The AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping develops existing skills and knowledge to an advanced level for anyone wishing to pursue a career in bookkeeping.
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This qualification offers progression for students who already have bookkeeping knowledge, either to gain employment in a bookkeeping role or to progress to further study. This qualification is suitable for those who have completed the Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping and may help students already working in a bookkeeping role to progress by offering them formal recognition of their skills.
Start your studies the same day
Instant access to tutor support
Award winning learning resources
Prompt marking turnaround – marked by a tutor (not a computer)
Both hardcopy books and eBooks included
Pay by instalments (interest free)
24 hour online access
On-demand support via email, telephone, zoom
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AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping (Q2022) Online Enrolment – Start Your Studies Today!
At Level 3, AAT offers both the AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping and the AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting.
Students may wish to choose the AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping to focus solely on developing their bookkeeping skills in order to progress quickly to employment or to focus on becoming a bookkeeper. Students may also wish to start with this qualification before progressing to complete the Level 3 Diploma in Accounting in order to gain a wider knowledge of accountancy.
In developing this qualification, AAT has carried out extensive consultation with and received input from a wide variety of stakeholders, including industry experts, employers and training providers. AAT qualifications benefit from being globally recognised and they are valued by leading employers, from small high street firms to large accountancy businesses. They offer students flexible study options, with over 500 AAT Approved training providers around the world.
The purpose of the Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping is to ensure that students have the advanced bookkeeping skills necessary to work in a bookkeeping role or to progress to higher level accountancy.
This qualification comprises two mandatory units (210 guided learning hours in total):
• Financial Accounting: Preparing Financial Statements
• Tax Processes for Businesses
A student completing this qualification will develop the skills needed for financial processes including accounting principles and concepts, advanced bookkeeping and preparing financial statements. They will also understand business issues regarding payroll and value added tax (VAT) (which may be known by another name in other countries). All of this will be learned in the context of the ethical issues that a bookkeeper may encounter in their professional life.
The two units are assessed individually through computer based end of unit assessments.
The bookkeeping skills developed by studying this qualification will enable a student to seek employment with confidence and/or to progress to the next level of learning.
The skills developed while studying this qualification could lead to employment as:
• a Professional Bookkeeper
• a Senior Bookkeeper
• an Accounts Manager
• a Ledger Manager
This qualification is not part of an apprenticeship.
You will be allocated a personal AAT tutor who will guide you throughout the course.
We have a team of tutors who are here to help and if your personal tutor is not available they will be happy to help and keep the marking turnaround prompt. They are qualified, experienced, patient and effective communicators so you will find that you will build a good student/teacher relationship with them all.
When studying with us you will find the staff friendly and helpful with a great support network for students. You will receive constructive feedback, guidance and support. You will also receive a personal timetable to follow which structures your whole coursework for you which can be flexible to suit your pace of study.
Additionally, you are also provided with a personal course advisor who has great knowledge of the AAT qualified who can offer advice on how to manage your AAT course studies along with work, family and other commitments.
Our tutors are very accessible! The office is open at the following times:
Mondays 9am – 8pm
Tuesdays 9am – 8pm
Wednesdays 9am – 8pm
Thursdays 9am – 8pm
Fridays 9am – 5pm
Saturdays 9am – 12pm
Throughout your AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping online learning journey, you’ll be presented with study resources tailored to the topics covered in each unit, such as chapters from the study manuals, revision videos, quizzes and help sheets. At regular intervals you’ll be presented with an assignment, or practice assessment, to complete and submit to your tutor for marking.
Course progress is automatically saved in ‘the cloud’, meaning you can resume your learning exactly where you left off in each unit by logging into your My Premier Training Account (MyPTA) account from any device connected to the internet. Additionally, if you don’t have time to complete a piece of coursework in one sitting, you can save your progress, and again, resume it from any location or device.
Students completing the AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping qualification may wish to go on and complete the Level 3 Diploma in Accounting. If students wish to continue studying and choose to complete one of the full AAT Accounting Qualifications, their achievement/s in this qualification may be transferred to the larger qualifications.
AAT does not set any entry requirements for the AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping qualification.
However, for the best chance of success, we recommend that students begin their studies with a good standard of English and maths. Accountants work at the very heart of a business and are expected to be able to communicate information clearly and appropriately to a given audience. Ideally, students should have completed the Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping. Prior attainment of other business or finance studies would also be beneficial.
Students who have already started an AAT qualification should try to complete their studies on their current programme where possible.
If this is not possible, transitional arrangements may be available. In some cases, students may be able to transfer results for current units to similar units in an updated qualification, although this will be strictly time-limited.
Any unit result transferred from a current qualification, for example AQ2016 to the Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping, will only be transferred at a maximum pass mark. To achieve a higher percentage for a unit that has been transferred this way, a student is required to retake the assessment and any resit rules of the AAT Accounting Qualifications will apply.
Course Fees
AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping (Q2022) Was £499 Now £449
Postage & Packaging (Monday to Friday Delivery) £17
Postage & Packaging (Saturday Delivery) £28
Postage & Packaging Overseas £49
*Please note the overseas P&P of £49 is an estimate and we will confirm the final amount of P&P due when the delivery address has been confirmed. The AAT course fee and P&P can be paid by monthly instalments at no extra charge and the first instalment will get you started immediately (UK students only).
Additional fees to remember
Please note: In order to achieve the AAT qualification, you will need to join the AAT as a student member. The following items are not included in your course fees:
AAT Membership Fee £91
Examination fees*:
AAT Foundation Certificate in Accounting Fees vary between approximately £100 and £120 per exam
*Exam fees vary depending on the exam center.
