For senior finance leaders, CPD isn’t just something to note at renewal time — it’s a professional rhythm that keeps you sharp and credible. Life in a Tech business can be hectic but all Startup CFOs and Scaleup CFOs should be ensuring that they take advantage of our events offering and the way we can support your CPD submission.
Initially the tracking and evidencing CPD can feel like quite the burden when you are so busy with your CFO role. But with a few simple habits, you can make ICAEW CPD record keeping robust, defensible and relatively pain free.
Know the cycle and your deadlines
ICAEW’s CPD year runs from 1 November through 31 October each year.
That’s your planning and delivery window — and it’s worth treating it like a financial year.
Plan your CPD goals early in the cycle (ideally in Q4).
Track both total hours and verifiable hours as you go.
There’s no separate annual submission of your CPD record unless you’re selected for monitoring.
So while there isn’t a “report by X date” in the traditional sense, the 31 October CPD year end and the membership renewal process are de facto your deadlines.
Make evidence your default first step
One of the key expectations for verifiable CPD is that there’s independent proof the learning happened. That could be:
- A certificate of completion
- A provider’s confirmation email
- Screenshot of an LMS course marked “complete”
These are all great examples as to where Startup CFO could come in to support your CPD process. We’ll always make time in October to summarise our records for you to indicate the courses you completed, whether that was Exit Masterclass, our Treasury course for Tech CFOs or one of the 40 other critical topics that we cover.
Choosing activities that naturally generate evidence — structured courses, webinars with attendance logs, internal training with sign-in sheets — it all makes recording easier.
Capture it as it happens
A common CPD failure isn’t lack of learning — it’s lost evidence. Save proof as soon as you complete an activity:
- Certificates or LMS transcripts into a “CPD evidence” folder
- Quarterly calendar reviews to make sure nothing is missing
- Attach evidence into your ICAEW digital record straight away
This avoids a frantic year-end catch-up.
A lot of CPD happens in the normal course of a CFO’s work: workshops, finance leadership forums, peer discussions, on-the-job problem solving. These all count if you can demonstrate relevance to your role and retain some form of record — agenda, invite, slides, or a short reflection on learning.
Leading sessions count as CPD too
If you’re delivering internal sessions or publishing insights, capture:
- Slides
- Event invites
- Links to published content
Teaching others is often some of the most impactful professional development — and strong evidence too. At Startup CFO we occasionally have speaking slots up for grabs, so keep that in mind and feel free to direct message Guy in Slack if that takes your fancy.
Structure informal learning where possible
Reading industry reports, podcasts, technical articles and even watching expert content all contribute to growth. To make these verifiable:
- Record date, title and duration
- Save links or access confirmations
- Add a short note on why it was relevant
That turns informal learning into defensible CPD.
Log concisely, not perfectly
ICAEW doesn’t prescribe a rigid template. What matters is clarity:
- What you did
- Why it was relevant
- When and how long
- Where the evidence is stored
Concise, consistent logs will be sufficient for this to stand up to scrutiny.
So keep all of this in mind and grab a ticket to one of our forthcoming events, our full schedule of which is in the members-only Slack channel. We have the central resource to confirm your attendance, provide past agendas and help you cover off this important requirement for your CFO career.
