Effect of Continuous Professional Development on Accountants' Job Performance in Ogun State

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) has become increasingly important for enhancing accountants' competencies and improving job performance amid rapid technological advancement, evolving accounting standards, and changing regulatory requirements. This study examined the effect of continuous professional development on accountants' job performance in Ogun State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the influence of professional training, participation in seminars and workshops, professional certification, and self-directed professional learning on accountants' job performance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population comprised professionally qualified accountants employed in selected public and private organizations in Ogun State. A sample of 300 respondents was selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure involving purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were employed to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that professional training significantly influenced accountants' job performance, seminars and workshops also had a significant positive effect, and professional certification significantly predicted job performance, while self-directed professional learning exerted a significant positive influence. The multiple regression analysis further indicated that the four dimensions of continuous professional development jointly explained 65.4% of the variance in accountants' job performance. Among the predictors, professional training emerged as the strongest predictor, followed by professional certification, seminars and workshops, and self-directed professional learning. The study concluded that continuous professional development significantly enhances accountants' job performance and recommended sustained investment in professional training, certification programmes, seminars, workshops, and self-directed learning to improve professional competence and organizational effectiveness.