Under CA2025 you file two kinds of report in the assessment tool. The learning outcome review is the monthly record of your work; the professional development summary looks back over a period and is where you are formally assessed.
Side by side
| Learning outcome review (LOR) | Professional development summary (PDS) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Formative: a record of what you did and what it showed | Summative: an assessment of where you stand |
| How often | At least one a month. You can file more. | One per period. Your training office picks a 3, 4 or 6-month cycle. |
| What it covers | A task or rotation over a period | The reviews filed in that period |
| Minimum | At least one technical and one values, attitudes or acumens outcome | At least one outcome in each of the seven values, attitudes and acumens areas |
| Values and attitudes | You document the evidence; they are not rated here | Rated here, on frequency and context |
| Acumens | You rate each one through the decision tree; your reviewer confirms or changes it | Rated on your reviews to date and how consistent the evidence is |
| Who is involved | You and a reviewer, who need not be SAICA-accredited | You, an evaluator and an assessor, who must be a SAICA-accredited CA(SA) or AGA(SA) and signs it off |
What you write on a monthly review
A review in the tool has four tabs: the technical context, professional values and attitudes, enabling acumens, and a conclusion.
- Technical context. One box for the tasks you performed, and the technical outcomes that work links to. It should be clear from what you write why those outcomes fit. How to write the technical context.
- Values and attitudes. For each one you claim: who, what, where, when and how, and how complex the situation was.
- Acumens. Each one motivated, then rated through the decision tree. How to write an acumen your reviewer can rate.
The text boxes take pasted text up to 5 000 characters each, so you can draft elsewhere and paste in.
Timing a summary
The summary has a window: from a month before the period ends to a month after. Because it draws on the reviews already filed, the summary is only as good as the months behind it. A month with no review is a month the summary cannot point to.
Where this comes from
SAICA's overview of the CA2025 assessment process and instruments (August 2021), and the assessment tool as trainees use it, last checked 2026-10-05. SAICA calls the framework a living document, so check your training office's current guidance as well.