Accountant (General) (ANZSCO 221111)

On the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List and Core Skills Occupation List

From the official Home Affairs skilled occupation lists, as at 2026-08-12. Lists change at each government update — always confirm on the official page before acting.

Which lists is Accountant (General) on?

MLTSSL — Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List. The widest list — occupations on the MLTSSL can access the points-tested permanent skilled visas including the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189), which needs no state nomination or employer.

CSOL — Core Skills Occupation List. The employer-sponsorship list — occupations on the CSOL can be nominated for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) and the Employer Nomination Scheme 186.

Visas this occupation can access

Being on a list makes the occupation nominatable for these visas — each visa still has its own requirements (points, age, English, a positive skills assessment, and for sponsored visas a willing employer or state).

Processing priority

Accountant (General) isn't in any of the ANZSCO groups that Directions 121 and 122 list for the priority sectors. Some of the first group is defined by the job rather than the code: a nominated position directly involved in agriculture, aquaculture or fishing, one that directly supports mining, oil and gas or coal production, or one related to defence. Otherwise the application is processed after the priority sectors. For the permanent and provisional skilled visas, applicants who were in Australia when they applied come next, then those who applied from outside Australia. For the 482, Specialist Skills stream applications come before both.

Priority changes the order in which lodged applications are looked at, not whether they are granted. Who is invited to apply through SkillSelect is decided separately. See all 202 occupations in the priority sectors.

Skills assessment

Accountant (General) can be assessed by any of these authorities:

What the assessment actually involves

CPA Australia, the IPA and Chartered Accountants ANZ each independently assess this code, and an applicant chooses which one to use — their outcomes are not automatically transferable between the three. On CPA's own competency table, Accountant (General) sits in the group requiring seven mandatory areas: Accounting Systems and Processes, Business Law, Economics, Financial Accounting and Reporting, Finance and Financial Management, Management Accounting, and Quantitative Methods, alongside Corporate Treasurer, Finance Manager and Management Accountant. A qualification assessed as at least bachelor-equivalent is mandatory; there is no lower diploma tier. The optional skilled employment assessment, which converts real work into points-test evidence, requires a same-body qualification outcome first — CPA will not run it standalone.

Where these applications come unstuck

Business Law is the competency area most often missing from a foreign accounting degree, and CPA's own Foundation Exam bridge does cover it — unlike the Taxation Law and Audit and Assurance areas required for the two sibling codes, so a gap here is genuinely fixable without a university subject. The bigger trap is assuming pre-qualification work experience counts toward the skilled employment assessment: CPA only considers employment after the degree was awarded, and CVs or resumes are not accepted as evidence at all — testimonials with strict letterhead and signatory rules, plus payslips, are required instead.

An honest read on this pathway

Accountant (General) carries the widest visa spread of the three accounting codes and is assessed against the same seven-area table as Management Accountant, so an applicant unsure between the two faces no extra competency risk moving from one to the other. The real cost is CPA's own processing time — roughly ten business days once lodged, but only after evidence that satisfies its testimonial and payslip format is assembled, which is where most delay sits. A positive outcome is a migration document, not a CPA membership or any professional licence.

Whichever authority assesses you, the paperwork is the part applicants underestimate. The Document Vault keeps a single register of every document, what it was needed for, and what is still missing.

We've also written a full pathway guide for this occupation: read the Accountant (General) pathway guide.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Accountant (General) is your best route depends on your points, experience evidence and timing — exactly what a MARA-registered agent works through in an initial consultation. Describe your situation once through Migratio and compare real consultation quotes from registered agents, free.

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