Agreement Paves Way for Australian Accountants in US

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Mark Vaile today said CPA Australia members with a three year undergraduate degree can now obtain licenses to work in the United States.

"This is a great result for Australian accountants. Combined with the new E-3 Visa category for Australians this initiative means our CPAs have an unparalleled opportunity to enhance their skills in the largest market in the world," Mr Vaile said.

"The AUSFTA established a Working Group on Professional Services to support Australian and US professional bodies and regulators to reach mutual recognition agreements. Accountancy is one of the professions, along with legal and engineering, we are concentrating on at the moment.

"The MRA means for the first time Australian CPAs will no longer have to do extra study to have their qualifications considered equivalent to the US accounting degree.

"Under the agreement 39 US states including California, Illinois, New York and Texas will now recognise the Australian qualifications of CPAs."

Earlier this month Mr Vaile met with United States Trade Representative Rob Portman to review the AUSFTA's first year of operation and obtain support for the professional services initiatives.

CPA Australia signed the agreement with the US International Qualifications Appraisal Board on behalf of the American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia also actively supports Australians seeking to sell accounting services into the US.

"Agreements such as this increase access to the large and lucrative US market and help streamline trade in professional services," Mr Vaile said.

Contact: Richard Forbes (Ministerial) 02 6277 7420, Adam Blight (Austrade) 02 9390 2336