littleal

Hello - I am an associate member of CIMA. Has anyone any experience of emigrating to NZ as a skilled migrant? Do I need to get the CIMA qualification assessed by the NZQA?

Thanks for any advice

JAJ

Have you also got a university degree?

littleal

Alas, no.

JAJ

I don't know why CIMA still allow people to qualify without a university degree. Accountancy is a graduate profession in most countries outside the UK and this perhaps is one of the reasons why CIMA is not taken all that seriously as a qualification overseas.

You need to know a few things:

- CIMA isn't well recognised in Australia (only partially) and I imagine it's even less well recognised in New Zealand. Can't comment on your specific question about NZQA, but you should think about your employability in New Zealand as well.

- Long term, you would need to become a New Zealand Chartered Accountant (CA) to have a good career in NZ. Looking at http://www.nzica.com you would likely have problems with their degree requirement.

- Is going to New Zealand so important? If you go to Australia, then there's a more straightforward pathway to becoming an Australian CA without needing a degree (and CIMA on its own is ok for a migration assessment). Take a look at the pathway for CIMA members at http://www.icaa.org.au

- Regarding getting a degree, some Australian universities would credit you up to 2 years full time equivalent (out of three years). Monash, University of New England, and University of Southern Queensland are all distance learning options in Australia. (Massey University is the main distance learning provider in NZ). If you get your Australian CA then a degree would still be recommended but not with quite the same amount of urgency.

- If you do decide to go to Australia, then after 4-5 years you should have your Australian citizenship (which means you can live in NZ anyway) and your Australian CA qualification would be transferable to New Zealand.

- How long have you been a member of CIMA? This may give you some other options.

littleal

CIMA are more open-minded about the value of degrees in this day & age when everyone seems to have a degree. As a UK accountant I regularly interview people with more than one degree for low grade jobs whereas it is any accountancy qualification that makes the difference to an application.

I am actually doing an OU degree now. For personal reasons I had to withdraw from a degree at a conventional university in my 20s.

It is New Zealand I want to go to, not Australia. I have been a member of CIMA for 8 years.

Thanks for your advice.

JAJ

Your OU degree will help to meet the requirements of NZICA to become a New Zealand CA (strongly advisable to finish it). Presumably you've taken advantage of the credits that OU offers for your CIMA study.

Two other things you can consider:

1. If eligible, apply for Fellowship of CIMA (New Zealanders may not understand what an "associate" is).

2. Take a look at becoming an English CA through direct entry:
http://www.icaew.com/index.cfm?route=125720

It won't help you become a New Zealand CA but may help in the job market meanwhile.

SunshineGirl

I, for one, find your comments , both in this and this and many other threads, about my CIMA qualification, to be offensive and have reported this to CIMA

JAJ

Why? It's only stating the facts.

Fact is that ICAEW/ICAS have access to mutual recognition in Australia and New Zealand, (ICAA/ICANZ) while CIMA does not.

Fact is that many Australians and New Zealanders have never heard of CIMA.

And fact is that in many overseas countries, accountancy is typically a graduate only profession and like it or not, this does determine how some people overseas who don't know about a UK qualification, will perceive it. There are some jurisdictions that will not recognise CIMA purely on this basis alone.

None of this is meant to cast aspersions on the value of the CIMA qualification in itself (and you won't find a single post suggesting that academically it's pitched any differently from its peers) just to observe that in comparison to some others, it doesn't travel so well.

If I gave any impression beyond this, then it was not intended and I apologise.

mark and kim

I am just in the process of emigrating to NZ and like you are a CIMA Associate member without a University Qualification. You will need to involve the NZQA if you are going down the skilled migrant route and it even asks for the NZQA reference when you fill in the Expression of Interest.

Both the NZQA and the ICANZ judge the CIMA Qualification to be the equivalent of a Batchelors Degree. It is worth 50 points on the EOI (Level 7)and is perceived to be the equivalent of a New Zealand University Degree when it comes to exemptions.The ICANZ help desk is extremely efficient and I would suggest dealing with them direct.

