AAT Level 3 Syllabus Tips and Guidance

The AAT separately focuses on accounting and bookkeeping at Level 3. Both qualifications individually deliver valuable accounting and bookkeeping knowledge and skills. Also, they provide essential job role competence to perform in a workplace effectively.

These qualifications include the AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting and the AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping. We present the AAT level 3 qualifications syllabus here, helping your decision-making. So you can confidently decide the AAT study route of your choice. 

AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting Syllabus

This AAT level 3 accounting qualification offers essential and higher-level accounting techniques and disciplines. It delivers various financial processes skills' broader range.

These skills include maintaining cost accounting records, advanced bookkeeping and financial reporting, and preparing returns. The AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting syllabus contains the following four units:

  • Business Awareness
  • Financial Accounting: Preparing Financial Statements
  • Management Accounting Techniques
  • Tax Processes for Businesses

Business Awareness

You will understand business and its environment. It will include the influences on an organisation's structure, accounting function roles, and performance. Also, you will understand the business purpose and types alongside learning the key stakeholders' rights and responsibilities.

Furthermore, you will know the importance of professional ethics and the financial function of ethical management. The unit outcome includes the following:

  • Business types, structure, governance, and the relevant legal framework understanding
  • Understanding a business's external and internal environments impacts, business performance and decisions
  • Business and accounts compliance with professional ethics principles
  • Understanding the new technologies' accounting impacts and data security associated risks
  • How to communicate information to stakeholders

Financial Accounting: Preparing Financial Statements

You will learn to produce profit or loss statements alongside utilising trial balance for sole traders' and partnerships' financial position statements.

Further, you will understand manual double-entry bookkeeping. It helps record financial transactions in an organisation's accounts. At completion, you have:

  • Accounting principles' application knowledge for final accounts preparation
  • Advanced double-entry bookkeeping principles' understanding
  • Non-current assets acquisition and disposal implementation procedures' knowledge
  • Depreciation calculations' preparation and recording skills
  • Period end adjustments' recording understanding
  • The trial balances extension and production knowledge
  • Sole traders' and partnerships' financial statements preparation skills
  • Understanding of financial statements interpretation using profitability ratios
  • Skills for accounting records preparation from incomplete information

Management Accounting Techniques

This unit offers an organisation's management accounting role knowledge and skills. It also includes management accounting information understanding to help decision-making.

You will learn an organisation's cost handling and why organisations treat costs differently. Also, you will understand principles related to management accounting methodology and techniques. At completion, you:

  • Can understand management accounting purpose and its use in an organisation
  • Have cost dealing techniques
  • Can attribute costs according to organisational requirements
  • Have skills in investigating budgets deviations
  • Have spreadsheet techniques for management accounting information provision
  • Have management accounting techniques to aid short-term decision-making
  • Have cash management principles knowledge

Tax Processes for Businesses

You will learn tax processes influencing daily business operations. It will develop your Value Added Tax (VAT) returns preparation skills for HMRC submission.

Further, you will understand how to keep businesses, employers and clients compliant with VAT and payroll laws and practices. At this unit completion, you have:

  • VAT legislation requirements' understanding
  • VAT calculation skills
  • VAT reviewing and verifying knowledge
  • Payroll principles' understanding
  • Skills in reporting information in an organisation

AAT Level 3 Accounting Duration and Progression

Depending on your study option, method and timetable, the qualification takes 6-12 months to complete.

You can apply for AAT bookkeeping membership (AATQB) after completion. It demonstrates your bookkeeping knowledge and skills to employers, colleagues and clients.

Also, you can become self-employed and offer bookkeeping services and freelancing.

On the other hand, you can progress your studies to the next AAT Level 4 Diploma in Professional Accounting.

AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping Syllabus

This course focuses on financial processes competency. It develops the complex skills and knowledge necessary to perform a bookkeeping role effectively. Also, you will gain accounting principles and concepts understanding.

You will learn advanced bookkeeping and financial statement preparation. Further, you will know a business payroll and value-added tax (VAT). Also, the course helps progress to higher level accountancy job roles or further study. The following two units complete your course: 

  • Financial Accounting: Preparing Financial Statements
  • Tax Processes for Businesses

Financial Accounting: Preparing Financial Statements

You will understand utilising trial balance. It will include producing sole traders and partnerships profit or loss statements and financial position statements.

Also, you will acquire double-entry bookkeeping skills to record financial transactions into an organisation's accounts, utilising a manual bookkeeping system. The unit outcome includes:

  • Accounting principles underlying final accounts preparation
  • Advanced double-entry bookkeeping principles understanding
  • Implementing procedures knowledge for non-current assets acquisition and disposal
  • Depreciation calculations' preparation and recording skills
  • Period end adjustments recording
  • Producing and extending the trial balance
  • Sole traders' and partnerships' financial statements' production 
  • Using profitability ratios for interpreting financial statements
  • Accounting record preparation from incomplete information

Tax Processes for Businesses

This unit focuses on the tax processes' influencing daily business operations. You will learn Value Added Tax (VAT) returns preparation for submission to HMRC.

Also, you will learn how to keep businesses, employers and clients compliant with VAT and payroll laws and practices. This unit completion provides:

  • VAT legislation requirements' understanding
  • VAT calculation
  • Reporting information in an organisation
  • Payroll principles' understanding
  • Reviewing and verifying VAT returns

AAT Level 3 Bookkeeping Duration and Progression

You can complete this level 3 bookkeeping course in 2 months, depending on your study method and schedule.

At completion, you can become an AAT bookkeeping member (AATQB). Also, you can start your own accountancy business by becoming an AAT Licensed Bookkeeper.

Furthermore, this level 3 AAT bookkeeping course leads toward the AAT level 3 accounting diploma.

 

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