CIMA after intermediate AAT ?

steveJ

I was havign a chat with my boss and told her that i had just passed another exam and she said to let her know if i need anytime off to study. She then mentioned studying CIMA and hopefully she may be able to get funding for it.

Obviously not being a graduate its going to be harder to get funding, but she said she couldnt see a reason to not be able to get funding as i am already studying AAT.

What i was wondering was, if she can get the funding and put me through for the CIMA should i take the chance ? How much of the AAT minimum should i pass and then go onto CIMA ?

Any help would be great...

Marga

steveJ wrote: »

I was havign a chat with my boss and told her that i had just passed another exam and she said to let her know if i need anytime off to study. She then mentioned studying CIMA and hopefully she may be able to get funding for it.

Obviously not being a graduate its going to be harder to get funding, but she said she couldnt see a reason to not be able to get funding as i am already studying AAT.

What i was wondering was, if she can get the funding and put me through for the CIMA should i take the chance ? How much of the AAT minimum should i pass and then go onto CIMA ?

Any help would be great...

that is really good Steve i am happy for you

i believe the AAT is basically like a small qualification that can exempt you from sitting some papers of major qualifications but not sure
hopefully someone else would be able to help you better than me

Claire321

Hi Steve,

Thats good news about your potential funding.

If you have completed the full AAT (level 4 / Technician) you are exempt from the first level of CIMA - the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting - which is made up of five papers, which I belive are computer based multiple choice exams.

These exams are currently £44 each, if you have exemption you still have to pay the fee for these papers (i.e 5 x £44)

I would think the more of the AAT you can take, the more it will help with with the background knowledge to aid your CIMA studies

Regards

Claire

Rinske

I for one, would suggest finishing AAT first, as it's a qualification you have in the end. If for whatever reason you don't get to finish CIMA, you got and an unfinished CIMA and an unfinished AAT on your list, while otherwise you would have a finished AAT and then part CIMA for whatever reason.

I am not saying you won't finish it, but you never know what life will throw at you next!
Having finished AAT you get some nice exemptions (even though you still pay), and if your work funds the rest of your AAT as well, that would be a great help, but if they don't, then maybe they can fund the part that they would normally pay if you dont get exemptions (aka possible classes, books etc). I don't know if they are up for this?

Its just a suggestion. I'm not sure what would be better other than the reason I stated above.

steveJ

Ive been searching the net for anyone else in this kind of position but to no avail. I would love to finish the AAT fully as i believe its an excellent qualification to have, but i dont wanna ruin the funding option and have to say to my boss "could you hold onto the funding while i study another year of my AAT".... in case she cant hold it!!!!

Ill see what she says...shes already offered me time off if i need it to study so thats good... How would i go about telling her that ive got an exam coming up and getting the time off work ? Ive never had to say that to a boss before ... LoL

Rinske

Me neither, I had to do it all from my holiday and own time last year. Now I get one day study leave (the day before the exam only) and the time of the exam, however for skilltests I only get the time for the skilltests.

Did they tell you how much time off you get or is it not limited?

crispy

I would try and complete the aat first if possible, as rinske mentioned it is a complete respected qualification in it's own right and will serve you a very good grounding for the cima managerial papers (greater than the ceritficate would). I went stragiht from technician level to take cima p1 & p7 first (the papers numbers have changed since) and found these were not so bad as I had already covered a lot of the base material.

I remember feeling like it would be absolutely ages before qualifying at anything when I started the foundation NVQ2 level, before I know it I am now building up to taKe the cima finals.

Good luck

GreenMousey

I'm doing that route, completing AAT and then going on to take CIMA.

Personally, even though my company will pay for the whole lot I want to finish AAT, I'm aware a lot of people have said it makes the transition easier to CIMA. Also, you do get exemptions from the first year of CIMA.

I don't want to jump into CIMA and regret leaving AAT behind, half finished, because I've no doubt that would come back and bite me in the butt, in terms of confidence and the basic core knowledge.

At the end of the day it's your decision to make...

~Mouse

steveJ

She did say we'd have to have a meeting about it. Im sure the graduates get around 2-3 days off before exams (Thats for CIMA though).

