HKICPA members complete at least 120 hours of relevant professional development in each rolling three-year period, 60 of them verifiable, with at least 20 hours in every year. Within those figures sit an annual ethics minimum, a structured learning floor, and extra hours for practising certificate holders, specialist designation holders and responsible persons of registered PIE auditors. This article covers the numbers, what counts, the records you keep, and how the Institute's compliance audit works.
1. HKICPA CPD Requirements at a Glance
| Requirement | What the rules say |
|---|---|
| Governing rule | Statement 1.500 Continuing Professional Development, Members' Handbook Volume I |
| Rolling three-year total | 120 hours of relevant professional development |
| Verifiable minimum | 60 hours, of which at least 30 must be structured learning |
| Annual minimum | 20 hours, of which at least 2 verifiable hours must be ethics-related |
| Practising certificate holders | 5 verifiable hours a year in accounting or auditing, within the 60 |
| Responsible persons of registered PIE auditors | 5 verifiable hours a year on PIE engagement subjects, within the 60 |
| Specialist designation holders | 5 verifiable hours a year in the designation subject, within the 60 |
| CPD year | 1 December to 30 November |
| Records | Retained a minimum of five years and produced when selected for audit |
| Declaration | Made in the Annual Return for membership renewal |
| Verification | Annual CPD compliance audit of selected members |
Each row above is a requirement, not a recommendation. Anywhere a point is guidance rather than an obligation, this article flags it.
2. Who Must Comply with HKICPA's CPD Requirements
All members are required to undertake and record relevant CPD that develops and maintains the professional competence needed to perform their role as a professional accountant, unless exempt. The obligation attaches to membership, not to the type of work performed.
Four groups carry requirements beyond the general minimum:
- Practising certificate holders: complete at least five verifiable hours a year in accounting or auditing.
- Responsible persons of registered public interest entity auditors: complete at least five verifiable hours a year on PIE engagement subjects. HKICPA's FAQ lists the qualifying areas: accounting and auditing standards relating to the PIE engagements carried out and professional scepticism, the Stock Exchange Listing Rules, quality management standards, professional ethics relevant to accountants in public practice, regulatory and inspection findings reports, and the AFRC Ordinance.
- Specialist designation holders: complete at least five verifiable hours a year in the subject of their designation. The two ethics hours sit on top of those five rather than inside them. For the Insolvency designation, HKICPA states that no exemption from CPD compliance is generally granted, in order to serve the public interest, and that holders meeting the general requirement through another body's regime still complete the five insolvency hours.
- Former members restored to the register: or issued a practising certificate after a period off the register, may have conditions imposed by Council.
Dual-qualified members have a route that removes duplication. Members who also hold an active licence from a State Board of Accountancy in the United States, or membership of one of the Global Accounting Alliance institutes, need only satisfy that body's CPD requirements to be treated as meeting HKICPA's. Practising certificate holders and specialist designation holders are excluded from that facility.
3. How Many Hours You Need, and How They're Counted
The measure is hours of relevant professional development activity. Two tests run at once, and clearing one doesn't excuse the other.
| Test | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Each rolling three-year period | 120 hours total, 60 verifiable, at least 30 of those verifiable hours from structured learning |
| Each CPD year | 20 hours total, at least 2 verifiable hours of it ethics-related |
The role-based hours in the previous section are counted inside the 60 verifiable hours rather than added to the 120. The ethics requirement is the exception to that nesting: for specialist designation holders, the two ethics hours are in addition to the five designation hours.
Members are required to measure their learning activities against these requirements, which means recording hours as you go rather than reconstructing them later.
4. The CPD Year and the Rolling Three-Year Period
The reporting period for each year commences on 1 December, so a CPD year runs 1 December to 30 November.
The three-year period rolls. A member admitted in 2019 had a first period running 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2022, a second running 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2023, and so on. Every year, the oldest year drops out of the calculation and the newest drops in.
New members are pro-rated. Where you join partway through a CPD year, the 20-hour annual minimum applies on a pro-rata basis for the remainder of that year, and your rolling cycle starts on the subsequent 1 December.
5. Verifiable Hours, Structured Learning and Ethics
Three categories matter, and they nest inside each other.
- Verifiable CPD: is activity that can be objectively verified by a competent source, capable of demonstrating that the claimed number of learning hours was undertaken. Non-verifiable CPD has no evidence to substantiate the hours claimed. Both count toward the 120; only verifiable hours count toward the 60.
