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by rahimnathwani 4500 days ago
Thanks for the clarification. A few quick thoughts:

- Most/all of the UK professional accounting bodies recognise AAT level 4, and will give you exemptions from some/all of the first level of their own exams, e.g. http://www.cimaglobal.com/Our-locations/UK/find-out-about-jo...

- Totally agree, practical experience of accounting software is more important for a book-keeper than a deep understanding of double-entry. However, you've got to understand enough to be able to reverse/fix transactions when you/someone screws up.

- I've met candidates who claimed >1 year experience doing book-keeping, but couldn't answer this simple arithmetic problem (with a calculator): "If I buy a mug from the pound shop (for 1 pound), and the VAT rate is 20%, how much of what I paid was VAT?".

- I don't think AAT is a government body. (But I see the info on government subsidies for AAT courses: http://www.aat.org.uk/qualifications/funding)

1 comments

> "If I buy a mug from the pound shop (for 1 pound), and the VAT rate is 20%, how much of what I paid was VAT?"

I calculated it as 16p, but I think if you are presented with a bill that requires paying VAT, the actual amount of VAT should be explicitly stated. VAT is always rounded down, so an implicit sum has lost some information, unless the total number of pennies is divisible by six.

> I don't think AAT is a government body.

Whoops, poorly worded.

Correct. I wouldn't expect someone to know about the rounding rules, as there isn't just one rule which applies to all situations:

- http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPort...

- http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPort...

Cheers for the links.