CA(SA) - Maintaining South African SAICA membership and registering in Oz

[Eagle101]

My wife is a Chartered Accountant in South Africa, and I would just like a little clarity on some issues:

My understanding is that South Africa and Australia have a reciprocal agreement, so it is not a requirement for South African CA's to have to do any bridging studies in order to register as an Australian CA. Is this correct?

She is thinking of doing studies (correspondence) in Australian Tax & Australian Company law, just to get a better understanding of how things work in Australia - is this a good idea, or not really necessary?

My understanding is that once she has two Australian CA's to vouch for her, she can apply to become registered as an Australian CA, but one of the conditions is that she maintains her registration with The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Is there a "lower" category CA(SA) membership that a person can register with SAICA (cheaper), but still be properly registered with SAICA?

If so, can a person easily revert to a "full" member of SAICA should the need arise in the future, without having to do exams again etc?

Is this a permanent requirement, or does it fall away after a person has been registered as an Australian CA for a certain number of years?

How does CPD work? Do you need to maintain South African CPD?

Do you have to do Australian CPD?

We did our application through an agent, so we do not really have much documentation with us (agent has everything - was submitted electronically). As part of the 176 Visa application process, we obviously had to have her qualification assessed. We do not have any of these qualification assessment application records with us - our agent has it all.

When my wife applies to become an Australian CA, do they pick up from the "Assessing Authorities" that she has in fact been successfully assessed, or do you also need to supply some form of documentation? If so, could we just get the required electronic documents e-mailed to us by our agent, which we can then just attach to the application?

if you are still registered as a CA(SA), but not yet as an Australian CA, can a person still apply for jobs requiring a CA? (Provided tasks do not include the signing off of AFS etc.)

if you are still registered as a CA(SA), but not yet as an Australian CA, can a person still refer to yourself as a CA?

Thanks for all the assistance - it is much appreciated!

Regards, Basil

[heidim]

My husband did his CTA and articles, so he has an honours degree in Accounting but never wrote the SAICA exams, so he's not a CA. We also looked into becoming an Australian CA, but according to my understanding it's very difficult. I may be wrong, but the way we understand it, is that you cannot convert your SAICA to Australian CA. A while ago there was a thread about it on here too, maybe just do a search.

Hubby was assessed by ICAA, but we then decided it will be easier for him to become a member of CPA. So we went through them, hubby had to write one exam in May which he passed and he is now a member of CPA. You'll see most positions advertised says ICAA/CPA. So for us it was the easiest route.

Our agent - Ray Welthagen from Migrate2Oz is a SAICA and Australian CA. So maybe you want to contact Migrate2Oz and see if they can assist....

[heidim]

Here's the link I was referring to:

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/32608-chartered-accountants-help-please/

[Donovan83]

Hello,

I'm also a CA(SA) and I can hopefully help you:

My understanding is that South Africa and Australia have a reciprocal agreement, so it is not a requirement for South African CA's to have to do any bridging studies in order to register as an Australian CA. Is this correct?

Yes, this is correct.

She is thinking of doing studies (correspondence) in Australian Tax & Australian Company law, just to get a better understanding of how things work in Australia - is this a good idea, or not really necessary?

You don't have to do any extra studies, you just register with the ICAA and then you are a CA(Au).

My understanding is that once she has two Australian

CA's to vouch for her, she can apply to become registered as an Australian CA, but one of the conditions is that she maintains her registration with The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Is there a "lower" category CA(SA) membership that a person can register with SAICA (cheaper), but still be properly registered with SAICA?

I don't think so - there is an absentee member option from SAICA but it's not that much cheaper. You should probably just ask the ICAA if absentee membership will be sufficient for them to consider you a member of SAICA.

When my wife applies to become an Australian CA, do they pick up from the "Assessing Authorities" that she has in fact been successfully assessed, or do you also need to supply some form of documentation? If so, could we just get the required electronic documents e-mailed to us by our agent, which we can then just attach to the application?

Who did your skills assessment? If it was the ICAA then they will still have all your documentation on record. In order to register though you will need to provide some additional information, such as a letter of good standing from SAICA.

Regarding your designation, you do not need to register in australia as a CA to use your designation, but bear in mind that your designation is CA(SA), which is different from the aussie one which is just "CA". In order to use the australian one, i.e., just CA, you need to become a member of the ICAA.

Here's a link with the requirements: http://www.charteredaccountants.com.au/Members/Membership/Recognised-overseas-accounting-bodies

[JuanitaS]

Thanks for the valuable information, I have decided to just stay registered with SAICA for now, but will only be starting to look for work later this month, so will only find out then if it might be better to register with ICAA as well. All the job adds I have seen required CA/CPA.

Getting verifiable CPD points are also a challenge as the courses here in Oz are quite expensive if you don't have an employer. SAICA online material might be a cheaper option for now.

Good luck for all and thanks for the advice.

[Eagle101]

Thanks everyone - your input is much appreciated!

Regards,

Basil

[Donovan83]

Thanks for the valuable information, I have decided to just stay registered with SAICA for now, but will only be starting to look for work later this month, so will only find out then if it might be better to register with ICAA as well. All the job adds I have seen required CA/CPA.

You are eligible for jobs that require a CA - you are a CA, just registered with SAICA. A CA is a CA.

[Wantbetter]

Lots of employers here prefer you to be registered with ICAA as well, even though it is not a requirement. It is REALLY expensive to be registered with both, and in my opinion its a necessary waste of money, so try and get your employer to at least pay the ICAA fees - the don't usually pay the SAICA fees, even though it is also a requirement.

