Broker CPD records: reconcile the evidence before renewal

A mortgage broker assistant can collect CPD records, reconcile duplicates and prepare questions before a broker's membership renewal. Keep three things visible: evidence that learning was completed, the hours accepted for the relevant programme and period, and the broker's final declaration. Assign the learning and declaration to the broker; give the assistant a clearly bounded preparation task.

This guide is for brokerage owners coordinating records across several brokers. It provides a proposed evidence-reconciliation method, including a fictional example where an apparent surplus becomes a shortfall. It does not determine whether a particular activity qualifies or replace the member's current requirements.

Start with the member and renewal period

The MFAA's CPD guidance requires its members to complete 30 hours per membership renewal year and attest at renewal. The FBAA's published CPD table sets activity categories and allocation limits, and explains how members can record external activities through its Education Institute. Check the programme that actually applies to each person rather than copying one association's rules into every broker's record.

Ask the broker to confirm the membership, period start and end, renewal date, applicable guidance and any separate licensee or aggregator training instructions. Record the source and when it was checked. Keep separate requirements identifiable even if the same activity appears relevant to more than one programme. The assistant can prepare the comparison; the responsible broker or programme contact resolves uncertainty.

Agree an internal review date before renewal and name the person who will answer unresolved questions. This is a local planning date, not a universal deadline. If a broker joins the team mid-period, obtain their existing record and source evidence before treating a new spreadsheet as their complete learning history.

Build three linked records, rather than one running total

Use the brokerage's approved storage and recording tools. Give each learning activity a stable reference so a certificate, calendar entry and platform export can be recognised as evidence of the same event. Avoid putting passwords or borrower information into the CPD register.

1. Activity record: member, provider, activity title, activity date, completion evidence and source location. Separate booked, completed and uncertain attendance. Preserve the original record when a correction is needed.
2. Allocation decision: applicable programme and period, proposed category, proposed hours, the broker's accepted allocation and the reason for any change. Keep unresolved eligibility questions out of the accepted-hours total.
3. Renewal summary: the accepted total, outstanding questions, evidence references and broker review date. Record preparation, broker review and actual declaration as different stages.

Keep invitations and confirmed bookings in planned learning; ask for completion evidence before proposing an allocation. A certificate can help establish participation, but the broker still checks how the activity fits the relevant programme. The assistant should not invent attendance, assign unconfirmed hours or make a declaration on the broker's behalf.

Define portal access separately. If the assistant is not authorised to enter records in the chosen service, prepare a review pack for the broker to enter. A request to organise evidence is not an instruction to use the broker's login.

Work through a four-record reconciliation

The following exercise is entirely fictional. At a 15 September review, an MFAA member has 27 hours already checked and accepted in the brokerage's record for their renewal year ending 30 September. Four newly imported rows appear to add 5.5 hours, making the displayed total 32.5. The owner has not yet reviewed those rows.

Fictional additions to a broker's CPD record

Imported item	Evidence available	Preparation and review outcome
A: 1.5-hour lender webinar, booked for 20 September	Invitation and booking confirmation only	Keep in planned learning. Request evidence after completion; no accepted hours yet.
B: 1-hour mortgage documentation session on 11 August	Completion certificate and matching activity details	The broker checks period, relevance and applicable category limits, then accepts 1 hour in this fictional case.
C: Another 1-hour entry for the same 11 August session	Platform export matching B's provider, date and activity	Link it to B as duplicate evidence. Do not add another hour; retain the correction trail.
D: 2-hour workshop on 10 September	Advertised duration; broker reports leaving after 45 minutes	Mark the allocation unresolved. Ask for participation evidence and the applicable treatment; do not claim the advertised duration.

The accepted total is now 28 hours: the earlier 27 plus B's accepted hour. A remains planned, C adds no extra activity and D remains unresolved. The summary shows a two-hour gap against the stated 30-hour requirement. It does not promise that A or D will close that gap.

The broker owns the next decision about suitable learning and any clarification needed before renewal. The assistant records that decision, arranges approved follow-up and returns new evidence for review. If D is later accepted in part, update its allocation with the source, decision and date; do not rewrite the original attendance account to make it look complete.

Give each unresolved item an answerable question

“CPD missing” is too vague to act on. Write the specific question, its owner and the next check. For A, the question is whether the activity was completed and what evidence is available. For D, it is what participation can be established and how the relevant programme treats it. A provider may clarify attendance; the appropriate programme contact may be needed for eligibility.

Agree who may contact those parties and what information they may share. If the assistant has no approved contact route, hand the prepared question to the broker. Keep the renewal date visible while clarification is outstanding. A request sent is still an open item, not a completed review.

When two records disagree, preserve both references and ask for a resolution. Do not choose the larger total because it makes the dashboard green. Where the answer will arrive after the internal review date, escalate the timing to the brokerage owner rather than quietly marking the pack ready.

Hand over a reviewable renewal summary

Give the broker a short summary with the member and period, accepted hours by applicable category, unresolved items and direct evidence references. Include the correction to any earlier total so they can see why a number changed. Have the broker confirm the final record before making their own declaration.

After renewal, record the actual completion evidence supplied through the approved process and carry forward only genuinely open work. Do not label renewal complete because a reminder was acknowledged. Store the record under the brokerage's approved access and retention arrangements; this guide does not prescribe a universal retention period.

Use the exercise to scope the assistant's work

Before assigning live records, ask the assistant to work through the fictional four-row example and explain the 32.5-to-28-hour reconciliation. Check whether they preserve the duplicate trail, identify the partial-attendance question and leave the declaration with the broker. Assess these behaviours rather than the speed of entering rows.

Use the support skills matrix to record whether the worker can perform that preparation task. Keep this task evidence separate from the broker's CPD record. For a new hire, add the approved systems and reviewer to the start-date readiness plan.

If recurring training-record administration needs an owner, explore mortgage broker assistant hiring and share the coordination duties in your role brief. Specify evidence collection, reconciliation and follow-up, alongside the broker decisions the assistant will prepare for review.