JH_2017

18 minutes ago, lothar said:

I am sure a full member of CIMA will give you 15 points, but as you mentioned,  to be a full member you have  to have 3 years work experience after finishing Top CIMA exams.

Or did you only get 10 points even as a full member? 

Which is what  was trying to say in my previous post, if your degree already qualifies as Aus equivalent for accounting then you can use those three years experience towards claiming points for Work Experience.

 

Yes, I got the 15 points for my qualification as Aus equivelant.

But for my work experience, I only got 10 points - as you say that only counts from after the TOPCIMA which in my case is 7 yrs.

My agent originally thought I would be able to get the years I was working and studying CIMA counted as well, but they skills assesment did not agree to that....

Anyway, now need to get extra points from a state sponsorship which was not part of the original plan, but have no choice really!

Thank you for sharing your experience so far!

34 minutes ago, lothar said:

Reciprocal aggreemenrs such as ACCA, CIMA, ICA are 15 points, as the equal an Aus degree. I would assume ICAS is also part of that group.

One thing to bear in mind though, is the work experience you can claim points for only starts counting from the day they think your education becomes equivalent of Aus degree. For ACCA, CIMA etc. this is after getting the Charter.

So for example, if you did an accounting degree and that degree by itself is equivalent to an Aus degree your work experience can begin counting from the end of that degree. For something like ACCA, CIMA and I assume ICAS you would need to do articles or work for a few years to get the charter. Those years DO NOT count towards your Work Experience you can claim points for. 

Therefore if you did an accounting degree at Uni, it would be better to have that assessed if it meats all the minimum requirements (the 9 core areas) as specified on the ICCA and CPA website.

When my skills assesment was done (CIMA) I only got 10 points rather than the 15 my agent thought I could get, as it does depend on the amount of years in work after your qualification.

33 minutes ago, lothar said:

 

No there is nothing specific in the skill assessment etc or any technicalities that makes it "harder" than other occupations but because it is a pro rata occupation and there is a very high application rate on this route you simply need a lot more points than other roles and things like the skills assessment take more time than other routes.

For most other roles 65-70 points is enough but for accounting 75 is probably minimum if you want an invite in a reasonable time (or before you lose points for age etc) and the Accounting assessments are 5+ weeks (my wife's took 9 weeks) where my friend as a spacial scientist got his assessment back in under a week.

Because you need 75+ points, we needed the full 20 points for English, 15 for qualifications and then points between age + experience to get there.

We were lucky that my wife is 32 and has 10 years experience so we got 80 points in total.

Not sure if that makes sense  

 

Let me know if you have any questions, this stuff is all fresh in my mind at the moment so will be happy to help.

Thanks, ok understand what you mean now.

And yes, it's not been easy so far!

I might have some questions along the way..thank for the offer of help.

Are you already over there?

On 12/01/2018 at 14:56, lothar said:

Hi,

I don't think work experience assessment is mandatory but it definitely helps. We have applied under accountant for my wife so have just gone through the process.

When you submit your Qualifications to be assessed to either IPA/CPA or ICAA, there is usually an option to add Work Experience Assessment to it. It only takes a few days to do and only adds about AUD100 to the price but if it passes that you are pretty much guaranteed that you will pass when the DIBP look at it. These bodies require the same documents that need to be sent to DIBP so I found it was better getting it up front and paying 100 to have it assessed than risking sending it to DIBP and they decline the points after I have paid AUD7000 Visa Application fee.

You will need 75 points on your EOI to stand a good chance to be invited so its worth having the work experience assessed to see how many points you can claim for.

I think accountancy is by far the hardest route to get in, its best to do as much as possible for it.

Hope that helps.

Hi lothar,

I am an accountant, going through the process myself. Worried about all the constant changes and points being a moving target!

When you say 'accountancy is the hardest route to get in' - are you referring to specific things that you encountered?

Grrateful for any tips!

Thanks

Thanks

12 hours ago, supercow said:

Hey JH, it sure is a relief being on this side of the fence!

2 years ... wow, it feels like a different person wrote that, and in many respects that is the case!

I've never been the most thorough student, and it also applied to my PTE preparation, it's a character flaw of mine I "knew" my English ability is excellent, therefore I didn't feel the need to do any studying in the strictest sense of the word. I read through the question types' explanation and  did the mock tests twice, just so that I understand the question format and what I could expect to happen in the exam. I also re familiarised myself with the general "template" I'd use for the long form essay (Introduction / supporting and secondary point / elaboration / wind down / outtro & conclusion).

 

Thanks Supercow.

Would you say it was all worth it and are you now happily living in Oz?!

Hi Supercow,

2 years later and I find your post very helpful. However, I am still undecided which one to go for, as I think I have skills in both. So, may I ask how long you took to prepare for your PTE test? I need to be realistic on time frame , but am a bit limited with test dates around, so in the end which one I goes for might be determined by which date works best for me.

Also, the basic book you bought  [I think I saw somewhere in the threads - would you say that is enough for a quick turn around time? I am wondering whether the marked mock tests packages is worth it...

Anyway, I guess you are so relieved it is over.....and not writing this post!

Thanks!