If you’re an overseas-qualified accountant weighing up a skilled visa to Australia, here’s the short answer: Accountant (General) (ANZSCO 221111) sits on both the Core Skills Occupation List and the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, and the skills assessment for it can go to any one of three professional bodies: CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), or the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA). It isn’t a CPA-only process, despite what some sources, including until now our own service page, suggest. The occupation opens up a wide spread of visas, from the points-tested 189 through to employer-sponsored 482 and 186, but the employer-sponsored routes carry occupation-specific caveats that catch out a lot of applicants and sponsoring businesses. This guide works through all of it.
What is the Accountant (General) (ANZSCO 221111) skills assessment?
A skills assessment is how one of Australia’s accounting bodies confirms your qualification and, where relevant, your work experience meet the standard needed to nominate Accountant (General) as your occupation in a visa application. Accountant (General) 221111 appears on both the Core Skills Occupation List and the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, which between them is what opens up the pathways covered below. Two closely related occupations sit alongside it on the same lists with their own ANZSCO codes: Management Accountant (221112) and Taxation Accountant (221113). Both are assessed by the same three bodies but as separate nominations, so confirm which code actually matches your role before you apply.
Three assessing bodies, one choice: CPA Australia, CA ANZ, or IPA
CPA Australia is not the only body that can assess an Accountant (General) skills assessment, and this trips up more people than it should. Applicants can apply to CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), or the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA). You pick one, not all three, and each runs its own qualification assessment against broadly the same core knowledge areas: accounting systems, financial accounting and reporting, management accounting, finance, business law, taxation law, economics and quantitative methods. Which one suits you best often comes down to where you’d rather hold ongoing membership, since all three also double as professional accounting bodies in Australia. Based on a cross-check of two migration-services fee comparisons (the assessing bodies’ own sites weren’t directly accessible this run, so treat this as indicative and confirm the live figure before budgeting), CPA Australia’s qualification assessment runs from around A$514 offshore to A$565 onshore, with turnaround typically quoted at around 10 business days standard, or faster under a paid fast-track option.
Which visas can you use an Accountant skills assessment for?
Because Accountant (General) sits on the Core Skills Occupation List, it supports a genuinely broad set of pathways:
- Subclass 189 (Skilled Independent): points-tested, no employer or state nomination needed.
- Subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated): with state or territory nomination.
- Subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional): state, territory or eligible family sponsorship.
- Subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional): for eligible regional employers, with a pathway through to the subclass 191 permanent visa. A positive skills assessment is mandatory for this stream.
- Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand, Core Skills stream): employer-sponsored, subject to the occupation caveats covered below.
- Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme, Direct Entry stream): a positive skills assessment is mandatory, and the same occupation caveats apply.
- Subclass 407 (Training): structured workplace-based training.
- Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate): for eligible recent graduates.
That’s a wider spread than several of the trade and vocational occupations covered elsewhere on this site, reflecting Accountant (General)’s status as a professional, degree-entry occupation rather than a trade one.
The caveats that catch accountant nominations out (482 and 186 Direct Entry)
This is the part that gets missed most often, by applicants and by the businesses trying to sponsor them. Three occupation caveats apply to an Accountant (General) nomination under the subclass 482 Core Skills stream and the subclass 186 Direct Entry stream alike (the same caveats apply to Management Accountant and Taxation Accountant too). Based on two independent secondary sources cross-checked against each other (the relevant legislative instrument carries the authoritative wording, so confirm there before lodging):
- The role can’t be clerical, bookkeeping or accounting-clerk work. The nominated position has to involve genuine professional accounting functions, not data entry or basic bookkeeping dressed up with an accountant’s job title.
- The sponsoring business needs annual turnover of at least A$1 million. A smaller practice or SME, however genuine the role, won’t meet this threshold.
- The sponsoring business needs at least five employees. A sole practitioner or very small firm is excluded on staff numbers alone, even with turnover above the first threshold.
In practice, this means a genuinely qualified accountant with a genuine job offer can still be knocked back on the 482 or 186 Direct Entry pathway if the employer is a small firm. It’s worth checking this before either side invests time in a nomination the caveats will block. The points-tested pathways (189, 190, 491) don’t carry these caveats, since there’s no employer nomination involved.
