First and foremost, I am not a CPA holder (I am however an ACCA and CAANZ/ICAA member) but I have mentored a lot of CPA who worked for me and I am working in Australia so perhaps I can answer some of your questions.

1.How much is the total fee to finish all 6 paper?
- I don't know but these are information on the web so it should be easy to check.

2. Also do I need to work in audit for 3 years. My manager is a CPA holder so can my experience be use?
- Like all other professional qualifications, audit is not the only route to get your 3 years recognized working experience for certification purpose, Ideally, if they are closely related to accounting / finance / investment / internal audit it will be better because it is easier to relate them to your CPA qualification process. It can be a combination of audit + others (accounting related).

3. What are the simple subject. I have pass my audit n taxation in Australian degree?
- I was told that Other than Financial Reporting and Tax, the rest should are manageable. Hope other CPA holders can tell you specifically instead.

4. Will it be easier for me to migrate to Australia/newzealand with CPA?
- This is a very broad question and the answer can be nuanced because it depends on a lot of factors. Assuming your definition of 'Migrate' is to secure a 189 Visa (PR), then having a CPA and Australian Uni definitely add points to your case. However, visa point system changes and it has changed about 1/2 year ago where your age and years of working experience also contributes to your points - so yes it will make it 'easier' for you in that sense.

If your question is more about 'Will CPA help me to get a job easily in Australia' then answer is yes but very slightly because employers in Australia care more about 'Local Australian experience' instead of qualification although from the employer's perspective, your AU uni and CPA are familiar to them so it helps especially if they wish to recruit an oversea candidate. However, competition for jobs in Australia is so high that AU uni and CPA themselves make very little difference.

One 'easier' route however are the Australian Big 4 audit team since they constantly hire/second experienced auditors (from Big 4 as well) from overseas because like everywhere else in the world, turnover in audit is always high and they are always in need of people. But I don't know will this change in the future because things are tightening up.

5. Also after getting cpa will I get a higher pay?
- You won't get higher pay purely because you pass CPA but certain roles or positions requires the candidate to be professionally qualified for CV and regulatory purposes and if you are going for those roles (i.e, audit managers in Big 4 are required to be professionally qualified) then obviously you stand a chance to get a higher salary because of promotion. Some companies may set passing CPA as a KPI in their finance department and hence reward their staffs for doing so but generally it is just a piece of paper and you won't directly get a pay bump purely because you pass your CPA.

This post has been edited by Justin Wong: Aug 8 2020, 04:09 PM

The standard answer is yes.

It is always better to pursue a professional accounting qualification if you can afford it because it gives you options in the future (i.e., so that you can obtain MIA membership and be called 'CA' and provide public accounting services (if you choose to do so) and for market recognition purposes as well because most companies these days by default would want to employed a 'qualified accountant' especially if you want to move to a bigger company (MNC or listed) due to regulatory and governance requirement - general internal control policy of big companies to make sure that accounts are done by qualified personnel).

So long story short - it is always better to have CPA than not unless you couldn't afford it but I believe most companies would sponsor or subsidize your professional accounting studies. If they don't and you cannot afford it then you need to seriously ask yourself whether you will be doing accounting in the long run. If the answer is no then maybe you shouldn't waste your 20k but otherwise I would strongly suggest you do do it.

If cost is the concern, perhaps you can choose to do ACCA or MICPA which are cheaper (and I think you may also get exemptions from the relevant uni subjects, but the examination process is more challenging compared to CPA). In addition, ACCA or MICPA also provide pathways for ICAA membership conversion in the future (generally more 'prestigious' compared in CPA (in Australia) if you care about such vain perception at all, although practically it doesn't make a difference especially if you already have relevant work experience) if you are working in Australia.

This post has been edited by Justin Wong: Aug 10 2020, 11:02 AM