Fast track your accountancy career with the AAT-ACA pathway

AAT is a highly regarded qualification and as a result, students who have successfully completed Level 4 are able to progress more quickly through chartered status. We talk to one apprentice who was able to fast track her career as a result.

If you have completed AAT Level 4 and are thinking of becoming a chartered accountant, did you know that your AAT qualifications mean you could achieve this status in just two years?

Or, in the case of Louise Waters, 28, an accounts assistant at Fairburn’s Eggs in Skegness in Lincolnshire, in just over a year.

“Last April, three months after completing AAT Level 4, my manager asked me if I would be interested in doing ACA,” she explains. “I was keen to progress and carry on learning, and because I had completed AAT, I was exempt from some of the Certificate Level coursework. I also decided to take two exams at a time, which means that I have just three ACA exams before I qualify at Advanced Level.”

That means Louise would be a fully qualified ICAEW Chartered Accountant, enabling her to take on more responsibilities at work and boosting her accountancy career prospects. She has been able to do this in such a short time because of the AAT-ACA Fast Track. Her Level 4 skills and her practical work experience give her exemptions from some parts of the course and have enabled her to progress swiftly to earn the ACA qualification, from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

“I have always been interested in finance and I did consider an accountancy apprenticeship when I left school, but I was pushed towards a university degree,” she explains.

A passion for business and accounts

After Louise completed her A levels, she studied International Business Management at Northumbria University and International Marketing and Management at Université Claude Bernard Lyon. She then worked at a local accountancy practice preparing statutory accounts, VAT returns and assisting with external auditing. 

“My year out in Lyon consolidated my interest in finance, and in particular in mergers and acquisitions,” she says. “When I came back to England for my final year I was applying for roles in practice, and my first job was with a local accountancy firm.”

Louise started with AAT Levels 2 and 3, studying at home in the evenings and weekends, and paying for the training herself. Then in 2021 she was headhunted for a job at Fairburn’s Eggs, a large family business supplying 14 million eggs a week to national supermarkets. Her manager, Alan Metcalfe, the finance director, offered to support her through AAT Level 3 and 4 as an apprentice in the finance function, and then on to ACA, a qualification she had always hoped to achieve.

“It is hard work studying for a professional qualification while working full time but Alan and the team at Fairburn’s have been so supportive,” she says. “Alan is very good at protecting my study time and making sure people don’t come and give me tasks to do when I am studying in the office.

AAT skills have a practical application

Fairburn’s Eggs is a family firm with a focus on sustainability and is undergoing an overhaul of its invoicing process and programme to achieve zero carbon status.

Thanks to her AAT training, Louise has been able to start working and taking on responsibility for this right from her first day at work.

“I have been able to delegate these two key projects to her which are absolutely crucial to our business strategy,” Alan says

One of these is the firm’s vision to become carbon neutral, a project which involves replacing the lorry fleet to reduce emissions and working with suppliers to help them become carbon neutral.

The second is the overhaul of accounts, from the warehouse to logistics and transport, to ensure full traceability of eggs and to ensure that all invoicing can be handled by Sage 200.

“AAT was definitely a good way to ensure an excellent grounding in accountancy before moving on to higher qualifications,” she says. “I feel that working in industry combines my business degree with my love of accountancy and my fascination with business. LJ Fairburn is a family run business that is innovative and not afraid of change. Thanks to my AAT-ACA pathway I have the confidence to talk to people in every department. This is an exciting time – we have extended our factory, invested in solar panels, and brought technology into the warehouse. I learnt about sustainability as part of my AAT study and it is great to be able to apply my skills in a practical way.”

Improved career prospects and greater responsibility

As a result of following the AAT-ACA apprenticeship pathway, Louise has benefited from more experience, greater responsibility and financial incentives to complete her training. 

“I feel that my AAT training provided a strong foundation, especially in core accounting concepts, which were beneficial in both professional exams and daily work. I can recommend the Fast Track because it means you have a structured path towards chartered status using the AAT skills you already have as a foundation to build on.”

Alan says Louise’s prior accounting knowledge meant she could take on responsibilities straight away, move quickly through ACA study, and become an integral part of the team.

“Louise is very hands on, and good at problem solving, thanks to her AAT training,” he says. “I have seen her mature and grow in personal confidence as as has progressed through her ACA studies. She is hard working and brings creative energy and a positive vibe to the team.”

Turbo-charge your career with the AAT-ACA accelerated pathway

ACA is an internationally recognised qualification, and the Fast Track route is designed to enable you to build on your AAT skills and speed up your accreditation by giving you credits for the AAT knowledge you already have. Like Louise, this could open new career opportunities, greater skills and responsibilities, and the potential for promotions and pay rises.

“The Fast Track can be a very intense experience and it involves a lot of study, but it has been worth it,” Louise says. “The harder you work, the more you get out of it, and the more responsibility you enjoy. It has given me the confidence to aim high and aim for head of finance or a finance director as my long term career goal.

“I really enjoy the atmosphere here at Fairburn’s Eggs,” she says. “It is friendly and progressive, and the company has grown significantly over the past decade. They are really interested in investing in new technology and embracing change, and they have invested in my professional development, enabling me to grow.”

Marianne Curphey is an award-winning financial writer and columnist, and author of the book How Money Works. She worked as City Editor at The Guardian, deputy editor of Guardian online, and has worked for The Times, Telegraph and BBC.