While im studying AAT she did say that i could have some time to get ready for exams....Paid ? I hope so...LoL

Im going to mention that to her that i want to finish the AAT first and then move onto CIMA. I cant see there being a problem and like ya say it will get me ready for CIMA.

Dipak Thanki

I'd recommend that you complete the AAT first, keeping in mind that AAT is equal to a first year degree, and CIMA/ACCA/ACA etc are harder than a degree, according to my cousin. So first get the AAT out of the way. You even have to take into consideration that if you aren't successful in completing CIMA, then you'd be stuck with AAT Level 3, then you would have come back to do Level 4, which would be a huge confidence knock.

I'm also doing Level 3, after AAT I will move onto ACCA.

Good luck!

Miss_HJ

steveJ wrote: »

I was havign a chat with my boss and told her that i had just passed another exam and she said to let her know if i need anytime off to study. She then mentioned studying CIMA and hopefully she may be able to get funding for it.

Obviously not being a graduate its going to be harder to get funding, but she said she couldnt see a reason to not be able to get funding as i am already studying AAT.

What i was wondering was, if she can get the funding and put me through for the CIMA should i take the chance ? How much of the AAT minimum should i pass and then go onto CIMA ?

Any help would be great...

You havent said that ur boss would get the funding now for CIMA so maybe they were initiating that once you have completed AAT they would fund for you to continue to CIMA.

I am awaiting AAT final results and have just registered for CIMA so am aware where you are coming from, however I have done much reasearch with this and speaking with staff at different levels of CIMA all have said that people they know who took AAT first found the transition to CIMA much smoother.
Another point is that AAT will take you another year to complete technician, and this will allow u exemption to CIMAs first level, 3 exams, 10 remaining. If you were to quit AAT and go straight to CIMA it would take you potentially a year to complete the 3 units you would be exempt from, so my opinion from this is either way you will take the same amount of time to complete CIMA and therefore would be more beneficial to complete AAT then continue to CIMA, having AAT on ur CV as a complete course is so much more appealing to employers, if u say part completed, part CIMA it shows a lack of commitment to potential employers, be it internally or externally from your company.

You will reach the same end result in the same time, but the way you get their is your choice. personally i think your employer should encourage u to complete one course and then move up, it will in no way should affect ur employability as you are showing you are committed to accountancy either way.

Make sure the choice is the right one for you and not ur employer as it affects ur whole future, however it has no long term implecations on them!!

Good Luck

steveJ

Cheers you lot,

Ive been having a chat with the people in the finance department and they all have said to complete AAT first. I wanted to do this from the beginning, but when i heard about possible funding for CIMA i didnt want to miss the chance.

Just wondering what kind of jobs you can go far with CIMA ??

Miss_HJ

steveJ wrote: »

Cheers you lot,

Ive been having a chat with the people in the finance department and they all have said to complete AAT first. I wanted to do this from the beginning, but when i heard about possible funding for CIMA i didnt want to miss the chance.

Just wondering what kind of jobs you can go far with CIMA ??

Its equally as good as the others, I was worried that it would limit my career, but on reasearching you can actually work in practice with CIMA, not all practices but ones that offer a managerial approach on monthly finances, rather than an accountant who says this is your profit for year x.

I was adament to do ACCA bt actually registered with CIMA yesterday!! it doesnt close any doors, most adverts say ACCA/CIMA/ACA either way you are a qualified accountant and with CIMA its 10 exams rather than 13 with ACCA!

messedup89

Miss_HJ wrote: »

Its equally as good as the others, I was worried that it would limit my career, but on reasearching you can actually work in practice with CIMA, not all practices but ones that offer a managerial approach on monthly finances, rather than an accountant who says this is your profit for year x.

I was adament to do ACCA bt actually registered with CIMA yesterday!! it doesnt close any doors, most adverts say ACCA/CIMA/ACA either way you are a qualified accountant and with CIMA its 10 exams rather than 13 with ACCA!

