Is my certificate valid if I dont pay membership fee

Londina

Norvydas said:

@hal978

Thank you for this, yes I had a read through ACCA guidelines and it says that bookkeeping, VAT and Payroll are all ok.

wow I can't believe ACCA allows you to do these services without a licence! basically this is what lots of people are doing anyway with the AAT which we have to pay high MAAT & MIP fees...

Norvydas

@Londina

I know, I think AAT should reflect on their prices.. If you are a fully self-employed person, who has a lot of clients then yes few hundred pounds will be nothing for you to have a license with AAT. However, if you only help your friends with bookkeeping and accounts, and charge them a lot less what real accountants would (because they are friends) then at the end you won't be making any money, there is a high chance you might even end up losing money..

I had read a lot about AAT memberships and etc, and in various forums I've found that a lot of people have discontinued their memberships due to the fact that the fees are very high, and it was pointless for small sole traders to pay so much money.

I don't want to be paying over £100 to be able to put MAAT next to my name, and people who do not work in accountancy sector wont even know what that stands for..

There are of course benefits with AAT i.e. helpline and etc, (I am not sure how helpful they are as never contacted them) but if you have a good friend or even a relative who is in accountancy business and have a lot of experience then I would personally ask them for advice first and then if it's still not clear ask someone else.

Anyways, I need to think definitely what is the best route to go for!

Elasozorus19_tiKoyn

Stevef above (July 2012) states: "AAT examinations are not freestanding academic qualifications..." yet how can they not be? - When they have Qualification Accreditation Numbers issued by Ofqual. It is true, probably, that some knowledge becomes out-of-date quicker than others and also, as time passes knowledge inside a person's brain gets stale and fades away - but the rate at which this occurs surely must depend on the person and whether they have been practising the subject, events in the person's life and lots of other factors. Even if the person had lost ALL of that knowledge then it still wouldn't be meaningless, in my view. There is some logic to the fact that if you are applying for an exemption, by virtue of the fact that you have a certain exam then often, generally speaking, whether or not you are granted that exemption may depend partly on how long ago that exam was. However, that is if you are using the exam for a specific purpose, and I find it a bit 'extreme' and slightly 'negative' to use words such as 'meaningless'. I passed a HITECC Diploma more than a quarter of a century ago - Does that have any meaning now? - It does to me, although someone else may never of heard of it. It is part of what makes me who I am. The Laws of Newton are still just as relevant even though Physics has moved on. I see the point that AAT exams are from a particular professional organisation and not a general examining body though. On the other hand, if a person were to pass an AAT qualification today and not pay their subscription tomorrow (because they couldn't afford it) but then apply for a job, are you going to say that that exam pass / competency is worthless, even though it was only yesterday? NeilH's contribution (September 2014) above begins "In fact they are. ..." which would seem to me to backup up my opinion that AAT qualifications are, in fact, freestanding qualifications. However I do see a slight point of confusion: AQ2016 seems to be lumped together as one thing, but it is comprised of Levels 2-4, which are a certificate and diplomas with individual QANs (which therefore must be individual qualifications themselves). I would suppose that all qualifications are, in a sense, 'stepping-stones' anyway - even degrees (e.g. in Accountancy) and doctorates, to give further examples.

mcchoc

A handy, money-saving hint might be to change your surname by deed poll to Maat.

Or even, to the less easily pronounceable Welsh equivalent, Fmaat.

. . and hope your clients don't ask too many questions.

amonstro

mcchoc that's like being robin instead of batman. I think AAT is great organisation to get started in accountancy, although a bit steep in prices for those in hardship, but if you're gonna break the rules you might as well go for an ACA or maybe add a Phd and get your moneys worth....
(This is joke I don't recommend doing this)

I tried a while back to freeze my AAT membership, however if anyone is like me and they are going through financial hardship, you might want to try Princes Trust or another charity organisation to help. Maybe AAT could work with these organisations that could maybe prove that those people in hardship do not have to pay?