ACCA CPD Requirements: What You Need to Know
ACCA requires members to complete CPD every year and submit an annual CPD declaration. The broad rule is that CPD must be relevant to your role and sufficient for your needs, but the exact requirement depends on the route you follow. Most members either follow the unit route, use the ACCA Approved Employer route, or follow another IFAC body’s CPD programme where eligible. ACCA also requires members to keep CPD records for three years in case they are selected for review.
This page provides general educational information to help ACCA members understand how ACCA CPD requirements work, including annual declarations, the unit route, verifiable and non-verifiable CPD, recordkeeping, waivers, and how audio-based learning can fit within the framework.
Important: This content is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, or individualized compliance advice and does not replace official guidance issued by ACCA. Individual requirements may vary based on your ACCA membership status, work pattern, employer, practising status, and whether an exemption or waiver applies.
ACCA CPD Requirements at a Glance
ACCA’s guidance also says practising members may have additional expectations tied to their specialist work and regulatory responsibilities.
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ACCA CPD Year and Declaration Deadline
ACCA works on an annual CPD cycle, and members are required to complete a CPD declaration by 1 January each year. The declaration can be made online through myACCA. ACCA’s guidance encourages members to plan CPD across the year rather than leaving it until the last minute.
ACCA Continuing Professional Development Requirements
ACCA does not use the same category-based hour system as ICAEW. Instead, it focuses on a principle-based requirement: members must complete relevant and sufficient CPD every year and then declare that they have met the requirement using the route that applies to them. For many members, that means following the unit route, but ACCA also recognises alternative routes in certain circumstances.
The ACCA Unit Route
The standard ACCA unit route requires 40 units of CPD each year, including 21 verifiable units. Under ACCA’s system, one unit equals one hour of learning. This is the route many members use when they do not qualify for an alternative reporting route.
Part-Time or Semi-Retired Route
ACCA has a part-time or semi-retired version of the unit route for eligible members. Under this route, members set CPD targets that are appropriate to their role and hours worked, rather than simply defaulting to the full standard unit target. ACCA’s recordkeeping guidance says members using this route should keep evidence showing why their verifiable CPD is relevant and adequate for their role, along with evidence of hours worked and confirmation that the role meets the route conditions.
ACCA Approved Employer Route
Members working for an ACCA Approved Employer may use the approved employer route instead of the standard unit route. In practice, that means the member participates in the employer’s development and appraisal processes, and ACCA may confirm the member’s CPD activity with the employer if needed.
Other Professional Body Route
If you are also a full member of another professional accountancy body, ACCA may allow you to follow that body’s CPD programme instead of ACCA’s, provided the body is a member of IFAC and its CPD policy complies with IFAC’s International Education Standard 7. ACCA’s guidance says members can select this route in their annual declaration where eligible.
What Counts as CPD for ACCA
ACCA takes a broad and practical view of CPD. The central test is whether the learning is relevant to your current job or future career aspirations. ACCA specifically says many different activities can count, including webinars, online courses, podcasts, online articles, learning at work, face-to-face courses, committees and discussion groups, research, additional qualifications, coaching and mentoring, networking, professional skills development, and technical publications.
Verifiable vs Non-Verifiable CPD
Under ACCA’s unit route, the distinction between verifiable and non-verifiable CPD matters because at least 21 of the 40 annual units must be verifiable. ACCA says verifiable CPD must be supported by evidence. Non-verifiable CPD can still count toward the broader requirement, but it cannot make up the entire annual total under the standard unit route.
What Counts as Verifiable CPD
ACCA’s guidance points to a wide range of activities, including resources found through ACCA Learning, that may count as verifiable CPD when properly evidenced. These can include courses, webinars, structured online learning, employer development activity, and other learning with documentation that supports participation and relevance. The exact evidence varies by route, but the key point is that the activity can be demonstrated if selected for review.
Ethics and Professional Responsibilities
ACCA’s public CPD guidance does not frame ethics as a standalone annual hour minimum in the same way ICAEW does, though many members are familiar with the Ethics and Professional Skills module but it does make clear that members are expected to maintain competence relevant to their role, and practising members are specifically expected to maintain competence in professional ethics alongside business and technical knowledge.
CPD for Practising Members
Practising members may have additional expectations beyond the general CPD framework. ACCA says practising members, including Responsible Individuals, must complete CPD in areas relevant to their work, maintain competence in professional ethics, and keep business and finance knowledge up to date. ACCA also says Responsible Individuals must be able to justify why their audit-related CPD is sufficient to maintain audit competence, even if they are not currently doing audit work.
