This week I’m heading back to school – tax school that is!

As a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), it is a requirement of my membership that I complete 120 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) over a three year continuous period.

The 120 hours must be spread over the course of the three year period, and in each calendar year we are limited to allocating 10 hours to technical reading (despite every accountant I know undertaking far more than 10 hours of technical reading each year!).  Essentially this means we must complete at least 30 hours of technical training by other means.

As a member of CAANZ living in regional Victoria, I try to do as much training as I can by using the internet – but there is something to be said for being in a room full of tax professionals at face-to-face training (I just read that out loud…I promise I mean in a good way!).

This week I’m heading to Melbourne to the National Tax Accountants’ Association (NTAA) Tax Schools Seminar 2015 – this is a great opportunity to get up to date on recent decisions and reforms in our industry and take a look at some year end tax planning strategies (the 13 hours of CPE are very handy also)!

Do you have CPE requirements for your business or profession?  If so, remember that keeping up to date records will help keep you on track and will assist in the event of an audit from your membership body (I keep mine in an excel spread sheet with a running balance so I always know where I’m at!)

Regards