Level 2 study tips from AAT members

2 Current page reference / section 2Contents

Page titleContents

03 Basic costing

04 Computerised accounting

06 Work effectively in accounting and finance

07 Processing bookkeeping transactions

08 Control accounts, journals and the banking system

09 Further reading

3Making the grade / Basic costing

Basic costing

Emma Smith

I copied the chart from my text book about LIFO/FIFO and stuck it to my bathroom cabinet!

Last First

In In

First First

Out Out

Nicholas Craggs ACA FMAAT B.Sc. (Hons)

Distance Learning tutor, writer of bespoke accountancy and bookkeeping learning materials

Remember that everything that you can physically touch is a material cost in this unit.

To find the fixed element in a semi variable cost, first calculate the variable element for that level of production, and deduct this from the total cost.

Jordan Clarke

Regarding the AVCO (average cost) method, divide the total cost by the total number of units to get the average cost per unit. Then, you can multiply the cost per unit by however many units are issued to production.

M Atif Baig

Try to understand the concepts and get a grip on them as it’ll help with future levels.

Harry Walker

Use the Green Light tests! Visit aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search to access them.

Nudz Soulcarbon

Do plenty of sample assessments. Reading alone isn’t always enough; you have to physically get on it or you could get caught out by wordings, phrases and applying any theories.

Top tip: Remember that many of the acronyms that you will learn during your studies are used worldwide. If you find you need more help remembering them, use Google to find images/videos to help you.

Top tip: AAT Comment has a lot of Excel ‘how to’ guides, written by experts. See them all at aatcomment.org.uk/category/aat-view/excel-tips

Original thread located at aat.org.uk/BCST

Top tip: Your AAT membership gives you access to exclusive Excel e-learning. Log in to MyAAT and visit aat.org.uk/training/excel-e-learning to access this feature.

4Making the grade / Computerised accounting

Computerised accounting

Top tip: For revision tips and general advice on how to manage your time better, visit AAT Comment aatcomment.org.uk

Original thread located at aat.org.uk/CPAG

Emilia Taylor

Pay attention to detail. Check twice before you hit ‘create’ or ‘accept’. Don’t panic if you can’t remember exactly where to find everything. There’s plenty of time in the assessment; don’t be afraid to explore in your search.

Jess Brien

Stay calm and don’t panic if it doesn’t reconcile at the end. Just take a deep breath and go back through it.

Andrew ‘Reg’ Houldsworth

Save your work regularly!

Sarah Patching

I followed the textbook start to finish four times, completely cleared my Sage software each time and this put me in good stead for the assessment.

Ibrahim Elwadi

It’s been said already, but practise as much as you can, and always double-check before you go ahead and create. You simply need to get used to it!

Karolina Joanna Stasiak

Save after every task. If you mess up, instead of trying to undo it you can just open the previous save.

5Making the grade / Computerised accounting

Computerised accounting

Lisa Hughes

Make sure you upload everything required, triple-check in fact! I failed this assessment the first time as I missed a few uploads.

Michael Hunt

Read the instructions about dates at least twice before entering any data involving them.

Sarah Rushworth

You have plenty of time during the assessment, so don’t panic and don’t rush. It’s not a race!

Emily Sarah Parry

You can always create a journal if you do make an error.

Bruce de Saram

Get your nominal accounts set up correctly and take it step-by-step.

Donna Curling

Make sure you complete the bank reconciliation. Students using Sage often forget to press the reconcile button after they have completed the hard work.

Original thread located at aat.org.uk/CPAG

Top tip: If you’re ever confused by an element of your studies, remember you can tweet us at twitter.com/YourAAT and we can share your question with other members of our online community.

6Making the grade / Work effectively in accounting and finance

Work effectively in accounting and finance

Cathryn Dalziel

Read each question thoroughly. It may seem straight forward (even a little boring), but you can easily trip up if you don’t read things thoroughly on this one.

Alice Barton

Read the book/study notes. During the assessment, relax, and if you don’t know an answer just flag it, as you can come back to it at the end.

Alison Corley-Rhodes

This is a difficult assessment only if you don’t take it seriously.

Chloë McGuire

Read the questions more than once. Easy mistakes can happen.