- Structured learning: is the newer distinction. HKICPA defines it as activity providing clear objectives and a defined syllabus of learning and professional development, and names webinars, workshops, e-learning and conferences as examples. At least half of your 60 verifiable hours must come from this category.
- Ethics-related CPD: generally involves ethical principles or theories that enhance ethical decision-making relevant to your role as a professional accountant. Two verifiable hours are required in every CPD year, not averaged across the triennium.
Effective dates worth knowing, since the revised Statement 1.500 phased them in: the ethics requirement for responsible persons of registered PIE auditors and practising certificate holders took effect on 1 December 2025, and the remaining changes, the annual ethics minimum for all members, the structured learning floor, and the accounting or auditing hours for PC holders take effect with the cycle starting 1 December 2026.
6. What Counts as Eligible CPD
HKICPA takes a broad view of what develops professional competence. The Institute's FAQ names education, training, practical experience, mentoring and coaching, networking, observation, feedback and reflective activities, and self-development activities as learning and development relevant to members' roles.
| Activity | How the hours count |
|---|---|
| Webinars, workshops, e-learning and conferences with defined objectives and syllabus | Verifiable and structured learning, where evidence of attendance or completion exists |
| Courses run by HKICPA | Verifiable, supported by confirmation of registration for online courses |
| Courses run by other providers | Verifiable on the same evidence basis. Training organised by providers other than the Institute may be counted |
| Formal study and examinations | Verifiable, supported by examination result slips |
| Accounting or auditing subjects | Verifiable, and counting toward the PC holder annual minimum |
| PIE engagement subjects listed by HKICPA | Verifiable, and counting toward the responsible person annual minimum |
| Ethics-related activity | Verifiable, and counting toward the annual two-hour ethics minimum |
| Self-study, reading and informal learning | Non-verifiable, filling the balance of the 120 hours |
What doesn't count
- Activity you can't objectively verify, toward the 60 verifiable hours. It may still sit in your non-verifiable balance.
- Verifiable activity that lacks clear objectives and a defined syllabus, toward the 30-hour structured learning floor.
- Activity with no relevance to your role as a professional accountant. Members selected for audit provide a statement on the relevancy of their activities alongside the supporting documents.
- Hours beyond the caps HKICPA retains on certain verifiable activities. The Institute removed its caps on non-verifiable activities in the revised Statement, and kept caps on some verifiable categories.
7. Online Learning, Self-Study, Webinars and On-Demand Education
HKICPA doesn't restrict CPD to its own programmes. Training organised by other providers may be counted, and the Institute describes online programmes as a way of earning verifiable hours anytime and anywhere.
Where online learning lands depends on two things rather than one. Evidence decides whether it's verifiable. Design decides whether it's structured learning: clear objectives and a defined syllabus move an activity from the general verifiable pool into the category that has to fill at least half of your 60 verifiable hours.
The overarching requirement is that the activity develops and maintains the professional competence needed for your role, that you can measure the hours, and that you can show relevance if asked. Hours become verifiable when a competent source can objectively confirm the learning took place, with acceptable evidence including attendance records, examination result slips and confirmation of course registration. HKICPA assesses CPD one member and one activity at a time, and no provider is pre-approved. In HKICPA's terms, online self-study built around stated objectives and a defined syllabus, with documented completion, falls into verifiable CPD and into structured learning.
EverCPE.com provides e-learning for accountants that may help you fulfil your CPD requirements.
EverCPE.com is interactive e-learning rather than passive reading. Each learning session comes with:
- Content shaped around the exact accounting and auditing questions you have, instead of generic off-the-shelf courses
- Substantive material organised around clear learning objectives
- Knowledge checks with feedback as you go, so you fix any misunderstanding while you work through the learning session
- Scored multiple-choice questions that check whether you understand the material
- A certificate of completion once you complete the learning session, naming you, the session and the hours
- A full downloadable handout covering the session, its learning objectives, and its content
In short, EverCPE.com leaves you with documentation and evidence of the learning you completed.
8. Records, Reporting, Declarations and Compliance Audits
Members maintain appropriate records of all CPD activities completed in each rolling three-year period. Those records and the documentary evidence behind them must be sufficient to support attendance at or completion of the activities, be retained for a minimum of five years, and be produced when selected for an audit conducted by the Institute.