Plan, Do, Review
ACCA encourages members to manage CPD using a plan, do, review cycle. The idea is simple: identify what you need to learn, complete the learning, and then reflect on how it has supported your work or development. ACCA says this approach helps members stay on track and makes the annual declaration easier because it creates a clearer link between learning needs, activity, and outcome.
Recordkeeping and Evidence
ACCA requires members to keep a record of their CPD for three years in case they are selected for a CPD review. Members using the unit route should keep evidence of their verifiable CPD units as well as a record of non-verifiable CPD. ACCA says members can use the CPD recording tool in myACCA or keep records in their own or their employer’s format, as long as the records explain why the activity was chosen, what was learned, and how the learning has been or will be applied.
CPD Reviews and Compliance
ACCA carries out annual reviews of a statistical sample of members’ CPD records. If selected, members are asked to submit their records through myACCA. ACCA says members who do not cooperate with the review process, such as by failing to respond or failing to submit records, may be removed from the register of members.
Waivers and Exceptional Circumstances
ACCA allows members on the full unit route to apply for a CPD waiver in certain circumstances. ACCA’s guidance says the waiver is intended for exceptional situations, and members working under the part-time or semi-retired route or through an ACCA Approved Employer generally should not need to apply for one. Members not involved in public practice do not need to submit supporting documentation with a waiver application for the current year, but they should retain it for three years in case it is needed later.
New ACCA Members
ACCA says that if you have just become a member, you must undertake CPD from 1 January in the year after you became a member. You do not have to complete CPD in your first calendar year of membership. Lifetime members are also exempt from the CPD requirement and the annual declaration.
ACCA CPD Courses: What to Know
For most ACCA members, the main planning points are:
- complete relevant and sufficient CPD every year
- submit the annual declaration by 1 January
- if using the unit route, complete 40 units including 21 verifiable
- keep evidence for three years
- choose the reporting route that actually matches your circumstances
- make sure CPD remains relevant to your role and future development
That makes ACCA’s framework flexible, but it also means the member needs to make sensible judgments about relevance, route selection, and evidence.
Audio-Based Learning and LumiQ
LumiQ provides structured, expert-led audio learning designed to fit professional development into daily life. Under ACCA’s CPD framework, the key question is not whether the learning is audio-based. The key question is whether the activity is relevant to the member’s role and whether it can be evidenced appropriately if claimed as verifiable CPD. ACCA specifically says podcasts can count as CPD, alongside webinars, online courses, AB magazine articles, and workplace learning.
That means LumiQ can fit within ACCA’s CPD framework where the learning is relevant and the member can retain suitable evidence of participation or completion. Members remain responsible for deciding whether a particular activity fits their route, their verifiable requirement where applicable, and their professional responsibilities. ACCA remains the final authority on compliance.
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Frequently Asked Questions About ACCA CPD
How many CPD hours do ACCA members need?
If you use the standard unit route, ACCA requires 40 units each year, including 21 verifiable units. One unit is generally one hour of learning. Other routes may apply depending on your circumstances.
When do ACCA members make their CPD declaration?
Members must complete a CPD declaration by 1 January each year. The declaration can be made online through myACCA.
Do all ACCA members need to complete CPD?
All active ACCA members should complete CPD annually, but there are exceptions. New members do not need to complete CPD in their first calendar year of membership, and lifetime members are exempt.
What counts as verifiable CPD for ACCA?
Verifiable CPD is CPD that can be evidenced. That can include courses, webinars, structured online learning, employer development activity, and other learning with appropriate documentation.
Can podcasts count toward ACCA CPD?
Yes. ACCA specifically lists podcasts among the activities that can count as CPD, provided the learning is relevant to your current job or future career aspirations.
Can LumiQ count as verifiable CPD for ACCA?
It can, where the activity is relevant to your role and you can evidence it appropriately. ACCA’s framework focuses on relevance and evidence rather than a single required delivery format.
Do ACCA members need to keep CPD records?
Yes. ACCA requires members to keep CPD records for three years in case they are selected for review.
Can ACCA members follow another body’s CPD programme?
Yes, in some cases. If you are a full member of another IFAC member body whose CPD policy complies with IES 7, ACCA may allow you to follow that programme instead of ACCA’s.
ACCA CPD Compliance
ACCA is the final authority on ACCA CPD compliance. Members should rely on ACCA’s guide to CPD, managing your CPD guidance, CPD declaration guidance, and CPD FAQs when deciding what they need to do each year.
Sources
Primary sources used for this page include Your Guide to CPD, Managing your CPD, Members’ CPD FAQs, Help with your CPD declaration, and ACCA’s quick guide to CPD.
Reviewed by Danielle Marion, Regulatory Compliance Manager at LumiQ. Danielle has more than 20 years of experience in regulatory compliance and professional education governance, including leadership roles at Deloitte LLP.
