The Benefits of Continuous Professional Development in Accounting - Henderson Edition

Improving Technological Competence

From automation to artificial intelligence and advanced software, technology is changing the accounting industry at breakneck speed. Whilst these tools can greatly enhance the productivity of accounting processes, it is only possible when accountants know how to make the most of them.

Some CPD programmes include training on the latest accounting software and other tools. As a result, accountants can work more quickly, make fewer mistakes and produce more useful analyses. Today, technological knowledge is essential for the role, and CPD is the way to keep track of it.

Enhancing Professional Skills

While it is certainly true accounting being highly numerate, an accountant’s focus is often on strong verbal and written communication, problem-solving and analytical skills. Undertaking CPD enables the refinement of such key skills – for instance, relationship-building with clients; ethical decision-making; and critical thinking feature highly in many CPD programmes.

By improving these skills, accountants will be better equipped to read the room, make more informed decisions, provide better and more appropriate advice, and communicate financial information in a form others can more easily comprehend. Accountants will be more productive because they will build more positive relationships with clients and colleagues, and with the tools they need to access.

Boosting Career Opportunities

Competitive job market. Going through CPD will make an accountant more employable: employers like competent workers who are willing to constantly learn about the latest trends and develop their skills. CPD helps to expand one’s work and career prospects.

CPD is also useful in helping accountants to specialize in a field, such as forensic accounting, tax planning, auditing and so on. Specialization leads to higher paying roles and more challenging assignments. CPD also provides the knowledge and skills to obtain further professional certifications. This is seen as a prestigious mark of competence and helps to further advance career opportunities.

Maintaining Professional Certification

Most professional accounting bodies require their members completing CPD in order to remain certified. For example, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) demand all members complete between 40 and 80 CPD hours per year.

This is an example of why CPD is required: CPAs must maintain professional standards and continue to provide good service. If they fail to fulfill their CPD requirements, their certification can be revoked, which could have a serious impact on their career. CPD therefore does more than simply help CAs to keep up to date with developments. It is also vital for validating their professional status.

Enhancing Client Confidence

Ethos is reinforced when they put time and money into continuous development: this signals to their clients they take pride in maintaining appropriate standards, and are keen to keep up with industry developments.

This can in turn increase client confidence, enhance client relationships and foster long-term client engagement. Clients are more likely to entrust their business to accountants who are kept up to date with the latest regulations and technologies and appear to show an eagerness to maintain a professional edge.

Fostering Innovation and Adaptability

In fact, this career is no longer just an arithmetic pursuit, and it doesn’t necessarily involve number crunching, counting beans and filing documents. An increasingly important role for accountants is to add value through strategic insights and innovative solutions. Continuous development is something we can all benefit from. It encourages us to think laterally, to look for new ways to evaluate, improve, and enhance our processes and service.

With the formal CPD requirements, accountants will be encouraged to stay connected with CPD on an ongoing basis, which in turn will maintain a learning mindset open to change and innovation, and help build a profession being responsive to new challenges and opportunities, not just now but in the future. By developing and maintaining high levels of engagement, not only can the profession keep up with ongoing changes, it can stay ahead of the curve by developing innovative solutions to problems.

Improving Workplace Efficiency

If accountants are well-trained, offices become more efficient: well-versed accountants can work faster, make less mistakes, and handle more complex tasks. This increased efficiency can help to cut costs for businesses, and also aid in the financial management of companies.

CPD also encourages them to stay abreast of industry best practices, and by incorporating these in their practice they can make internal processes more efficient, thereby reducing redundancies, improving workflows in the firm, and enhancing the productivity of teams within the firm, contributing to the success of the organization.

Meeting Ethical Standards

The very reason for the accounting profession is based on ethics. Accountants always have to deal with a certain level of gray area, so keeping a high ethical score becomes extremely important. Often the CPD programmes include ethical training to help accountants respond to these issues.

When accountants keep themselves informed before the fact of the applicable ethical standards and the ways appropriate to implement them in concrete factual circumstances, the integrity of the profession is protected. And protected it should be, not only for the sake of the accountant but also from the perspective of the client and of the public.

Personal Satisfaction and Growth

Aside from the career benefits, CPD also brings with it personal development. Learning new skills, gaining knowledge and being challenged helps to promote a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from one’s work. It’s often the case, those accountants who prioritize professional development also find their work more rewarding and more motivating to do well in.

Moreover, life-long learning can also be an antidote to burnout. When our work is full of opportunities to develop new competences, to learn new things and to find new challenges, it tends to be more interesting and fulfilling. The accountants who never tinkered with tax forms and business websites were at a risk of a career stagnation and burnout.