482 Visa for Accountants: CSOL Codes, Skills Assessment, and Pathway to PR

Accounting is one of the most consistently sponsored occupations under the 482 visa program. Australia's domestic shortage of qualified accountants — particularly in regional areas and in specialist areas like management accounting, external audit, and tax advisory — means employers across multiple sectors regularly seek overseas-qualified professionals. If you hold an accounting qualification and have a job offer from an Australian employer, here is what the process looks like.

Which Accounting Occupations Are on the CSOL

Multiple accounting-related ANZSCO codes appear on the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL):

• 221111 Accountant (General): Covers accountants providing general financial reporting, tax, and compliance services
• 221112 Management Accountant: Focuses on internal reporting, budgeting, and business performance analysis
• 221113 Taxation Accountant: Tax planning, lodgement, and compliance for individuals and entities
• 221114 Cost Accountant: Cost analysis and management accounting in production and manufacturing environments
• 221213 External Auditor: Independent audit engagements for financial statements
• 221214 Internal Auditor: Internal controls and risk assurance functions

The occupation your employer nominates must match your actual duties. If you are being hired as a management accountant but your position description lists primarily bookkeeping and data entry tasks, the nomination will likely be scrutinised or refused — the role must be consistent with the ANZSCO description.

Skills Assessment for Accountants

Most accounting occupations require a mandatory skills assessment before the 482 visa application can be lodged. The relevant assessing authority depends on which accounting body you are affiliated with or which assessment pathway suits your qualifications:

CPA Australia: Accepts candidates with relevant accounting qualifications. CPA membership or completion of the CPA Program provides a pathway to skills recognition, though a formal migration skills assessment is a separate process from CPA membership itself.

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ): Similar to CPA — qualification assessment for migration purposes may be arranged through CAANZ or directly through the Department's preferred pathway.

IPAA (Institute of Public Accountants): An alternative body for candidates whose qualifications or experience doesn't align with CPA or CAANZ requirements.

VETASSESS: For candidates whose qualifications are not from an ANZSCO-recognised professional body, VETASSESS conducts general accounting skills assessments. Standard VETASSESS processing takes 12 to 16 weeks; fees range from $1,110 to $1,205.

What the assessment looks at:

• Whether your accounting degree/diploma is assessed as comparable to an Australian bachelor's degree or higher in accounting
• Whether your major subjects covered the core accounting competencies (financial accounting, management accounting, taxation, audit, commercial law)
• Whether your work experience in an accounting role following your graduation meets the relevance and duration requirements

A common issue for overseas accountants: degrees that included accounting as a major but are classified as a business or commerce degree rather than an accounting degree. Depending on the extent of accounting content, these may be assessed differently.

Salary Requirements

The minimum salary for accounting roles under the Core Skills stream is the CSIT: $76,515 (rising to $79,499 from July 2026). However, the Annual Market Salary Rate (AMSR) for accountants — particularly in major cities — often significantly exceeds this floor.

According to Hays Salary Guide data, accountants in Australia typically earn:

• Graduate/junior accountant: $55,000 to $70,000 (below CSIT — effectively ineligible for sponsorship at this salary level)
• Mid-level accountant (3-5 years experience): $80,000 to $110,000
• Senior accountant or manager (7+ years): $110,000 to $160,000

For a mid-level role paying $85,000, the AMSR ($85,000) takes precedence over the CSIT ($76,515). The nomination must document why $85,000 is the genuine market rate — this is typically demonstrated using SEEK salary data, Hays or Robert Half salary reports, or comparable job advertisements.

The Two-Year PR Pathway

Once you have worked for two years in Australia in your nominated accounting occupation while holding a 482 visa, you become eligible to apply for the Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) via the Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) stream — provided your employer nominates you for permanent residency.

For accountants, the 186 TRT transition typically involves:

• Confirming your employer is willing to proceed with a permanent nomination
• Meeting the upgraded English requirement (IELTS 6.0 per band or equivalent)
• Updating your skills assessment if it is approaching the three-year validity limit
• Ensuring your salary at the time of the 186 application still meets the indexed CSIT

The 186 application fee for the primary applicant is $4,910.

Caveats That May Affect Accounting Nominations

Some accounting occupation codes carry caveats:

• Turnover requirements: For senior accounting and audit roles, the nominating business may need to demonstrate minimum annual turnover, ensuring the role is genuine and not created for visa purposes at an entity too small to need that level of expertise
• Business size: Some nominations may require a minimum number of employees in the nominating entity

Checking whether your specific ANZSCO code carries a caveat — and whether your employer's business meets those conditions — is part of the pre-lodgement assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be a CPA or Chartered Accountant to get the 482 visa as an accountant? Not necessarily — but you need a positive skills assessment, and the assessment criteria typically require a qualification at the bachelor's degree level in accounting. Being a CPA member or CAANZ member generally accelerates the skills assessment process and provides higher confidence in outcome, but is not the only pathway.

Can a small accounting firm sponsor me? Yes, if they meet the requirements for a Standard Business Sponsor. Smaller firms (under $10 million turnover) pay a lower SAF levy ($1,200 per year instead of $1,800), which can make sponsorship more accessible. However, some caveat conditions for certain accounting codes may require minimum business sizes — check the specific code.

What if my occupation is closer to bookkeeping than accounting? Bookkeeper (551211) is a separate ANZSCO code. Bookkeeping is not on the CSOL, meaning it does not qualify for the Core Skills stream sponsorship. If the role genuinely involves accounting functions at the level of a qualified accountant, the accountant code is appropriate. Misclassifying a bookkeeping role as an accounting role is a nomination integrity issue.

For a detailed walkthrough of the accounting-specific skills assessment process, AMSR benchmarking for accounting roles, and the documents your employer needs to prepare at the nomination stage, see the Australia TSS 482 Visa Guide.

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