2016 Audit Results

The Institute has completed the first year audit of reported CPD activities for the 2016 CPD reporting year, covering CPD activities for calendar years 2013, 2014 and 2015. The audit showed a generally high level of compliance with Mandatory Continuing Professional Development requirements (Mandatory CPD Policy).

The CPD Policy requires that CPD must be relevant and appropriate to the Member’s* work and professional responsibilities, and must be undertaken at an appropriate level of technical, practical and/or intellectual subject matter, having regard to the experience of the Member. Verifiable activities are those which can be confirmed with evidence, and in many cases, the results of the audit showed appropriate supporting evidence was lacking.

In order to enhance CPD compliance for all members, the Institute wishes to highlight some of the common areas of non-compliance identified as part of the audit:

Evidence for verifiable activities

Insufficient evidence of attending or participating in the CPD activity

Such evidence may have included a third party document, such as a certificate of completion, attendance record such as a sign-in sheet, a registration document, a third party email confirming attendance (by provider or employer), etc. Copies of personal calendar entries or personal time sheets are insufficient forms of evidence. The Institute will also accept as evidence copies of payment at the time of registration (paid invoices).

Insufficient documentation regarding the number of verifiable hours

The documentation retained should include the duration of the conference or event.

Relevance of CPD

A large portion of Members rely on non-CBV Institute events for their CPD hours. In some situations, the relevance of the CPD activity was unclear.

General conferences or CPA Canada or provincial CPA institutes’ events/webinars

It was unclear in many cases how these activities were relevant to the work of the CBV. For example, a Member attending a business forum event should maintain documentation of the topics discussed (an agenda) and how those topics are relevant to the Member’s work and professional responsibilities.

It is important to note that not all CPA bodies’ CPD activities will necessarily be considered relevant to a CBV. Members must comply with the Institute’s CPD policy regarding relevance, and cannot assume that CPA seminars will automatically comply.

Personal skills or soft skills

To be acceptable, CPD activities covering personal skills must reasonably be seen to enhance the Member’s professional capabilities in their capacity as a CBV. For instance, a webinar on negotiation skills may reasonably be relevant to CBVs, whereas a webinar on “following one’s passion” is deemed to be too generic.

Industry CPD

When a Member’s work does not involve applying business valuation on a regular basis, such as may be the case for CBVs in industry, it is critical to be able to document and evidence the relevance of any industry CPD activities. For example, a CBV employed in a field unrelated to finance or accounting, such as a CBV in an HR role, should carefully consider whether their CPD activities are relevant, and whether they have undertaken sufficient CPD to continuously sustain their professional capabilities as a valuator.

We remind Members that they are required to maintain detailed records in support of their reported CPD activities for a period of five years. Failure to do so may result in non-compliance with the CPD Policy.

A Member who is subject to audit and who does not provide appropriate and complete supporting information or whose CPD does not comply with the CPD Policy is given 30 days to provide additional information or explanations, failing which any such individual may be suspended or terminated in accordance with the Institute’s By-laws.

The Institute will continue to annually verify compliance with the Institute’s Mandatory Continuing Professional Development requirements.