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
2 Current page reference / section 2
Basic costing

Emma Smith
Top tip: Remember that many of the
I copied the chart from my text book about LIFO/FIFO and
stuck it to my bathroom cabinet! acronyms that you will learn during your
studies are used worldwide. If you find
Last First you need more help remembering them,
In In use Google to find images/videos to
First First help you.
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.
Top tip: AAT Comment has a lot of
Jordan Clarke Excel ‘how to’ guides, written by experts.
Regarding the AVCO (average cost) method, divide the total See them all at aatcomment.org.uk/
cost by the total number of units to get the average cost per category/aat-view/excel-tips
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!
Top tip: Your AAT membership gives
Visit aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search to access them.
you access to exclusive Excel
e-learning. Log in to MyAAT and visit
Nudz Soulcarbon aat.org.uk/training/excel-e-learning
Do plenty of sample assessments. Reading alone isn’t always to access this feature.
enough; you have to physically get on it or you could get
caught out by wordings, phrases and applying any theories.

Original thread located

at aat.org.uk/BCST

Making the grade / Basic costing 3

Computerised accounting
Top tip: For revision tips and
general advice on how to manage
your time better, visit AAT Comment
aatcomment.org.uk
Making the grade / 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
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.
4
Computerised accounting

Lisa Hughes
Make sure you upload everything required, triple-check in Top tip: If you’re ever confused by an
fact! I failed this assessment the first time as I missed a
element of your studies, remember you
few uploads.
can tweet us at twitter.com/YourAAT and
Michael Hunt we can share your question with other
members of our online community.
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

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
Top tip: Make up cards with the account
names on them and practise sorting
Thalia Colyer them into the categories. Have races with
your friends to see who can sort most
Know how to categorise your entry before you even think
accurately and in the quickest time.
about what side it goes on.
Accuracy wins over time in all races!
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! Top tip: Search our forums for more
members’ tips on remembering these
Purchases
acronyms. Go to forums.aat.org.uk and
Expenses search for ‘PEARLS’ and ‘DEAD CLIC’.
Assets
Receipts
Liabilities
Sales
Top tip: Both PBKT and CJBS have a
Keren Callaghan webinar (with support notes) on MyAAT. Visit
aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search
Double check any journals before posting, and practise
reconciling accounts. Then, you can see what mistakes you
have made and correct them.

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

Steph Bird
at aat.org.uk/CJBS 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
Top tip: The study support search
has many resources available for all Fazee Babie
AAT units, not just sample assessments. Use sample assessments! That’s the thing with accounts; the
Take the time to read mapping more you practise, the easier it gets! You can find sample
documents, performance feedback and assessments at aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search
the guidance and standards documents.
You can find these resources at Amanda Joynt
aat.org.uk/training/study-support/search 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

/YourAAT

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