The International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) recently proposed a revision of International Education Standard (IES) 7, Continuing Professional Development, that places greater emphasis on learning and development directly related to accountants’ professional responsibilities rather than simply focusing on a minimum number of hours of continuing professional development (CPD).

The proposed revisions enhance the current standard and encourage professional accountancy organisations (PAOs) to look at how their CPD systems are measured, monitored and enforced. In addition to PAOs, this proposed standard will help educational organisations, employers, regulators, government authorities, and other relevant stakeholders who are involved in, or support, professional accountants’ continuing development.

CAPA encourages all member PAOs to review and comment on the IAESB’s proposal. As mentioned in CAPA’s publication, the CPD Systems Guide (from the Maturity Model Guidance Series), “a strong CPD system is a highly relevant attribute for a strong accountancy profession. The overall objective of PAO activities for CPD is to help professional accountants develop and maintain their professional competence and thus to protect the public interest”. PAO’s comments will contribute to ensuring that the proposed revision meets such objectives.

The Exposure Draft is open for comment until 5 September 2017. For more information and how to submit comments, visit the IFAC website at: https://www.ifac.org/news-events/2017-06/iaesb-proposes-revised-continuing-professional-development-standard-focus-more