Emigration Options: Chartered Accountant / CA (SA)

Cayman and the Bermuda Islands are easy options for CA. But you can't go there unless you have been in audit recently. Can't remember how long but when I looked into it I had been out too long. I hate audit with a passion.
 
Check for vacancies at the Siegfried Group. Quite a few SA CAS working there. I know a few personally. It's like a consultancy firm that provides sort of short to medium term placements for high level finance roles.
 
I also did the 3 month secondment post articles and had the option of a 2 year contract thereafter in the US. But I had enough of audit by then
 
Quite a few I know went to the UK. I considered it before my last role change but the cost of living and lifestyle change if very different especially with a child.
 
One of the girls I was on secondment with stayed the 2 years extra. After that she took up a position outside of audit. So if you can push through you could do your CPA and move out of audit after.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
One of the reasons I want to do it sooner rather than later.

I'm not in a serious relationship and still relatively young (under 30), so would like to set up in a new country and start building my future.
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Just bear in mind that in general, you will be able to afford a better quality of life than in the US or UK. That was what I picked up in my investigations. Obviously one of the pros is despite the lower quality of life there is better security and a functioning government.
 
Or you could be like every other girl that just got out of a break up and go teach English overseas.
 
Ecko_1 said:
Just bear in mind that in general, you will be able to afford a better quality of life than in the US or UK. That was what I picked up in my investigations. Obviously one of the pros is despite the lower quality of life there is better security and a functioning government.
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That is in SA. Might be a bit different with experience as I did calcs right after qualifying.
 
I am also a CA, currently trying to move abroad with just a SA Passport only.
Just like @Shalin_ZN not a fan of articles but also, did exceptionally well!

I am currently still in Audit(for this reason to move) and exploring between USA and Australia.
USA is very tricky to get into but best is via an international inter-company transfer(L1 Visa) and eventually convert Green Card(hopefully!) unless you have $900,000 to invest for an EB5 Visa. I have found jobs where people would hire me in the USA in audit, but to employ someone outside of the USA, is almost but impossible(the Trump visa ban only ended in the last few weeks) so hopefully things will be easier in the coming months.

For Australia, if you are willing to pay, you can obtain a VISA(L189 visa) but the CA's roles are mostly overs scribed and I have been advised not apply unless you have 95 plus points. It also depends on where you want to go because if a state is nominating that skill, a lot easier to get into. If you have been to NZ, there may even way to score more points because of that.

If you want to go to the UK/Europe, its possible to be sponsored. I have family who are also CA's who got sponsored from audit to Fintech companies while in the UK, so its not impossible.

If you already in multinational , stay there and try find move within there I reckon. If you battling, look to audit because they will always take you back.

And @Shalin_ZN . Lets hold thumbs for the Diversity Lottery ;)
 
Shalin_ZN said:
NZ is a genuinely beautiful place with amazing people.

It's got such a diverse ecosystem, from volcano's on the north island to ski slopes on the south island. The people are honestly the nicest and friendliest I've met so far (and I've traveled quite a bit). No one cares what your race or background is, which was such a pleasant change (as this is the same way I see the world).

There's also a lot of SA expats there, like A LOT. Safety was insane, again walked solo with my phone out at 2AM, no one even gave me a second look. Bonus points as their women are some of the most promiscuous in the world (Google it).

That said, it's very much a developing country. Think SA, but without the crime and corruption. I'm sure a lot of our infrastructure here (especially telecoms, banking, etc) is much more advanced than theirs is. Further, from what I saw, salaries are low and costs are high (relatively speaking). Also, time zone to SA is horrendous.

Emigration to a place like NZ would really be a last resort kind of thing at the moment, I'd arguably be better of in SA in many ways.

To give you some context, at the end of my secondment I was given the option of staying on for a long term contract with the possibility of settling. I said no without even thinking twice.
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Thanks for the detailed response. I've been working for NZ for more than a decade. But I have never been there. I guess I would love to go visit there in the near future. A lot of the clients I deal with, the women wears the pants, lol.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
The QoL debate is interesting.

When I was in the US, I'd say I was living the best quality of life I ever have. We were on about $75k pa and the company paid for accommodation/utilities/internet/etc. My only costs were food, entertainment and personal travel.

Yes, it was audit so the hours were extremely long and work bored me half to death. But I can't say I was short for anything. I traveled, I ate, I drank, I saved/invested, I sent money to the parents, all with great abundance.

