Opinion on choosing Ptax or Auditing?

zippi

Hi Guys,

I have finished all my exams and passed them first time, however, really struggling with Cash management!!! I struggled to finish the paper as it is one of the most lengthiest papers in AAT. After 2 attempts and no joy, I am thinking of either Ptax or Auditing, if the college where I and no more a student allows me to do so.

zippi

All opinions are Welcome!

Sharon123

I took Personal Tax which someone told me recently has a low pass rate. There is a lot to remember but I took it as I thought it would be more useful to me as at some point in the future I may become a MIP. I guess what I'm saying is that perhaps you should give consideration to which jobs you intend to do.

wabisabi

Hi

PTAX was the most challenging L4 exam for me, not because it is all that difficult but because the practice material didn't really prepare me for the reality of the exam, particularly time pressure - if you search for PTAX you'll see a lot of recent discussion of this.

zippi

Cash Management is also not as such too difficult, I practically know the whole book but as you say the practice material is not enough and there are too many quirks in real exam.

Questions are laid out to completely confuse you and as the paper is very lengthy, sometimes simple instructions such as rounding to nearest pounds or pennies can make you loose marks if you missed it, even though your answers are correct.

I have already taken this 2 years ago and passed it. Then AAT decided to remove it and replace it with more ethics (written answers). I took a gap year to help a family member and here I am baffled and battling again with it! I guess it has lot more mathematics elements to it. Until now I thought I was really good at Maths but after attempting this twice it has made me re-think.

Anyway more opinions the Merrier. Thank you Sharon and Wabisabi. Can anyone tell me if Ptax can be self studied?

burg

Go for what interests you more as well as where you see your career being. Options were very different back in my day and I did both the taxes (business and personal) but I was working in practice and knew I wanted to be a MIP one day.

Sharon123

I did Personal Tax by distance learning using the BPP textbook. I also bought their revision notes and exam practice book which really helped. I didn't use tutorial support but bought the Kaplan textbook for extra reference. Sometimes it helps to see the same thing but explained in a different way.

zippi

Thank you Burg and Sharon too. Appreciate your opinions. All I am looking forward is to pass AAT now. With a gap year I feel like I have been at it for too long. Level 2,3, gap year and level 4, so just looking to finish it somehow. Sharon did you find it easy to study and did you manage to pass it straightaway?

If someone could shed more light on recent Auditing that would be good too.

burg

Not sure on where you are based or how you studied but I had a friend who was struggling with a particulat unti via distance learning. they went for a one day help day at Whitehorse traning at Bath. Turned out they did know what they were doing but needed to write it down in a different way to demonstrate that. They then passed at the next attempt.
Maybe explore paying for some kind of one-to-one training to see where you are going wrong.

Lelouch

I attempted Auditing, but got about 30 pages in to the text and gave up and moved on to cash management. Personally I found it quite dry.

NickCraggs

Personal Tax does have the lower pass rate, but remember, even if you leave accountancy personal tax will be relevant as you will always pay tax.

Sharon123

I found studying at home worked well for me and passed all my exams first time. One advantage is that you only sit them once you are ready and are not tied to a college timetable. Also if you feel like you've had enough you can have a week off which can help! I very much agree with Nick that whatever you do understanding personal tax is relevant.

zippi

Hi Nick
Do you accept students to study one unit and if so how much do you charge?

NickCraggs

Yes, we do. However, due to AAT policy on Training provider's selling on social media, you will need to contact me directly for me to tell you the price. I personally did all the Personal tax lectures so you may find the odd reference to taxing fish and chip shops in Scarborough.

zippi

Are you based in Scarborough then?