Chevonne Taylor

AAT sample assessments are great for a practice run! Visit aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search to access them.

Original thread located at aat.org.uk/WKAF

7Making the grade / Processing bookkeeping transactions

Processing bookkeeping transactions

Emily Wells

Take your time and let the DEAD CLIC sink in properly!

Debtor Creditor

Expenses Liabilities

Assets Income

Drawings Capital

Thalia Colyer

Know how to categorise your entry before you even think about what side it goes on.

The categories are: asset, liability, revenue or expense. Being able to categorise your accounts is key to the Level 2 and Level 3 bookkeeping units.

Caron Broadbridge

PEARLS! Only way I remember purchases and sales!

Purchases

Expenses

Assets

Receipts

Liabilities

Sales

Keren Callaghan

Double check any journals before posting, and practise reconciling accounts. Then, you can see what mistakes you have made and correct them.

Top tip: Search our forums for more members’ tips on remembering these acronyms. Go to forums.aat.org.uk and search for ‘PEARLS’ and ‘DEAD CLIC’.

Top tip: Both PBKT and CJBS have a webinar (with support notes) on MyAAT. Visit aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search

Top tip: Make up cards with the account names on them and practise sorting them into the categories. Have races with your friends to see who can sort most accurately and in the quickest time. Accuracy wins over time in all races!

Original thread located at aat.org.uk/PBKT

8Making the grade / Control accounts, journals and the banking system

Original thread located at aat.org.uk/CJBS

Control accounts, journals and the banking system

Steph Bird

Remember the different types of errors! That’s what caught me out!

Sharon Potts

Sample assessments work well, as does remembering DEAD CLIC.

Debtor Creditor

Expenses Liabilities

Assets Income

Drawings Capital

Fazee Babie

Use sample assessments! That’s the thing with accounts; the more you practise, the easier it gets! You can find sample assessments at aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search

Amanda Joynt

Use MyAAT, the webinars and the Green Light tests. Also make sure you complete the sample assessments and the ones in your textbooks. Visit aat.org.uk/myaat

Ashleigh Justice Hamilton

Remember the difference between credit sales/purchases and cash sales/purchases!

Catherine Littler MAAT, Freelance Consultant

Journals are simply double-entry bookkeeping – practise double-entry and journals will be fine.

Some journals, like writing off irrecoverable debts, can be learned by rote. Write them out and stick them on your fridge.

In the cash book, remember that VAT is included in the amount of cash received – we all have to pay VAT, even if we are to claim it back later.

Also, in the cash book, remember that discounts allowed/received are not included in the amount of cash received.

Top tip: The study support search has many resources available for all AAT units, not just sample assessments. Take the time to read mapping documents, performance feedback and the guidance and standards documents. You can find these resources at aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search

Top tip: Make up questions to ask your friends. You’ll find that testing knowledge (including correcting errors) is one of the best ways to learn. You might even find it fun!

9Making the grade / Further reading

We offer a range of resources to help you study Level 2. Your first port of call should be our study support tool on MyAAT, available at aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search Here, you can access a huge range of resources to help deepen your understanding and achieve success in your studies.

You may also like to consider:

• reading AAT Level 2 study tips at aatcomment.org.uk

• searching for relevant threads on our forums, available at forums.aat.org.uk

• visiting the websites of training providers and using their revision material

• using our Twitter lists for training providers, which you can find at twitter.com/YourAAT/lists/aat-training-providers

• joining the AAT distance learning group on Facebook, run by fellow students and other like-minded people at facebook.com/groups/aatdistancelearning

• viewing our Level 2 webinars, available at aat.org.uk/training/study-support-webinars

Ready to start Level 3? The next revision guide in this series can be found at aat.org.uk/makingthegrade-L3

These study tips were sourced from AAT’s online community in February 2015.

We’d like to thank every member of our online community who contributed to this revision tips guide.

Our aim is to provide a friendly environment where AAT students and members of the AAT community can share information, and help each other through their journey towards completing AAT qualifications.

As with most things in life, we do have some online community rules, so please take the time to read our terms and conditions at aat.org.uk/about-aat/online-community-rules

Further reading

Any questions?

For further information about this revision guide and our online community, please contact community.team@aat.org.uk

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