susanmom

Hi

I was made a job offer by an accounting practice back in October , LMO applied for 19th October, 12 weeks and waiting. The offer was subject to LMO/work permit and also subject to finetuning while waiting for LMO to be granted. I have been trying to research what a reasonable salary is while waiting for the LMO but hitting problems trying to find information. It seems we could just about come out on my salary as long as my husband gets something quite quickly, and he structures shifts around childcare to optimise earnings vs childcare costs,but I was looking for help on any websites, etc which would give me a feel for what a good accounting salary is. I am ACCA qualified in UK, and have about 4 years specialist experience in Sarbanes Oxley (Bill 198 is Canadian equivalent). The practice requires me to qualify as a Canadian CA while working for them.
Thanks

Susan

Mountain Girl

You would be surprised actually how much you can negotiate when an offer is made, more so than the UK I have found. I have about three more exams to take also ACCA and have not found I had to drop my salary.

It is also a lot easier to transfer your exams over to CA as they have just opened up a partnership with ACCA. They are pretty desperate here for accountants so don't sell your self short.

You also have 4 years post qualification experience so you should be fine. Try

www.monster.ca
www.workopolis. com

Have a look at there salary trackers.

burton bunch

Hi Susan

My Hubby is starting work in practice on feb 12th in Lethbridge Alberta - he is 15 yrs PQE and equivalent in UK to a partner.

He has taken a slight pay cut but we are getting much better benefits with his total package including all of the required courses for him to convert to a Canadian CA.

We are happy with this as hubby is happy that when the Canadians have seen the standard of work then maybe it's time to barter a little


Hope this helps a bit
Gaynor


SMELLY - Hiya hun if you read this

susanmom

Hi,

When you say "took a pay cut", do you mean UK salary x exchange rate is more than what he is on in CAD$?

Also, how he did he determine what was acceptable? Did he get any salary surveys?

Thanks

Susan

burton bunch

yeah the drop was in exchange rate. He did some research on the website mel told you to use.

When he got the offer thru he spoke to our friend in Canada who said that we would have quite a good chance on it.

Gay

JAJ

I think you mean transferring to CGA, not CA.

And remember, ACCA members admitted on or afer 1 August 1998 must have a university degree (any subject) to be eligible for mutual recognition.

MissyDan

Hi everyone,

I have put in my application on the Skilled Worker route. I am also ACCA qualified so just waiting for things to happen at the moment. It looks like a couple of you are going through the route after receiving a job offer.

Please could you let me know how best to go about it this way i.e. best places to look for a job and how easy it was together with any advice.

Thanks in advance

susanmom

Hi

No I meant CA, you get assessment done, write a number of exams, work for a CA firm for three years and you become a Canadian CA. Yes, I am a proper accountant with a uni degree.

If you go work permit route, then briefly, company makes offer, and tghen applies for Labour Market Opinion, which is basically powers that be in Canada deciding they may fill position with foreigner, current waiting time is 11-13 weeks, but keeps getting longer. One that comes back with a postive,you apply for a work permit, which I gather can be done at airport

Regards

Susan

susanmom

Oh, answer to missydan was incomplete. I found it really easy. Found an ad in Accountany Age mag, emailed CV (late August), had 2 interviews in London (one with recruiter and one with actual practice, partners were in London for conference) in September, was made offer in October and have now been waiting 12 weeks for a LMO!!!
It was the first Canadian job I applied for and I got it, like falling off a log!

Regards

Susan

burton bunch

phil was in a similar position - he applied for loads and got offers from 3 all in a few days

JAJ

I was responding to someone else, not you, with respect.

If you're ACCA and the partnership wants you to become a Canadian CA then definitely go for it, but when you say "a number of exams" you must mean the Uniform Final Evaluation (UFE) which most Canadian CAs sit.

If you're not going to become a CA for three years, you might want to become a Canadian CGA in the meantime (through mutual recognition) to give you a Canadian designation to use between now and then.