AAT is a good route, hang fire for a month though as they are going through changes to the syllabus.

It will help you if you go down the employed route, after the AAT though is open to debate.

And welcome to the forum.

Hi Bex,

I concur with Rob and Steve, AAT is the route to go... Or CAT (sorry to throw another one in.

What you really need to decide is where you want to be. You mention accountancy rather than bookkeeping and you also mention confusion over the various bodies.

I'll give you a quick rundown as to whats available.


ICB and IAB are really aimed at people who want to become self employed bookkeepers. There is no requirement to work for anyone else and with either route you can self train. Recently the ICB have been becoming a bit arrogant much to the benefit of the IAB.

AAT is a qualification widely recognised by employers across the world. A fully qualified MAAT is an accountant. AAT is run by most of the main accountancy bodies except for the ACCA who have their own qualification for this mid level called CAT.

There is also a tax organisation at this level called ATT (not to be confused with AAT). In itself another very good qualification but often taken in conjunction with another qualification. (I think that Robs our only ATT person on here but I could be wrong).


The next higher level is ACCA and CIMA. The former concentrates on financial accountancy whilst the latter concentrates on management accountancy. However, whichever you studied there is considerable overlap in the syllabuses.

ACCA is the more demanding of the two and also the more draconian in what it allows it's students to do.

At the higher level there is ACA (again, not to be confused with ACCA). ACA's are chartered accountants and would be members of either the ICAEW or ICAS.

Again at the higher level there is also CTA which again is a tax body. At that level it's difficult to even be accepted to study with them though let alone pass the exams.

Let us know what your plan is (employed / self employed / bookkeeper / accountant?).

From the sound of things already though I think that AAT is where you should be looking at starting and when you get to MAAT decide on whether you want to be an accountant at that level or go on the further studies with the higher bodies.

Good luck with whatever path that you take and welcome to the forum,

Shaun.

I think it's important to point out that the ACCA and CIMA are professional qualifications, traditionally" obtained after a first degree.

In the traditional way, an Econs & Acc student will graduate and join, say PWC. There, he/she will pursue one of the many professional qualifications (usually sponsored by the employer).

AAT is al alternative way to get into the Big 4 firms. Also, if you fancy a degree, do all three AAT levels, write a dissertation/thesis and you can get a degree from the AAT affiliated uni (forgot which one).

Shaun,

I used the word "traditionally" in there. The reason being is because I came across some posts where people thought that one had to do AAT, then ACCA, etc., then start working, i.e. 6/7 years of studying before working - which is not the case. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

Yes! That the one - Oxford Brookes! Thanks. What I meant by the "traditional route of a degree"? Doing and Economics & Accounting degree, for example, will expose one to other facets - not just accounting. Plus, you will already get a number of exemptions.

I think the AAT provides a great introduction to accounting - especially for people (newbies) like me. It gives the necessary skills up to a certain level. Sometimes, you do not need ACCA skills, but a decent accounting exposure (along with other aspects) before embarking on, say, an MBA course.

This is a very useful site! Thanks.


P.S.I don't think this is wrong (especially as I'm getting these info from my cousin).

Hi Camster,

No plans for a trip out there at the moment not least because the Baht is so strong against the pound.

When there it's actually the North East. My village is Kut Nam Si which is about 3km from the town of Nam Pong which is 30km North of the city of Khon Kaen. which I'm sure that you must have heard mentioned.

I keep finding myself zooming in on the place using Google earth. Unfortunately it only gets in close enough to recognise the various house tops and many of the area's have not been updated since 2002 so the house that I was going to buy has been in construction for eight years.... Actually, knowing Khonkaen that might actually be true!

I'm never really happy spending too much time in Bangkok due to the pollution problem. When it used to be the old Don Mueang International airport (which I prefer) it used to be so easy to fly in from Heathrow, walk across the footbridge to domestic and then straight out on a shuttle flight to KK.

On the AAT / ACCA subject I see your point about people assuming AAT then ACCA. I think that the reality is that most people should do AAT and then perhaps ATT, not ACCA as for starters signing up severely restricts what you are allowed to do even though you've passed AAT exams that say that your allowed to prepare accounts. And also because most people just don't really need it.

Personally I did the Open University Certificate in accounting as an introduction but signed up for the ACCA at the same time and took the ACCA exams at the same time as the equivalent open university ones.

I think that the two really complimented each other helping me to get exceptional scores with the OU and understanding the basics for my studies with the ACCA.

I chose the ACCA route as it means something in banking whereas AAT doesn't. If I were approaching this just from the perspective of accountancy then I would have taken the AAT / ATT route as it's the optimal route to being equiped to do the job.

I can see now what you were saying so I think that it's just one of those threads where we're both right but somewhere between our heads and our fingers things didn't quite translate as we expected them to read.

Anyway, hope that you're having a good one.

Talk later,

Shaun.

Hi again Camster,

you know the bit around BKK an awful lot better than me. As I say, mostly I just went straight to domestic and out to KK (which I absolutely love).

Only been to the new airport once back in 2008 and not awfully impressed. Seems very large and empty but still not so large that the taxi touts can't find you in a heart beat. Have you noticed that they pick of the untanned tourists like a pride of lions picking off straggling wildebeest!

My career to date has concentrated on business analysis, data analysis and project management mostly in the banking sector specifically back office operations so I know the contractor model very well.

I dated an ACA for a while and realised how similar the job that I was already doing was to accountancy so decided to formalise it a bit and get the ACCA letters after my name which both opens new doors and helps with careers in banking.

The qualifications taught me a lot, and whilst for a career in accountancy AAT would have been a better option. For my purposes where it has to be both recognised in banking and of use in an accountancy and bookkeeping context I think that it was actually the perfect choice even with the restriction on what I am allowed to do as far as accounts prep goes.

The really good thing about contractors of course is that the books are simple and they have absolutely no idea how much accountancy fee's should be... Much as I found out when I realised that paying £1200 plus VAT per year to slap your info into IRIS was a bit on the steep side especially as I was already doing all of the basics (trial balance / VAT / Payroll / companies house returns / my own self assessment / etc. etc.).

I now pay £350 plus VAT per year. I do all the work myself and the accountant sticks it in IRIS. I know that it takes them next to no time to do but that softwares not cheap so I don't begrudge the the fee's.

Personally I wouldn't go down the umbrella company route as (1) I have every belief that my company will become something more substantial and (2) I'm just too much of a control freak to give anyone else the reigns of my financial affairs.

Oh, while I think about it, you missed Cable and Wireless in Milton Keynes. I worked on the voice transition project for them for a few months.

Right, lets see what everyone else has written whilst I've been writing this.

Talk later,

Shaun.