Just read the BKN bulletin about being able to receive AAT quals if you have a qual in ACCA, CIMA etc. Seeing as you are exempt from the first 5 papers of CIMA with a Technician dimploma from AAT wouldn't it be easier for people like myself to just sit these CIMA papers then claim my AAT certificate?
With 12 months of hard work i could have a CIMA cert and be a qualified Technician from scratch.
I think that years ago something similar happened with ACCA bringing rogue accountants in from the cold.
Also ICAEW have been bringing ACCA's into their fold (although you need to keep dual membership).
The issue here is that you don't know how long the AAT offer will last. Don't assume that an offer made today will be available a few years down the line.
Personally I've just got my application off for an information pack. I was thinking of doing AAT as CPD down the line but considering this offer, if it's available I'll take the mambership and do ATT as CPD instead.
On the would it be easier front. I've not sat any CIMA papers myself but cannot comment but I do know that from an ACCA perspective at the professional level the ACCA papers are a quantum leap from AAT. Assuming CIMA to be similar I think those currently doing AAT would get to MAAT (much, much) faster via that route than by swapping to CIMA then claiming the qualification later.
Hope that makes sense,
all the best and happy Friday,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Does this mean AAT are worried people are not going via AAT anymore?
What I mean is the old method of becoming an accountant would be AAT -> ACCA/ICAEW/CIMA etc
I read this as people are starting to miss AAT out by doing some other accountancy qualification, then joining ACCA/ICAEW/CIMA etc. So AAT are trying to get them to join afterwards, kind of like other accountancy qualification -> ACCA/ICAEW/CIMA etc -> AAT?
I think that there has definitely been a change in which people going for accountancy qualifications where they know that their ultimate goal is chartered or chartered certified have seen AAT as a superfluous step.
From the AAT announcement I think that they are selling people on the idea of having dual memberships more for PQ's and Members having difficulty getting a practicing certificate (which as you know is no mean feat) rather than ACCA members in practice for which AAT is absolutely not neccessary.
Is the fact that the AAT is offering full expecmption something that the ICB are also looking at reviewing?
I know that we've had these conversations before but I'm now thinking that if PQ's can go AAT to set up as bookkeepers won't that have an effect on those who are considering ICB as a route where the ICB does not give exemptions to full membership for the higher qualification that AAT now do (and IAB already did).
Seems as though we are very much living in interesting times.
Talk soon,
kind regards,
Shaun.
P.S. crossed Neils reply in my response. Sorry Neil. You are and it is. As a standalone qualification it's fantastic. The debate here is whether it is suppurfluous where you go straight to the higher qualifications.
-- Edited by Shamus on Friday 19th of August 2011 01:53:41 PM
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Annoyingly the link does not seem to work for me anymore, so I am unsure of the requirements for this exemption. However, Shamus, you posted on another post here that you are required to get a reference and do a test.
So it doesn't actually sound much different to what the ICB require, although they do accept exemptions from the examinations, ICB will only accept actual qualifications (otherwise you get a string of exemptions from exemptions from exemptions etc).
The ICB also require 2 references.
I don't think there would be a hit to ICB as such, as the AAT don't call their members bookkeepers but rather accountants. I would have thought this would affect the ACCA etc more. Someone who is half way through their studies could now become a full member of AAT and call themselves a licensed accountant and get a practice certificate.
I think the majority of ACCA/ICAEW/CIMA etc qualified accountants applying to ICB do it because either they are also offering bookkeeping and would like to use the term Certified Bookkeepers for their practice, or they are retiring from an accountants role but want to keep a few small clients on as a bookkeeper. There are a few who are PQ's, but joining the ICB is not easy so I don't think it would be a case of just join to get a practice certificate.
I doubt the ICB are going to lower their entry requirements because of this, they are very strict (reasonably) and it serves them very well. If you want to be a bookkeeper you have the choice of three bodies, there are comments on this forum about how 1 is easier than the other two, and I don't think those comments favour the easy route.
Yes interesting, bit of a merge of terminology coming our way I think
Ha i wonder what words you can spell with all the different associatiion acronyms? just wondering, work is slack at the mo lol. maybe i'll become a fully pledged member of TABAMACCIA
-- Edited by Spamkebab on Friday 19th of August 2011 02:53:08 PM
If you attend one of the MLR supervisors meetings, or educational meetings etc, they include a booklet on all the acronyms used during the day.
You are going to have to tell me what TABAMACCIA stands for? (The Absolute Best Acronym Maker, Association of Certified Contrived Initials and Abbreviations?? )
Just read the BKN bulletin about being able to receive AAT quals if you have a qual in ACCA, CIMA etc. Seeing as you are exempt from the first 5 papers of CIMA with a Technician dimploma from AAT wouldn't it be easier for people like myself to just sit these CIMA papers then claim my AAT certificate?
With 12 months of hard work i could have a CIMA cert and be a qualified Technician from scratch.
Just saying....
Neil
Looking at the BKN newsletter, my reading of it is that you need 2 of the papers from the CIMA certificate (fundamentals in Management Accounting & Fundamentals in Financial Accounting) and the Financial Analysis paper from the CIMA professional qualification for full membership of AAT subject to references,1 years work experience, proof of competence in areas covered by AAT but not covered by the CIMA papers and successful completion of the competency test.
So, it looks like just 3 x CIMA papers required in all, although it does say based on the 2005 to 2010 syllabus.
