Professional Accounting or Taxation Technician (Level 4)

A key role within any accountancy and finance function, individuals undertaking this apprenticeship will hone their expertise and ability to create, verify and review accurate and timely financial information, meeting relevant ethical, professional and legal standards and accounting practices.

Throughout the apprenticeship, learners will be stretched and challenged to develop their technical knowledge and skills and to apply what they learn in their current role and future career.

There is a choice of pathways to suit different areas of specialisms within Accountancy and Tax, with the option to gain an industry-recognised Professional qualification alongside the apprenticeship.

Developed in partnership with globally recognised institutes and employers and firms of all sizes, a Kaplan Accountancy apprenticeship is anything but standard.

Who's it for?

This apprenticeship is ideal for organisations looking to develop talent that are seeking to further develop their skills and expertise and take on greater levels of responsibility to support your organisation’s finance function. Appropriate for professionals working within accountancy, finance, tax and bookkeeping within a variety of organisations, this programme offers a choice of pathways to ensure it has broad appeal, while Kaplan’s personalisation of programmes ensures the learning outcomes are focussed and relevant to your organisation.

If you’re seeking to maximise the benefit of time used as part of off-the-job training and develop technical excellence coupled with sector relevant skills that can be directly applied to the role, this apprenticeship might be the right option for you.

Job roles

This apprenticeship is suitable for a wide range of roles including: Assistant auditor, Assistant management accountant, Assistant financial accountant, Accounts payable and Expenses supervisor, Commercial analyst, Payroll manager, Senior bookkeeper, Senior financial officer, Tax investigations officer, Personal tax assistant, Business tax assistant, but this list isn’t exhaustive.

One of the key things to success is that the job role and Line Manager provide the opportunities, support and relevant work based experience to be able to contextualise and apply the apprentice’s learning back in the workplace, to gain real competency in that area.

Career progression

An apprentice’s journey doesn’t end when this programme has finished. The natural next step would be to progress onto our Accountancy or Taxation Professional Level 7 Apprenticeship which would enable them to become fully qualified Accountants.

Eligibility

Employers may specify that candidates have at least a grade 5 GCSE (or equivalent) in maths and English. If apprentices don’t have this level of maths and English, Kaplan offers free resources and support to make sure they develop their understanding and application of these subjects by the end of the apprenticeship. Learners starting their apprenticeship without Level 2 in maths or English will complete a Level 2 Functional Skills qualification.

Each pathway has specific requirements that must be declared on the application form:

AAT: Q22 - MATS + FAPS OR Q22 - FAPS (or AVBK and FAPR) and Introduction to Management Accounting (Kaplan Bespoke course) OR AQ16 - AVBK, FAPR, MMAC OR AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting (AQ16 or Q22).

ATT: Two A Levels (grades A-E) (or equivalent) and three GCSEs (or equivalent) (grades 9-4 / A-C) OR Learners must have a relevant job role with six months' experience.

CIMA: Two A Levels (grades A-E) (or equivalent) and three GCSEs (or equivalent) (grades 9-4 / A-C) OR AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting (AQ16 or Q22) OR Learners must have a relevant job role with six months' experience.

Kaplan will support you to assess the job role suitability as part of your application.

Costing and funding

The cost for this apprenticeship varies depending on the pathway chosen:

Accountancy Professional apprenticeship (AAT, CIMA's CGMA®, ACA pathways): £8,000
Taxation Professional apprenticeship (ATT pathway): £8,000 + £3,000 employer contribution

Apprenticeship funding

Employers can get government support to fund up to 100% of apprenticeship training. The amount available can depend on the size of your organisation, whether you’re a Levy payer or not, and whether you are employing a young apprentice. Find out more.

If you are looking to become an apprentice on this programme, there is no cost to you.

ATT Pathway

For the ATT pathway an employer contribution of £3,000 is required. The ATT pathway includes a more rigorous and robust EPA requiring an extensive level of resources and support, and therefore increased delivery costs.

The employer contribution enables us to provide our apprentices with the additional support they need to be successful on this standard.

Level

Level 4

Apprenticeship

Accounting or Taxation Technician

Pathways

AAT, ATT*, CIMA's CGMA®, ACA

*For the ATT pathway an employer contribution is required

18 - 24 months with Gateway after 15-20 Months (depending on pathway chosen)

Costs / funding band

£8,000 - £10,000
Free for learners

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About the programme

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Strengthen your finance function

Build your core accountancy, finance and tax organisational capability at a fundamental level by honing your talent pipeline.

