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Finance and Accountants: Certified Practising Accountants of Australia (CPAA)

If you intend to apply for migration to Australia under one of the General Skilled Migration categories, you must have a nominated occupation which is on the Skilled Occupations List at the time you apply. In order to make a valid application, you must have obtained a skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority for your nominated occupation.

CPAA is the assessing authority for the following occupations:

• Accountant;
• Corporate Treasurer;
• External Auditor; and
• Finance Manager.

There is no legislated requirement in Australia for registration of accountants in Australia (except for financial advisers, tax agents and external auditors). The profession tends to regulate itself by preferring to recruit accountants who are members of an Australian professional accounting body (i.e. CPA or CA).

Likewise, public practitioners with an Australian professional body designation are the preferred choice of Australians wishing to utilise the services provided by a public practice accountant.

Assessment for migration purposes is based on the same criteria required for Associate (entry-level) membership of CPA Australia. It is largely similar to assessments provided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICA).

ACCA and CIMA qualified accountants who do not also have an undergraduate degree are offered several options for meeting the requirements for admission as an Associate (entry level) membership of CPA Australia. However, for the purpose of migration applications, these accountants are advised to apply to the ICAA for a skills assessment.

CPA Australia will issue a written assessment result indicating that your qualifications either meet or do not meet the requirement for the nominated ASCO occupation. If your assessment advises that you meet the requirement, you can submit it with your visa application without completing any further study. Assessments are valid for 5 years and will include details of accredited study programs available by distance learning. Thus, if your assessment is not successful in the first instance, you will be able to complete additional studies required to meet the standard required for migration.

If your visa is granted (and activated) and you wish to apply for membership of CPA Australia, you must complete the remaining entry level studies prescribed in your assessment before admission. Members admitted at Associate level must complete our postgraduate level CPA Program and satisfy requisite work experience before advancing to CPA status.

Successful Assessment

Assessment for migration purposes is based on the same criteria required for Associate (entry level) membership of CPA Australia. These criteria are determined by the accounting profession in Australia and form the standard recognised by the profession. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) uses this standard to evaluate your chances of gaining suitable employment in Australia if they grant you a permanent resident visa.

To receive a successful assessment for migration purposes, you must have:

• A qualification from an accredited educational institution which is assessed by the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) and CPA Australia as comparable to an Australian 3 year Bachelor degree.
• The content (curriculum) of your qualification/s must fulfil at least 9 of the following 12 core curriculum subject areas:
• Basic accounting;
• Cost and management accounting;
• Financial and corporate accounting;
• Auditing;
• Current accounting issues (standards and theory);
• Business finance;
• Introductory law (including contract law);
• Economics;
• Statistics;
• Computer information systems;
• Australian Tax Law; and
• Australian Company Law.

Therefore, a successful assessment for migration will advise that you have:

• A qualification which is comparable to an Australian Bachelor degree/tertiary qualifications; and
• Not more than 3 additional subjects to complete in order to meet the requirements for membership.

Membership of Other Professional Bodies

If you have a recognised university qualification in any discipline in addition to any of the following professional qualifications, you can generally expect to receive a successful assessment.

The recognised professional bodies are:

• The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK (ACCA);
• The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK (CIMA);
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants India;
• The Hong Kong Society of Accountants;
• *American Institute of CPAs;
• *Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants;
• *The Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales;
• *The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland;
• *The Institute of CPAs Ireland;
• *The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland;
• *The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants; or
• *le Conseil Superieur de l'Ordre des Experts-Comptables (France).

* If you are a member (by examination) of one of these professional bodies and have a degree assessed as comparable to an Australian Bachelor degree, you may be eligible for admission to membership of CPA Australia with full CPA status, subject to fulfilment of all other admission criteria. However, it is emphasised that the basis of any assessment will require you to have a recognised degree.