Quick reference Activities are the individual learning events in your CPD record — a course attended, an article read, a presentation given. Each activity has a status (Planned → In Progress → Completed), a duration, and optionally a reflection and linked resources. Completed activities with reflective statements are the core of your CIMA form submission.
5.1 Activities and objectives — understanding the relationship
Before diving into how activities work, it helps to understand how they relate to objectives.
Objectives define what you want to achieve — the development outcome. An objective might be: “Improve my understanding of IFRS 17 to intermediate level.”
Activities define what you do to achieve it — the specific work. Activities for that objective might be: an online course, reading three journal articles, attending a webinar.
This is the same logic as a project plan: the objective is the deliverable, the activities are the tasks. An objective can have multiple activities. An activity can optionally be linked to an objective — but activities can also be logged independently (for ad-hoc learning that doesn’t map to a planned objective).
Reflection links the two: CIMA requires a reflective statement on each development objective — what was learned, what changed, what would be done differently. In CPDFlow, reflections are written on individual activities, and then feed into the objective’s overall record. This matches how CIMA structures the Professional Development Record Form.
5.2 Activity types and categories
Every activity is classified as either Formal or Informal, and then by a specific category.
Formal vs Informal
| Type | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Formal | Structured, often externally delivered or assessed | Courses, conferences, qualifications, exams |
| Informal | Self-directed, unstructured or experiential | Reading, on-the-job learning, mentoring, networking |
CIMA does not prescribe a ratio between formal and informal — both count equally towards your CPD record. In practice, many members find informal activities make up the majority of their actual development.
Categories
- Formal training courses
- Conferences and seminars
- Reading and research (articles, journals, books)
- On-the-job learning
- Mentoring and coaching (giving or receiving)
- Professional networking
- Writing and presenting
- Online courses and webinars
- Professional body events
- Other (with free-text description)
5.3 Creating an activity
Go to Activities in the sidebar and select + Log Activity.
Required fields
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Title | A short, descriptive title for the activity |
| Type | Formal or Informal |
| Category | Select from the list above |
| Start date | The date the activity began — mandatory for CIMA compliance |
| End date | The date the activity ended (or the same day for a single-session event) |
| Duration | Time spent in hours and minutes |
| Status | Planned / In Progress / Completed |
Optional fields
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Description | Longer description of the activity and what it involved |
| Learning objectives | What you intended to learn from this activity |
| Learning outcomes | What you actually learned |
| Linked objective(s) | Which development objective(s) this activity supports |
| Competency areas | CGMA competencies this activity addresses |
| Provider / Source | Who delivered the training, or where the material came from |
| Reflective statement | Your reflection on the activity (see Section 5.6) |
| Resources | Linked URLs, files and notes (see Section 5.7) |
Status — Planned vs In Progress vs Completed:
- Use Planned for activities you intend to do in future (e.g. a course booked for next month)
- Use In Progress for activities underway or partially complete
- Use Completed for activities that are done
Only Completed activities with reflective statements are fully counted for CIMA compliance purposes — Planned and In Progress activities are tracked but flagged as incomplete.
5.4 Time already spent (for new In Progress activities)
If you are creating a new In Progress activity and you have already spent time on it, an amber Time already spent panel appears on the form. Enter the hours and minutes and optionally add a note. This time is logged as a timer session attached to the activity.
This is particularly useful when promoting an Inbox item to a new activity — the time you recorded at capture is pre-filled here.
5.5 Activity statuses
Activities follow a simple lifecycle:
Planned → In Progress → Completed
→ Cancelled| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Planned | Scheduled for the future — not yet started |
| In Progress | Underway or partially complete |
| Completed | Finished — reflection can be added |
| Cancelled | Will not happen — kept in the record for transparency |
You can move between statuses at any time by editing the activity.
Overdue planned activities: If an activity has a status of Planned and its end date has passed, the dashboard shows an amber warning: ”⚠ N planned activities are overdue.” This is a prompt to either complete the activity, update the dates, or cancel it. Leaving activities in Planned indefinitely makes your record inaccurate.
5.6 Writing a reflective statement (Step 5 — Reflect)
A reflective statement is the most important part of any activity record for CIMA compliance purposes. It answers the question: what changed as a result of this learning?
CIMA’s Professional Development Record Form asks, for each development objective:
- What was the learning activity?
- What did you learn?
- How has this benefited you or your organisation?
CPDFlow captures this as a free-text reflective statement on each activity. When you generate your CIMA Declaration, the reflections on activities linked to each objective are used to populate these fields.
Tips for writing effective reflections
Be specific. “I learned about IFRS 17” is too vague. “I can now explain the key differences in liability measurement between IFRS 4 and IFRS 17, and have drafted a summary for my team” is specific and audit-ready.
Write at the time. Reflection written immediately after an activity is more accurate and requires less effort than retrospective reflection weeks later.
Address the outcome, not just the activity. The CIMA form is not asking what you did — it is asking what changed. Focus on the impact: what can you do now that you couldn’t before, and how does that benefit your work?
You do not have to complete it immediately. The reflective statement is optional at creation time. You can add or update it at any point. The quarterly review will surface activities that are Completed but lack a reflection.
5.7 Resources — linking evidence to an activity
Resources let you attach URLs, files and notes to an activity as supporting evidence.
Adding a resource
Open an activity and scroll to the Resources section. Select + Add Resource.
| Resource type | Use for |
|---|---|
| Link | A URL — article, online course, webinar recording, reference page |
| Note | A free-text note — key points from a book, summary of a conversation |
For each resource you can add:
- Title
- URL (for links)
- Content / notes
- Resource date (when you accessed or used it)
Resources added when promoting an Inbox item are created automatically — the captured URL becomes a link resource on the activity.
5.8 Viewing and editing activities
The Activities list shows all activities in the selected cycle. You can filter by:
- Status (Planned / In Progress / Completed / Cancelled)
- Type (Formal / Informal)
- Linked objective
Select any activity to open its detail view. From the detail view you can:
- Edit any field
- Change status
- Add or edit a reflective statement
- Add resources
- View linked timer sessions
5.9 Deleting an activity
Activities can be deleted from the edit form. Deleting an activity is permanent. If an activity is linked to a timer session, the timer session is also deleted.
Consider cancelling rather than deleting. A cancelled activity — one you planned but didn’t do — is honest information. It shows what you intended and what changed. Deleting it loses that context. Cancel rather than delete unless the activity was created in error.
What’s next?
With activities logged, your quarterly reviews bring everything together — reviewing objective progress, making dispositions, and keeping your plan current. See Chapter 8 — Quarterly Reviews.
If you are capturing ad-hoc learning and articles as you go, see Chapter 6 — The Inbox for how to use the capture-first workflow.