Free verifiable CPD hours for accountants: what actually counts
Free CPD is easy to find. Free CPD you can prove in a review is harder.
The difference has nothing to do with price. A free webinar with a certificate is as verifiable as a paid one. A paid course that leaves you with no evidence counts no more than a free video. What matters is the evidence.
The test for any free source
Before you spend an hour on something, ask one question: what will I have afterwards to show I did it?
A certificate of completion, an attendance record or an assessment result means the hour can be verifiable, provided it’s relevant to your work. Nothing at all means it can still count, but only as non-verifiable, which is useful for the other half of your requirement.
Where to find free CPD, ranked by the evidence you get
Source | What’s available | Evidence you usually get | Usually counts as |
Your own professional body | ACCA offers members free webinars, podcasts and articles with multiple-choice questions. CPA Australia offers complimentary online courses, podcasts and articles. ICAEW runs free CPD events and community webinars. CPA Canada and the provincial bodies have run free webinars | Certificate or record, for most courses and webinars | Verifiable |
Your employer | Internal training, technical updates, induction on new standards | Attendance record or employer confirmation | Verifiable |
Software you already use | Many accounting, tax and planning software providers run free training academies | Certificate of completion, often | Verifiable, if relevant to your role |
Your public library | Some libraries give members free access to online learning platforms | Certificate of completion, often | Verifiable, if relevant |
YouTube, podcasts and articles | Almost unlimited | None | Non-verifiable, unless you add an assessment |
Start at the top. Your own body’s free content has a built-in advantage: nobody can question whether that body recognises it.
Three limits of free CPD
Topic fit. Free catalogues cover popular topics well. If you specialise in, say, insolvency or a particular industry, the free options thin out fast. Every hour still has to be relevant to your role.
Ethics hours. Most bodies need specific, verifiable ethics hours: four over three years for CPA Ontario and CPA BC, one every year for ICAEW, two every year for CPA Australia. Free general content rarely covers them. Look for dedicated ethics sessions, or budget for one.
Timing. Free live webinars run on the provider’s schedule, not your deadline. In December, the free sessions you needed may already have happened.
A free-first plan for a 40-hour year
Here’s how an ACCA member, needing 40 units with 21 verifiable, could cover most of the year without paying for a course:
Hours | From | Counts as |
19 | Reading, podcasts and YouTube, logged as you go | Non-verifiable |
12 | ACCA’s free webinars and articles with questions | Verifiable |
5 | Employer training | Verifiable |
4 | Still to find | Verifiable |
Most members end up in the same place: the free sources cover most of it, and a few verifiable hours are left over, usually on a topic the free catalogues don’t cover, found in the last month of the year.
Where CPDProof fits
CPDProof isn’t free beyond the 2 hours you get when you sign up, and we’d rather say so plainly. What it does is make the free learning you already do count as evidence. The videos and articles in the bottom row of the table become assessed, certified hours you can check through a QR code.
That’s usually the cheapest way to close those last few verifiable hours: the Essential plan gives you 15 hours for $39, on topics you choose. Your body still decides what it accepts. See plans [link: /buy-credits]
Sources: ACCA, Members’ CPD FAQs · CPA Australia, Complimentary online CPD for members · ICAEW, Free CPD conference · CPA Ontario, CPD requirements · CPABC, CPD requirements