Jazi

hi there,

my boyfriend and I want to permanently settle in Australia. He will qualify for a partner visa as I am an Australian citizen.

i've been looking around to find some answers about his accountancy qualification and how he can further study in Australia. He is doing AAT in the UK at the moment and will be finished with it by the end of the school year. If he was to stay in the UK he would be doing ACA. I've so far found out that AAT isn't really high enough to get a job in Australia with.. BUT is he able to do ACA? or an Australian equal in Australia? how difficult is this?

Also another big question is how much will it cost? I know that under a partner visa you can't get any government funding for two years.. will this make a huge difference and be a huge expense?

I just don't know where to start with this! Ultimately we want to live in Australia and him to be able to continue on study from is AAT for an equivalent level as ACA.

Thanks

JOE2010

Does your boyfriend have any work experience? To study for either CPA or CA you need an accounting degree.

Jazi

he is currently working/studying at the same time making him a junior accountant.

so AAT level 4 basically means nothing to CPA or CA? He can't continue studying with either if he doesnt have an actually 'degree'?

that sounds abit crazy considering in the UK AAT leads straight into ACCA and ACA with exemptions on parts of the course because AAT already covers some.

Karen68

Can they study for the CIMA qualification in Australia? My understanding is that you don't need a degree but you can take exams as you work. My OH is CIMA qualified (in the UK) he does also have a degree in accountancy which got him some exemptions from some CIMA papers.

JOE2010

He will be able to get a job based on his UK experience, that is more important.

Yes, he will need to have a degree to study for either CA or CPA, but I presume he can proceed with ACCA as he will have to pay international student fees before his PR comes out. May be check out the requirements of either CPA/CA with regards to ACCA guys without degrees, or check the Oxford Brookes University ACCA pathway.

If the plan is to stay here forever, may be worth looking at the local qualifications, for some employers emphasize that.

Good luck.

Jo7008

Hi,

I am AAT qualified and recently moved to Perth. I was lucky enough to transfer with my company from the UK so a job wasn't an issue, but I agree... work experience counts for so much out here, not just the qualification!

I am now going on to study ACCA via distance learning. There are special exam centres all around Australia to enable you to sit ACCA exams... but it does mean that you effectively have to teach yourself the qualification.

As for CA - yes you need a degree... they would not consider my AAT qualification which I agree is crazy seeing as ACA accept it and give you some exemptions!

CPA is worth looking into further but I was under the impression that my AAT would still count for nothing so would effectively have to re-do all the exams.

In regards to cost, the ACCA is quite expensive, especially when you add up the costs of shipping over the study materials too. It is worth checking out the ACCA website for costs. Fortunately my firm have agreed to reimburse my costs as they would if I was studying CA so this may be an option depending on who your boyfriend works for.

There are lots of options.... just need to find the best one for you. Good luck!

JAJ

Perhaps contact: http://www.aat.org.au/