ICAI CPE hours by 31 December 2026: what each partner needs, the three new mandatory topics, and a tracker

In November, most partners know roughly how many CPE hours they have, and few know exactly. The hours that are still short are usually the structured ones, and this year there are three specific topics to fit in as well. With eight weeks left, a short list per member, kept by the firm, turns a December scramble into a few planned sessions.

The hours for 2026

ICAI's CPE FAQs, last updated 22 May 2026, set the requirement for each calendar year:¹

Age is worked out on a single cut-off: a member who reaches 60, 70 or 80 at any time during the calendar year follows that age group's requirement for the whole year.¹

The three mandatory topics from 2026

ICAI's Council made one structured CPE hour each on "Standards on Auditing", "Code of Ethics" and "Digital Technology" mandatory from calendar year 2026, three structured hours in all, through Digital Learning Hub structured videos or physical mode. It applies to members in practice under 60 and to members in practice aged 60 to under 70, and can be done at any time in the year.¹

Online hours and unstructured hours

• The online limit. Of the 20 structured hours, 4 can be earned online through the Digital Learning Hub. Structured hours earned online beyond that count as unstructured; hours from physical programmes still count as structured.¹
• How structured hours appear. They are credited when the programme organiser uploads the attendance, so a session attended in December may show up late.¹
• Unstructured hours. These are claimed by a self-declaration on the CPE portal, and the declaration must be submitted on or before 31 December of the year.¹
• Last year's shortfall. For 2025, the declaration window has closed, and ICAI asks members to make up twice the shortfall in 2026, declared under the year 2026.¹

Exemptions worth knowing

A member is exempt for the calendar year in which they first become a member. Temporary exemptions exist, for example for one calendar year on grounds of pregnancy, and for some medical grounds with the documents ICAI lists. From 2026, a member who generates a UDIN in a year for which they seek exemption must still do at least 10 hours of learning for that period.¹ UDIN itself is covered in our UDIN guide.

A firm's tracker

Our recommendation is one line per member in the firm, partners and qualified staff, updated once a month:

• the member's category and age group for 2026, and the total hours needed;
• structured hours so far, with how many were online;
• the three mandatory topics: done or not;
• unstructured hours, and whether the self-declaration is submitted;
• any shortfall carried from 2025, doubled.

Messages you can copy

These go to your own partners and staff. Replace the words in brackets.

The year's client-facing deadlines, which compete for the same December weeks, are in our compliance calendar, and the advance tax work for 15 December in our advance tax reminders.

What can run by itself

• The tracker, kept from the hours each member reports, with the total needed worked out from their category and age.
• The monthly check and the December reminders, sent only to members who are still short, as in our client reminders.
• Certificates and attendance proof, filed under each member as they arrive, as in our document processing.

What stays with your team

• Which programmes to attend, and whether the firm books them together.
• The self-declaration, which each member makes on their own CPE portal account.
• Exemption claims, with the documents ICAI asks for.

More of what we write for CA practices is on the blog.

Questions CAs ask