AAT Licensed Accountant reduced fees

Willo

I have been a member of the ACCA for a few years now and I have managed to get my PCert from ACCA last year, I was going to carry on with my AAT membership and PCert as I felt, I worked hard for them and plus the discounts etc... from AAT Additions :-), however I have recently seen the below:

AAT Licensed Accountant reduced fees - Gross Fee Income under £7,000 2016 - £84 2017 - £177

Arhhhhhhhhhhh NOPE

Moominyak

That £13 increase is for the standard LA fee, and works out at just under 5%. The Reduced fee goes up by £28, an increase of almost 19%! How is that fair?

I am reducing (eventually ceasing) my self-empoyed work this year as I am returning to full-time employment, but the fee increases are making me wonder whether I should just ditch AAT membership altogether and service my last couple of clients under my own steam, as neither of them would be bothered, and I'll probably bill <£2k in fees during 2017/18.

Londina

Moominyak said:

That £13 increase is for the standard LA fee, and works out at just under 5%. The Reduced fee goes up by £28, an increase of almost 19%! How is that fair?

I am reducing (eventually ceasing) my self-employed work this year as I am returning to full-time employment, but the fee increases are making me wonder whether I should just ditch AAT membership altogether and service my last couple of clients under my own steam, as neither of them would be bothered, and I'll probably bill <£2k in fees during 2017/18.</p>

I'm shocked that the AML fee is now included into the MIP fee, that an increase of 54% for me! I do very little self-employed work (I'm an employee most of the time) and can't afford such costs, on top of the MAAT fees....

Moominyak

I emailed AAT to see if they could explain their rationale behind the disproportionate increase for Reduced fee MIPs, here is their response:

"I have looked into this for you and can confirm that we carry out an annual benching marking review of our fees against other accounting and financial professional membership bodies. Additionally, our fees are set to ensure we can continue to provide all licensed members with access to additional resources; these resources are available to all licensed members regardless of the fees paid. The 2017 fees will enable us to continue to provide these resources. The fee also includes access to Anti-money laundering supervision.

The additional resources available to you as a licensed member include:

• Anti-money laundering toolkit
• Guidance on AML compliance
• Anti-money laundering podcasts
• CCH Online – a hub for technical information
• CPD resources - e-learning, events, podcasts and online support

I hope this explains the process of how AAT sets fees and that you reconsider allowing your membership to lapse.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us."

Standard corporate waffle in other words, no actual explanation of the 19% increase compared with the 5%. I have begrudgingly renewed my licence, but at least I know this will be the last year!!

Londina

AML supervision fee used to be free for income under 1000£, so now instead of £80 you have now to pay £177, double the price!

Moominyak

Have you raised it with AAT?

Londina

Moominyak said:

Have you raised it with AAT?

yes and they told me "since May last year money laundering discount (if you earn below £1000, you get AML supervision for free) has been reviewed and it has been removed"

very disappointed :-/