Full Membership

mark057

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone know if it is absolutely necessary to have 1 years full time accounts experience before being able to claim full AAT membership?

I have nearly passed the course but don't have the full one year of experience.

Does anyone know?

Mark

Lizzim

I'm afraid so. It doesn't all have to be in the same job but minimum 1 years experience is required to gain full membership.

kjg-kj

Is this the same for the Diploma route as well as the NVQ route?

mark057

Thanks for the info.

A bit mean I think given you have proven yourself on the course.

Bluewednesday

Not without work experience you haven't! As with anything, real life is quite different to the theory in text books

Lizzim

kjg-kj wrote: »

Is this the same for the Diploma route as well as the NVQ route?

It is, the qualification is exactly the same just a slightly different method of testing knowledge.

mark057

I'm afraid we will have to agree to disagree on that one Blue Wednesday.

The AAT is wonderfully practical in it's concept and I can say honestly has helped me to do a much better job working on an actual purchase ledger than if I had not been qualified.

Mark

lork

I agree with Blue Wednesday. I have been working in accounts for 10 years and have had to re-learn certain things I do every day in order to pass a simulation or exam because you have to answer the way the AAT want it or teach it, rather than how you'd do it in real life.

Edited to add... When you apply for full membership, you have to supply details of your year's work experience, together with details of a professional referee who will verify that the information is correct. It's not just a case of ticking a box to confirm you have experience so no getting around it, I'm afraid.

mark057

Hey Lork,

I agree with what your saying because I've worked on two seperate purchase ledger's and each one has required a different way of working.

I suppose it's the same with any accounts job. Each position or employer will have a slightly different way of getting things done.

What I was trying to get across before was that, in theory, success at AAT level proves you have the aptitude to cope with the sort of work you will experience in the workplace.

For example the principles governing a bank statement reconciliation are always going to be the same. The principles of double-entry are always going to be the same too, in theory or practice.

If you can prove professional competence in the exams, exercising these principles then, at least in theory, you should be capable of performing them in a practical accounts role.

I have never seen studying for the AAT and working in an accounts environment as mutually exclusive. They are interlinked and the skills and knowledge we gain by studying towards the AAT can be applied, if not exactly, to the work we perform in a practical environment.

The standards learnt whilst studying for the AAT can also improve ourselves as employees aswell because we can suggest practical improvements to systems and processes at work. The AAT unit 10 project is a wonderful vehicle to assess how we actually perform at work and how we can improve.

Thanks for all your comments guys. Just some of my own thoughts.

Mark