Of course. This is an excellent and very important question for international students in Australia. Let's break it down clearly.\n\nThe short answer is: **Your skilled work experience can start counting *before* you complete your degree, but there are specific rules you must follow to make it count for points or for a skilled nomination.**\n\nThe key is understanding the difference between the requirements for **Points Test** claims and for **State Nomination**.\n\n---\n\n### 1. Work Experience for the Points Test (for Subclass 189/190/191 visas)\n\nFor claiming points for skilled employment in Australia, the Department of Home Affairs has two main conditions:\n\n* **The work must be in your nominated skilled occupation.** Once you complete your Master of Professional Accounting, your nominated occupation will likely be **Accountant (General)** (ANZSCO 221111).\n* **The work must be at the required skill level.** This means the duties you perform must closely match the description for an Accountant in the ANZSCO dictionary.\n\n**Crucially, you can count experience gained *before* getting your formal qualification IF you can prove the employment was:**\n\n> *\"in the same field as the nominated occupation and at the required skill level.\"*\n\nThis is where your situation gets a bit nuanced:\n\n* **Right Now (While Studying):** If your current accounting job involves tasks like bookkeeping, accounts payable/receivable, and basic data entry, it might be classified as \"Skilled Level 4\" or lower. This would **not** count as skilled experience for an Accountant (which is Skill Level 1).\n* **To Make it Count:** You need to demonstrate that the work you are doing *right now* is at the skill level of a qualified Accountant. This becomes much easier to argue once you have completed your degree, but it is not impossible before. You would need detailed reference letters and evidence showing you were performing high-level duties (e.g., financial reporting, tax compliance, management accounting, auditing) even while studying.\n\n**Conclusion for Points Test:**\nYour experience can potentially start counting from July, but you will face a higher burden of proof to show it was at the required skill level. The safest and most straightforward approach is to consider that the clock for *uncontested* skilled experience starts **after** you have met the Australian study requirement for your accounting qualification. However, you can still try to claim the earlier experience if you have strong evidence.\n\n---\n\n### 2. Work Experience for State Nomination (Subclass 190/491 visas)\n\nThis is often more specific and can be stricter than the general points test. Each state in Australia has its own requirements for nominating accountants.\n\n* **Some states** (like NSW for the 190 visa) often have highly competitive selection and may require a minimum period of skilled employment in the state (e.g., 1-3 years) to even be eligible for nomination.\n* **Other states** might have pathways that don't require experience but give you more points if you have it.\n\nYou **must** check the specific \"Migration pathways\" or \"Occupation lists\" on the website of the state you are living and working in. They will explicitly state if work experience is required and whether it must be post-qualification.\n\n---\n\n### Your Path to Permanent Residency (PR)\n\nLet's map out a realistic timeline based on a typical accounting graduate.\n\n1. **Complete Your Degree:** This is your first major milestone. Ensure your degree is from a CRICOS-registered institution and meets the Australian study requirement.\n\n2. **Skills Assessment (Crucial Step):** You must get a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority for accountants, which is **CPA Australia, CA ANZ, or IPA**. To be eligible for this assessment, you typically need:\n * Your completed Master of Professional Accounting.\n * An IELTS score of 7.0 in each band (or equivalent PTE/TOEFL) to meet the \"Provisional Skills Assessment\" requirement for the 485 visa, or a higher score (e.g., PTE 65 each) for the full skills assessment for PR.\n * Completion of specific core knowledge areas in your degree.\n\n3. **Apply for a Temporary Graduate Visa (Subclass 485):** After graduation, this visa allows you to work full-time in Australia. This is when you can really start building your skilled work experience without any study restrictions. The experience you gain on this visa is almost always unquestionably considered \"skilled\" for your PR application.\n\n4. **Lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI):** Once you have a positive skills assessment and have calculated your points, you lodge an EOI in SkillSelect for the Subclass 189 (Independent), 190 (State Nominated), or 491 (Regional) visas.\n\n### Direct Answer to Your Question\n\n> **\"I would want to know if I can apply for my permanent residency after then or wait so that my work experience should start counting\"**\n\nYou **cannot** apply for PR immediately after completing your degree. You must first:\n1. Complete your degree.\n2. Obtain a positive skills assessment from CPA/CA/IPA.\n3. Lodge an EOI and be invited.\n\nThe work experience you are gaining now is **valuable**. Even if you face a challenge claiming it for points, it makes you a more attractive candidate to employers and states, and it will be crucial evidence for your post-graduation work experience claims.\n\n### Action Plan for You\n\n1. **Document Your Work:** Start now! Keep a detailed record of your job duties, projects, and achievements. When you leave this job, get a reference letter that explicitly states your duties and matches them to the ANZSCO description for an Accountant.\n2. **Check State Requirements:** Go to the website of your state's migration division (e.g., \"Migration NSW\", \"Skilled Migration Victoria\") and read the current requirements for accountants.\n3. **Focus on the Skills Assessment:** Understand the exact requirements for CPA/CA/IPA, especially the English language requirement, as this is a hurdle many stumble on.\n4. **Plan for the 485 Visa:** This is your bridge to gaining solid, undisputed skilled work experience in Australia.\n\n**Disclaimer:** I am an AI assistant and this is general information. Australian migration law is complex and changes frequently. It is **highly recommended** that you consult with a registered migration agent (MARA) for advice tailored to your specific circumstances. They can give you a definitive answer on whether your current work experience can be counted.\n\nGood luck with your studies and your migration journey