How the AAT-ACA Fast track pathway makes sound business sense for employers

From an employer point of view, the sooner a trainee accountant is qualified, the sooner they can take on roles and responsibilities and make a full contribution to the finance team.

Using the AAT-ACA Fast track pathway makes great business sense and can mean your staff member achieves chartered status in just two years.

Why training your own new finance talent makes business sense

When replacing a key team member of the finance function, the choice is often between recruiting an experienced accountant or taking on an apprentice and training them up. Not only does the latter option make good economic sense, but it can also yield surprising benefits.

“Employing an accounting apprentice has been a positive experience which has brought new talent and enthusiasm into our finance team and helped drive the business forward,” says Alan Metcalfe, finance director of Fairburn’s Eggs.

LJ Fairburn is a progressive family company and one of the largest independent egg producers and packers in the UK, supplying 14 million eggs a week to national supermarkets from a network of 45 producers.

Alan and the senior management team have overseen exponential company growth from £10 million to over 100 million turnover over the past ten years. Fairburn’s has transitioned from being an egg producer selling to a middleman to directly supplying major supermarkets, leading to significant business transformation. Its transport fleet has expanded from a few lorries to 35 on the road.

“LJ Fairburn has grown rapidly from being a very small operation, and has undergone a lot of changes, which has been quite demanding for everybody, because all the processes and the procedures have to keep up with the changing business,” he says.

AAT-ACA is the ideal route for motivated apprentices

After a qualified accountant left the team in the finance function, Alan decided to take on apprentice Louise Waters, 28, and support her through AAT Level 3 to completing her ACA Advanced qualification. Louise has been able to benefit from the AAT-ACA Fast Track pathway, which gives Level 4 qualified AAT members a number of exemptions, meaning she has progressed through her training in under two years and now is able to take on greater responsibility.

Initially, organisations are sometimes wary of the time and effort that might be involved in taking on an apprentice who needs close supervision and training, but Alan says Louise joined with substantial accounting knowledge, allowing her immediately to take on key tasks such as account reconciliations and end-of-month/quarter reports. She also demonstrated strong problem-solving skills and autonomy in handling customer queries and internal issues. 

“We are a small finance team, and the company is run by family directors so flexibility and problem-solving are critical due to the dynamic and expanding nature of the business,” he says.

Louise was the first AAT apprentice and her grounding from AAT studies have meant that her role and responsibilities have expanded significantly as she progresses through her role. 

Among the changes which Louise has helped implement are an enhanced drive for sustainability, which involved her working with outside consultants to draw up a zero-carbon business model and upgrading the invoicing and stock control systems to make them compatible with Sage 200. Both projects she has handled on her own with minimal input from Alan and has used her knowledge on sustainability and technology that she learnt in AAT Level 4.

What are the advantages of the AAT-ACA Fast Track pathway?

Alan says AAT provides a foundational base, allowing candidates to gain confidence in their ability to handle exams and acquire essential accounting knowledge. This prepares them better for the more demanding ACA qualification and the discipline of work and study. In particular, the pathway works due to:

• A gradual learning curve: AAT offers a step-by-step learning process, making the transition to ACA smoother.
• An enhanced skill set: ACA builds on existing accounting skills and progresses them to a more detailed level, particularly in financial management and business decision-making, which are directly applicable to day-to-day business operations. 
• A future-oriented perspective: ACA training helps in understanding not just historical financial data but also planning for the future. 
• An accelerated qualification: Exemptions enable apprentices to qualify more quickly.

Alan says Louise’s presence in the team has made a real difference, as she came in with a deep foundation in accounting skills and was already accustomed to combining work and study. 

“Louise is responsible, keen and good at problem solving, and over the time that she has been working, she has come less and less to me for help,” he explains. “With the rigours of the ACA qualification, you’ve got to be very focused on passing your exams, so you need that mindset.

“From an employer perspective, the AAT-ACA Fast Track pathway works well because the sooner your apprentice qualifies, the better for their own professional development because they can focus on their work alone, and the sooner we can develop them as well.”

What are the benefits of supporting apprentices on the AAT-ACA pathway? 

For the employer, hiring AAT-qualified candidates means they come with a solid understanding of accounting principles from day one and need less supervision. For the student, there is the benefit of not having to take on university student loans or extra debt.

“In a growing company, you want people who are ambitious and want to get on and Louise is a good example of that,” Alan says. “From a financial point of view, it makes good economic sense. Apprentices bring a new energy to the company. They’re young, they’ve got lots of energy, their knowledge is up to date, and they can bring fresh ideas around technology and sustainability. It’s great seeing people develop and it helps our succession planning. We want to be in a culture where people grow and meet their goals, and when everyone’s going in an upward direction that creates positive energy.”

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.