Continuing Professional Education

Continuing professional education (CPE) is needed by Charted Professional Accountants for maintaining their professional knowledge and competence and offer high-quality professional accounting services. The charted professional accountants have the responsibility of complying with different CPE requirements, regulations and rules of the state boards of accountancy and those of professional organizations and member associations.

A number of topics are covered under Continuing Professional Education, which basically help CPAs to keep abreast with the new rules and regulations as well as practices that are used in the profession of accounting. CPE also educates the accountants on general accounting and business related information that they can utilize for better advising their own set of clients.

Objectives of CPE

Continuing Professional Education basically focuses on fostering a culture of learning on a continuous basis with the aim of improving technical expertise and knowledge in addition to professional accounting expertise of the people who have the license to become an accountant. It is hoped that through continuing professional education prorgramme, investors would get an assurance that the people who have received their licenses have the technical expertise, knowledge, ethical and professional skills and standards that are needed to perform several accounting related activities and functions, fairly and efficiently. Apart from this, given that CPE ensures that the accountants follow high standards, the faith of global community also increases in the people who have acquired the license. A licensed person must complete the CPE programme to collate the CPE points that are required for renewing of license.

Thus, CPE is basically required by holders of CMSRL (Capital Markets and Services Representative's License) who deal in securities, fund management, offer advice on corporate finance, trade in future contracts, provide investment advices and are involved in financial planning.

The CMSA now prescribes that all the holders of the CMSRL are not supposed to renew their licenses any more. This is effective from the 3^rd of October 2011. Instead, they will now have to submit information on a yearly basis on the date of anniversary of the license (i.e. the date from which the license expired). Thus, they will now be submitting Form 6 - 'Anniversary Reporting for Authorisation of Activity.