gracio_1977

hello evrybody..just wanna ask some advice from u guys..i'm a CPA from philippines and hve been working as an accountant here for years nw..i've had plan to migrate to australia and hope to find there a job as an accountant too..is my being a CPA here in the philippines qualified to be hired as an accountant there in australia?if not, can u give me some piece of advice as to what im going to do for me to qualify as an accountant there in australia?
any advice coming from u guys will be very much appreciated..thanks.


Best regards to all,

Gracio

JAJ

Philippines CPA is not recognised by any of the Australian professional bodies (ICAA/CPAA/NIA), sorry.

You will only be able to migrate as an accountant if you have a university degree in accounting that is equivalent to an Australian bachelors (not all Philippines degrees are).

And after arriving in Australia, you would need to re-qualify in Australia to have good career prospects.

If you have a relative in Australia to sponsor you, you may have other options available.

gracio_1977

yah i have a bachelor's degree in accountancy and just recently obtained my master's degree in professional accounting from the University of the Philippines..will these qualifications of mine aside from the CPA title suffice the requirements of migration to australia?...and by the way,there's still one more query i wanna ask.."if philippines CPA is not recognized by any of the professional bodies in australia, is it possible for me to get the ICAA or CPAA qualification, taking into account my academic background plus my experience in both financial and managment accounting works for 8 years? if yes,do i still hve to enroll and take up some accounting subjects in any of the australian university? and how long will it take me to finish ma studies for me to ge the ICAA or CPAA qualification in australia so that my qualification as an accountant will be equal to that of those accountants in australia?...thanks a lot for the info that u gave as an answer to my query..and i'll appreciate more if u guys could take the time to give me some advice on those matters..thanks then.


Best regards to all,

Gracio

JAJ

Possibly. You will need to check the rules of ICAA, CPAA and NIA. They are similar but not exactly the same. And once again - not all Philippines degrees are equivalent to Australian, so it will depend on the university and possibly the degree grade.


If your qualifications are acceptable for migration purposes, they will also be sufficient to enter the CA or CPA Program.

CA (ICAA) is a more prestigious qualification (and better recognised outside Australia) so if you are going to have to do extra study, there's a strong argument it should be for this qualification.

gracio_1977

hello good day,

it's been a while that ive not been able to come online here and check as to what's the update nw of the asnwer to my question i raised here last month..and thanks so much for the answer that u gave to me..it seemed to clear up now all the ambiguous things clogging up in my mind before...yeah i understand that it can be possible for me to migrate to australia if i hve a bachelor's degree plus the relevant experiences related to my own profession as an accountant..just lately ive heard that there's an ICMA australia program that hs been conducted here in the phillippines which grants CMA designation to both accountants and non-accountants..my question is.."if im goin' to enroll myself in the ICMA australia program and become then a CMA..will this give me an edge for a higher level of possiblity of being accepted in applying for migration to australia?...i'll appreciate much if u can take time to answer my question here..thanks a lot again..


Best regards,

Gracio

JAJ

Absolutely not. ICMA Australia is not recognised for migration purposes. Nor is it recognised by any of the established Australian accounting bodies.

In fact, I would caution you before obtaining spending time and money obtaining any qualification from an institute that is not a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Some IFAC member institutes enjoy better recognition than others, but a non-IFAC institute will usually not be accepted by most employers.

http://www.ifac.org/About/MemberBodies.tmpl

oksana21

Hi Gracio,

It appears that you're trying to sort everything out at once, it may be helpful to see the process as a number of distinct steps:

1) Do you meet the immigration criteria?

As Jaj said you need to apply to the ICAA to assess your degree, you will get a letter back stating whether it is sufficient to enrol onto the program (and whether it is enough to meet the immigration criteria). Based on your 8 years experience, this should be sufficient (please be aware i am not a professional advisor so don't just take my word for it).

2) Will you be able to get a job?

This does very much depends on your experience, either way you need to expect to take a lower position then in which you're working in now and pretty much "start from scratch" and work your way up.

