IES 7 Explained: The IFAC CPD Standard for Professional Accountants

If you have ever seen a CPD policy mention "output-based" or "input-based" approaches, or a body say its rules "comply with IES 7", you have met the international standard that IFAC member organizations are expected to apply to CPD. The IES 7 CPD standard for accountants is short, but it sets the framework IFAC member organizations work from, and ACCA says its CPD approach complies with it. This guide summarises what IFAC's own published text says, and how to use it when you plan your learning. For the body-specific rules, see our guides to ACCA CPD requirements in Ireland and Chartered Accountants Ireland CPD requirements.

What IES 7 is

IES 7 is the International Education Standard on Continuing Professional Development, published by IFAC. IFAC's education site shows the 2020 version, effective 1 January 2020. Its stated objective is to establish that professional accountants undertake relevant CPD to develop and maintain the professional competence needed to perform their role.

The standard is addressed to IFAC member organizations, not directly to individuals. They must require professional accountants to undertake and record relevant CPD, and the standard describes ways they can help their members meet that. The text also says individual professional accountants are responsible for their own CPD, and that it can help employers, regulators, educators and others. CPD here means learning after initial professional development, and the standard lists education, training, practical experience, mentoring, networking, reflective activity and self-development as examples.

What member organizations must do under IES 7

The standard sets out requirements for the bodies themselves. According to IFAC's text, a member organization must:

• Require CPD: require professional accountants to undertake and record relevant CPD.
• Promote it: promote the importance of CPD and make access to opportunities and resources easier.
• Choose a measurement approach: output-based, input-based, or a combination.
• Define evidence: specify the nature and extent of verifiable evidence accountants must keep.
• Monitor and enforce: set up a systematic process to monitor compliance and apply sanctions for non-compliance.

The standard lists declarations, record sampling and similar checks as ways a body can monitor compliance, so you may see them in your own body's rules.

Output-based, input-based and combination approaches

Output-based

The accountant must demonstrate that they achieved relevant learning outcomes. The focus is on what was achieved, not just what was attended. A learning outcome is described as the content and depth of knowledge, understanding and application needed for a specified competence area, and outcomes can be set by the member body, the accountant through self-assessment, an employer, a regulator or a CPD provider.

Input-based

The accountant must complete a specified amount of relevant learning activity, measured in hours or equivalent units, within a set period. The standard includes an illustration of 120 hours in a rolling three-year period, of which 60 are verifiable and 20 are completed each year. IFAC presents this as an example, not as a number any body must use.

Combination

A body may mix the two, for example applying output measures to some outcomes and input measures to others, or allowing an accountant to replace part of an input requirement with output-based CPD.

You can see this vocabulary in practice. Chartered Accountants Ireland's CPD requirements page lets members choose an input, output or combination approach (the page does not show a date). ACCA's guide to CPD describes a unit route, an employer route and an IFAC body route.

Verifiable evidence and monitoring

IES 7 defines verifiable evidence as objective evidence that can be proven and retained. Examples in the text include examination results, qualifications, course materials and employer confirmation of hours. It accepts that some activities, such as reading or mentoring, are hard to verify but can still count as CPD.

For monitoring, the standard lists self-declarations, samples of CPD records, quality assurance reviews and employer tracking. It notes that cycles of one to five years may meet expectations. On sanctions, it says the initial focus should be on bringing a non-compliant accountant into compliance within a reasonable time, and that wilful failure may breach a code of ethics. Some organizations with legal authority may expel members or deny the right to practise, typically after a pattern of non-compliance, and may publish the names of wilful non-compliers. Member organizations may also report publicly on compliance.

How IES 7 shows up in ACCA's rules

ACCA's guide to CPD says one CPD unit equals one hour of learning, and that its approach complies with the IFAC CPD standard, as ACCA is an IFAC member. Its IFAC body route allows a full member of another IFAC-member body, whose CPD policy complies with IES 7, to follow that body's programme and still make an annual declaration to ACCA. ACCA's IFAC body route is one example where a body's compliance with IES 7 is a condition of recognition.

A related standard, IES 8, covers the competence of engagement partners responsible for audits of financial statements. IFAC's text says member organizations must require such partners to undertake CPD that develops and maintains the competence the role needs, recorded in line with IES 7, and gives 1 January 2021 as its effective date.

What changed in 2026

An IFAC announcement dated 7 January 2026 says the 2026 edition of the Handbook of International Education Standards is available and replaces the 2019 edition. It compiles IES 1 to 8, the framework and the glossary, and says the handbook includes revised standards (IES 2, 3, 4 and 6) that become effective on 1 July 2026. The announcement does not say IES 7 was revised, so this guide relies on the 2020 text shown on IFAC's education site. If you rely on the exact paragraph wording, check the handbook edition you are reading.

Using the standard in practice

Our suggestions, not requirements of the standard:

• Check which approach your own body uses before you plan. If it is output-based, write learning goals first and choose activities second.
• Record what you did, why, and what changed in your work. This works under any approach.
• Keep evidence for verifiable activities, such as certificates or confirmations of attendance.
• If you belong to more than one body, check whether one body accepts the other's CPD programme.
• Finance managers in Dublin teams can use the same learning goals across a team and review them at the year-end.

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

Does IES 7 apply directly to individual accountants?

It is addressed to IFAC member organizations, which must require professional accountants to undertake and record relevant CPD. It also says individual professional accountants are responsible for their own CPD.

Does IES 7 set a required number of hours?

No. It describes an input-based model and gives an illustrative 120 hours over three years as an example, but it does not mandate that figure.

What is verifiable CPD?

The standard describes verifiable evidence as objective and capable of being proven and retained, such as course materials, qualifications or employer confirmation of hours.

Is IES 7 the same as my body's CPD rules?

No. Your body applies it in its own way, so always follow your body's published requirements.

Read your body's CPD page alongside the standard, and keep your records as you go.