Newbie!

Mollypod88

Hi All,

I've passed my last Level 3 exam today which means I'm now finished! Woohoo!

I have ready and waiting Level 4 Kaplan Distance Learning books and wondered what's the best one to start with?

I'm also confused with ICAS - do we use the AAT Case study or can we base it on our own jobs?

Thanks for your comments!

Emma

jenny3549

Hi Emma,

Congratulations on passing Level 3!

In terms of ICAS, if you work in an accounting environment then the providers strongly recommend (in my case insisted!) that you do a work based project rather than a case study.

As to which unit to start with, it's entirely up to you. Was there a unit in level 3 that you preferred most? Eg if you really liked costs and revenues then you could start with either Budgeting or Financial Performance as those lead on from it.

FNST is considered one of the tougher units so not usually tackled first but then again, everyone's different!

Me personally, I started with Personal Tax (cos I'm a bit odd and love tax), then did FNST, then Budgeting and FNPF, leaving the dreaded ICAS to last. This isn't necessarily the best route, but it worked for me.

Good luck with Level 4!

Mollypod88

Hi Jenny,

Brilliant thank you!

I will probably start with Financial Performance as I've just sat Costs and Revenues.

I also brought Business and Personal Tax however my provider said these books won't be current as of January 2013. Is that correct? Will I need to buy new books for next year?

missm4ry4m

Hello Molly

Congratulations on passing Level 3!

I think you should start with Budgeting then Financial Performance as they lead on to one another!

Good luck with Level 4.

Whirlwind

Hey Molly,

Many congratulations!!

I agree with missm4ry4m and I would study BGT before FNPF.

The Tax books are specific to tax years, so you may be in a pickle. Can your provider explain what changes there maybe - whether its just amounts/percentages that have changed and not actual legislation.

BPP has suggested that ICAS was the last unit to study and it definitely worked for me - I was able to pad out my knowledge with what I had learned (especially EXA boring though it was!!) All I can say is thank heaven for the forum, the end is in sight!!

omega man

You can sit the tax exams for FA12 from Jan 13,i think that is what he meant.

CovTeej

We had to start with FNST and I would not recommend it! I felt that all the other modules led up to FNST and that it should be done last.

The ICAS project I bashed out in a couple of weeks ONCE I had got started, working out where and how to start took me a good month or so, scrapping what I had done and restarting, but once I found a format/layout that I was happy with it all came together very quickly, but having read others comments it seems that I should have had interviews regarding the project which our college never did so that may slow it down for you.

But good luck for the year ahead

billdoor

Congratulations Mollypod, I've also just finished Level 3 and am just moving on to Level 4 - I've also been advised that Budgeting leads on to Financial Performance, so am starting with Budgeting first. Best of luck with yours:)

craigbrown2602

Congrats Mollypod... I agree with everyone else, Budgeting then Financial Performance and definetly leave Financial Statements til last.

The ICAS Project can be based on your own job, but I think you need your manager to sign off before you finalise your report.

Best of luck with Level 4.

Malcolm Green

ICAS Project

To help get you started on your understanding of the ICAS project you may like to have a look at the ICAS support materials on the AAT website - https://services.aat.org.uk/myaat/learning_area_overviews_and_assessment_briefings/level4/.

One of the latest additions to this is the ICAS report writing guide which many students have found very useful.

Mollypod88

Malcolm Green wrote: »

To help get you started on your understanding of the ICAS project you may like to have a look at the ICAS support materials on the AAT website - https://services.aat.org.uk/myaat/learning_area_overviews_and_assessment_briefings/level4/.

One of the latest additions to this is the ICAS report writing guide which many students have found very useful.

Thanks Malcolm

How long does it take it complete ICAS roughly for the average student?

Mollypod88

Hi All,

I'm struggling to answer a simple question and need your help!

Calculate the appropriate budgeted overhead recovery rate:

Indirect Labour: 17000
Supervisor wages: 19000
Depreciation of equipment: 4000
Machine maintenance: 3500
Canteen: 6500
Total: 50000

Notes: The budget production of 2500 units will require 5000 machine hours and 25000 labour hours.

The answer

So we can choose from labour hours, machine hours and units produced

Overhead recovery should be based on labour hours. The recovery rate will be £2 per hour

Could someone help to explain the answer please?

Thank you!

Malcolm Green

Hi Molly,

Earlier this month we looked at the ICAS project at one of our Birmingham branch revision workshops and if you follow the link below:

http://aatbirmingham.org.uk/2012/free-performance-enhancer-revision-workshop-review.html#more-1224

You can download a set of our ICAS notes and slides which you may find of assistance.

The AAT suggest that for a typical student they would need to spend around 70 hours for the completion of the project.

But in reality with good planning and preparation it can be completed a lot quicker.

Depends on your motivation and what pace you want to work and the time table your college/training provider wants you to follow.

If this type of thing is new to you always good to get the help of a mentor/work colleague/relative etc to help keep you on track.

As you are just starting out on your level 4 when you have worked on your Financial Statements and Financial Performance units this should all help to put you in a good position for completing the report.

Once you have established you project theme and set about your background research to build up your project findings and recommendations you will be surprised how quickly you can start to write your full report.

The hard part will be keeping the report within the 4,000 word count (appendices do not count) and making sure you are able to cover off all the mapping requirements in the project guidelines to show your competency in the unit.

I hope this helps and all the very best with your level 4 studies