Hello, just wanted to introduce myself and ask for a little bit of advice please. My name is Sam and I'm looking at working my way through the AAT levels so I can get a 'proper job' instead of working at minimum wage for my dad as I have done for the last 10 years. I've decided it's about time I get a proper career!
I have spent a lot of time on Google and reading through countless posts on here (my eyes are now bleeding and my head is sore, but it has been very helpful, so thank you very much!). 5 years ago I completed the ICB Level I Certificate in Basic Book Keeping and ICB Level II Certificate in Computerised Book Keeping but have had children and major life changes/issues since then so never, until now, decided to continue any further with my studying. I think that my best route to go down is self-study AAT, I prefer the self-study because a) a lack of funds; b) I'm the sort that will sit and get on with it on my own - once I start, it'll be hard to get me to stop! I never once needed any help with the ICB course, so it just seems pointless to spend £700 on help that I won't use - especially when there are so many free resources available such as here, or, as my other half says: "Google is your friend".
I have seen that ACCA do a set of Foundation-level qualifications that seem to be roughly an equivalent of AAT with regards to moving on to the full ACCA qualifications, I haven't read anything about these anywhere other than on the ACCA website so I don't know too much about them though.
If I do go down the self-study AAT route, I want start at Level 2 rather than jumping straight to Level 3, mostly to refresh my knowledge and make sure I have a full understanding of it all - I'd rather start at the beginning than get stuck further on, I know I'm a quick learner so it shouldn't add on too much time. Which set of books would be the best ones to invest in? After looking at eBay, Amazon etc, the Osbourne ones seem cheapest and easiest to get hold of, followed by BPP then Kaplan. Obviously I'd rather pay a little bit more for the books if they're better. I seem to work best by actually 'doing' rather than just listening or reading (you can try and tell me directions to somewhere all day long but it won't sink in unless I look at a map), so I don't know if one particular set would suit better?
I have a couple of colleges nearby that I should be able to take the exams in, if not, there is a Kaplan centre 15 miles away so I shouldn't have any issues there. I have read that I won't be able to do at least one of the modules in the normal self-study way though, as it needs to be marked on paper. Is it possible to get Kaplan to just mark the paper or do I need to sign up for the whole module with them? (I believe it's just the WEAF module in Level 2 that needs to be done in this way?)
Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance for any replies, I'm sure there were probably other questions I was meant to ask but my brain is fried for now!
Google can be a bit of a double edged sword in that there is a lot of information out there but in many cases you really need to know what the answer is before you start looking for confirmation from the web as in financial reporting and tax matters things go out of date a lot quicker than websites get updated. Also websites can often be wrong (including HMRCs).
That said, I have a similar approach to yourself in that I'm not keen on courses, not just from the financial perspective but I feel that my knowledge base benefits from having a wide source of reading materials and it is so often better to look at scenarios from different perspectives rather than regurgitating a tutors view on matters.
I don't regard that as being a penny pinching approach as one often has to purchase more reading material than following the single text plus advice of a set course. (I generally purchase Kaplan and BPP materials)
For some of course, especially from a motivational perspective, the hand holding of having a training provider is essential. For others like ourselves it seems an unnecessary overhead.
As you have spotted you do need a training provider for at least one of the AAT modules.
For ACCA you do not need a training provider so lets look at that option first.
The FIA qualification breaks the full ACCA qualification foundation level down into smaller, easier to handle chunks (seven papers covering the same territory as F1, F2 and F3).
Its a good start point.
Coming from a couple of bookkeeping qualifications (the knowledge from which will come flooding back) you may find the higher level bookkeeping knowledge leading into financial and management accounting studies in the ACCA papers quite refreshing (whether you choose the FIA or full ACCA qualification).
For ACCA without a training provider, for each paper you need :
i-learn CD from BPP (around £20) Study Text from Kaplan (Around £32) Exam kit from Kaplan (around £19) i-Pass CD from BPP (Around £15)
I always use Amazon or one of the Amazon resellers such as the bookdepository.
There are lots of other materials but I have found that the above are all that you need (so around £86 in materials plus exam entry fee's per exam (there are 14 exams... You will not pass them all first time... Aim to sit tax papers in June as if you need to resit at least you won't have to buy new study materials for the December sitting)).
For AAT others are better equipped to advise than myself.
On the AAT books front I have a library which includes texts from all three publishers and there is merit to all of them. I like the Osbourne books especially the titles written by David Cox. The BPP books seem a little more interactive and I would be prone to advising that you purchase both.
You will find that all AAT books from BPP and Kaplan are cut down versions of the ACCA study texts.
That also means that the I-Learn CD course on a disk could be used as well for AAT as ACCA (there are AAT and CAT versions of the disks but as they are cut down ACCA courses why not get the full thing).
You will also find that studying ACCA to pass AAT has advantages. If you need to know paper by paper equivalents post the AAT paper on here and I'll tell you the ACCA materials that will cover it.
The other advantage of that is that you have a lot of free study material on Opentuition. The lectures are generally between 10-20 minutes and there are free accompanying study texts if you sign up (which is free).
One warning if you go down the ACCA path is that it will place restrictions on what you can do compared to AAT (see the regulation 8 discussions on here).
