Level 2 study tips

Level 2 study tips from AAT members
Page title
Contents
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
Contents
Current page reference / section
2
2
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
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.
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.
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
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: 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.
Original thread located
at aat.org.uk/BCST
Making the grade / Basic costing
3
Computerised accounting
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
Top tip: For revision tips and
general advice on how to manage
your time better, visit AAT Comment
aatcomment.org.uk
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.
Making the grade / Computerised accounting
4
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.
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.
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
Making the grade / Computerised accounting
5
Work effectively in
accounting and finance
Original thread located
at aat.org.uk/WKAF
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.
Making the grade / Work effectively in accounting and finance
6
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.
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!
Caron Broadbridge
PEARLS! Only way I remember purchases and sales!
Purchases
Expenses
Assets
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’.
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: Both PBKT and CJBS have a
webinar (with support notes) on MyAAT. Visit
aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search
Original thread located
at aat.org.uk/PBKT
Making the grade / Processing bookkeeping transactions
7
Control accounts, journals
and the banking system
Original thread located
at aat.org.uk/CJBS
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.
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
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
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!
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.
Making the grade / Control accounts, journals and the banking system
8
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
Making the grade / Further reading
9
Any questions?
For further information about this revision guide and our online
community, please contact community.team@aat.org.uk
@YourAAT
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