SunshineGirl

I have tried searching for this but not seen an answer that fits.

I haven't told my employer yet about moving to Aus but, when I do, there is a fair chance he'll ask me to do some work for him over there, probably short-term.

Whilst I could let him continue me to pay in the UK, I could also get the local office to pay me over in Aus.

SO my specific question is: how much do I ask for in AUD to equate to a UK salary of £40k? My gut tells me that a strict conversion of AUD100k would be too high for the local office.

I just want the same buying power over there that I get over here.

Any ideas welcome.

swissfabs

Hello Sunshine girl...

May I ask what your occupation is?
I also remember a thread about an expat now working in a placement agency in Bne (if I remember right). PM me and Ill give u his address!

fabie

marco121068

A difficult one, especially as salaries are generally a lot lower in Aus. Try this from Go Matilda

http://www.gomatilda.com/calculator/index.cfm

It's also useful to contact a couple of agencies and get their feedback.

ABCDiamond

I would be very tempted to get paid in £, at your existing rate

SunshineGirl

I think I probably would!

Quinkana

OECD Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) table

2004 PPP (latest - and if you believe it)
£ 0.641 in Britain buys the same as $US 1.00 in USA which buys the same as $A 1.39 in Australia.

So:
£ 0.641 buys the same as $A 1.39,
£ 0.461 buys the same as $A 1.00
£ 1.000 buys the same as $A 2.17

But the foreign exchange cross rate is:
GBP 1.00 = $A 2.54

So:
£ 40,000 buys the same as £ 40,000 * $A 2.17 / £ 1.000 = $A 86,800.
But:
£ 40,000 can be converted to £ 40,000 * $A 2.54 / £ 1.000 = $A 101,600

So:
Take the money in £ and convert to $A or get paid >= $A 101,600.

In other words the OECD thinks things in Britain are 2.54 / 2.17 = 1.17 times more costly than the same things in Australia.

SunshineGirl

I'll be pushing to get paid in £stg!

SunshineGirl

I'm an Accountant ... so am applying as 136SIV/MODL.

jayr

I presume this takes no account of the different tax systems. You pay more tax on $100,000 than you do on £40,000.

Quinkana

Tax depends on how much is saved especially how much in tax sheltered investments and how much is spent.

Here are the tax rates:

UK Tax Rates 2005
VAT: 17.5%
Savings: Various.

AU Tax Rates
GST: 10%
Superannuation: 15%

Quinkana

To keep it simple, assume all net income is spent on things taxed at 17.5% VAT and 10% GST, here is an example:

FX $ 2.540 / £ 1.00

......... (UK) (Aus) (Effective FX rate)
Income £40,000.00 $101,600.00
Tax £10,105.60 $33,464.00
Net £29,894.40 $68,136.00 2.279222864
VAT £5,231.52 $6,813.60
Net £24,662.88 $61,322.40 2.486424943

So the bottom line is that after taxes you get about the same amount of money to spend but costs generally are ~1.17 times higher in Britain as a whole compared to Australia as a whole.

joh117

My mate is an accountant with a CPA and has been qualified 3 years. She is on around $65,000 if that helps.

Depends on your experience. We have an Accountant at work and when I did payroll saw he was on $75,000 not sure how long he has been qualified I'd say around 10 years by his age.

If you need any help I could ask my boss who is the Chief Financial Officer what salary you could expect to get if you say what experience you have.

Jo

Quinkana

Here is a 2004 May 3 survey of bean counters:

Salary Survey: Accounting and Finance

The ranges including $A 101,600:

Finance Manager/Chief Accountant
$92,533-$131,303 median $111,730
$97,273 - $143,450* median $117,074*

Senior Financial Accountant
$82,300 - $101,672 $89,380
$84,530 - $104,817* $93,200*

Senior Management Accountant
$84,611 - $104,209 $89,244
$86,526 - $109,206* $92,526*

The line marked by an * indicates the pay range inclusive of performance pay.

Remember:

If you arrive unannounced you will be chucking away the network you have built over the years, you will not know the local industry practices as well as a local, you'll be starting as an unknown and, consequentially, your worth will be treated with scepticism and you are likely to be poorly paid.

If you work in Aus for a firm which if familiar with your background, such as a UK owned firm, you stand a better chance of being paid on par with locals, perhaps more if your UK knowledge is useful to the local employer.