Frequently Asked Questions

SAIPA is a full member of IFAC and members are required to adhere to its CPD requirements in terms of International Education Standards and IFAC’s SMO.

If you are a Tax Practitioner, SAIPA is one of the Recognised Controlling Bodies (RCB) with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and as a member of an RCB, all Tax Practitioners need to adhere to the good standing status includes meeting the minimum education requirements and maintaining your Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

The SAIPA CPD programme will not waste your time. It is aimed at updating your skills in an effective and efficient manner that will help you to:

• improve your professional capacity;
• achieve competence in specific areas that require additional knowledge and expertise;
• apply your professional knowledge, skills, values and ethics to professional activities and responsibilities; and
• increase your credibility, transparency and accountability.

SAIPA has adopted the IFAC 2014 Handbook of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. According to Section 130.3 of the Handbook “the maintenance of professional competence requires a continuing awareness and an understanding of relevant technical, professional and business developments. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) enables a professional accountant to develop and maintain the capabilities to perform skillfully within the professional environment.

The annual CPD calendar is created to address challenges faced by a Professional Accountant (SA) both in business and practice. Topics are selected in the broad categories of tax, ethics, and accounting or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The current CPD regulatory requirement is minimum of 40 CPD hours, comprising a minimum of 20 hours of structured CPD hours (verifiable and compulsory) and 20 unstructured hours over a cycle consisting of one calendar year, within your category of membership.

Any new member during the year must attend and accumulate CPD hours from the date of registration and submit the CPD hours by the 31 December every year. The CPD hours required for compliance will be apportioned based on the period of membership for that year.

Structured CPD hours include:

• attending CPD events presented by SAIPA and/or other recognised professional bodies
• completing an Advanced Certificate in International Finance Reporting Standards (IFRS) for SMEs
• completing IFRS Fundamentals e-Learning
• obtaining an e-certificate on Independent Reviews
• obtaining a certificate in International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)
• viewing past CPD webinar recordings

Unstructured CPD hours include:

• hands-on IT experience which involves new learning
• planned reading of specific articles in the financial press
• project work
• reading relevant articles in the Professional Accountant or in the journals of recognised professional bodies
• regional committee work which develops transferable skills
• technical discussions with colleagues
• visits to other regions/organisations

The onus is on the member to check and ensure that all CPD hours obtained are correctly loaded onto their profile.

CPD compliance will be checked and validated on 31 January of the year following the cut-off date of 31 December of the immediate previous year.

SAIPA members can log in at www.saipa.co.za with their membership number and password and register for CPD events.

Non-members can book attendance at a CPD event by registering as an event attendee on the SAIPA website or send an email to cpd@saipa.co.za.

Webinar Attendance and Cancellations

If you are unable to attend the live webinar, please rest assured that the session will be recorded. The recording will be uploaded to your profile under My Events, where you will be able to view it at your convenience. There is therefore no need to cancel your registration.

Cancellation Policy
Should you wish to cancel your attendance, you may do so up to five working days before the event. A system-generated credit note will be issued automatically once your cancellation has been processed.

How to Cancel Your Registration

1. Log in to your profile.
2. Navigate to Events > My Events.
3. Select View next to the relevant event.
4. Click Cancel Registration.
   A confirmation notification will be sent to your profile. Please check the notification bell for updates.

Cancellations Within Five Working Days
If you need to cancel within five working days of the event, a manual credit note will be required. Kindly email cpd@saipa.co.za with your request and all relevant event details.

Accessing Webinar Recordings

All webinars are hosted online and are recorded. Members are welcome to attend the live session or access the recording afterwards at their convenience.

If you have booked for the event, you can view the recording by navigating to Events > My Events and selecting the relevant webinar. Click View to open the event details.

To access the recording, click Launch to be directed to the verification page. Once the verification is completed, you will be automatically linked to the webinar recording.

CPD Subscription Information

The CPD Subscription is automatically included in the membership fee for all SAIPA members. There is no need to purchase the CPD subscription separately. This benefit provides access to twenty-four webinars per year.
Members are also welcome to book or purchase any of the 25/140 webinar topics available in the Shop, or register for the live sessions directly. Please refer to the SAIPA Events Calendar on our website for upcoming topics.

For Non-Members and Trainees
Non-members and Trainees may purchase a CPD subscription to support their access to webinars. Webinars may also be attended on an ad-hoc basis without subscribing.

How to Purchase the CPD Bundle

1. Log in to your profile.
2. Open the Main Menu.
3. Select Subscriptions.
4. Choose the current year.
5. Click Buy to complete your purchase.

The CPD Subscription is automatically included in your membership fee, with no additional charges or invoices required. This entitlement gives you access to twenty-five webinars each year, designed to support you in remaining compliant and in good standing with the Institute.

Most importantly, the CPD programme ensures that you stay informed about the latest developments in law, legislation, and tax. This enables you to continue providing your clients with accurate, current, and highest-quality professional guidance.

No, it is not applicable to trainees; there will however be a webinar bundle subscription available for trainees.

No, you will only receive one membership fees invoice which includes the 25 CPD.

The focus on CPD is not a compliance tick box approach, but rather the professional development of members. With access to more webinars through the CPD benefit, members will be able to achieve superior professional growth.

No, you will be able to access the 2026 CPD benefit effective from the first webinar of the year.

Yes, you will be able to access the 2026 CPD benefit effective from the first webinar of the year.

Yes, you will be able to use the 2025 CPD benefit to make up any shortfalls in 2024. Your professional status will however be non-compliant – and your Professional Indemnity (PI) cover will therefore be at risk – until your 2024 outstanding hours are fulfilled.

Yes, the 20 webinars amount to 40 structured hours. This allows a member to choose any of the current year (2025) webinars from the full calendar up to a maximum of twenty-five webinars which has been carefully designed to ensure that all mandatory categories are met.

Yes.

The webinars included will offer a member 40 CPD hours. The hours will be allocated to the mandatory categories first. Any additional hours will be allocated to the other structured categories, and any additional hours after that will be allocated to the unstructured categories.

You do not have to attend the livestreaming of the webinars. You should however still register for the livestream webinar in order to access the recording and the assessment, at another time, when you are able to.

No, 2025 CPD benefit will not carry forward to the following year; the 25 webinars must be booked for in the 2025 calendar year.

From 2022, SAIPA membership fees will include the CPD benefit (similar to the PI insurance benefit).