INTRODUCTION

The dynamic and increasingly complex socio-economic, political and technological environment within which the professional accountant must operate imposes a significant increase in the technical knowledge and skills required of him or her. Added to this, is the growing public expectation of the competence of the professional accountant resulting in an unprecedented scrutiny about the quality of his/her work, be it on financial reporting or advisory services.

These pressures, as well as the professional accountant's continuing ethical duty to maintain professional knowledge and skill, at the level required to ensure that his clients receive the benefits of competent professional service based on current developments in practice, legislation and accounting techniques, make it imperative to operate an effective programme of Continuing Professional Education to equip members with the requisite tools needed to keep up-to-date. The Institute also recognises CPDs as extension of the educational process that lead to qualification as professional accountants.

The professional knowledge, professional skills, professional values, ethics and attitudes gained by the time of qualification should be developed, reinforced and refined appropriately for the professional activities of the individual accountant. It is for these reasons that the Institute has operated and continued to operate CPD programme for the benefit of its members in particular and the public in general. The objectives of the Institute's CPD are therefore to update and maintain the technical knowledge of members, preserve the standard of the profession and maintain public confidence in the profession. In view of the importance Council attaches to continued post qualification education, it has made CPDs mandatory.

NATURE AND SCOPE

Mandatory CPDs usually involve lectures, seminars or workshops, where more experienced and skilled colleagues lead fruitful and beneficial discussions with colleagues for shared knowledge and experience. The main aim is to provide participants with more insight into the problem at stake, and often generate discussions in a seemingly real fashion to give members the necessary exposure they need for their jobs. MCPDs are better organised as seminars or workshops than as lectures, for that matter.
The scope of MCPDs as prescribed by IES7 is to:

(a) Foster a commitment to lifelong learning among professional accountants;

(b) Facilitate access to continuing professional development opportunities and resources for the members.

(c) Establish for members benchmarks for developing and maintaining the professional competence necessary to protect the public interest; and

(d) Monitor and enforce the continuing development and maintenance of professional competence of professional accountants.

The Standard is based on the principle that it is the responsibility of the individual professional accountant to develop and maintain professional competence necessary to provide high quality services to clients, employers and other stakeholders and as such cannot be delimited to any specific issues, as it can be expanded at anytime to cover any issue considered appropriate, sufficient and relevant to the needs of members. However, it is expected that CPDs would enhance members knowledge and professional competence through structured courses initiated, organised and approved by Council in the following areas:

(1) Financial Reporting

(2) Auditing and Assurance Services

(3) Consulting

(4) Industry and Commerce

(5) Public Sector Accounting

(6) Information Technology

OBJECTIVES

MCPDs are aimed at providing additional professional training and development to members who for want of time due to heavy schedules at the place of work are unable to avail themselves of current trends and developments in accountancy profession. MCPDs are generally meant to: (1) Encourage members to study further with a view to maintaining an adequate level of technical knowledge; (2) Assist members to develop closer relations with each other in order to encourage discussions and transfer of skills, experience and knowledge; (3) Open discussions on topical issues for the purpose of applying uniform procedures and treatment to same accounting events and transactions; (4) Change the focus of the accountant from traditional financial function to fuller managerial roles such as financial and administrative management; and (5) Institute any other training activities that would enable beneficiaries of MCPDs develop their latent talents and maintain their competence and relevance in today's economic, political and social environments.

PENALTIES FOR INSUFFICIENT MCPD CREDITS

A member who fails to make the minimum MCPD credits in any year shall:

(1) Not be considered as a member in good standing, or

(2) Have his name published in the subsequent Members Newsletter, or

(3) Pay a penalty of one-third of the outstanding MCPDs, making a total of one and one-third hours.

If for some justifiable reasons, a member is unable to make the full desired credit hours, that member would have to make up the difference with the subsequent year's credit in the next year. Such a member should have applied in an earlier period for the concession. A member who persistently fails to attain the minimum credit hours over a period of four years should have his name struck off the member's register.