Level 2 Foundation Certificate in Accounting Q & A with Caroline from Peak Accountancy Training

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Good evening – welcome to tonights Q&A on all things AAT Level 2 & Foundation with Caroline from Peak Accountancy Training. So over to you!! Who has the first question??

Michelle Campion Good Evening all – is the CPAG exam hard to pass if you didn’t get fab scores in BKTN and CJBS exams as this is my next one and concerned that I fell down especially on journals in last exam thanks

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· Reply · 23 hrs · Edited

Caroline Pauling Hi Michelle Campion its definitely recommended to sit the Bookkeeping exams before computerised accounting, as theres no doubt it wil help you with this one as well…when doing journals, can you tell which part of them you struggle with?

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Caroline Pauling Im sure if youve pased the two bookkeeping papers that will be more than enough to help you through the computersied accounting

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Jackie Best I’m on WKAF at the part where I’m learning about percentages and ratios, charts etc. My question is when working out a figure that’s not a whole number do I round up or down with the decimals?

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Caroline Pauling HI Jackie, I would alwys suggest that the question usually states how they would like you to state the answers in the exam, and be careful as they can change from question to question

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Jackie Best It’s not telling me in my assignment Caroline. Example hourly rate of 6.70 with an increase of 5% it’s not an exact number. Is it 7.03 or 7.04? Same with reduced sale on an item which was 39.99 it just says calculate the new price. Doesn’t state to round up or down it’s really bothering me

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· Reply · 23 hrs

Caroline Pauling ok…so 6.70 with a 5% increase would be 7.035, this would then be stated as 7.04, as the final number is 5. If its 5 or above you would round upwards and if its below you would round down. also, as its an hourly rate it would usually be stated to two decimal places to show the pounds and pence

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Jackie Best Perfect that’s what I put but I wasn’t sure because I know with vat you round down so I started second guessing myself! Phew! Thank you 😊

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Caroline Pauling 🙂

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Bumo Mmago Tlotlo Tacheba Hi guys..

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Michelle Campion To be honest Caroline mostly the ones that are not payroll related and the other sort with redrafting trial balance – I practised them to death and still mucked up in my exam 🙁

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Caroline Pauling when you’re redrafting the trial balance, I find it usually helps to draw out the accounts which are affected by the journals and walk through the double entry that way, then you acn balance the account at the end of the adjustments and the balance b/d can be put back into the trial balance

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Michelle Campion Caroline Pauling I did 🙁 but they still get me – I find the ones on the AAT mock that deal with say the VAT is out is just as bad !

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Caroline Pauling so, when im teaching this i usually suggest that when looking at the question, write out the journal which should have been posted – correctly! Then compare it to the one they did post – that should help you to spot the anomalies or the accounts affected by the errors

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Michelle Campion Caroline Pauling Thanks – I am trying with this 🙂

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Caroline Pauling keep going! If you have one – post the question and we can go through it…! 🙂

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Amy Cerveno Hi all – I have a really basic question (I think I’m the only person who doesn’t understand this change to AQ2016!) – I enrolled for AAT last Aug and I’m still plodding along with my learning currently so I’m yet to have sat an exam but do I need to do get in contact with AAT directly regarding the new standards or is it automatically all change? thanks

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Caroline Pauling Hi Amy, dont worry, ask away! 🙂 if you already a student, you can check on your MyAAT account, and it will show in your study resources – if you are on AQ2016, you will be able to see AQ2016 study support, if you cant see it, you can just ask your training provider to add it to your account for you, its really quick to do 🙂

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Amy Cerveno Thanks Caroline Pauling I have checked my study resources and they show 2013. Does this mean that if I complete all level 2 exams by December this year then all is good or do I have to move over now regardless?

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Caroline Pauling you have until the 31 Dec to complete if you want to complete on AQ2013 standards. If you dont complete then some of hte exams will transfer over to the new standards…where have you got up to so far?

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Amy Cerveno Ok, I’ve just done a mock assessment through premier for PBKT and scored 85% so I’m hoping I can start to look at booking a real exam soon? Next one is CJBS mock assessment which I’m hoping to complete end of this week. I’m not really sure how confident I should be to book an exam! haha I was certain I’d failed the mock and was proven wrong lol

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Caroline Pauling Great score – well done! 🙂 you have to give yourself something to aim for, if you are passing the mocks thats a great sign that you are ready to think about booking it! 🙂

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Amy Cerveno thankyou 🙂 Ok maybe I’ll stay on 2013 for now then as I’m planning to try and complete by September time

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Caroline Pauling Go for it! Sounds very achieveable if you are alreayd attempting mocks for the two bookkeeping papers

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Victoria Harrington-Biddle Hi. Am I late?

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Caroline Pauling Not at all! If you have a question ask away! 🙂

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Michelle Campion Being on AQ2013 if I fail to complete before Dec I know I can transfer some units (thanks Natasha for clarifying) but if I then have to sit say Costing and the synoptic how long do I have and is the transfer fee over a lot does anyone know please ?

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Caroline Pauling Hi Michelle…can I check do you mean the AAT fees or your training provider fees, as Im sure they will vary by provider

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Michelle Campion The AAT fees as I can ask Premier but what would be my final timeframe for completing then on AQ2016 ?

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Caroline Pauling There isnt a transfer fee from AAT themselves, your training provider can switch you across very easliy if you need to be transferred. AAT just charge their usual annual registration fee.

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Michelle Campion Caroline Pauling lovely thanks so how long would I get to complete the remaining modules overall ?

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Caroline Pauling On the new standards….they will be available until AAT release a new set of standards again!

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Michelle Campion Caroline Pauling Hurrah if it comes to it there is hope yet of actually passing !