The declaration runs through membership renewal. CPD compliance is one of the requirements for annual renewal, and the CPD declaration forms part of the Annual Return, alongside updates to contact details, employment status and the fit and proper declaration required under section 28(2)(d) of the Professional Accountants Ordinance. Membership registration expires on 31 December each year, and related applications are submitted on or before 15 December. Members who have been granted an exemption still address CPD in the Annual Return.
HKICPA runs a CPD compliance audit every year. Members selected provide two things:
| Provided on audit | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Supporting documents for every verifiable activity claimed | Confirming the hours were undertaken |
| A statement on the relevancy of the activities | Confirming the learning relates to the member's role |
| A completed CPD Record Form summarising verifiable and non-verifiable hours by CPD year | Setting out the three-year position |
Acceptable supporting sources include attendance records, examination result slips and confirmation of registration for HKICPA online courses. Members who declared compliance through the State Board or GAA facility send their CPD records from that body instead of completing the summary.
Where a member falls short, the Institute considers applications and extension periods case by case and advises the remedial action required. Because CPD sits among the renewal requirements, a member who doesn't meet them can be removed from the register by the Institute.
9. Exemptions, Reduced Requirements and Special Circumstances
Exemption is claimed by declaration, supported by documentary evidence, and HKICPA sets the criteria tightly. Appendix 2 to Statement 1.500 carries the Guidance on Exemptions. The confirmation form requires a member to declare all of the following:
- Not carrying out any accountancy or accountancy-related work, paid or unpaid, and not planning to for a significant period of time
- Not a practising certificate holder
- Not a specialist designation holder
- Not a responsible person of a registered PIE auditor
- Not a director of any company, listed or unlisted
That last condition is stricter than members often expect. HKICPA states that a directorship carries governance, accountancy and tax-related responsibilities, so a member holding one doesn't qualify for exemption. The Institute applies this to all directorships of any company, including dormant or inactive companies and companies that exist to hold residential property or club memberships.
Supporting evidence is required with the declaration. HKICPA accepts an employment or retirement letter showing the last employment date, a provisional tax hold-over notice, an employer or tax return showing the last working date, a job description setting out the roles and responsibilities of the employment, an offer letter for a full-time study programme, a medical certificate, or other relevant documentary evidence.
Two other routes reduce what you do rather than removing it. The State Board and GAA facility substitutes another body's requirements for HKICPA's, for members who aren't PC or specialist designation holders. New members receive pro-rated annual hours in their year of admission.
10. Official HKICPA Sources and Member Responsibility
This article sets out HKICPA's published rules as at the research date in the verification log below. It doesn't replace Statement 1.500, HKICPA's own guidance, or advice about your situation.
Research verified: 23 September 2026, against Statement 1.500 Continuing Professional Development as revised by Members' Handbook Update No. 335, and HKICPA's published CPD guidance as at that date.
| Source | What it supports | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| HKICPA Members' Handbook — Statement 1.500, Volume I | The four core obligations, production of records on audit, structured learning definition, pro-rated hours for new members, State Board and GAA facility, acceptable evidence sources, exemption criteria including the directorship condition, and the supporting documents accepted | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — Continuing professional development requirements | The four core obligations, five-year record retention, production of records on audit | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — How to Achieve CPD Hours | Definition and examples of structured learning activity | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — FAQ on CPD requirements | PIE engagement subject list, specialist designation hours, the CPD year, categories of learning and development activity | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — FAQ on Annualq Renewal | CPD declaration within the Annual Return, fit and proper declaration, 15 December submission, 31 December expiry, removal for unmet renewal requirements, case-by-case extensions | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — Quick Guide to CPD | Pro-rated hours for new members, State Board and GAA facility, acceptable evidence sources, other providers' training counting | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — Continuing professional development requirements | Exemption criteria including the directorship condition, and the supporting documents accepted | 23 Sep 2026 |
| HKICPA — CPD requirements for SD (Insolvency) holders | Designation hours continuing where another body's regime is used, and the position on exemptions | 23 Sep 2026 |
Disclaimer: CPD requirements can depend on individual membership status, professional circumstances, jurisdiction and other factors. Requirements may also change over time. Members are responsible for confirming their current CPD obligations directly with HKICPA and, where applicable, their local jurisdiction, employer, regulator or other relevant authority. EverCPE.com does not guarantee that completion of any particular course will satisfy a member's individual CPD requirements.
