Accountant visa: the going rate for qualified and trainee accountants
Chartered and certified accountants (code 2421) must earn at least £49,200, the going rate; a trainee working towards chartered status can be sponsored from £34,500.
Accountant salary check
Minimum salary for this job
£49,200
Your salary of £52,000 meets it, with £2,800 to spare.
| Points option A | £41,700 floor |
| Going rate (full time) | £49,200 |
| Going rate per hour | £25.23 |
| Your pay per hour | £26.67 |
| Visa fee, up to 3 years (outside the UK) | £819 |
| Health surcharge, 3 years | £3,105 |
Higher skilled occupation (Table 1): eligible.
Threshold in each situation
| Standard rate | £49,200 |
| New entrant (under 26, recent student or graduate, in training) | £34,500 |
| PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job | £39,400 |
| PhD in another subject relevant to the job | £44,300 |
Calculated in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.
Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
Qualified accountants are sponsored under SOC code 2421, "chartered and certified accountants", a higher skilled code in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations that is open to new applicants. Its going rate is £49,200 a year for 37.5 hours, above the general threshold of £41,700, so the going rate is the figure to beat: an offer of £41,700 for a qualified auditor is not enough. Because the code is eligible for PhD points, the discounted rates are £44,300 (relevant PhD) and £39,400 (STEM PhD). The more common discount in accountancy is the new entrant rate, which covers people "working towards full registration or chartered status" in the job they are sponsored for: £34,500, 70% of the going rate. The neighbouring finance codes do not all share that position: several technician and clerical roles moved to the medium skilled table in July 2025. The checker above applies the rules to your offer.
Which finance roles can still be sponsored
| Occupation code | New applicants | Going rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2421 Chartered and certified accountants | open | £49,200 |
| 2422 Finance and investment analysts and advisers | open | £45,800 |
| 2423 Taxation experts | open | £48,500 |
| 2431 Management consultants and business analysts | open | £50,200 |
| 2433 Actuaries, economists and statisticians | open | £55,100 |
| 3533 Financial and accounting technicians | Temporary Shortage List | £48,700 |
| 3534 Financial accounts managers | open | £44,700 |
| 4122 Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks | Temporary Shortage List | £33,400 |
The split follows the July 2025 reform, which kept degree-level occupations open and moved the rest to Table 1a. Book-keepers and payroll clerks (4122) and financial and accounting technicians (3533) sit on the Temporary Shortage List, which keeps them open to new applicants, at the higher of the general threshold and the going rate (£48,700 for technicians, well above the floor), only for certificates assigned before 31 December 2026 and without dependants joining. The examples listed under 2421 (auditors (qualified accountant), financial accountants (qualified), forensic accountants, fund accountants and insolvency practitioners) show what the Home Office expects the job to be: a qualified role. An "accounts assistant" offer coded 2421 would be the kind of mismatch SW 6.2 allows a caseworker to refuse.
Trainees, part qualifiers and graduates
A graduate trainee on an ACA, ACCA or CIMA scheme can usually rely on two of the new entrant grounds at once: working towards chartered status, and often being under 26 or switching from a Student or Graduate visa. Either way the floor is £33,400 and the rate 70% of £49,200, and the total time on new entrant terms is capped at 4 years, Graduate visa time included. Once that window closes, the worker must be paid the full going rate at the next extension. A firm planning to keep its trainees should budget for that step.
For a part-time contract the going rate shrinks with the hours but the £41,700 floor does not: a qualified accountant on 30 hours a week needs £41,700, the floor, not the pro-rated rate. Only guaranteed basic pay counts, so a bonus or a study allowance does not help to meet it.
Costs on both sides
The accountant pays £819 for a visa of up to three years from abroad and the health surcharge of £1,035 a year; the firm pays £525 for the certificate and the immigration skills charge, £3,960 for three years at a medium or large practice. Small practices pay the lower rates of £611 for the licence and £1,440 of skills charge. The sponsor licence calculator adds them up; the new entrant page details the trainee rate.