Written for SA2Eire by a Member
Accountants looking to make the move to Ireland – what you need to know first
So you have noticed that accountants are eligible for that “golden ticket” called a Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP). Golden for many reasons, but especially because you can immediately bring over your spouse and kids.
When looking to work in Ireland, you first need to check whether your career, training and experience actually qualifies for a work permit. In brief:
Ineligible means that even with a job offer, you will not get a work permit. You cannot work in Ireland in that career.
Critical Skills means your career is in very high demand. Subject to meeting the terms and conditions, your spouse and children can join you immediately, and your spouse can also apply for their own work permission.
General means you can get a work permit subject to a number of conditions. Your spouse and children can join you 12 months later, but they cannot work without their own separate work permit.
Your SOC Code
As a qualified accountant, one of the first things you need to establish is your SOC code. When you search for “accountant” on the ONS Occupation Coding Tool, two codes come up clearly: 4122 and 2421.
You need to be absolutely sure which one applies to your qualifications and experience, because they are treated very differently.
Code 4122: Book-keepers, Payroll Managers and Wages Clerks — INELIGIBLE for any work permit
This code covers people who maintain and balance financial transaction records, oversee payroll, and calculate wages and deductions. Tasks include:
- Recording and checking accuracy of daily financial transactions
- Preparing provisional balances and reconciling accounts
- Supervising payroll teams and developing payroll systems
- Calculating hours worked, wages due, deductions and contributions
- Processing holiday, sick and maternity pay and travel expenses
- Compiling and distributing wages and salaries
- Calculating costs and overheads and preparing management analyses
Jobs in this category include accounts administrator, accounts assistant, accounts clerk, bookkeeper, auditor and payroll clerk.
If you are not yet fully qualified or registered as an accountant you would likely fall into this category, which means no work permit. This applies equally to debtors and creditors clerks and payroll roles.
Code 2421: Chartered and Certified Accountants — Critical Skills
This is the code that matters for qualified accountants. It covers those who provide accounting and auditing services, advise clients on financial matters, analyse financial information and carry out accounting duties for planning and control purposes.
Tasks include:
- Planning and overseeing accountancy systems and policies
- Preparing financial documents and reports for management or statutory bodies
- Auditing accounts and bookkeeping records
- Preparing tax returns and advising on tax matters
- Conducting financial investigations covering insolvency, fraud and mergers
- Evaluating financial information for management purposes
- Liaising with management to compile budgets and forecasts
- Preparing periodic accounts, budgetary reviews and financial forecasts
- Advising management on financial aspects of productivity, stock, sales and new products
Jobs in this category include qualified accountant, qualified auditor, chartered accountant, company accountant, qualified cost accountant, qualified financial controller and qualified management accountant.
The critical skills list specifically looks for chartered and certified accountants and taxation experts specialising in tax, compliance, regulation, solvency or financial management.
There are also specific provisions for accountants with at least three years of auditing experience who are full members of the AICPA, PICPA or ICAP with relevant experience in US GAAP reporting and Global Audit and Advisory Services, as well as tax consultants specialising in non-EEA markets.
If you are unsure whether your career or qualifications fit, it is worth getting SA2eire to do that code check for you. Click HERE
The three requirements to qualify
To qualify under code 2421 you need all three of the following:
- A degree
- Completed training (what we call “articles” in South Africa)
- Professional examinations and membership of a recognised professional body (SAICA, SAIPA, CIMA, etc.)
That third point is especially important because the critical skills list requires membership of a specific recognised body. As accountants you either need to belong to one of nine regulatory bodies or have your designation accepted through mutual recognition.
I am a full SAIPA member, and SAIPA enjoys full mutual recognition with CPA Ireland, which was a significant factor in my own process.
Registration bodies for certain employments: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/workplace-and-skills/employment-permits/employment-permit-eligibility/registration-bodies-for-certain-employments/
A note on salary thresholds
The salary thresholds for employment permits are updated regularly. As of March 2026 the minimum salary for a CSEP in a listed occupation is €40,904, and €68,911 for occupations not on the Critical Skills list. Always check the current figures on the DETE website before applying as these change. Also note that from September 2024 you are required to stay with your first employer for a minimum of 9 months rather than the previous 12.
Please note these are current at the time of publish/editing this article and can change in the future, so please make sure you have checked the salary requirements at the time you are reading this.
Job hunting from South Africa
Before I even started looking for work I ran through the checklist:
- Yes, I have a degree (B.Com Accounting)
- Yes, I completed my training (SAIPA articles, three years, signed off and complete)
- Yes, I passed my professional examinations and I am a full member in good standing
- Yes, my designation enjoys full mutual recognition with CPA Ireland
Once I was confident I was eligible, the job hunt could begin.
Ireland is small and community driven. Everyone knows everyone in the industry. The flip side of that warmth is that change and outsiders can sometimes be a harder sell, particularly in smaller firms. How you present yourself on your CV and in interviews really matters.
You do not want to oversell yourself, but you do need to give people a reason to take a chance on you.
The Big 4 firms have zero issues with international appointments. If you can get a job with them, or transfer from an existing role within the same firm, they will handle the permits and costs. I did not do my articles with a Big 4 firm so I had to target smaller firms directly.
Before I let my CV circulate I had it professionally reformatted in the Irish style. Lyndon Friend comes highly recommended on the SA2Eire group and I used his services myself. Genuinely as good as people say.
One thing the CV professionals did not agree with me on: I added a short explanation at the end of my CV about how work permits work. For me personally, this made a real difference. Many Irish employers have never dealt with a work permit before, and a clear, calm explanation that it is not complicated, not expensive, and that I would handle the cost myself, removed a lot of hesitation.
Tips on getting employed and CVs on SA2eire HERE
I also worked with several recruiters along the way and will share a list of those I found helpful. But in the end the job came through direct outreach on LinkedIn. At least those recruiters now understand the CSEP process well enough to help others going forward.
This is the absolute basics on accountants making the big move to Ireland. Everyone’s situation is different so always do your homework, and book that session with Megan and Vicky — it made us feel so much more prepared and settled.
Good luck with your journey. It will be hard. There will be tears and stress unlike anything you have felt before. But it is so worth it.
I have been here almost a year and we are so happy. My child has so much freedom. The work environment here genuinely values family. It is beautiful. It is home.
