The Accounting Professional Bodies have announced changes to the skills assessment requirements. It is going to be more difficult to meet the educational requirements for skills assessment from 1 July 2015.
The changes see the current 12 core accounting areas reduced to 9. Most applicants will need to show that they meet 7 of these, though some occupations will require applicants to meet 8 of them.
However, below is a detailed analysis of the changes.
All accounting professional bodies will change their criteria from 1 July. This includes:
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
CPA Australia
Institute of Public Accountants
Occupations Affected
The changes will affect all occupations assessed by the accounting professional bodies, including:
Finance Manager ANZSCO 132211
Accountant (General) ANZSCO 221111
Management Accountant ANZSCO 221112
Taxation Accountant ANZSCO 221113
Corporate Treasurer ANZSCO 221212
External Auditor ANZSCO 221213
Overview of Assessment Criteria
For most applicants applying for a permanent skills assessment, the following must be met:
Qualification: A qualification comparable to an Australian bachelor degree. There is no change to this requirement.
Core Accounting Knowledge Areas: you must have covered certain compulsory subjects in your qualification. The changes from 1 July are in relation to which subjects are required.
English Language: you must undertake an English test. Requirements are similar to those for Proficient English, but only Academic IELTS is accepted. There is no change to this requirement. They have started accepted PTE and TOFEL etc scores.
Conclusion
The changes may have a significant impact on some applicants, and effectively require the same compulsory core accounting areas to be completed by all applicants.
External Auditors and Tax Accountants will need to complete one more essential core subject as compared to other accounting professions. Previously, all applicants just needed 9 core subjects.
If you wish to avoid the changes, we would recommend that you consider making your skills assessment application prior to 1 July 2015. Please book a consultation with one of our immigration advisors to discuss your situation in more detail.
Minor changes to the assessment criteria will be implemented with effect from Wednesday 1 July. The total number of core knowledge areas will be consolidated to nine (9) from the current twelve (12):
| Pre-July core knowledge | Post-July competency areas
|
| Accounting Systems and Processes | Accounting Systems and Processes |
| Financial Accounting | Financial Accounting and Reporting |
| Accounting Theory | |
| Management Accounting | Management Accounting |
| Finance | Finance and Financial Management |
| Commercial Law | Business Law |
| Corporations Law | |
| Economics | Economics |
| Quantitative Methods | Quantitative Methods |
| Accounting Information Systems | Removed – no longer required |
| Auditing | Audit and Assurance |
| Taxation Law or Australian Taxation Law | Taxation or Australian Taxation Law |
All assessments, reviews and updates completed on or after Wednesday 1 July will be completed according to the restructured competency areas.
Competency area requirements per occupation
If you have submitted your application already or plan to submit your application for assessment in June, and we have received all the documents required for your assessment, we will endeavor to complete your assessment before Wednesday 1 July 2015. Please consider the current processing times when submitting your documents.
If you have already received a positive assessment outcome from CPA Australia, your assessment remains valid and the changes will not affect you.
If you have received an assessment outcome from CPA Australia and have been advised to complete further studies to meet the core knowledge criteria, you will need to consider the new competency areas when choosing your study plan.