In order to Become level 4 AAT qualified students must sit a number of exams. It is important to understand that these exams are a mixture of both mandatory and optional sittings
The optional exams are usually specific to a certain area of accounting/bookkeeping whereas the mandatory exams relate more to the general principles of accounting as all AAT students should have a thorough understanding of accounting basics
As of January 2021, The mandatory AAT exams all as follows:
- Management Accounting: Decision and Control (MDCL)
- Management Accounting: Budgeting (MABU)
- Financial Statements of Limited Companies (FSLC)
- Accounting Systems and Controls.
By passing the mandatory exams, students show that they have a good understanding of the accounting basics. More importantly, these exams prove that the students are able to apply their knowledge to situations that they may come across in real-life scenarios.
Once these exams are complete, students are able to choose from the following Optional AAT Exams:
- External Auditing
- Personal Tax
- Business Tax
- Cash and Treasury Management
- Credit Management
How Many Optional Exams Must Students Sit?
In order to become level 4 AAT qualified, students must sit at least 2 of the optional exams listed above. As long as 2 of these exams are passed, the student can become fully qualified.
However, it is actually quite common for students to sit more than 2 of the optional exams (even though this may not seem logical at first); There a couple of reasons a student may opt to do this.
Firstly, if the student is planning to undertake further qualifications after passing AAT, the optional exams may provide exemptions from the next qualification. For example, passing the optional AAT tax exams can allow students to skip certain certificate level ACA exams.
Another reason a student may choose to sit more than one optional AAT exam is that they may just have an interest in the topic of the exam and want to build their knowledge on the subject.
2 management accounting the grams ( One relating to budgeting on the other decisions and control
As long as the student has set the other exams they will only have to set to of the following optional exams in order to become qualified
Which Exams Should a Student Choose to Sit?
This question will have different answers depending on each student’s personal circumstances. Given that there is a choice to be made, students should choose exams that they feel most comfortable with.
This will depend on what field of accounting the student is planning to pursue as a career. For example, if a student is planning to pursue a career as an auditor, it would be wise for them to sit the “external audit” exam over the credit management exam. IF the student is already working in a particular field then this can provide them with a great advantage when it comes to taking a related AAT exam.
A student who works as a personal tax advisor should find the personal tax exam a lot easier than someone who has no experience with personal taxation.
In other words, while all of the exams are roughly the same in terms of difficulty, if the student has an interest/experience in a particular area, they are highly advised to sit the relevant AAT exam (if there is one that fits this description).
