Making the most of CPD as a SAICA Chartered Accountant

Markus du Plessis is a Chartered Accountant in audit practice with a global Big 4 firm, auditing clients within the Government and Public Sector. As a CA(SA), he is registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and currently works in the United Kingdom. 

In this article, he shares his personal experience with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) compliance as a professional in a global context. Writing from the perspective of a CA (SA), he offers helpful tips for professionals across disciplines on getting value from our CPD activities, making compliance simpler and more effective, and helping us achieve long-term career growth. 

“My journey to becoming a Chartered Accountant began with my Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting (with Honours) at South Africa’s North-West University from 2014 to 2017. Once my degree was complete, I entered a three-year training contract with the Office of the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), working as a trainee auditor within the Government Sector. During this period, I was signed off on all technical and professional competencies required by SAICA, and completed both board exams: 

• Initial Test of Competence (ITC) and 
  
• Assessment of Professional Competence (APC)

I became a Chartered Accountant in early 2021 and remained with the AGSA for another year as assistant audit manager, working across a variety of provincial departments, the provincial legislature, state-owned entities, and local government clients. 

To broaden my perspectives on governance and build my technical skills further, I then joined audit firm EY in the United Kingdom as a qualified audit senior within the Government and Public Sector. I’m responsible for audits of entities within the National Health Service (NHS), the National Audit Office (NAO), higher education, and local government (councils, police authorities, and fire authorities). The audit reports of public institutions review the spending of taxpayer funds, and are taken into account by foreign investors too, and I enjoy the impact my role has. I’ve gathered experience in external assurance, digital audit, assessment of internal controls, risk assessment and reporting, audit of performance information and audit of compliance with laws and regulations, and I consider my Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in this context. Read more for my thoughts on my route to becoming a Chartered Accountant and beyond, the ‘output’ focus of CPD, my personal experiences with it so far, and tips for your CPD and career journey.

Professional life after qualifying 
From the beginning of my journey to becoming a CA, a clear path was laid out for me by the regulatory board of the profession. The process to qualifying as a Chartered Accountant was well-defined with the requirements and various stages clearly described. I knew exactly what theory I had to study, which exams to pass by when, which skills and competencies to develop and who could assist me in every step of my journey to CA(SA). 

After qualifying I had a sense of relief as there were no more exams, no more studying and no more ratings to achieve! But then I asked myself the very important question: ‘What now?’. I realised I needed to keep developing as a professional and gaining skills that would make me stand out above others who have reached the same designation. In other words, while it was a significant milestone, my journey didn’t end at CA(SA). 

​To help me answer my question, I turned to the profession’s CPD framework for direction. ​

CPD: from input to output 
SAICA’s CPD policy was updated in early 2020, as their “CA2025” strategy is being implemented. Similar to other professional bodies globally, SAICA’s objective for their CPD policy is “to protect the public interest by ensuring there is a framework within which the members commit to ongoing learning and development throughout their careers, demonstrating the competence required in relation to the specific roles an accountant performs” i.e. a focus on career-long learning and competence. 

Before 2020, the policy was an ‘input’-based policy: members were required to complete a defined number of CPD hours across four main technical areas: 

• financial reporting (International Financial Reporting Standards - IFRS), 
• auditing and assurance (International Standards on Auditing - ISA), 
• taxation and 
• managerial accounting & finance management, plus 

core CPD hours on professional ethics, fraud, investigations, and professional soft skills. 

The updated policy is now ‘output’-based, requiring members to set for ourselves a CPD reflective plan, detailing the skills and competencies we need to develop, that are relevant to our current and future roles. Our reflective plans must include our objectives and relevant evidence on how we have reached these objectives. Reflective practice is a valuable exercise for professionals on a regular basis. 

​With the rate at which our profession is progressing and quality measures are becoming ever stricter, it is now more important than ever to be on top of your CPD to ensure that we as professionals within the accounting sphere remain relevant and reasonably informed to drive high quality audit opinions. It is not difficult to make lifelong learning a part of our routines – the onus is on us individual professionals to keep up-to-date and drive our own development."

We no longer need to retain CPD certificates indicating the number of qualifying hours we obtained for completing a relevant training session. While we can still use such certificates as documented evidence, we need to describe what we have learned and how we intend to apply it in our current role. 

This ‘output’ or outcomes-focus has opened up more possibilities for us as we are no longer limited to ‘qualifying’ sessions – we can use any form of learning to demonstrate how we have reached the objectives we set. 

Ethics training remains compulsory, and it is also strongly advised to keep up-to-date with matters like fraud, investigations, and non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR). 