What employers must pay: the 2026-27 income threshold
For an Accountant (General) nomination under the subclass 482 Core Skills stream or the subclass 494 visa, the relevant salary floor is the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT), which rose to A$79,499 a year for nominations lodged on or after 1 July 2026, or the market salary rate for the role, whichever is higher. This is distinct from the Specialist Skills Income Threshold (SSIT) of A$146,717, which applies to the separate Specialist Skills stream rather than to Core Skills occupations like this one. Confirm the exact current figure directly with Home Affairs or your migration agent before quoting a salary to a prospective employer, since these thresholds are reviewed periodically.
Does accounting get priority visa processing in 2026?
No, and that’s worth knowing up front. Since 19 September 2026, Direction 121 (subclass 482) and Direction 122 (ten other skilled subclasses, including 190 and 491) have set a tiered processing order built around nine named priority sectors: healthcare, construction, teaching, law enforcement, defence, resources, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing. Accounting and professional services aren’t among them. That doesn’t mean an Accountant (General) application won’t be processed. It means the application sits in the standard queue behind those nine sectors rather than in the top tier, so realistic timeline expectations matter more here than for an occupation inside the priority list.
Common mistakes with the Accountant pathway
- Assuming CPA Australia is the only assessing body. CA ANZ and IPA are equally valid choices, and one may suit your situation or future membership plans better than another.
- An employer assuming any business can sponsor an accountant on a 482 or 186 Direct Entry visa. Caveats 2, 11 and 13 rule out clerical/bookkeeping roles and businesses under A$1 million turnover or five employees.
- Confusing Accountant (General) 221111 with Management Accountant 221112 or Taxation Accountant 221113. They’re separate ANZSCO codes and separate nominations, even though the same three bodies assess all three.
- Quoting an old salary figure to a prospective sponsor instead of the current Core Skills Income Threshold.
Key takeaways
- Accountant (General) (ANZSCO 221111) sits on the Core Skills Occupation List and MLTSSL, supporting subclass 189, 190, 491, 494, 482, 186, 407 and 485.
- The skills assessment can go to CPA Australia, CA ANZ or IPA: your choice, not CPA-only.
- Caveats 2, 11 and 13 restrict the 482 Core Skills and 186 Direct Entry streams: no clerical/bookkeeping roles, and the sponsoring business needs at least A$1 million turnover and five employees.
- The current Core Skills Income Threshold is A$79,499, effective for nominations from 1 July 2026. That’s distinct from the A$146,717 Specialist Skills Income Threshold, which doesn’t apply to this occupation.
- Accounting isn’t one of the nine priority sectors under Ministerial Directions 121 and 122, so expect standard rather than top-tier queue processing.
Frequently asked questions
Who assesses the Accountant skills assessment?
You can choose any one of three bodies: CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), or the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA). You apply to one, not all three.
Which visas can I use an Accountant skills assessment for?
Accountant (General) supports subclass 189, 190, 491, 494, 482 (Core Skills stream), 186 (Direct Entry stream), 407 and 485.
Can any small business sponsor an accountant on a 482 visa?
No. Occupation caveats require the sponsoring business to have at least A$1 million in annual turnover and at least five employees, and the role itself can’t be clerical, bookkeeping or accounting-clerk work.
Does accounting get priority visa processing in 2026?
No. The nine priority sectors under Ministerial Directions 121 and 122 are healthcare, construction, teaching, law enforcement, defence, resources, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing. Accounting isn’t one of them, so applications follow the standard processing queue.
What’s the difference between Accountant (General), Management Accountant and Taxation Accountant?
They’re three separate ANZSCO occupations (221111, 221112 and 221113) on the same occupation lists, each assessed separately by the same three bodies. Which one applies depends on the actual duties of your role.
Ready to find out if you qualify?
Kingsbridge Australia offers a free 15-minute pre-assessment with Dexter Lee, our Registered Migration Agent (MARN 2518927), to see if you qualify for this pathway. Book a time below.