Certified true copies

Documents will not be returned to you after assessment so we require that you submit certified true copies of original academic awards (certificates, diplomas) and academic transcripts (examination results).

Your documents may be certified by any of the following:

• CPA / FCPA or member of an equivalent professional body
• commissioner for oaths
• Justice of the Peace
• notary public
• police officer, sheriff, sheriff's officer
• bank manager, dentist, legal practitioner, medical practitioner, pharmacist, veterinary surgeon
• Australian consular officer, or Australian diplomatic officer
• any other official who, in your home country, is authorised to endorse documents and legal declarations or witness sworn affidavits
• MARA registered migration agents (commenced 1 October 2007)

The endorsement must clearly indicate the date sighted, name, contact details and which of the above categories the signatory represents and state that the copies are true and unaltered reproductions of the original documents.

The documents you submit for assessment must bear the original endorsement. Plain photocopies of certified documents will not be accepted.

You may make an additional copy of the certified document for yourself if you wish but please make sure that you send the original endorsement to us.

Academic award/s (certificates, diplomas, testamurs)

Information regarding these is available from the assessment application form.

Academic transcripts (exam results)

These must be official transcripts. Results downloaded from websites or printouts issued on plain paper will not be accepted.

If your academic transcript indicates that you were given credit towards a degree based on previous studies (either at a lower level or at another institution), you must include relevant documentation for that prior study.

If your university / educational institution issued separate transcripts for each individual year of study, please include transcripts for all years of study.

Syllabus details (subject outlines)

Members of any of the professional bodies listed in the section membership of other professional bodies are generally not required to submit any syllabus information. There are some exceptions. For example, if you completed a degree which included auditing and subsequently completed the CIMA professional program you should submit an outline for the auditing unit/s in the degree.

You do not need to supply syllabus detail for Australian or CPA Australia accredited courses / units.

To obtain a successful assessment for migration purposes, your recognised qualification/s must fulfil at least nine of the 12 core curriculum subject areas. It is your responsibility to ensure that you provide adequate syllabus detail to demonstrate that your studies covered the required core curriculum subject areas. All core subjects must be completed before you can be admitted to membership.

You must provide detail for all relevant accounting, law, finance, economics, statistics and computer information systems subjects. Failure to provide sufficient detail may adversely affect the result of your assessment. You will be advised to complete further studies in any subject areas in which we are unable to assess the depth of your knowledge.

For more information about syllabus details see frequently asked questions.

Other tertiary qualifications

If you have an undergraduate degree in arts (for example) followed by a postgraduate degree in accounting. Please submit relevant documents for both. Syllabus detail is only required for relevant core subjects as described in above.

Assessment fee

Information regarding the assessment is available from the assessment application form.

The assessment fee is payable in Australian dollars. If paying from outside Australia, you can pay by:

• Bank draft - the draft should be made payable to CPA Australia and must nominate a corresponding Australian bank through which we can process the payment. Drafts which nominate non-Australian banks will be returned to you for replacement and this may delay your assessment.
• Credit card payments will be accepted, but please ensure that:
  • you have sufficient credit and the payment will not exceed your credit limit
  • there are no restrictions on transferring funds overseas
  • your credit card expiry date is not imminent

These problems are frequently encountered. They create additional work for us and cause frustrating delays to applicants.

Electronic funds transfer is not a preferred method of payment but can be arranged if you live in a country where banking and credit facilities are limited and you are unable to pay by either of the above means. Please contact the qualifications assessment staff for further details.

Personal cheques will be accepted only if drawn on an Australian bank account. 

Presenting your application

CPA Australia receives over 9000 assessment applications per year for which we create individual files and allocate storage space.

We request, therefore, that you submit only material that is pertinent to the assessment of your accounting qualifications. The following points will help us to reduce processing time and store your files in the limited space available.

• Include all items requested on the assessment application form. Documentation relevant to changes in your name, particularly where your current name varies from that shown on your documents (e.g. marriage certificates, deed-poll, etc) should be included.
• Do not send your application in any kind of cover, folder or spiral bound format. All unnecessary material received with applications has to be removed and discarded.
• Do not secure your entire application with heavy-duty staples. These are extremely difficult to remove. We like to spread out your documents while we assess your qualifications, especially when applicants have completed more than one qualification or have studied at several different institutions. Standard-weight staples can be used to secure separate components of the application which comprise multiple pages, such as syllabus and transcripts.
• In general, CPA Australia assesses only your academic qualifications and will not require details of your work experience. However, if your most recent university qualification was completed more than 10 years ago and you are not a member of a professional accounting body, we may ask you to provide testimonials from employers with summaries of duties undertaken.
• Do not include copies of your certificates for sporting achievements, dress-making or cookery courses, boy-scout badges, religious icons or any other material which has no relevance to your academic qualifications.