what provider should I go for?

janulik85

Hello guys,

I am new to this forum, so please forgive, if this topic has been already discussed, but I was not able to find it.
In past 5 years, I have been working as an office administrator and a ( sort of) bookkeeper.
However, Past 2 years, I felt like I was getting nowhere. This was in regards to my position and pay.
I wanted to be more involved in accounts, yet I merely scratched the surface with the tasks & responsibilities I had been
given.

Because, I had never been trained formally, I had the unrealistic expectations in my mind, that the
company's accountant will train me in and I will gradually take over all his responsibilities, and I'll get better paid and put my amazing accounting skills and experience on my CV.


However, in my previous working environment, this was rather unrealistic to learn things on the go.
Also, my previous employer expressed no desire to help me with my training and thus saving him lots of money, as his
accountant cost him a fortune.


This was a year ago.


Then I found another job with fairly local company in Oxford, however, this position was purely ' office administrator' role.
Thus, any exposure to accounts was nearly non existing.

THEN a couple of months ago, I got fired from my job, because my boss was an asshole and didn't like things done properly.
I have always had an eye for a detail, the company was a mess, and my MD didn't like when I spotted a mistake, which he or
one of my colleagues caused, just to name a couple of reasons ( how DARE you point out MD's mistakes you silly little girl!). Also, they had been looking for more quiet and less proactive kind of administrator which I was not


As an office administrator and bookkeeper, I was in charge of all sorts of things. From handling and recording the financial
paperwork, to setting up new projects files and folders, chasing up for deliveries, handling phone calls, telemarketing and
so on and forth. All my previous employers ( except for the last one) had found me as a fast, accurate, and focused
administrator, so I thought that finding a new job would be a breeze.

Furthermore, I had some exposure to the accounts too - preparing invoices for the VAT, matching and batching
the payments with invoices, a bit of a bank reconciliation, which I thought would be a major advantage, but it was not.

Upon being interviewed by misc recruitment agencies showed that I had major gaps in areas like SAGE LINE 50 and understanding of basic accounting principles. I had a good exposure to Sage Line 50 on daily basis, however, this was only recording sales & supplier invoices, setting up
new records and nominal codes, so pretty basic stuff.


That was the turning point in my life, what I decided it is about flipping time to get formally trained, fill in any existing gaps
and enhance and build on my existing skills.

Hence, I decided that for a starter, the best way would be to get fully certified with SAGE.
I successfully completed level 1,2 and 3 which was meant to be a warm up for more serious studies of AAT.

HOWEVER, I am not entirely sure which distance learning provider I should go with.

I have been considering HLC and Eagle, but I really want to go for the best.
Because I will be funding my own studies, I want to make sure, that I won't be wasting my money.
I am looking for concise and easy to follow workbooks and I don't think I will be using tutors' assistance that much.


If I could have your feedback on who you are studying with, what are the current fees and the degree of satisfaction
with your course, that would be immensely appreciated.

Many thanks.

Jana

Sharon123

Hi there. I did all my aat studies by distance learning without the tutorial support option, finishing three years ago. I tried books from Kaplan but found the BPP ones really good. There are study books, exam prep books and revision notes all of which can be bought separately or as a set. The aat qualification is well respected and definitely worth doing.