Not to mention the fact that I felt completely safe walking alone with my phone out at 2AM.



Lol, firstly I'm a guy. :ROFL:

Secondly, there's no way I worked this hard to develop my skill set to give it up and go teach English.
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You can't compare the secondment living to a longer contract when you are out on your own. The stuff covered by secondmemt is significant. We were on about $50k during secondment. The rent on our apartment that 2 if us shared was about $6 000 all inclusive. It was nice (one of the cities NFLplayers stayed in our building), near the city centre, and the rent included furniture, utilities, cleaning, cable, fiber etc. But that would have been my entire salary
Add another $400 monthly for a car. Based on the earnings on a 2 year contract I would have had to be like the other audit seniors that didn't live at home and move into a shared house.

The secondment is great as your salary is yours to do whatever with and we also received $50 daily for food. So we ate and drank and traveled, I'm sure you would be able to do this as it is generally cheaper when you are earning in dollars, but don't expect the same as a short term JIT secondment.
 
Shalin_ZN said:
The QoL debate is interesting.

When I was in the US, I'd say I was living the best quality of life I ever have. We were on about $75k pa and the company paid for accommodation/utilities/internet/etc. My only costs were food, entertainment and personal travel.

Yes, it was audit so the hours were extremely long and work bored me half to death. But I can't say I was short for anything. I traveled, I ate, I drank, I saved/invested, I sent money to the parents, all with great abundance.

Not to mention the fact that I felt completely safe walking alone with my phone out at 2AM.



Lol, firstly I'm a guy. :ROFL:

Secondly, there's no way I worked this hard to develop my skill set to give it up and go teach English.
Click to expand...
You can't compare the secondment living to a longer contract when you are out on your own. The stuff covered by secondmemt is significant. We were on about $50k during secondment. The rent on our apartment that 2 if us shared was about $6 000 all inclusive. It was nice (one of the cities NFLplayers stayed in our building), near the city centre, and the rent included furniture, utilities, cleaning, cable, fiber etc. But that would have been my entire salary
Add another $400 monthly for a car. Based on the earnings on a 2 year contract I would have had to be like the other audit seniors that didn't live at home and move into a shared house.

The secondment is great as your salary is yours to do whatever with and we also received $50 daily for food. So we ate and drank and traveled, I'm sure you would be able to do this as it is generally cheaper when you are earning in dollars, but don't expect the same as a short term JIT secondment.
 
Family member recently qualified with one of the big 4. She applied for a transfer to Australia and got it. They paid for all her visa and relocation costs which can be significant depending on your circumstances.

Looking at what my boss is paying in costs to emigrate to NZ and its staggering
 
Yes I did but unfortunately did not win. The site has been down ever since I checked though yesterday evening. Hopefully it will come back on-line tomorrow for others. Hope you had better luck than me!
 
Resuscitate

Any options or sites to check for more info.
Looking at anything where english is the first language.

Requirement, 1 salary for family of four.

Minimum investigation so far
NZ looks possible with agency interested in pursuing further with the proviso of the segment is highly competitive.
Canada looks like cost of living is higher and 1 salary for accountant won't cut it for family of four.
 
SZN said:
Hey MyBB Brain Trust,

So there's been a lot of talk on the forum about emigration recently, and it's been something that's been a goal of mine for a while now.

I wanted to make a thread focusing on the options for Chartered Accountants / CA (SA)'s, as I know there are a fair amount on this forum.

What are the possible ways:
1. going via audit with big 4
2. getting into a multinational and hoping to transfer once you've proved yourself
3. etc

I'm not the biggest fan of audit (to put it mildly), even though was a highly rated trainee and went on secondments to UK, NZ and USA via audit. I know it's probably the easiest way to go, but I've also seen the way these employees are treated and would prefer to avoid this at all costs.

I'm currently at a multinational (commercial, non-audit), looking to move internationally with them but I'm still very new in my role.

I would really appreciate if my fellow CA's could share their experience with emigrating, whether you've done it already, in the process or even still contemplating.

Also, unfortunately I don't have another passport, else I would have been outta here a long time ago.

My preference would be the US (I've applied for the most recent diversity lottery and will continue doing so), followed by the UK.

Lastly, please can we keep "reasons for leaving", etc out of this thread. It's your life, do what you want.
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Bumped into a CA from SA at the “gemeente” here in Netherlands getting his visa as well. Apparently loads of saffers working here in Netherlands as CA’s for the big 4.

You will have options here. No need for a lottery.
 
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