW's Code of Ethics updated in 2026 to include new sections on tax planning and related services, ethics CPD is also a sensible place to spend more than the bare minimum. ICAEW provides a free ethics CPD course for members, and accredited providers offer alternatives if you prefer a different format.

What records do ICAEW members need to keep?

You are responsible for maintaining your own CPD records throughout the year. In practice that means:

• A log of all CPD activity — what you did, when, how long it took and how it relates to your role. ICAEW offers a free online CPD record, though any robust format is acceptable.
• Evidence for every verifiable hour — certificates, attendance confirmations, completion records or similar.
• Retention for at least three years, as records are subject to review.
• An annual CPD declaration confirming compliance, made through ICAEW's annual return process.

ICAEW's Quality Assurance Department selects members for CPD reviews, and firms regulated by ICAEW have parallel obligations to monitor the CPD compliance of their relevant staff. If you believe you are exempt for a given year, ICAEW expects you to document the basis for that view so you can produce it if you are selected for a check.

Who is exempt from ICAEW CPD requirements?

The regulations only bite if you are working. The main carve-outs are:

• Fully retired members who do no professional work at all during the CPD year are exempt — but voluntary accountancy work, acting as a charity trustee or holding a statutory directorship can bring you back into scope.
• Members not working at all during a CPD year — for example, due to a career break — are likewise exempt for that year.
• Working part of the year (joining, retiring or returning mid-year) generally triggers a pro-rata requirement based on the portion of the CPD year you worked.

There are also tailored provisions — for instance, members acting without reward as charity trustees or in senior unpaid charity roles can satisfy their obligations through ICAEW's free trustee training plus the ethics hour. Because these edge cases turn on individual circumstances, check ICAEW's current guidance or contact them directly if your situation is unusual.

How do ICAEW CPD rules compare with ACCA's?

If you work alongside ACCA colleagues — or hold dual membership — note that the two regimes are structured differently. ACCA uses a unit-based system: most members complete 40 units a year, where one unit equals one hour, with 21 units verifiable and 19 non-verifiable, on a calendar-year cycle. ICAEW instead varies the total by risk category (20, 30 or 40 hours), runs November to October, and adds an explicit annual ethics hour. Dual members should check both bodies' rules, although well-evidenced learning will usually satisfy both — one reason CPD with built-in completion certificates is the safer route.

Study with Learnsignal

Meeting your verifiable minimum is far easier when your learning platform does the evidencing for you. Learnsignal's CPD-accredited online courses are delivered by industry experts across audit, tax, financial reporting, ethics and more — and every completed course generates a certificate you can retain as objective, corroborated evidence for your ICAEW CPD record. Whether you need 5 verifiable hours as a category 3 member in business or 30 as a category 1 practitioner, the flexible, on-demand format lets you fit verifiable CPD around client work and deadlines, anywhere in the UK or Ireland. Explore the course library and make this CPD year the easiest one yet.