Course description
The Association of Accounting Technicians is well recognised and respected as a professional membership body throughout a wide range of businesses and requires its members to have a professional and ethical approach throughout their accountancy and finance careers.The AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting offers you technical training in accounting and is ideal if you are wishing to pursue or progress your career in accountancy and/or finance.?The purpose of this qualification is to enhance the skills developed from the AAT Advanced Diploma in Accounting (Level 3), enabling you to maximise opportunities in your current or new employment.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Students must have completed the AAT Level 3 qualification to be accepted on to the AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting at Wiltshire College.
Written communication forms an increasingly important part of the AAT qualifications and is a requirement in all units of the Professional Diploma. For the best chance of success, it is recommended that students should have a good standard of both English and Maths before starting the course with a GCSE at grade C in both subjects, or equivalent.
If you do not have formal qualifications in English and Maths, please discuss your situation with the course tutor before enrolment.
Training Course Content
The AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting comprises four mandatory units and two specialist units selected from a choice of five options:
The mandatory units are:
Management Accounting Budgeting: you will learn to adjust, flex and interpret budgets to provide more meaningful data for performance management.
Management Accounting: Decision and Control: you will develop your knowledge of cost behaviour, cost analysis, standard costing and contribution theory.
Financial Statements of Limited Companies: providing you with the skills and knowledge for drafting the financial statements of single limited companies and consolidated financial statements of groups of companies. You will acquire a proficient level of knowledge and understanding of international accounting standards and will gain a sound appreciation of the regulatory and conceptual frameworks that underpin the preparation of limited company financial statements.
Accounting Systems and Controls: enabling you to demonstrate your understanding of the role of the accounting function in an organisation and the importance of internal controls in minimising the risk of loss.?You will undertake an evaluation of an accounting system to identify weaknesses and assess the impact of those weaknesses on the operation of the organisation.
The optional units are:
- Business Tax
- Personal Tax
- External Auditing
- Cash and Treasury Management
- Credit Management
Please note that not all the option units may be available at all campuses, or as taught units.
Course delivery details
During weekly classes your tutor will introduce you to the skills and knowledge needed for each unit, using a variety of resources including lectures, handouts and e-learning via the college virtual learning environment. Time in class will always include the completion of practice questions to consolidate knowledge, and this will be reinforced by home study.
Homework will be set most weeks, and you will also need to allow time for reading and working through questions in your textbooks.
Regular attendance in class is essential to maximise your chance of success. Students should also be aware that the demands of the Professional Diploma will require considerably more time spent on home study than was necessary at Level 2 and Level 3.
Students must successfully complete the three mandatory unit assessments and one synoptic assessment plus unit assessments for two optional units to achieve this qualification. The synoptic assessment will be available at set times of the year as determined by AAT and will assess knowledge from the four mandatory units. This is the only unit in which Accounting Systems and Controls will be assessed.
Individual unit assessments are not graded, however, you will receive an overall grade for the qualification of Pass, Merit or Distinction.
Why choose Wiltshire College & University Centre
96% of students go onto further study, training or employment
98.8% overall pass rate for Level 3 courses
1,089 courses to choose from
Continuing Studies
Successful completion of the Professional Diploma in Accounting will enable a student to progress to one of the Chartered Accountancy qualifications, ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CIPFA. Alternatively, the qualification is accepted by many universities as entry to year 1 or year 2 (at some universities) of a degree in Accounting and Finance.Full membership of AAT is available once the workplace experience requirements have been met, leading to a wide range of interesting job opportunities. With further experience you may choose to set up your own business as a self-employed AAT Member in Practice.