Accountants; distance learning provider recommendations pls

[CX53]

Are there any accountants in?

I'm looking at the AAT level 2 course at the moment and keen to get started.

Do you use any distance learning providers at your place of work or do you have any personal experience?

Some of them seem to have questionable reviews online and even the seemingly better ones are perhaps a bit pricey with sub standard support and exclude all the exam fees.

Currently researching

Eagle education, a 'subscription' to their site so you can study for all levels, they use Osborne and kaplan materials and seem to have reasonable reviews; subscribe for 45 quid a month instead of paying out 7-1000 at once, then just do the exams.

Kaplan (some reviews good some bad, slightly on the more expensive side and the reviews suggest course materials not great)

ICS Learn, trust pilot reviews suspicious, all 1 review reviewers who all seem to mention the excellent staff by name. Bit cheaper than Kaplan and use Osborne materials which are supposed to be good.

Osborne and BPP produce their own course materials and seem to come up but still looking in to these.

There is also the option to just buy some books and do the exams independently but software needed for some modules can cost just as much as the course, but comes free with paid courses it seems, so doesn't make much sense.

Any recommendations gratefully welcomed

Thanks

Edited by CX53 on Thursday 16th April 18:35

[CX53]

Bit more research and I think I'm ready to 'pull the trigger' with Eagle. They have a 7 day trial before charging the monthly subscription fee, so I'll have a good look and see what it's like. You can also cancel with them at any time without charge so I think it could be the best bet.

[1Rb]

I used Kaplan (in class and online) for CIMA and it was very good in terms of 100% first time passes.

I also used open tuition for when I was in between jobs and didn't want to pay for learning materials/classes - there were obvious gaps but this was closed with just using the Kaplan exam kit.

[xiodene]

Did you go for this in the end?
Im thinking of doing similar and would love to hear some real feedback

[Daston]

I am currently doing AAT with accountancy learning. Has been pretty plain sailing although lvl 3 has taken a bit longer due to a promotion with more responsibilities and the birth of my son.

Not sure if they cover the whole UK tho

Plan on doing my synoptic next month and then onto lvl4

[21TonyK]

Not wanting to hijack the thread but 21Jnr has just come home with a box full of Kaplan folders. First week on the job as a trainee chartered accountant.

Any tips, he thinks he can manage with 6-8 hours study a week?

[xiodene]

Daston said:

I am currently doing AAT with accountancy learning. Has been pretty plain sailing although lvl 3 has taken a bit longer due to a promotion with more responsibilities and the birth of my son.

Not sure if they cover the whole UK tho

Plan on doing my synoptic next month and then onto lvl4

Are you already in the Accounts field? Would you say this is a good step for someone who is looking for a complete career change? (Pandemic and furlough issues aside)

I was thinking if I could do the AAT fully, then It might help with getting my foot in the door in a year of so. I should add, I have no dreams of working for the big 5 firms or anything.

[MaxFromage]

21TonyK said:

Not wanting to hijack the thread but 21Jnr has just come home with a box full of Kaplan folders. First week on the job as a trainee chartered accountant.

Any tips, he thinks he can manage with 6-8 hours study a week?

Is he doing a day a week or block exams? When my staff are training, they only seem to mention studying when exams are coming up, so I'd imagine they don't do huge amounts each week.

[MaxFromage]

xiodene said:

Are you already in the Accounts field? Would you say this is a good step for someone who is looking for a complete career change? (Pandemic and furlough issues aside)

I was thinking if I could do the AAT fully, then It might help with getting my foot in the door in a year of so. I should add, I have no dreams of working for the big 5 firms or anything.

How old are you?

[21TonyK]

MaxFromage said:

21TonyK said:

Not wanting to hijack the thread but 21Jnr has just come home with a box full of Kaplan folders. First week on the job as a trainee chartered accountant.

Any tips, he thinks he can manage with 6-8 hours study a week?

Is he doing a day a week or block exams? When my staff are training, they only seem to mention studying when exams are coming up, so I'd imagine they don't do huge amounts each week.

I am assuming block exams, he is saying he has a few online tutorials and plans to stay late in the office 2-3 nights a week to study so he keeps his weekends clear. He then has to go to Bristol a couple of days every month or so, I assume this is for exams?

I'm wondering whether to suggest he studies at home and I can buddy him. He's not the greatest at studying, he didn't do anywhere near as well as he should have in his A levels.

Plus, wondering if its the sort of thing I could study alongside him then just pay for exams and qualify myself?

[Countdown]

21TonyK said:

Not wanting to hijack the thread but 21Jnr has just come home with a box full of Kaplan folders. First week on the job as a trainee chartered accountant.

Any tips, he thinks he can manage with 6-8 hours study a week?

Yeah - wave goodbyes to evenings and weekends for 3 to 4 years

If he can do a proper 6-8 hours (and by "proper" I mean not logging onto Youtube every 5 minutes for cat videos) then that "should" be sufficient. People are different - the more self-discipline he shows the easier it will be to get the first-time passes.

If he's a Traineer then his Employer should hopefully be providing paid time off? Hopefully he's with one of the Big firms - they provide a lot of support (but then annoyingly they expect you to pass )

[Countdown]

21TonyK said:

I am assuming block exams, he is saying he has a few online tutorials and plans to stay late in the office 2-3 nights a week to study so he keeps his weekends clear. He then has to go to Bristol a couple of days every month or so, I assume this is for exams?

