ATT or ACCA?

apreech

Hello,

I am just waiting on my final exam result and then I will be AAT qualified and have been wondering what to do next.

Any thoughts, opinions or details of your experiences would be gratefully received:)

Than you in advance
Annie

villapb

Hi Annie, depends on which path you want to follow, ACCA keeps your options open. Att pushes you down the tax road and practise.............i wnt down the att route as i like world of tax but its not for everyone as its a minefield tbh.

ExcelAnt

Hi Apreech,

It's a big crossroads your facing, it depends on your experience likes/dislikes and where you want to be in 5 years.

Incredibly broadly speaking the end goals are:

ATT > Self practise as an MIP - SME accounts
ACCA/ICAEW > Chartered accountant - auditing large companies
CIMA > Management accounts - Internal telling people how to spend the money predicting cashflow

Sorry bit biased on CIMA as that's my speciality but i'm going to do that after ATT (still to submit my project for AAT yet!) I plan to be a part time financial manager and have a few clients to work from home. pipe dream but we can all do with a few dreams to keep us going

At the end of the day, it's a big decision and commitment so research the benefits and look at what you want to acheive.

Rozzi Rainbow

Hi Annie

As has already been said, it depends on where you see your career going. I've read various posts on here about ATT being an excellent qualification if you intend to set up your own practice. ACCA have very strict rules about being self employed while you study with them, and I believe their practicing certificate is very hard to get.

I am currently employed in practice and studying ACCA - and at present have no intention of auditing large companies! I really enjoy tax, but I'm also enjoying all the other things you study in ACCA. A lot of them aren't particularly relevant to my current role, but may come in handy in the future. I wanted to go for a chartered qualification, so haven't looked into ATT all that much. ACCA is a long slog, particularly if you opt for self study, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

I would suggest looking at the syllabus for both courses and seeing which you think you'll be most interested in. You may also want to consider the costs of both, how you will fund your studying, where you will go to study and take exams, and whether you will want/be able to self study.

Good luck!

apreech

Thank you all for your replies, at the moment I work in practice and have been there for around 6 months, I really enjoy it. I previously worked in industry for about 3 years so have had experience on both sides.

It would be likely that I would have to fully fund or partially fund my studying either route that I take. From when I first begun AAT I wanted to complete ACCA but my current employer mentioned ATT to me, which is where the ultimate confusion came in as wasn't too sure whether to do one over the other, or perhaps both?!

Thank for all the advice that you have given, I appreciate it! I am more than happy to handle the long slog, knowing that by the end I will be a fully qualified accountant I will have a look in to the syllabus for both courses thoroughly over the weekend and make a decision!

Thank you again,
Annie

stevo5678

I done AAT and then ACCA and am now finishing ATT.

ACCA has opened doors for me but it is a huge committment and not one to take lightly.

For the record though ACCA is a 3-5 year task and ATT more like 1-2 (It would of taken me 15 months for ATT but ACCA 4 years).

esimps

You can't go wrong with ACCA. I've worked with many ACCA accountants over the years and I've seen ACCA accountants become Finance Directors. The good thing about ACCA is that you're not restricting your future employment opportunities and any sector will be open to you.

kazflan

Att

Does anyone have any recommendations on who to study ATT with? The company I work for will pay the fees so I may as well get the best possible. I have looked at BPP as they do an online class, has anyone tried it and what are your thoughts? I have thought about becoming an MIP just to take on some extra work; I am confident about the book-keeping but would like to be able to offer a tax service . As I have not had to get involved with tax for so long I feel this may be the best way forward? Any advice would be much appreciated.