Right, thats me all waffled out. sure that I just meandered around the subject without actually answering anything.
Feel free to re-ask questions that I haven't answered properly,
welcome to the forum Sam,
kind regards,
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.
Whilst I like the idea of the no-training-provider-needed ACCA route, regulation 8 really does put me off. I'm still not entirely sure whether, long-term, I would want to be employed or self-employed, so would like to have the option to choose. So far as I can tell, the only way of being self-employed and being a member of ACCA would be to have a very friendly accountant on my side until reaching the holy grail of being fully qualified.This leads me more towards the AAT, where I then have the choice of whether or not to pursue the ACCA route (whilst hoping that they find some of that not-so-common common sense!). At least then I have a full qualification from AAT enabling me to go self-employed if I wish.
Which AAT modules require a training provider? Also, is there any particular software that is required for the computerised parts, or is it mostly Excel etc?
I've had a quick look and bookmarked Opentuition and will be having a good browse through - it looks very useful, thank you!
I think I'll get a few different books that will cover me for BA1 and see which ones I get on with best before investing in materials for the other modules. Which ACCA materials would best cover this one? I notice that with the AAT Osborne books there is a Workbook and Tutorial book, am I right in assuming that the Workbook is supplementary to the Tutorial for extra practise?
I have ordered that book - at £2.81 it's daft not to! I think that perhaps there may be some sense in refreshing my knowledge and going over the level 2 books before heading for the level 3 books and exams when I'm ready. Is the ICB enough for AAT to allow me to skip Level 2? I'm looking forward to getting started now so hopefully it won't take too long to arrive! I'll have another look later to see what other books I can pick up to get me started.
Thanks again, Sam
P.s. May the Force be with you!
-- Edited by MadOli on Tuesday 29th of January 2013 10:11:53 AM
AAT tend to increase prices in September by about 3 quid per exam. My last exams were about 55 quid but i used Kaplan Manchester to sit them.
Kaplan charge a 15 quid admin fee on top of the exam price but i have heard that BPP do not, so it is worth shopping around.
When you enrol with AAT they will ask you (on the website) who your training provider is, just fill this out with the name of the provider of the texts
you have chosen, ie if you buy BPP books tell them BPP.
You can sit the exams at the centre of your choosing, i'm not too sure about the 2 exams you need a training provider for, i would assume you need
to use their exam centres.
Exam dates can also be jiggled about a bit by using different exam centres. I found one that i was comfy with, had a nice little coffee shop right next door
and was worth paying the admin fee for as it meant no travelling.
Neil.
-- Edited by Spamkebab on Tuesday 29th of January 2013 10:29:08 AM
Right must just go off and practice my Jedi mind tricks.
"These are just the accounts that you are looking for".
"You will pay for the extra time they took to prepare".
"This fee does seem very reasonable".
Right, I'm ready, roll in the clients...
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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.
Ok fair enough, I shall get studying and see how I get on, of course if I can skip the Level 2 exams it means I can concentrate more on getting study materials rather than exams. Do you know roughly how much the exams are for each module? I know they'll probably go up every year (they never go down!)
Level 2 is a great level to understand the fundamentals of bookkeeping - if you have good experience and gone through the study like Neil in other areas I agree totally that skipping Level 2 will work (City & Guilds syllabus is very similar to Level 2). To put yourself to level 3 without the basics would be really hard work.
Just thought Id mention as I couldnt see your mention of already passing bookeeping exams - apologies if you have and I skipped over it.
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Donna Curling - Complete Book-Keeping Ltd (CBKLtd) - 07939 101900
agree with yourself in that level 2 should only be skipped in specific circumstances.
In this instance it was in the posters original post that she had previously done ICB to AICB so the level 2 in this instance was really just a revision course for which the AAT units 1-4 book is perfect.
Agree with your sentiment though about people new to this should not skip the basics.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
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.
Thanks Neil/Shaun/Donna, At least I've got a rough idea of what to do with it all now! I've got 2 colleges nearby, so if they'll accept external candidates I'll probably go there (one of them is on my local high street so I'll be able to grab a cheeky cake from the new patisserie - yummy!), if not the next nearest centre according to AAT's website is Kaplan 15 miles away so I'll head over to there. I'm getting impatient for the books to start arriving now - I even looked on the library website to see they had anything I could start with but there's hardly anything there, so I shall just have to wait. Mind you, it doesn't help that my phone has been sent off for repair and our internet is off for a week whilst we switch providers. I think I'll go have a browse for some bits to download and get started on. Once I've registered with AAT, how long does it take before I get the details through to be able to start booking exams? Thanks so much again for your help, this forum is little gem and I've no doubt will become an essential resource for me, it's all very well reading the official blurb but hearing it from real people is so much more useful! Sam
I've just seen this on an email:
http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/essex/Excel-with-Business/16918593?nlp=&CID=UK_CRM_1_0_0_31&a=473
I was thinking about doing an Excel course at some point anyway as it will come in handy to know a bit more about the more complex uses of Excel and to have something that actually shows my knowledge is always useful. For £19 this seems a bargain, has anyone had any experience with this course/company?
Thanks,
Sam