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Caroline Pauling Most definitely! 🙂

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Bumo Mmago Tlotlo Tacheba I would like to know wats the easiest way to bit time on accounting software . Wats the secret .. I find the duration of exam short for me to submit everythn completed..Thank u in advance

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· Reply · 23 hrs · Edited

Caroline Pauling With the accouting software, its important to keep your eye on the time to make sure you get all the reports printed in time and to give yourself enought time at the end to upload everything. Jackie is correct if there are IT issues you should report that to the exam invigilator who would help you on the day

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Emily Ryan I had that problem with some of the practice assessments. The more I did, the faster I became

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Caroline Pauling Definitely a good strategy Emily! Its all about practising with the software. the more you do it the quicker we become

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Caroline Pauling It just the same as when we download a new app, we have to work our way around it and familiarise ourselves with it 🙂

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Bumo Mmago Tlotlo Tacheba Thank you guys.. i think more practice wud du..

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Jackie Best You will get extra time in the exam to upload reports and to account for any software issues etc

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Michelle Campion Is that extra time on top of time allowed to sit exam ro is the exam just longer all round ? Bearing in mind I am having a problem getting Sage to load to start this module I may just give up now !

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Jackie Best I think the norm is 2 hours but you get 2 hours 15? Don’t query Michelle the envigilator sets you up so you’re good to go when you start you don’t need to log on. They also set up a folder for you to save your reports. You will be taken into the exam r…See more

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Jackie Best *worry

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Michelle Campion Jackie Best thanks – not looking forward to this !

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Jackie Best Sorry I should say you don’t need to log on to sage but you will need to log on to the assessment with your candidate number etc as usual lol

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Caroline Pauling The invigilators are usually very well prepared and will give warnings of the time in the exam 🙂

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Jackie Best I hated that unit the most even more than bookkeeping and controls because I’m a right technophobe lol but I still passed! Practice is key

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Michelle Campion Jackie Best thats me too a tecnophobe lol congratulations on passing 🙂

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Jackie Best You will be fine, like you have been with everything else 😉

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Caroline Pauling Jackie Best Very true! Especially with teh computerseid accounting unit, the more familiar you are with the software, the easier it gets

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Michelle Campion I think a lot of us struggle in general with coming at L2 later in life, having been out of exams and learning for a good while but mainly as we do not work in accounts and not even in offices sometimes …. it feels like wading through treacle some days 🙁

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Caroline Pauling I always equate it to learning a foreign language in class! Its new terminology and new processes and goes against everything we thought about our bank accounts! It will definitely take time 🙂

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Jackie Best I always say it’s the best and worst thing I’ve ever done 😂😂😂

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Bumo Mmago Tlotlo Tacheba You and me on the same page Michell

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Caroline Pauling Jackie Best I agree wholeheartedly!

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Gemma Solomon Hi everyone 👋 I have recently been studying double entry book keeping and It has clicked! Woohoo! My question is, are there any good diagrams or mind maps that can be used to help with Bookkeeping transactions? I learn a lot easier should I use diagram…See more

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Caroline Pauling Hi Gemma! Thats great, it feels brilliant when it clicks! 🙂 There is a written part to the synoptic exams, the AAT samples shold give you a good indication of the amount of written questions and the amount they are expecting from you. Your provider c…See more

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Gemma Solomon Great thank you x

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Gemma Solomon Have a lovely evening x

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Caroline Pauling Gemma Solomon you too! 🙂

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Sara Pease I’m still quite new. Just doing. My level 2 bookkeeping. My just learning suspense accounts, journals. How do you remember if it’s a suspense accounts or journal. Or Any tips on this module.

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Caroline Pauling Hi Sara! Suspense accounts are often opened when there was a mis-balance when the original journal was posted. For example if you tried to post Dr Rent 100 and Cr Bank 75 as a journal, the different, cr 25 would drop into Suspense….Does that help??

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Caroline Pauling In this instance to then clear the suspense you woudl Dr Suspense 25, then Cr Bank 25. The suspense account would then be cleared.

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Sara Pease Yes that does. Thanks.

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James Morgan I recently completed the Bookkeeping Controls exam not happy that I got in the low 80s. Although it is a pass and some people would be glad for a result, I feel it could make a difference when it comes to having a merit or distinction. Should I complete the exam again just to improve my overall result?

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Caroline Pauling Hi James, a hard one to answer there to be honest! i suppose it depends on you! I would think that as you have got a pass, you could try to obtain higher scores in the other papers if you are keen to obtain more than a pass overall, and then maybe decide at a later date if its worth re-sitting the BKCL paper…Not an easy one to say yes or no to there…sorry!! 🙂

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James Morgan Thank you.

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Natasha Everard So does anyone have any further questions for Caroline? I think this evening Q & A has been really useful. Thank you for your time tonight answering all the questions.

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Caroline Pauling No problem at all! Happy to help! 🙂

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Jackie Best This has been fab 😁

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Caroline Pauling Jackie Best Im glad its helped Jackie! 🙂

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Michelle Campion Thank you Caroline for all the input and too Natasha for arranging 🙂

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Amy Cerveno Caroline Pauling thankyou for your help and to Natasha Everard for organising 🙂 great help even seeing other peoples questions

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Caroline Pauling Very true, sometimes you dont even realise you had the question until someone else asks i! 🙂

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Gemma Solomon Thank you x

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David Ryan Michelle Campion Natasha Everard – Can this be added to the Doc’s section (if you have one) or a Pinned post? I’ve been skim reading but would like to refer back at some point!!??

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Natasha Everard I will be putting them on the ASN website tomorrow and I will post the link tomorrow 🙂

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David Ryan thank you

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