I'm wondering whether to suggest he studies at home and I can buddy him. He's not the greatest at studying, he didn't do anywhere near as well as he should have in his A levels.

Plus, wondering if its the sort of thing I could study alongside him then just pay for exams and qualify myself?

Which ones is he doing (ICAEW/CIMA/ACCA)?

You can self-study for all of them but to get your full qualification you will need to get your competencies signed off (and that can only be done by a Line Manager who is a member of the body that you're applying for) so at some point you'll need to spend at least 18 months+ working in Accountancy/Finance.

[MaxFromage]

Countdown said:

Which ones is he doing (ICAEW/CIMA/ACCA)?

You can self-study for all of them but to get your full qualification you will need to get your competencies signed off (and that can only be done by a Line Manager who is a member of the body that you're applying for) so at some point you'll need to spend at least 18 months+ working in Accountancy/Finance.

Yes I can't see the point to be honest. We took a guy on who'd passed all his exams and been signed off, but he'd only been doing bookkeeping It's taken him 3 years to get to a decent standard, just like those qualifying on the job properly. On the job experience is far more important than the exams if trained properly.

[21TonyK]

MaxFromage said:

Countdown said:

Which ones is he doing (ICAEW/CIMA/ACCA)?

You can self-study for all of them but to get your full qualification you will need to get your competencies signed off (and that can only be done by a Line Manager who is a member of the body that you're applying for) so at some point you'll need to spend at least 18 months+ working in Accountancy/Finance.

Yes I can't see the point to be honest. We took a guy on who'd passed all his exams and been signed off, but he'd only been doing bookkeeping It's taken him 3 years to get to a decent standard, just like those qualifying on the job properly. On the job experience is far more important than the exams if trained properly.

AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting??? Thats what the stuff in the folders says.

Sounds like not worth me doing anything although I may just work through some of it with him. I did A level accounts/business studies many many years ago so at least the principals of some of it will be similar and it might help him get started.

Cheers

[Countdown]

21TonyK said:

AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting??? Thats what the stuff in the folders says.

Sounds like not worth me doing anything although I may just work through some of it with him. I did A level accounts/business studies many many years ago so at least the principals of some of it will be similar and it might help him get started.

Cheers

IIRC that's the old AAT Level 3. If all goes well that should take him a year, and then another year to do AAT level 4 and, after that he'll be bale to start on ACCA/CIMA/ICAEW.

It's very much studying Accountancy at the entry level. If he's a Trainee Chartered Accountant it's odd that his Employers aren't making him start directly with one of the CCAB and instead making him spend two years doing AAT .

I'd say AAT L3 is probably the equivalent of a GCSE, with L4 being the equivalent of an AS-Level.

[21TonyK]

Countdown said:

21TonyK said:

AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting??? Thats what the stuff in the folders says.

Sounds like not worth me doing anything although I may just work through some of it with him. I did A level accounts/business studies many many years ago so at least the principals of some of it will be similar and it might help him get started.

Cheers

IIRC that's the old AAT Level 3. If all goes well that should take him a year, and then another year to do AAT level 4 and, after that he'll be bale to start on ACCA/CIMA/ICAEW.

It's very much studying Accountancy at the entry level. If he's a Trainee Chartered Accountant it's odd that his Employers aren't making him start directly with one of the CCAB and instead making him spend two years doing AAT .

I'd say AAT L3 is probably the equivalent of a GCSE, with L4 being the equivalent of an AS-Level.

Thats how he described it, like a GCSE. From what he said he's expected to get through that pretty quick, he's already looking at exam dates etc and started talking about the level 4.

No idea now he got the job, absolutely no previous experience or desire to go into accountancy of any sort, never even mentioned it until he randomly applied and got the offer.

[Countdown]

21TonyK said:

Thats how he described it, like a GCSE. From what he said he's expected to get through that pretty quick, he's already looking at exam dates etc and started talking about the level 4.

No idea now he got the job, absolutely no previous experience or desire to go into accountancy of any sort, never even mentioned it until he randomly applied and got the offer.

In that case it's an excellent decision, for both him and his Employer.

AAT is a great way for potential Accountants to see if this is what they want to do as a career. It's a bit like dipping your toe in, rather than jumping in at the shallow end, CCAB exams can be pretty challenging, especially if you get no (or limited) time off from your Employers.

It IS worth doing though. As I keep telling my kids it's a relatively easy way to make a relatively decent amount of money

[MaxFromage]

Countdown said:

In that case it's an excellent decision, for both him and his Employer.

AAT is a great way for potential Accountants to see if this is what they want to do as a career. It's a bit like dipping your toe in, rather than jumping in at the shallow end, CCAB exams can be pretty challenging, especially if you get no (or limited) time off from your Employers.

It IS worth doing though. As I keep telling my kids it's a relatively easy way to make a relatively decent amount of money

For the reasons you note, we prefer to take on GCSE/A-Level trainees and go the AAT route, then ACCA, rather than degree and ACCA. You can also get quite a few exemptions with the degree which means you're qualified quickly, but experience and skills are lacking.

[xiodene]

MaxFromage said:

How old are you?

I am 34. I dont mind starting at the bottom and working my way up, but I would like to try and get something that will help me stand out a little, or at least not be so far behind.

Edited by xiodene on Friday 2nd October 18:24

[MaxFromage]

If you're willing to be paid a low salary to start with, it could work. Even with Covid, there is a real lack of people in the marketplace.