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Hi
Wondering if I could have some advice please?
I have been in a finance role (income) for a year and a half. However I am required to work towards an accountancy qualification as a part of my role.
I had a plan that I would study AAT then go onto ACCA as I thought that was the route required in order to become qualified. I have since spoken to my manager who worries that if I study AAT first I may be tired of exams and not want to continue with any further studying especially as I would only be exempt from the first 3.
I’ve been talking to my colleagues and they have all done AAT first, therefore they can’t give any advice from the perspective of completing ACCA without exemptions.
I don’t hold a degree but I believe I have the relevant criteria in order to start ACCA (2 a levels and 3 gcse)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I did the AAT to ACCA progression route and it took a LONG time, that may have been due to the fact my college wasn’t very good and kept pushing back exams meaning it went on for a lot longer than it needed to. AAT knowledge did help me with ACCA exams but I believe you gain similar knowledge from the three that I was exempt from.
As you do have a bit of accounting knowledge coming from a finance role them you may be ok with skipping to ACCA. Another person at my work skipped AAT and went straight to ACCA and they are finding it hard but with lots of studying they have coped and has passed the first three in six months getting to the level I was at after 3 years of AAT.
It honestly depends on how much work you are willing to put in – if you’re willing to work at it then ACCA would be hard but you could cope, if not then you will struggle. AAT is far easier and will gain you knowledge and a qualification without too much work.
Personally I regret not skipping to ACCA.I’d say if you’re planning to do the whole ACCA qualification then just start ACCA. It takes a long time and a lot of exams to pass AAT level 4, and it only gets you 3 exemptions for ACCA. You could instead start ACCA and pass those exams in a few months.
I started ACCA with no prior knowledge or study of accounting and I was fine. I took 10 months to pass the first 3 exams, but my marks were very high and I could have done it a lot quicker if I had to give the pass mark is only 50%.
The one situation where it might be better to do AAT first is to help you get a job in finance/accounting, but you have already done that.
I done AAT and am currently studying ACCA. I think AAT gives you a very good foundation. A lot of what you learn at AAT is developed a bit further in the F levels so is very good to have. As Chris said he completed the first 3 ACCA exams in 10 months, you can do AAT level 4 in the same time, maybe less so is worth it in my opinion.
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