There are many highly qualified individuals migrating to Australia, especially from Britain (whose qualifications are recognised in Australia), you will therefore be faced with high levels of competition.

Do ask yourself the question whether your reasons for your move to Australia outweigh the “cost”, whether it will be worth giving up everything you have build up in the Philippines and start from the bottom.

Many who come to Australia are very happy, others are very disappointed, its not a paradise where things "magically" just work out. It will require lots lots and lots of motivation to get through all your struggles and it will definitely take a lot of time.


3) Long term career progression.

Once you found a job, i would advice to enrol onto the ICAA program, exams will take approximately 1.5 - 2 yrs, the work experience requirement is 3 yrs. After completion of the qualification, job prospects are very good (and the salary level will rise accordingly).

In summary:
So if you're serious about migrating, be prepared to take a 3 year step back in your career and view the migrating process as a long-term project which goes beyond the mere formalities of obtaining the visa.

I hope i could be of any use

Wishing you good luck!

Oksana

gracio_1977

hello oksana,

Sorry if it's only now that i've got the chance to come online here..thanks a lot for ur good advice and to JAJ as well..i think u are right in ur point that i should hve asked myself these questions before i will proceed completeply with my plan of migrating to australia..there are really lots of things to consider over and over again before coming up with a final decision..yah i also agree with what u hve said there in ur letter to me that it's not that easy for me to live my life there in australia as comfortably as i do here in the philippines as i hve to start 3yrs or more back in ma career once i'll get to decide to migrate to australia then..but it seems that i would be willing to accept the challenge if that would be the case then..i'll just hope for the worst but expect for the best instead..i think by now i would hve to start sizing up the whole situation and then go with my plan then to migrate to australia..i dont hve relatives there in australia..but it's ok for me.By the way..i want to ask as well from u guys that once i get there in australia, find a job, and then enroll myself in the ICAA program, is it really sure that it will take me about 2yrs to finish ma ICAA program study and then get the CA designation?I hve already given there my academic background as well as my work experience related to the field of my profession as an accountant from the previous discussions i've had with JAJ and with u also..there are really lots of questions springing up from my mind,but at least anyhow u guys were able to answer some of them..i would appreciate much again if u could take time to answer my query above..thanks so much to u guys...Good day.


My best regards to u all,

Gracio of Philippines

JAJ

It would probably take about 2 years to do both the tax/law bridging study and the CA Program.

You would need a total of 3 years mentored work experience to become an Australian CA.

Many employers will be prepared to pay for you to do the CA Program.

gracio_1977

hi JAJ,

thanks a lot for your answer to my last question here..yah i understand nw that i need to spend about 2yrs to do my CA program once i get there in australia..but i just cant understand why i do still need to hve 3 yrs mentored experience when ive already had more than 8yrs of working experience as an accountant...by the way..just to give you an overview of my work experience, i'll summarize it here..frst, ive worked as an external auditor with KPMG audting firm for 3yrs and after that i got employed in a certain multinational company hre in the phils in which ive worked as a global business financial support analyst for 3yrs again,and then finally in another MNC in which ive been working as a senior managment accountant for 3.5yrs up to the present now..so that that makes a total of 9.5yrs all in all in the areas of auditing,financial acctg,and managerial acctg..so with these primary facts about the overview of my working experience, i dont know if a certain portion of my work experience can be at least credited to the CA mentoring program.Can they not give credit to my more than 8yrs meaningful experience in my profession as an accountant?if so, how will i know if i can be given credit for that?..and just in case if not, so will I just simply set my experience aside and go back totally to the basic accounting works?..that might be sme kind of a rediculous stuff if im gonna think about it...so what do u think?..i'll appreciate again if u guys can take time to give me some advices on that matter..thanks a lot again to u JAJ for always taking to answer all my queries here..Godbless and Good day.


Best regards,

Gracio

JAJ

Sorry, but - you will need to get used to the idea that your Philippine CPA qualification is not accepted as equivalent to the Australian CA. Rightly or wrongly, that's the way it is.