New starter. Where to start/which books?

SheffieldTom

Hi,

I posted on here a few months ago about just starting out with AAT. Having struggled to find time I'm now getting round to it.

Before when I asked I was told I didn't really need to take any level 2 exams, just buy the books and make sure I'm fully aware before I start any level 3 courses. Would this still be the case?

HAving looked into buying books, I noticed that they are starting a new curriculum in Sept. Would it be wise to wait until then to buy any books or would any level 2 book suffice? I found these books...

http://www.bpp.com/learning-media-filter/filter/2150

Are these the correct ones and if so, do I need to purchase the whole batch.

I know there are a lot of questions but i'd appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Tom

Adele69

If you're not going to sit the L2 exams it's probably not essential to get the latest edition. I can think of changes in the calculation of Settlement Discounts as one area which has changed but is so minor in the greater scheme of things, so savings could be made for any of BPP/Osbourne books from 2013 onwards through eBay, Amazon, or here.

I bought some additional L3 workbooks for exam prep for Accounts Prep 1 and Costs & Revenues from earlier years and they were still relevant enough to be very useful at a fraction of the new price.

I would work through them, the elearning and test papers on the AAT site. As some parts are so much common sense it's easy to be complacent and maybe feel it's okay to just dive straight into L3 but you're likely to come unstuck with the financial accounting basics that is assumed knowledge.

SheffieldTom

Thanks for your reply.

I wasn't going to sit the L2 exams, just read through and maybe do a few practice exams etc rather than spending money on a course that I didn't really need to?

Which books specifically are required for L2, just so I don't miss anything.

Thanks again.

Adele69

The key essentials are:

OSBORNE - Tutorial (workbook will have more chapter questions & practice assessments)
http://www.osbornebooks.co.uk/2013_revised_aat_accounting

• Bookkeeping 1
  
• Bookkeeping 2
  
• Introduction to Costing
  

BPP - Text (question bank will have more chapter questions & practice assessments)
http://www.bpp.com/learning-media-listing/lmlist/3619

• Processing Bookkeeping Transactions
  
• Control Accounts, Journals & the Banking System
  
• Basic Costing
  

Working in Accounting & Finance covers some working in a finance office type stuff, continuous professional development and work ethics which are more widely covered in L3 under Professional Ethics. WKAF barely covers the stuff on L3 so arguably could be missed.

Computer Accounting System isn't covered in L3, it's how to use Sage so useful if working on a basic computer package but if you ever used SAP or Oracle it will seem like childs play.

If you struggle to find time to at least get through these 3 you will likely have problems in L3 as topics like Accounts Preparation and Costs & Revenues assume you know fundamentals like the accounting equation, debits/credits, whats an asset, expense, liability, t-accounts vs journals, etc and won't explain what should already be known.