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.

CPD event bookings close five working days prior to the event date. Should you want to cancel your booking five or less working days prior to the event, please email cpd@saipa.co.za. No other means of cancellation will be accepted during these last five days.

SAIPA CPD seminars are offered as both physical seminars all over the country and as webinars, which allow you to update your knowledge from the comfort of your home or office. Click here to view 2020 calendars.

SAIPA Members, Non-Members and Trainees can register and purchase the CPD Bundle offers during the subscription period.

The CPD benefit is compulsory for all members who are required to log CPD hours. Members who choose to not use the CPD benefit will still be liable for the full 2022 membership fees.

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 20 CPD webinars.

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 2022 CPD benefit effective from the first webinar of the year.

Yes, you will be able to access the 2022 CPD benefit effective from the first webinar of the year.

Yes, you will be able to use the 2022 CPD benefit to make up any shortfalls in 2021. Your professional status will however be non-compliant – and your Professional Indemnity (PI) cover will therefore be at risk – until your 2021 outstanding hours are fulfilled.

Yes, the 20 webinars amount to 40 structured hours. This allows a member to choose any webinar from the full annual webinar schedule 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, 2022 CPD benefit will not carry forward to the following year; the 20 webinars must be booked for in the 2022 calendar year.

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