CPD: Underrated, abused and misunderstood?

Posted by PM | on Thu, 04/11/2010 - 09:22 4891 6 comments

Accountants are missing vital opportunities by misusing their CPD time. Professional development coach Carol McLachlan offers her seven top tips for making the most of your CPD activity.

Two and a half years ago I wrote a piece for AccountingWEB entitled The other P in CPD. Valiantly heralding a new era of learning for accountants, I prophesied a future where ‘P for personal’ would seriously rival its domineering sibling, ‘P for professional’. By 2008, with all CCAB¹ members compliant, IES7² was all set to usher in a brave new world - the end of 'all for one and one for all CPD', the dawn of role and person specific CPD, much more than mere technical prowess.

Here we are trudging towards the end of a grim 2010. Times being hard with more to come, I’m wondering how well are we playing this new game of 21st century CPD?

Some of the concerns presented by my clients and AccountingWEB members suggest we're simply not getting it:

'What course would you recommend for me to fulfil my CPD obligations?’
‘I never have time for technical reading’.
‘CPD always gets left until the last minute’.
‘I’ll just go on a course at the end of the year’.
‘Does this count as CPD?’

These might be anecdotal but they're not untypical and unfortunately they present an outdated view of CPD.

Smart CPD, integrated into our professional roles, planned and executed thoughtfully, adds value, helps us do our jobs better and makes our careers and indeed, our lives, easier, more fulfilling, more agreeable. Sceptical? Read on. It’s not too late to embrace the full glory of CPD.

Continued...

CPD

0098087 | Thu, 04/11/2010 - 11:22 | Permalink

In my experience people do see it as a nessary evil. The amount of people who leave at 'half time' in certain events is amazing. Shame these people are not clocked. Myself, I find that the cost for a one man band is becoming prohitive. Margins are becoming so tight i'm using the free resources. Being AAT it's not measured in hours anymore so reading taxation and the other press..along with loads of free podcasts helps.

CPD

sallycox | Fri, 05/11/2010 - 12:26 | Permalink

I reckon that people who leave 'at half-time' are obviously not paying for it themselves!

I am an FMAAT & an ATT and firmly believe in the value of attending courses as part of my CPD. What I gain from these is not only knowledge and updating of legislation, practice etc but the networking opportunities they offer, which cannot be gained from podcasts etc although I do appreciate their value. One advantage is that you can go over bits you didn't understand the first time!

At least you do seem to be trying to keep your skills and knowledge fresh, which many people abjectly fail to do! I personally go to about 100 hours-worth of lectures per year. Some of these are AAT Branch events which are free to attend, even if they are not held in your immediate area. You could also try to attend AAT 'Connect' events (also free) which are held in areas not specifically covered by a Branch. There may be some of these within easy reach of your area.

Keep it up - you're clearly trying to update your knowledge base. This can only be to the advantage of both you and your clients.

CPD

PK Busness Services | Fri, 05/11/2010 - 19:13 | Permalink

CPD is usefull especially when its updating tax knowledge but

WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO EXPENSIVE......

Why it is always in an unacessable place that you always end up having a full day off

I am a sole practisioner in the west midlands

I have no staff I can leave to do the work

in other words if I dont do it

someone else will nab from under my nose

Its all well and good the associations saying you need to do this that and other and the bigger players in the profession can adopt it and I'm sure use it as a PR vehicle

But for us at the other end of the spectrum its an expensive exercise

just for the record I am AAT qualified but no longer a member because of the policy of compulsory CPD I also have nearly 30yrs on the clock in the profession

so tell me what CPD can do for me apart from empty my pockets