I have completed my level 3 AAT and most of my level 4 except 1 last exam, Financial Performance which is proving to be elusive!!
I have failed this last one 5 times and getting quite despondent. My AAT student membership is now up for renewal and not sure whether to continue or apply for IAB or ICB membership which I would qualify for with exemptions.
I have registered with HMRC for ML as I have a handful of clients of which I do self assessments for.
Any advice on which way to go would be appreciated.
I would really dig deep and try and pass the AAT level 4. Are there revision workshops you could attend etc ?
If you really cant find it in yourself to finish AAT level 4 and want to work as a self employed bookkeeper, then use you existing qualifications to become an AICB with the ICB. They will be more than happy to let you join and issue you with a practice licence.
You have put a lot of effort into getting this far and you need to ask yourself what is standing between you and passing the final paper.
You say that you have failed it 5 times. Talk us through that.
When you came out of the exam did you feel that you had passed?
Do you feel that the issue with knowledge, handwriting or time management?
Have you thought about studying at a higher level in order to pass AAT?
I know that Neil (Spam Kebab) from here studied ACCA materials to get first time passes with AAT papers.
I don't know the AAT syllabus that well so do not know which would be a comparable paper but would assume that either F5 Performance Management or F9 Financial Management would be your best start points.
Open Tuition lectures are free, you do need to sign up for a free account to access the lecture notes.
There is access to past ACCA papers, revision notes, etc. All of which would help you get past your final hurdle.
There is also a small AAT section on the site but your best bet is using ACCA materials to pass AAT.
I would not move from AAT to ICB unless your intention is only to be self employment and if that is the case then look seriously at both IAB and ICB before making a decision.
What you would be looking for is which one gives you greater networking opportunities. IAB has a smaller network of local chapters but they are closely linked with IFA so at the same meetings you will be rubbing shoulders with accountants.
ICB has a larger network but you will be talking predominantly with other bookkeepers.
If ever you wanted to move back to accountancy studies only IAB carries exemptions (more I believe down to negotiation than syllabus content).
All three options have positives but personally after coming so far I think that really you need to identify why you are failing th final AAT paper.
As an aside, are you doing AAT through a training provider (don't give a name) and if so what help have they offered on the back of five fails?
Hve you tried changing to the books of a different publisher? i.e. if you are using BPP try Kaplan or Osbourn.
Hope that helps
kind regards,
Shaun.
-- Edited by Shamus on Thursday 30th of October 2014 12:15:08 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.
Definitely don't give up. Shaun has given some extremely sensible advice there.
In my CIMA studies I got stuck at Strategic Level (still haven't finished but that's another story). I requested an examiners review of my performance in one of the exams. I received an uncompromising analysis of my performance which was something of a reality check. Up to this point I had been studying on my own out of books. I decided to invest in bespoke tuition support which focused on marking my attempts at exam standard questions and providing feedback on where I was failing so I could target the specific problems. I did about five exams worth of practice questions like this before I made another attempt and finally passed one of the strategic level exams.
I don't know if AAT do this but it may be worth asking for a review of your last exam attempt to see if this will highlight where you are going wrong.
As I did, it may help if you can find a tutor who will mark and provide feedback on exam standard questions to help you focus on your problem areas.
Keep going, if you have got this far, then you are capable of finishing it!
Have you had any feedback forms? The AAT feedback is quite poor but it will tell you which areas you are failing on.
How are you doing on the practice exams on the AAT website? They were my main source of revision and I would re do them even if I was passing them just to practice the bits I was failing on.
I too had problems with the Financial Performance -took me 3 attempts -every other one I passed with no problem
I really hated the module -the equations and formulae were mind frazzling and I could not get my head round them -I had post it notes everywhere with them on
I was frustrated but kept at it and just kept doing the revision over and over with the green light questions and the books and I finally did it -it was worth the stress so my advice is stick at it -if you only have one module left then it would be a shame to through the towel in now