11 with AAT exemptions

Miss_HJ

messedup89 wrote: »

11 with AAT exemptions

I thought was just F1- F3 exempt for ACCA? tho was in a fuffle whilst counting saturday!!

messedup89

Miss_HJ wrote: »

I thought was just F1- F3 exempt for ACCA? tho was in a fuffle whilst counting saturday!!

It is.
6 skills
3 professional
2 options

steveJ

Is that correct that you can gain a degree part way through studying ACCA ?

messedup89

http://www.accaglobal.com/join/acca/bsc

you can gain a BSc Honours degree in Applied Accounting if you choose to

[Deleted User]

If you don't complete AAT then you will have to sit 15 CIMA exams which is the same position for somebody who has never started an accounting qualification before. It would make what you have done with the AAT a waste of time. If you completed AAT then you only have to sit 10 exams.

steveJ

When you put it in that perspectice, the AAT should definately be finished. Well im not in any major rush at the moment.
Vacancies for finance positions in my workplace always state that you need to have or be part way through an accountancy/finance related qualification, so its not as if i cant apply for any jobs.

What would you lot suggest ato look for as my next job role ??

steveJ

Sorry meant to say that i am a billing clerk at the moment for the ford motor company.

Miss_HJ

steveJ wrote: »

Vacancies for finance positions in my workplace always state that you need to have or be part way through an accountancy/finance related qualification, so its not as if i cant apply for any jobs.

What would you lot suggest ato look for as my next job role ??

dont let this stop you applying, AAT is a recognised accountancy qualification, and I got my job internally from accounts payable to Assistant managment accountant after 1st year of AAT, it shows u want to have a career and in the application state your desire to continue to CIMA/ACCA etc.

Go for any jobs that come up, I initially went for Trainee accountant from the call centre when i started AAT, i never expected to get the job, however it was advised by my manager to get my face seen, it paid off and they offered me Accounts Payable job, 3 months later the same interviewers interviewed me for this role and loved my enthusiasm!!!

What have you got to loose????

steveJ

Miss_HJ wrote: »

dont let this stop you applying, AAT is a recognised accountancy qualification, and I got my job internally from accounts payable to Assistant managment accountant after 1st year of AAT, it shows u want to have a career and in the application state your desire to continue to CIMA/ACCA etc.

Go for any jobs that come up, I initially went for Trainee accountant from the call centre when i started AAT, i never expected to get the job, however it was advised by my manager to get my face seen, it paid off and they offered me Accounts Payable job, 3 months later the same interviewers interviewed me for this role and loved my enthusiasm!!!

What have you got to loose????

Thats the kinda story i like to hear. Someone studying and trying anything to get that job. Sounds like youve got an alright boss aswell that really helps.

Yeah im definately gonna give it a go. If nothing else, the AAT as given me the confidence to walk into an interview room for a finance position and actually feel like ive got a real chance of getting it.

Good luck with ya CIMA and dont forget about us lot here !!! LoL.

sivtheflower

Hi
I believe you will be exempt from the foundation CIMA if you manage level 4 AAT
Thats a big help
Check out the new standards that CIMA have for this year
Siv

Miss_HJ

steveJ wrote: »

Thats the kinda story i like to hear. Someone studying and trying anything to get that job. Sounds like youve got an alright boss aswell that really helps.

Yeah im definately gonna give it a go. If nothing else, the AAT as given me the confidence to walk into an interview room for a finance position and actually feel like ive got a real chance of getting it.

Good luck with ya CIMA and dont forget about us lot here !!! LoL.

Its a good feeling, and my boss did say after the initial interview that he was impressed with my understanding of subjects like Dr and Cr!!! feels like a long time ago now, but he is a good boss, just hard to get the progression in my current job its a bit stagnanat but the company have given me 3 good years of finance experience, not sure if theirs enuf room for development once CIMA is done, but time will tell, and I will certainly use my go get em attitude again in job interviews!!

Never fear the unknown and make an impression on the company!!! wish u all the best in finding your next job!! just remember it doesnt have to be forever, just use each job role as stepping stone of experience to where u want to get!

Fingers crossed I pass DFS or will b back here for another 6 months.(ish)...