Order to study Level 4

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LouB
LouB Registered Posts: 3 New contributor 🐸
in AAT Level 4 (Level 8 in Scotland)
Hi all,

All being well I will finish Level 3 at the end of June. Rather than having a break over the summer and waiting for classes to start in September I am planning on doing some modules online. I am studying with BPP so my options are getting ICAS out of the way or a combination of Budgeting, Personal Tax and Business Tax. Any advice on which is the best order to study Level 4 in? I was on the AAT website yesterday and it made some reference to having a good grasp on Financial Statements before doing ICAS.... anyone any comments on this? Will I successfully be able to do ICAS as my first Level 4 module?

Any advice gratefully received...

Many thanks,

Lou

Comments

  • MarieNoelle
    MarieNoelle Registered, Moderator Posts: 1,368
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    Hi Lou,
    Congratulations on nearly completing level 3!

    I started my ICAS project alongside studying for Financial Statements and I agree in the report you have to show a good knowledge of external regulations and accounting standards, which are covered in FNST. I found it pretty tough though to prepare for FNST (sat the exam end of January) and I add to finish the report early February!

    I would also advise you to study Budgeting before Financial Performance as the first chapters overlap. (I heard that maybe AAT would merge the two modules in the future?).

    I hope this helps,
    MN
  • stephleedz
    stephleedz Registered Posts: 179 Beyond epic contributor 🧙‍♂️
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    Hi Lou,

    I would recomment you study Budgeting before Financial Performace as they do overlap and Budgting is a great base for Financial Performance. I have also done Personal Tax and Business tax and would definitely recommend you to do personal tax then business tax as there is also a small amount of overlap between the two. Our first lesson last September was ICAS when then gave you the time to do a little bit of the project as and when you had time...I handed my first draft in early January. November I sat Budgeting and January I sat Financial Performance. Then sat personal tax in February then business tax in April (3 weeks ago awaiting results). We started back to college last night for Financial Statements which I intend to take the exam mid July. This has actually worked out really well for me (order wise) so would recommend this.

    Thanks

    Steph
  • guinea pig
    guinea pig Registered Posts: 402 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    Hi Lou,
    I finished Level 3 last June, and like you, wanted to study through the summer, rather than wait for September. As I studied at a college, and knew that it would be challenging doing the ICAS project alongside the course, and working full time, I started my project in late June, and finished it by the end of August, with the support of my tutor. It depends on your experience; I work in a finance office, and have also been self-employed, running a small business, so I felt ready to tackle the project - I used the Osborne book, which was good, and found the project interesting.
    In September we started with Financial Statements, I found this horrendous, and was very relieved to find I'd passed. We then did; Credit Management, Budgeting, Personal Tax, and finally, Financial Performance, just last week. Looking back, I think that Budgeting first may have been better, there are several areas that do overlap, especially ratios which seem to appear in most of the exams!
    Whatever you decide, good luck!
    GP

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