Step up to CIMA

System
System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
edited June 18 in AAT student discussion
Would I be wrong in assuming that the step up to CIMA is only the same as the step up from intermediate to technician AAT

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  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    HI Paul,

    I wouldn't say the step up is that narrow. The aim of AAT is to provide the grounding required to make the step up from AAT to one of the further professional bodies.

    I've never done anything with CIMA but I have done ACCA and as they are on the same level then I can honestly say that the step up from AAT to ACCA was nothing like intermediate to technician.

    Hope that clarifies things for you.

    Kind regards
    Steve
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    Yeah thanks
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    sorry to sound thick here ste, but does that mean the step up is more difficult or more easy.. :oops:
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    Hi Michelle,

    You don't sound thick! That's what these forums are here for to clarify matters.

    Basically, AAT is a qualification in its own right. It is a much sought after qualification by employers and from an individual's perspective having the AAT qualification means that AAT members are (a) professionally competent in what they do (b) are bound by AAT rules and (c) can offer more than just adding up numbers.

    However, the main aim of AAT is to also give students the grounding they require to go on to further professional qualifications if they so wish.

    The step up to further qualifications is quite hard. For example, if you take a look at paper 2.5 (Financial Reporting) on the ACCA website you will see that there are more complex issues being brought into that paper than the AAT equivalent, being DFS. The same would apply (I would assume) to the CIMA papers.

    Students who have studied and passed AAT (like myself) will find that AAT has given them the grounding they need to progress onto CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA etc etc. Other members/students who are studying such papers will agree that there is quite a jump but it isn't as much of a culture shock if you have done AAT as you will be used to the studying, the time pressure and you will have also found which type of study method suits you (e.g. home study, college etc).

    Sorry for the long-winded reply but I hope that clarifies things for you.

    Kind regards
    Steve
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    Thanks Ste, thats helped me a lot. I am actually quite looking forward to CIMA in August (once i complete AAT). Do you appear on CIMA forums too?? :D
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    Unfortunately, the CIMA forums have been segregated so that only students can access the student forums and only members can access the member forums.

    The member forum has been complaining about being unable to help the students for over a year now and the forum administrators promise to look at doing something but nothing has happened yet. As I'm a member, the only forum I can access is the member one and that is very quiet with only a couple of posts a month on a busy month :shock:

    There is another forum (a link was previously posted on here, which is how I found out about it) that you may find useful which is: http://www.accountancystudents.co.uk/forums/index.php

    Good luck with your CIMA studies.
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    I got back from Wales this week and have now finished all my work. I've found that there really isn't much new to learn at all in any of the subjects. The main thing for me was getting used to IFRS instead of UK (but I think you do IFRS now anyway?). Looking at the first 3 managerial level papers.

    OMIS - Not really anything related to AAT at all. Mainly about things like human resources setup and business structures without any accounting. Its all writing basically. This is the one I've struggled with most, its basically just doing business studies A Level at a higher Level.

    MAPE - Really is just PEV/PCR Combined. It adds a few things into the variances and budgeting (your also expected to answer a couple of wordy questions e.g. on benchmarking or the balanced scorecard). Its a bit of more work to revise for from what I can see but not really much harder.

    FAT - Its basically DFS (a little bit harder) with a tiny bit of Business Tax added in. Again though I've found that AAT has made you cover pretty much everything so its not too hard as long as your willing to put the work into revise it.

  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Step up to CIMA

    thanks thats a great help!

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