gcb

Hello! My husband, non- British, has a degree in economics and accounting, followed by a further year of study plus 2 years of accounting work,after which he passed his (foreign) CPA exams. Here he is a fully qualified CPA. But since qualifying he has worked for 4 years in a job that matches the description for corporate treasurer rather than accountant. We thought he`d be okay with nominated occupation accountant( if assessment is positive), then use treasurer for work experience. However, I read on another forum of someone who got a positive assessment, then DIMIA failed them on relevant work experience. Can anyone reassure us that we stand a chance? I had worked out our points as 130, now I`m worried we won`t even have the basic requirements! Thanks in advance for any advice!

John J

The way I understand it is that DIMIA uses the ASCO second edition from ABS to determine the applicant's "usual" occupation. This document can be found at

http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/[email protected]?Open

Search for Corporate Treasurer in it and look at the tasks normally associated with that job.

If it looks like a best fit this would be used by DIMIA to determine whether the basic requirement of "Recent work experience" is being met. It could be any skilled occupation on the list. Read booklet 6 for details in terms of periods of employment etc.

The assessment for additional points (5 or 10) to be had in terms of "Specific Work Experience" is only done after the basic requirement hurdle has been cleared.

JAJ

Where's "here"? In other words, what country is he a CPA in?



Jeremy

Rick C

As I understand it the qualification is only part of it, you need to have 3 years relevant work experience for the job. I think it has to be the 3 years prior to your application but I'm not 100% sure about that.
I'm a part qualified accountant in England and have been looking into this myself. But need to finish my qualification and then gain all the experince. In my opion I think you would be better off to put corporate treasurer. Or maybe contact the cpa direct using there website.

JAJ

Not correct. You don't need any work experience for skill assessment as an accountant if you meet the academic criteria.

You need to meet DIMIA basic requirements of course, but these involve less than three years. If you need points (not everyone does) then you need 3 years recent experience.

Part-qualified accountants can sometimes get assessed based on a tertiary degree.

Jeremy

Rick C

Hi Jeremy.
This may sound like a daft question but what is a tertiary degree.
At the moment I do not have a degree but I hold a qualification that is the same level to tafe. I am studying with the ACCA for my professional qualification at the moment and hope to complete my studues in 2 years. But If I could get a positive assessment without this I would be interested to hear more about it.

Rick

gcb

[We wanted to use accountant as nominated occupation because it would give us 15 points. Treasurer would leave us with 115 points including bonus for community language.With six (!!) kids we don`t want to go for temporary visa or start the whole expensive process without a good chance of finishing it. Thanks to all who have answered, this forum is great for advice and support. JAJ sent you pm.

gcb

Thanks to all who have answered, this forum is great for advice and support. I`m still not sure I get it though! If he gets a positive assessment from CPAA based on his qualifications, then uses his treasurer work for work experience ( occupation on list) and for specific work experience ( closely related to nominated occupation) is that okay? Or could DIMIA turn around and say okay CPAA assessed you as an accountant but as you only worked as that for 2 years pre-qualifying it doesn`t count for the MODL points? Would they then say he`s a treasurer and knock off 15 points MODL, or would they just say hey, you wrote the wrong occupation and just lost 60 points? Sorry to go on about it but we`re gathering the papers for assessment and with accountant would have hopefully 130 points, but with treasurer only 115- not enough. Thanks again for help.G. ( JAJ pmd you)

JAJ

MODL points are based *entirely* on nominated occupation. So it's normally not smart to get assessed as a corporate treasurer, external auditor or finance manager (as opposed to Accountant), as you don't get MODL points in this situation.

The criteria for an assessment in these four occupations are exactly the same.

Work experience doesn't have to be in the nominated occupation (any SOL occupation will normally do, and 'closely related' is enough to have a chance for 10 points) but there is no way any online forum can assess your work experience for you. For example, if DIMIA decide you are really working as a book-keeper (not a skilled occupation) your application will be refused.

Jeremy

gcb

Thanks again. That`s what I thought originally. So we`ll have to get his CPA qualifications assessed as Accountant, and just prove through good references that he`s doing skilled work.He reckons the asco job description for corp treasurer fits what he`s doing now. We`ll just have to try as without the MODL points we don`t have enough. Just wanted to make sure we`re at least in with a chance. Thanks for making the day feel a bit more positive ! If we get a positive assessment, is it worth getting an agent to advise about the actual application ? Anyone know how long CPAA assessments take these days?

JAJ

What country is he a CPA in? Not every overseas professional qualification is recognised. Although a university degree in accounting is enough.

Also - the requirements vary slightly between ICAA, NIA and CPAA - choose the one that suits best.

Jeremy

worzel

Although a Chartered Accountant by trade I have been doing systems work for the last 6 years so had similar concerns.

What I did, on the advice of my agent, was:
get my latest contract to give me "accountant" in my job title;
stressed the purer accounting parts of my duties in my cv (I didn't lie!); and
got my references to stress that I was doing accountancy work despite my title.

I got my visa no problem.

Having had all these worries I noticed on the ASCO definition :

http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/[email protected]/66f306f503e529a5ca25697e0017661f/970f33cc60e5d857ca25697e001850d1!OpenDocument

it clearly states that running the accounting systems etc is part of the normal duties of an accountant so there was really no need for me to worry.

You will see it also includes "liaison with bankers" re "funds management" so you may be able to apply as an Accountant too. I would seek help from an agent though, I did

gcb

I think he should be okay with the assessment. We`re looking at CPAA because they just look at his qualifications, although I`ve seen that for some others it was harder to pass with them.We`ll just have to include enough information about his syllabus. I think that if we do it right it should be okay, as one of his friends from his studies was allowed to work in Oz for a year ( though he did it through work placement with one of the big international companies).

swimmingsaintee

My husband is a CA here in Scotland. I had thought that he would automatically become an Associate member of CPAA, requiring further study only if he wished to become a full member. Am I right in thinking this and also thinking that membership is not a pre requisite to obtaining a satisfactory skills assessment?
Is there any benefit to applying to the CPAA as opposed to the ICAA? The latter appear to be quicker and more straightforward.
Is there any benefit to being a fully fledged member of either from the point of view of job applications/salaries?
Any comments gratefully received as we're just starting out on what appears to be the original long and winding road!

worzel

I don't know about CPAA but as an ACA in the UK the ICAA would require me to do exams in both law and tax to become a member. I have not heard of Associate membership. Because I work in industry the vibe is I am unlikely to need to do that. Only if I wanted to join an audit firm would I expect to do those exams.

Despite the ICAEW being more the equivalent of ICAA, it seems that CIMA people get through skills assessment quicker for some reason.