Going onto ACCA from AAT

amyjayne27

Hi all,

Hope I have posted in the right place. I have recently completed level 3 AAT and have just started level 4. If I keep on track I am hoping to be finished this time next year.
I am unsure whether to carry on my studies and go on to ACCA. My employer is willing to fund it which is amazing but I am just hoping for some advice on how people found ACCA compared with AAT? I understand it is going to be a big gap and ACCA is going to be much harder but I am worried it is going to be too hard for me.
I passed each exam at level 3 first time although I wouldnt say I found it easy!
I know its quite a long time away before I need to make this decision would just like to hear of other peoples experiences.

Thanks in advance

ademoore

Hi
If your employer is agreeable to funding, that is a huge plus, however you need to decide about your career and where it's going in order to make this decision.

From my perspective - CIMA is generally for industry, ACCA is generally for practice (and I use the word 'generally' in quite a loose tense.) I started in industry, and then via AAT MIP started my own practice whilst I finished CIMA studies. ACCA would not have allowed this, as they require so many years working in practice and that is once you have finished ACCA studies itself. When I started CIMA, I didnt envisage ever having my own practice, but that is way life worked for me, so studying for CIMA worked well.

If you see life in practice and you want a progression in a chartered practice, then being ACCA is likely to be your better bet. However, if this isn't what you envisage, then maybe a diff qualification like ATT would be better.

As for 'how hard' - I can't answer that one, however, if you have completed AAT, then I wouldn't have thought ACCA would be deemed 'too hard' as you would have had a good grounding from AAT to start you off. Everything you need to learn for the exams will be there for you, and if you have a tutor via a course, then you should be getting the support that you need too, plus other students in exactly the same boat to talk to.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

amyjayne27

Thanks for your reply Ademoore some really useful info there.

I am currently working in practice, and I can envisage me carrying on in practice down the line as I really enjoy it so if I do continue with my studies I think ACCA is the one to go for.

I think my employer would be happy for me to be AAT qualified and not to continue onto further studying so as you say I really need to think of my career progression and what path I want my career to take.

I really dislike people who say ' You are ONLY AAT qualified' as it is a brilliant qualification and not one I have found easy so far, so I dont want to do ACCA just for the hell of it. Also if it will considerably increase my salary then thats another factor I need to think about as I would like in the next few years to work very hard now to set myself up for future years. My family are not well off at all so I would love to be able to help them as much as possible, which I cannot do at the moment!

Thanks for your advice :-)

mark057

Hello,

I made the transition from AAT to ACCA in 2010 and have found the experience feasible provided you
put the work into your studies.

The syllabuses at ACCA level tend to be bigger than AAT and there is a huge bank of information you
need to learn because you can never tell what subject areas will be tested, unlike AAT where similar
areas of work are tested every exam.

Study support will be very useful as course costs are mind blowing, particularly as you progress through
the papers. I've personally had to self-study due to the costs involved.

I wouldn't worry too much about coping with the exams in fairness. AAT is a wonderful springboard to
the higher professional qualifications. You just need to build up to each level and be patient and work
hard at it.

Mark