CIMA is recognised by many agencies in New Zealand and is a growing qualification. There is a head office in Wellington and branches in Christchurch,Auckland and I believe Denedin is starting one. However JAJ is right that membership of ICANZ will offer a boost to your job prospects especially at a senior level. Incidentally in England & Wales the three major Accountancy bodies (ICAEW,CIMA,ACCA) allow you to study and qualify without possessing a University Degree, either from having good A Levels or migrating to them from AAT. All the qualifications are recognised in the UK as Post Degree Qualifications but this may not be apparent in other countries job markets.

Please PM me if I can be of further help.

Mark

JAJ

As a general rule, qualifications lose some "value" when transported across borders, unless between two very close nations such as New Zealand and Australia.

CIMA is treated as a British qualification (not "global" - no such thing as a global qualification) and in common with other British accountancy qualifications is generally assessed in Australia as generally equivalent to a Bachelors degree (with some specific exceptions, like CPA Australia which have more stringent policies).

New Zealand generally follows Australian standards.

In reality, CIMA/ACCA/ICAEW/ICAS are really worth a bachelors degree plus a post-graduate diploma. The fact they are only assessed for general purposes at bachelors level illustrates the point about loss of "value" overseas.

In the United States, CIMA and its peer institutes would generally be assesses as equivalent to a U.S. bachelors degree (same issue), with the proviso that some state boards of accountancy would not necessarily accept a non-university based qualification.


I'm not familiar with ICANZ specifically, but they do seem to have a requirement for a certain amount of non-business study within their degree requirement. I'm not sure how CIMA fits into this specific requirement, which is unusual among accountancy institutes.

It is always of course possible to get a document from NZQA or its equivalent in other countries which gives an official documentation of education equivalence.

Anecdotally, the lack of a requirement for a university degree is one of the reasons why there has been no agreement between the UK and the United States on mutual recognition of professional accounting qualifications. Some institutes, such as the Certified General Accountants in Canada and the National Institute of Accountants in Australia, have been very creative in linking their courses to a (distance learning) university degree and hence working towards resolving this overseas recognition issue without excluding those not able to attend a traditional university.

littleal

Thanks Mark. I am currently in contact with the NZQA for a pre-assessment report which I need to prove CIMA's equivalence for the EoI. If that is successful, I will need to pay NZQA for a full assessment for the ITA process. There doesn't seem to be any short cut

Eternalkiwi

Traditionally CPA & CIMA have not enjoyed the same profile as the CA qualification, though recently interest and numbers have increased.

In addition to requiring a certain proportion of non business papers, NZICA also require a 4 year degree for their CA College. Their ACA College only requires a bachelor degree with certain number of core business and accounting papers, or a diploma if you have another 2 years minimum experience.

My current manager has a CIMA qualification and he has not found the NZ market to treat his qualification any differently to CA etc.

Shawn

littleal

Thanks Shawn. I've now had the pre-assessment report back and 50 points indicated. I think the visa situation is more of an obstacle than the actual qualification. Agencies and employers seem fine about CIMA but not about taking a chance on someone who needs the job to secure a visa. I'll keep trying.

Eternalkiwi

One option is to target Government agencies, as I know of a couple of people that have been sponsored from overseas to Accounting roles in Wellington. They are also usually fine about conducting Telephone interviews.

At the moment there is a large number of Accounting roles vacant withing the Government sector, so you might have some luck there. The other area with a number of roles is the Financial Services industry, especially with the new Superannuation and Tax regimes being implemented over the next 12-24 months.

Shawn

0273377

Hi,

Just read with interest this forum. I am an ACCA member curently pursuing an MBA. I am thinking of gaining membership to ICAEW. Does this improve my chance with ICANZ/migration to NZ or the requirment for a degree?

Appreciate any comment.