According to ICMAI guidelines, the members holding certificates of practice must obtain CPE every year. Before to 2023, a professional with cost accountancy practice should have a minimum training of 15 hours per year. The 15 hours of training is to understand the latest changes and research in the cost auditing field. In the first year of practice or part of the year, the CMA professionals get an exemption from the CPE requirement. In 2024, the ICMAI made structured and unstructured learning activity as mandatory. The blog sheds light on the latest requirement of CPE.
Structured and unstructured learning:
The new guidelines of ICMAI come into practice from the first of April, 2024. The following points shed light on the structured, and unstructured learning and the CPE hours for non-practising cost accountants.
- Members with certificates of practice and doing service to the clients must have 40 CPE credit hours per year. Of the total of forty hours 20 hours must be from structured learning and the balance 20 hours are from unstructured learning. In the case of members residing in foreign countries, the CPE requirement is 20 hours. In the case of members above sixty years, the CPE requirement is 30 CPE hours.
- The credit hour for the hours of structured training is as follows: For less than one hour one credit hour, for one hour and up to 2 hours, for 4 hours of structured training it is four credit hours, one and a half day programmes receive six credit hours, programmes with two days of structured training receives eight credit hours, and programme beyond two hours are valued as ten hours of credit hours.
- In the case of e-learning and CPE webinars, the credit hour calculation is as follows: one hour to two hours taken as one hour, more than two hours and up to four hours taken as two hours, and beyond four hours e-learning goes as four hours of credit hours.
- In the case of unstructured learning activity, the CPE hours are calculated based on the nature of the activity. If the member is acting as a speaker of the programme the CPE hour calculation is based on e-learning or webinars. The technical material publications are valued based on international and national standards. The professional with an international standard receives six hours of CPE. The professionals with a national standard of research receive four hours of CPE. The members doing first-time publication receive ten hours of CPE. The members doing joint authorship receive a CPE of six hours. The members who have published articles in the institute journal receive four hours of CPE. Accountants doing joint authorship for the regional council journals receive two hours of CPE.
- The professionals under certificate and diploma courses receive a CPE equivalent to e-learning or webinars. If the professionals attend the programmes of international bodies, the CPE is equivalent to one hour. If the professionals do courses in foreign institutes, the CPE is calculated based on the credit hour requirement of the foreign institute.
- If the professionals listen to the video, it is equivalent to one hour of CPE. If a professional is helping the M.Phil. Or Ph.D. students, he receives a four-hour CPE. If the professional submits questionnaires, consultative papers or drafts, the member receives a CPE of one hour. In case of review of the article, the professional receives a CPE of one hour.
- Members not holding a certificate of practice must complete 15 CPE credit hours. The member must complete ten hours of learning. Out of ten hours, five hours go to structured learning. The balance of five hours is unstructured learning.
CPE Exemption cases:
The members receive a temporary and permanent exemption from CPE requirements based on age, job role, business, and other services. The following points elucidate the details of exemption to a member:
- Members with certificates of practice aged sixty receive an exemption from the CEP credit hours requirement.
- The member of ICSI works as the member of parliament/MLC/MLA. Civil services and governors of states.
- If the member of ICSI is posted as a judge of the high court, district court, Supreme Court and tribunals, he is exempt from the requirement of completing the CPE credit hours.
- ICSI members doing business are exempt from the CPE requirement in the following cases: entrepreneur of manufacturing unit and professional services.
- Members of military service are exempt from the CPE requirement.
- The female members get an exemption of one year in case of pregnancy.
- The members with disability post qualification are exempt from the requirement of CPE hours temporarily.
- Members with prolonged disease are exempt from the CPE requirement temporarily.
- Members residing out of India receive an exemption of six months six months after checking the documents. If the member working in a foreign country makes use of an MOU, the credit hour requirement is as per the foreign university.
- The members residing in foreign countries may get the CPE hours through the online mode also.
Final Thoughts:
Learning is an ongoing process for professionals. Software engineers do short-term courses to understand the latest version of the technological world. The chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants do the CPE learning activity to understand the changes in the competitive corporate world. Cost accountants work in government, private, public limited and foreign companies. The job demands knowledge and learning activities for the professionals.
