Training and development are a vital element to all levels of membership in ICNZB and assist us in delivering our message of professionalism within our membership. 

ICNZB maintains a Continued Professional Development (CPD) program for its Certified Bookkeeper and Master Bookkeeper members and requires a minimum of 50 hours of registered activities to be logged in each membership year.  Those holding Associate Membership have no minimum requirement, however they are strongly encouraged to participate in the program for their own personal development.

Here is a little bit about why CPD is important to not only our members, but also clients of our members. 

The principle of training and development

Becoming a member of the ICNZB is but the first step in a lifelong process of education, training and development for a New Zealand Bookkeeper.

Training and development is not just a response to immediate work or other needs. The benefits of work experience and other demands are recognised as being professionally very important. But these benefits are enjoyed by non-professionals as well.

There are unique demands upon every profession to identify, develop, promote, maintain and improve upon knowledge and skills which constitute the dynamic expertise of professionals in a rapidly changing society - and Bookkeepers are no exception.

Often professional development comes not from reacting to change but by initiating it.

The pace and volume of changing technology and knowledge means that every professional Bookkeeper must allow sufficient time to absorb the range and depth of new material. By engaging in training and development, Bookkeepers are making a positive investment in their future.

For ICNZB members - accepting a professional engagement or employment opportunity implies that they have the necessary competencies to perform the work effectively. They must, therefore, refrain from undertaking or continuing any engagements which they are not competent to carry out unless they obtain adequate advice and assistance.  This is reflected in Principle 1: Practice Competence in the Code of Ethical Conduct which all members are bound to abide by.

Bookkeepers have a continuing duty to maintain their professional knowledge and skill at a level required to ensure that their clients, or their employers, receive the advantages of competent professional services based on the latest developments in practice, law and business.

When Bookkeepers accept appointments to undertake professional services, or employment, the client or employer is entitled to rely on those persons as being professionally competent to perform the particular engagements or occupations.

All professional education depends upon one thing: integrity.

Professional bodies, like ICNZB are self-regulating - we offer standards, guidelines, provisions and resources for compliance and public recognition. But it is the final responsibility of the Bookkeeper to interpret an activity and to judge within the guidelines whether the activity was personally and professionally developing.

No professional can delegate fully all personal responsibility to a set of rules or pronouncements and still remain a professional.

This personal responsibility is the life blood of a healthy professional body.