Financial Accounting: Preparing Financial Statements (FAPS) Unit
This unit provides students with the skills required to produce statements of profit or loss and statements of financial position for sole traders and partnerships using a trial balance. In employment, students may be required to prepare a portion of, or all, the final accounts and this unit will give them the theoretical knowledge needed to complete that task. It will also allow them to understand how final accounts have been produced, either manually or automatically through use of accounting software.
Students will gain the double-entry bookkeeping skills required to record financial transactions into an organisation’s accounts using a manual bookkeeping system. They will take this forward to carry out adjustments, ensuring that the accounts conform to the accruals basis of accounting. Students will understand depreciation, where the loss of value of a non-current asset during a period is reflected in the profit figure for that period. They will also learn to account for allowances for doubtful receivables where account is taken of the likelihood that not all credit customers will pay in full. These adjustments are regularly carried out by employers to ensure accounts give a more accurate view of both the profitability and the financial stability of the organisation.
By developing an awareness of how the final accounts are used, and by whom, students will appreciate how to produce useful accounting records, sometimes from incomplete information. They will learn about the format of both the statement of profit or loss and the statement of financial position. Students will also learn how to use their double-entry bookkeeping skills to analyse and correct errors that have been made in the ledgers. Students will also be required to check the accuracy of the balances on key accounts within the accounting system by carrying out reconciliations with independent documents, such as bank statements. Accounting ratios to assess the profitability of sole traders will also be introduced, allowing students to interpret financial statements more effectively.
The application of ethical principles is threaded throughout this unit. All work must be carried out with integrity, objectivity and a high degree of professional competence.
Learning outcomes
1. Understand the accounting principles underlying final accounts preparation
2. Understand the principles of advanced double-entry bookkeeping
3. Implement procedures for the acquisition and disposal of non-current assets
4. Prepare and record depreciation calculations
5. Record period end adjustments
6. Produce and extend the trial balance
7. Produce financial statements for sole traders and partnerships
8. Interpret financial statements using profitability ratios
9. Prepare accounting records from incomplete information
Tax Processes for Businesses (TPFB) Unit
This unit explores tax processes that influence the daily operations of businesses and is designed to develop students’ skills in understanding, preparing, and submitting Value Added Tax (VAT) returns to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The unit provides students with the knowledge and skills that are needed to keep businesses, employers and clients compliant with laws and practices that apply to VAT and payroll. Students will learn about legislation and the importance of maintaining their technical knowledge through monitoring updates.
For VAT, students will understand the registration and deregistration rules, including signing up for Making Tax Digital (MTD), and the rules relating to specialist VAT schemes. Students will be able to recognise different types of supplies and calculate VAT correctly, understanding the importance of the rules relating to the recovery of input VAT and the sanctions and penalties for inaccuracies, omissions and failure to make submissions and payments within the correct timescales. Students will be able to verify the accuracy of calculations, invoices and tax points, and will learn about the correction of errors. When learning about the content of the VAT return, students will understand how to apply special rules when goods and services are imported and exported out of the UK and the European Union (EU), and how to extract the appropriate data to complete VAT returns.
In relation to payroll, students will understand the processes for businesses involved in calculating pay and deductions and the content of documents and reports produced on software, along with the timescales for submission and payment.
The application of ethical principles is threaded throughout this unit. All work must be carried out with integrity, objectivity and a high degree of professional competence. There must be due care with regards to confidentiality about any personal data being processed and, from a business protection aspect, with the correct approach to professional behaviour. Students will understand how to communicate VAT and payroll matters to relevant individuals and organisations.
Learning outcomes
1. Understand legislation requirements relating to VAT
2. Calculate VAT
3. Review and verify VAT returns
4. Understand principles of payroll
5. Report information within the organisation
In this course you can browse our new course materials for the AAT Q2022 syllabus.
This e-learning software will allow you to study and revise for your final assessment efficiently in a structured format. Your personal timetable sets the pace of your course informing you which assignment and assessment needs to be completed by its assigned date. To prepare you for the final assessment each unit contains three assignments and a mock assessment. Between each assignment are study resources such as chapters from study books, videos, quizzes and helpsheets which allow you to gain the relevant knowledge to complete the online assignments.
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The tutors are super friendly and happy to answer any questions – they’re always quick to reply too. Results come back quickly, often within hours, and the feedback really helps to understand how you might have gone wrong on a question and what you can do to improve marks. The course material is fantastic and…
I have just passed my second AAT assessment and I’m very happy and grateful to Premier Training for the help and support that has been given to me so far. My tutor always answers in a fast and kind way to my doubts and questions. The thing I like most about this course is that…
I’m really happy with everything – great printed materials that worked well combined with really good online resources that I used to add to my understanding. And fab tutors that seem to really care and give great help and support. I have now signed up for the next level (Level 3) based on the quality…
Many thanks to Premier Training for the great opportunity for online studying! I am happy with all the learning materials provided, everything is clear and easy to understand. Premier Training did a great job with the different type of materials – books, e-books and videos. Usually I skip videos because by that time a topic…
I would highly recommend Premier Training. The course materials, tutor support and exam prep was invaluable. Thank you for helping me to pass my AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting, I have just signed up for Level 3! Sarah Gosden – AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting
From the first moment I contacted Premier Training to assist with my qualifications I have received outstanding tailored support in every instance. Personally, the decision to start this journey was daunting, I had been struggling to cope with many things at the time but the course advisors instantly put me at ease, treating me with…
I have successfully completed all three AAT Levels in just over three years with the help of the team at Premier Training. Signing up was easy, the website is easy to use, the training materials are extensive and the videos are particularly useful. My tutor, Peter, was always on hand to answer any questions and…
