What You Need to Know About Professional Development for CIMA
Research suggests the accounting services market will surpass $847 billion by 2030, driven by digital transformation, increased demand for AI automation, and the growing adoption of integrated finance platforms.
To keep up with this ever-evolving landscape, continuous professional development (CPD) is essential for industry professionals to stay relevant, competent, and competitive.
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, or CIMA, is a global leader in management accounting. The CIMA qualification is respected worldwide and blends finance, leadership, and management accounting skills.
This article will help businesses and professionals understand what CIMA CPD is, what counts towards CIMA continuing education, and more.
Key takeaways
- CIMA CPD ensures that you’re always on the pulse of new developments in your industry.
- Continuing to develop and revisit your training means that you’re business is protected when it comes to staying compliant.
- CIMA doesn’t set a specific number of hours or modules each year to maintain your qualification.
What is CIMA CPD?
CIMA CPD is the continuing professional development scheme for CIMA members—to help financial advisors maintain their qualifications and support their careers. Accounting is a fast-evolving industry, so it’s important for professionals to stay on top of all updates, especially given the shift in skills needed to keep up with the rise of AI solutions.
There are two levels to CIMA:
- Entry qualification: This is a certificate in Business Accounting.
- Professional program: This is split into operational, management, and strategic levels.
The professional qualification is designed to build management and finance accounting skills and leadership techniques to better:
- Analyze financial data
- Form a business strategy
- Make decisions that maintain business growth.
All CIMA members are required to undertake CPD and keep a record of these activities.
In total, the CIMA course has 16 exams, so CIMA continuing education also helps to make sure all this hard work doesn’t go to waste.
How much CPD should you be doing for a CIMA qualification?
CIMA doesn’t set a specific number of hours to record or course units to complete. Instead, the professional body advises members to do as much as they need to, in order to ensure they remain professionally competent and able to meet their career goals.
To help structure your development, CIMA members are encouraged to work through the CPD cycle regularly. But once a year is the minimum.
The cycle framework includes six steps:
- Define current and desired roles.
- Access and identify skills gaps using the CGMA Competency Framework.
- Design development activities to target competency needs.
- Act on these development activities.
- Reflect and document the outcome of each activity.
- Evaluate all progress against your objectives.
What counts as CIMA CPD?
CIMA is outcome-based, so any activity that helps to enhance your skills can count towards your CPD. This can include activities to improve your technical, business, digital, leadership, or people skills.
It also extends to training exercises that build your experience in ethics, integrity, and professionalism.
Professional CIMA courses and certifications
Formal qualifications by other professional bodies or specialized CIMA courses can help to deepen your expertise in the financial industry. You may consider advanced diplomas or specialized certificates in relevant fields, such as data analytics or sustainability reporting. Or you may decide to take on higher management qualifications in accounting and finance.
Formal qualifications help you to secure in-depth knowledge alongside structured learning.
Employer-led training
Work-based learning and project work can help to build your practical skills in a professional environment. This may span anything from internal workshops and in-house training schemes to mentorship programs.
Other training may include job shadowing, online courses, e-learning, and secondments. Secondments are similar to an educational exchange program—they're temporary work placements in a different role within a new team or department.
You may also improve your skills through mentorship by being coached by a professional who can provide you with coaching notes and feedback on your progress.
Conferences, seminars, and webinars
CPD isn’t limited to formal courses. Events like conferences, seminars, and webinars can help to expose you to new ideas and build industry connections that can benefit your professional development.
The value of networking cannot be overstated—meeting people in your industry helps you build relationships and gain insights from those more experienced in your field. Plus, in such a rapidly changing industry, it’s beneficial to hear from experts about evolving market trends and new best practices.
The CIMA network organizes both face-to-face and virtual events every year to help members and students keep up with the latest news and network with colleagues.
Self-study and research
You can also contribute to your CIMA CPD through self-study. This could be through researching industry publications, journals, and books, or reviewing learning platforms and podcasts. It may also involve participation in special interest groups or discussion forums.
As long as it contributes to your professional development, the world’s your oyster when it comes to what work counts towards your CIMA CPD.
Why you should do CPD for your CIMA qualification
CIMA focuses on what you’ve learned and how you’ve applied it—beyond just the time spent. CIMA continuing education allows you to further advance your skills and industry confidence, helping with your career development.
The CPD cycle links CPD activities to professional roles and responsibilities, helping keep your development focused. While CPD is mandatory, there are countless benefits of CIMA continuing education. Here are just a few:
- Career progression: Skills development and increased experience may lead to specialist and senior roles in the future. Remember, every relevant course you take is a steppingstone.
- Company asset: Become an indispensable asset to your organization through keeping up to date with new best practice approaches, from dedicating time to getting better acquainted with data analytics to using AI solutions.
- Stay ahead: Future-proof your career by staying relevant in a changing industry. Get ahead of the curve on industry trends and stay informed about strategic insights.
- Personal fulfillment: Build real-world confidence by advancing your expertise and practical skills in your field. Pique your curiosity and learn about topics that interest you.
Documentation best practices for audits or reviews
It’s important to keep a record of all training completed as part of your CIMA CPD. You should maintain a detailed report featuring any activities that are relevant to your daily role and continued career development. You can include activities that are identified, in progress, or completed.
You can use the official CIMA professional development form.
Make sure to:
- Include the dates you plan to start and achieve each objective.
- Record the activity and reflect on each to show your understanding and the impact on your role and performance.
- Recognize any gaps in learning and how you can fill these in the future.
- Use critical self-assessment to evaluate your overall year.
Depending on your role or CIMA member status, you may need to show additional evidence of anti-money laundering obligations or how you’re keeping up with tax regulations.
All CIMA members need to keep their CPD records up to date. But only a random selection is chosen for monitoring. If you need to submit your records, you will be notified by email or post. If selected, you need to submit your CPD record for the last year.
Seek out training that supports you
As you know, CIMA CPD is much more than a mandatory exercise—it’s an opportunity for ongoing investment in your skills, career, and professional development. CIMA continuous education helps you to become an asset to your company, increase your employability, and enhance your personal job satisfaction.
Stay at the top of your game and seek out training activities that support your CIMA qualification. Whether through attending events and conferences, undergoing a work placement, or reviewing industry journals, find a method of learning and developing skills in a way that suits you and your role.