I registered with ICAA because there was talk of changes to what is requered in future, like additional courses etc. None of that was required (and still is not), but I also think it's a good idea to do your Australian tax course, as there are loads of differences and you are required to know it in business. Its cheaper to do it once you are in Australia and a PR. Maybe you can even get your employer to pay for it as it's to their advantage in the end.

And yes, you are required to stay registered with both ICAA and SAICA for the rest of your life, unless you re-do all your exams in Australia. I have absentee membership with SAICA, but it's still expensive.

You log your CPD hours on the SAICA website. Your ICAA membership is only dependent on your SAICA membership being in good standing, so you don't log CPD hours for your ICAA membership.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Wantbetter

[Eagle101]

Thanks Wantbetter, your input is really appreciated!

[Eagle101]

Has anyone had their CA(SA) accounting qualification assessed with ICAA, and then applied to register with CPA?

I thought that this may be a good approach to follow as a temporary measure, until my wife can get 2 Australian CA's to provide her with a "reference", so that she can then register with ICAA. (So can then have an "Australian CPA" registration together with a "South African CA" registration to put onto her CV for job applications etc.).

I had a look at the CPA website, but if I look correctly, unless you has your accounting assessment done through CPA, you need to start all over and get CPA to do your assessment.......really do not want to start this whole process over again (and pay again...), for what has already been done.

Don't these two organisations "talk" to each other about matters such as skills assessments (I would have thought the requirements for ICAA would automatically be sufficient for CPA?

It would be so much easier to just register from the start with ICAA, but unfortunately, due to the "reference' requirements, it looks like that can only happen somewhere in the future.

Thanks

Edited June 15, 2012 by Basil & Liezl

[Donovan83]

I don't think you can use your skills assessment from ICAA to register with CPA... I'm in a similar boat.

So far I've found that they don't mind if it's a CA(SA), they actually seem to be quite positive about the fact you're a CA, even if you're one from South Africa. You should be able to find work without too much of a hassle - what kind of work are you looking for?

So far (since I'm newly qualified) I've mainly been pushed towards audit... it's the easiest to get into. But as I am sure your wife will agree, it's not exactly a fun job to audit...lol.

[heidim]

Has anyone had their CA(SA) accounting qualification assessed with ICAA, and then applied to register with CPA?

Thanks

Yes, we did. But they do not accept ICAA assessment. What happened in our case was that we had first sent our assessment to CPA, and for some obscure reason, they gave us a negative assessment and said although he has an Hons in Accounting, he never did Theory of Accounting. Duh?? Then we took our assessment to ICAA and they approved it (so we paid twice for assesment). We then called CPA and asked if they will accept the positive assessment from ICAA and grant him Theory of Accounting, but they refused to accept ICAA assessment. We then decided that we already had the assessment done with CPA so why waste that money and hubby only needed one subject to become a member. So he enrolled for "Theory of Accounting", passed the exam and he is now a member of CPA...

Edited to add that hubby does not have CA(SA) qualification, he has Accounting (Hons) and Financial Management (Hons).

Edited June 15, 2012 by heidim

[Eagle101]

Yes, we did. But they do not accept ICAA assessment. What happened in our case was that we had first sent our assessment to CPA, and for some obscure reason, they gave us a negative assessment and said although he has an Hons in Accounting, he never did Theory of Accounting. Duh?? Then we took our assessment to ICAA and they approved it (so we paid twice forassessmentt). We then called CPA and asked if they will accept the positive assessment from ICAA and grant him Theory of Accounting, but they refused to accept ICAA assessment. We then decided that we already had the assessment done with CPA so why waste that money and hubby only needed one subject to become a member. So he enrolled for "Theory of Accounting", passed the exam and he is now a member of CPA...

Edited to add that hubby does not have CA(SA) qualification, he has Accounting (Hons) and Financial Management (Hons).

Thanks for this info Heidi - it now makes a little more sense. We have had a look at the CPA online application form, and it looks fairly straight forward. Unfortunately it seems that they only tell you what supporting documentation you must send AFTER you submit the online application, and pay for it etc. For the supporting documentation, do they only require things like certified copies of your passport, degrees, letter from your Accountinging Body showing you are a member in good standing etc, or they lso require transcripts from the universities where you studied etc? Can a person e-mail these items of "supporting documentation", or must you post it to them?

Thanks for all the assistance!

Regards, Basil

[heidim]

Hi Basil,

You basically have to do the whole skills assessment thing with them, and I think their website lists all the stuff you need to send. You cannot e-mail them, they don't accept scans not even coloured ones (yes, I know hassle, hassle, hassle), so you have to courier certified copies of everything to them.

You have to register on their website. Then you complete the online application form for skills assessment, then they give you a reference number for your application and then you include that reference number in your cover letter of the pack of documents you courier to them. And I think you have to pay when you do the online application. On the online application form you have to choose what you want them to do: a) skills assessment b)work experience (for claiming points) and c) pathway to membership. You have to then ask them to do the skills assessment as well as the pathway to membership. The documents you have to include based on bad memory so just double check the website:

Two different documents proving your identification i.e. passport & RSA ID

IELTS results

Copies of all the degree certificates

Academic record listing ALL the subjects that were covered during the period of study

A detailed syllabus for every single subject listed on the academic record explaining what work was covered in that subject

Proof of membership to any RSA official accounting body

They will then do an assessment and if they find that you have covered all the relevant areas (basically get a positive skills assessment), then you can become a member. Otherwise if you get a negative assessment (like we did), you just need to complete the "outstanding" modules with them (at a fee of course) and then you can join.

So that's about it I think....

[Eagle101]

Thanks Heidi

We appreciate your effort and your input.

Regards,

Basil