Quick reference The CIMA Declaration PDF is a formatted document containing all the information needed for your CIMA Professional Development Record Form submission. Generate it from the Reports page at any time — before or after closing your cycle. A complete profile is required to avoid blank fields in the output.
10.1 The CIMA submission process
CIMA does not have an API or direct submission mechanism for CPD records. Each year, selected members submit their CPD via CIMA’s Professional Development Record Form — a Microsoft Form. The process is:
- You receive a monitoring notification from CIMA
- You complete the Microsoft Form, copying your CPD data into each field
- CIMA’s team reviews your submission
CPDFlow does not submit to CIMA on your behalf. What it does is organise your data in exactly the structure the form requires, and provide a formatted PDF that makes copy-pasting into the form as straightforward as possible.
10.2 Profile completeness
Several fields in the CIMA form come from your profile, not your cycle data:
- CIMA membership number
- AICPA Account ID
- First name and surname
- Member category (MiP / MiB)
- Designation (ACMA / FCMA)
- Current job title
- Key responsibilities
If any of these are missing from your profile when you generate the PDF, those fields will appear as ”—” in the output. An amber warning on the Reports page lists any missing profile fields before you generate.
Go to Settings to complete your profile. See Chapter 11 — Settings & Profile.
10.3 Generating the CIMA Declaration PDF
Go to Reports in the sidebar and select CIMA Declaration.
Select the cycle you want to generate the declaration for. You can generate for:
- Your current Active or Evaluating cycle — useful for checking progress mid-year
- A Complete cycle — the full, final record for submission
Select Generate PDF. The document is created in the background — this typically takes 15–30 seconds. You will see a progress indicator while it processes.
Once complete, select Download to save the PDF.
Re-downloading: Generated PDFs are stored permanently. If you need the same PDF again (e.g. to re-send to CIMA after download), select Re-download — this retrieves the previously generated file without regenerating. To produce a fresh PDF that reflects any changes made since the last generation, select Regenerate.
10.4 What the PDF contains
The PDF is structured to mirror the CIMA Professional Development Record Form:
Contact information
- CIMA membership number, AICPA Account ID
- Name, email address
- Member category and designation
Step 1 — Define
- Current job title and key responsibilities
- Desired role (if recorded in your profile)
Steps 2–5 — Development objectives For each development objective:
- Objective description (the development need and planned approach)
- Learning activity and reflection (activities linked to this objective, with dates and reflective statements)
Step 6 — Evaluate
- Your overall cycle evaluation text
10.5 The 3,000 character limit
CIMA’s form has a 3,000 character limit per text field — this applies to the objective description and the activity/reflection field for each objective.
CPDFlow flags any field that exceeds this limit with a warning in the PDF output, so you can identify and trim the text before copying into the CIMA form.
10.6 Audit Evidence Bundle
The Audit Evidence Bundle is a ZIP archive containing your CPD audit report PDF alongside every piece of evidence you uploaded — files, links, and notes — organised by activity. Generate one from the Reports & Export page at any time.
What the bundle contains
cpd-report.pdf ← CPD audit report for the cycle
MANIFEST.md ← Index of every activity and file in the bundle
evidence/
01-activity-title/
uploaded-file.pdf ← Each evidence file, original filename preserved
resources.md ← Links and notes for this activity (if any)
02-another-activity/
...cpd-report.pdf — the CPD audit report, generated at bundle time. You do not need to generate it separately first. The PDF shows completed activities, with each card including the activity description, any links and evidence filenames, and the reflective statement.
Evidence files — every file you uploaded for activities in this cycle, placed in that activity’s folder. Original filenames are preserved.
resources.md — links and free-text notes for each activity are collected into a markdown file in that activity’s folder. If an activity has no links or notes, the file is omitted.
MANIFEST.md — a structured index listing every activity in the bundle with its evidence file count, link count, and note count, plus the generation date.
Generating a bundle
Go to Reports & Export in the sidebar and select the cycle you want to archive. Scroll to the Audit Evidence Bundle panel at the bottom of the page.
Select Download audit bundle to begin generation. The bundle is built in the background — preparation typically takes 20–60 seconds depending on how many evidence files are in the cycle.
Once ready, select Download ZIP. The download link is active for one hour. If an hour passes before you download, select Generate new bundle to create a fresh one.
You can generate a bundle for any cycle — active, evaluating, or complete. There is no requirement to have closed your cycle first.
Work-in-progress bundle
By default, the bundle only includes completed activities — matching what the CPD audit report PDF shows.
To include all activities regardless of status (not started, in progress, cancelled, deferred), tick Include all activities (work in progress) before generating. Use this option when sharing your cycle with a mentor, line manager, or employer for a mid-year review.
The WIP bundle is named cpd-audit-WIP-YYYY-REF.zip to distinguish it from the standard bundle. Its PDF is always marked Draft regardless of cycle state, and each activity card shows its current status.
The checkbox only appears before a bundle is generated. Once you have a bundle ready, selecting Generate new bundle will regenerate on the same basis (completed-only or WIP) that was selected when you first generated. To change the selection, refresh the page.
Storage and expiry
Bundles are transient — automatically deleted 24 hours after generation. This is by design; the bundle is a point-in-time export, not a permanent backup.
Your underlying evidence files are stored permanently in CPDFlow (subject to your subscription status). You can always generate a new bundle from the current state of your data.
For long-term archiving: download the ZIP promptly and store it in your own document management system.
When to use the bundle
| Situation | Use case |
|---|---|
| CIMA monitoring audit | Submit the PDF from the bundle alongside uploaded evidence files as supporting documentation, if requested |
| Employer audit or review | Provide the complete ZIP to your employer’s CPD verification process |
| Mentor / line manager review | Generate a WIP bundle to share mid-cycle progress including in-progress activities |
| Year-end personal archive | Keep a local copy of your complete CPD record for any given year |
| Switching systems | Export all evidence before moving away from CPDFlow |
10.7 Search
The Search feature (magnifying glass icon in the sidebar) lets you find activities, objectives and resources across your cycles.
Search results show:
- Activities — matching by title, description or reflective statement
- Objectives — matching by title or description
- Resources — matching by title, URL or content
Select any result to navigate directly to it. Recent searches are saved for quick re-access; individual entries can be removed with the × button.
What’s next?
For common questions about the submission process and what to do if something looks wrong in your PDF, see Chapter 13 — FAQ & Troubleshooting.