SAICA describes four stages in our development cycles, which we should repeat on a regular basis: 
1) Self-Assessment
2) Plan & complete development activities
3) Reflect on their effectiveness
4) Revise our plan 

SAICA's steps for a registered Chartered Accountant
Source: members area of https://www.saica.org.za

​More on SAICA’s CPD policy can be found here: https://www.saica.org.za/initiatives/competency-framework/cpd-policy That link includes the mandatory ethics requirements and the CPD reflection plan template, among other helpful resources. 

My personal experiences with CPD
Back to the question I’d begun asking myself after qualifying: ‘What now?’. I spent time assessing the role I was doing and the future roles I wanted to do, and the skills I already had and those I wanted to develop further. I realised that I needed more exposure to some soft skills like dealing with conflict and to develop my project management skills. Technically, I was adept with the special standards and rules applied to government entities, but I had little exposure to full IFRS clients and taxation. I realised that I needed to train myself on these technical matters as well to remain relevant as an accountant. 

I accessed many online resources, such as update papers and videos, and requested relevant training from my employer. Ultimately my CPD journey led me halfway across the world to broaden my perspective and experiences. I still cannot say that I have completely mastered those skills which I have identified as needing improvement, but I have learned and improved exponentially more than I would have if I just remained complacent as a newly qualified CA. 

Moving to the United Kingdom did not affect the CPD requirements on me as a professional: the policy applies to all members registered with SAICA, whether abroad or not and whether you are a CA “in practice” or “”out of practice”. In fact, the framework’s flexibility and focus on personal accountability has allowed me to set new targets and find further opportunities to learn and develop. The only difference that I have noted is that as an international member I also have to comply with the requirements set by local (UK) regulators for professionals within audit. This sometimes goes beyond what I have planned and comes in the form of mandatory training rolled out by my firm, but I align these sessions to my personal CPD plan where possible. 

My ten key takeaways and tips for a successful CPD journey – I’ve found tips 6 and 9 especially helpful to me: 

1. Start planning from the beginning of the annual CPD cycle: having a plan upfront will ease the pressure and allow you to structure your development over the full year 
2. Set clear objectives, identifying the technical and soft skills you need for your current role; next consider the skills that will develop you for future roles (such as a promotion, or an entirely new role); define when you need to develop these skills 
3. Discuss your development with your employer: many professional firms have training options for their people, whether mandatory or optional, which could help you achieve your development goals 
4. Use your professional body’s online resources: SAICA’s online platform includes a selection of videos, webinars and recordings, covering a multitude of skills and technical matters 
5. Review your plan before attending specific training: refresh what skills you’re looking to develop so that you can ensure you meet the objectives you set and reduce the risk of wasting your time 
6. Don’t limit training by topic as, during a specific session, you could discuss or touch on various matters relevant to another area which might align with your overall CPD plan, especially given the multi-disciplinary nature of our work; for example, you might touch on tax matters during an accounting update, which could boost your tax knowledge too 
7. Make notes and remain engaged: a pen and paper, or electronic notes, can help you keep interested during long sessions e.g. noting down what you find interesting, what you didn’t know already, or what you might want to know more about – use these notes to adjust your development plan too 
8. Detail your achievement of skills: to showcase your progress, record specific details on how you’ve met your objective, including what you’ve learned and how you intend to apply it; this helps demonstrate effective learning to SAICA if you’re asked to submit evidence 
9. Development comes in various forms: rather than hours and hours of facilitator-led sessions, consider reading academic articles, journals or well-known publications, and/or watching YouTube videos or other webinars or recordings, noting their titles, page numbers, authors, and dates 
10. Remember to complete your annual CPD compliance declaration on the member portal before the end of January every year; not completing it on time will get you on the watchlist for non-compliance; SAICA does a random check every year, asking those members to submit their evidence, so keep your evidence and notes in a safe place.

A two-minute video on the principles behind SAICA’s shift to an output-based policy, including reference to our Code of Professional Conduct: 

Wrapping up 
Above I described my personal journey to becoming a qualified CA, and my learnings so far from working in different sectors and countries. I also shared my experience with CPD in a global context, plus my tips to simplify our CPD while making it more effective and relevant to our long-term personal development and career goals.

I hope that this article has inspired and motivated you to take charge of your CPD too, and to adopt a culture of lifelong learning, seeing CPD compliance in a new light. When we assess where we want to go, and develop a plan to get there, CPD becomes helpful support in guiding us along the way. 

​I’d love to hear from professionals reading this about your experiences, either commenting below, or sending me a message on LinkedIn. I’d be keen to hear your stories, and whether any of these tips have helped you! How have you made CPD a valuable part of your professional reflection and career growth?” ​

Markus du Plessis - CA(SA)

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