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Work-based learning

Our programmes provide a structured, applied learning route that ensures learning and skills are directly applied to the role and maximises the time used as part of off-the-job training.

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Support and insight for managers

We have robust processes and reporting in place to ensure you and your line managers have all the insight needed to help your apprentices progress and succeed.

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Support for apprentices

Each learner has regular 1:1 contact and progress reviews to keep them on track, review their portfolio, and get them fully prepared for their final assessments.

Routes available

Our Professional Accounting / Taxation Technician apprenticeships combine specialised technical knowledge with additional online learning and work based experience to develop the necessary skills to build capability and credibility that can be directly applied in the workplace.

There are a variety of pathway options with end point assessments for industry leading professional bodies including AAT, ATT, CIMA or ICAEW, depending on the chosen career paths.

AAT

The AAT pathway is suited to individuals who are working in a role that requires competencies in drafting financial statements for limited companies, recommending accounting systems strategies and/or constructing and presenting complex management accounting reports. At the end of this programme, if all mandatory and optional unit assessments have been passed, learners will also gain the AAT Level 4 Diploma in Professional Accounting.

This pathway is made up of three mandatory units and a choice of two out of five optional units.

Units include:

Compulsory

Drafting and Interpreting of Financial Statements (DAIF)
Applied Management Accounting (AMAC)
Internal Accounting Systems and Controls (INAC)* - Apprentices will complete this unit as part of their AAT L4 EPA synoptic assessment.

Optional

Business Tax (BNTA)
Personal Tax (PNTA)
Audit and Assurance (AUDT)
Cash and Financial Management (CSFT)
Credit and Debt Management (CRDM)

ATT

The ATT pathway is suited to individuals who are working in a tax compliance role, needing to gain a good understanding of the fundamentals of tax. At the end of this programme, if all core and optional certificate assessments have been passed, learners will also gain the ATT qualification.

This pathway follows a modular structure, which consists of two core subjects and a choice of one of four optional subjects, allowing apprentices to specialise in their own area of interest or expertise.

Subjects include:

Core:

Personal Taxation (PT)
Business Taxation (BT)

Optional:

Business Compliance (BC)
Corporate Taxation (CT)
Inheritance Tax, Trusts and Estates (IHTTE)
Value Added Tax (VAT)

Compulsory Computer-based exams:

Law, Professional Responsibilities and Ethics, and Principles of Accounting

CIMA's CGMA®

The CGMA pathway is ideal if the individual’s role or future role involves business partnering across other functions within your organisation. At the end of this programme, if all subject assessments have been passed, apprentices will also gain the Level 4 Certificate in Business Accounting qualification, awarded by CIMA.

This pathway is made up of four mandatory subjects.

Subjects include:

Fundamentals of Business Economics (BA1)
Fundamentals of Management Accounting (BA2)
Fundamentals of Financial Accounting (BA3)
Fundamentals of Ethics, Corporate Governance and Business Law (BA4)

CFAB

This pathway is ideal for those with a role that requires a good understanding of business, finance and accounting. It provides essential practical skills and knowledge for today’s competitive business world. At the end of this programme if apprentices have passed all assessments they will also gain their ICAEW Certificate of Finance, Accounting and Business qualification.

The pathway consists of six exams that introduce the essentials of accountancy, finance, and businesses.

Subjects include:

Accounting (AC)
Assurance (AS)
Business, Technology and Finance (BTF)
Law (LW)
Management Information (MI)
Principles of Taxation (PTX)

View all modules

Included in this apprenticeship

Attending scheduled classes in one of our training locations or via Live Online, apprentices benefit from the wealth of technical expertise and practical sector experience of our expert tutors. Classes are interactive and discursive, giving learners quality time with tutors and sector peers to support the development of their knowledge and skills and bring new perspectives to their thinking.

Self study

Innovative skills development

To complement the vital technical training, apprentices receive access to a series of online modules designed to support the development of sector relevant skills at the right time for their job role. Set within the context of familiar financial sector settings, learners are challenged to think about their role and the critical skills they need to develop to have a successful career as a finance professional. The modules give apprentices a safe place to think about topics such as:

Effective communication of relevant information across the organisation and to appropriate stakeholders in both written and verbal formats.
Honesty and integrity in all of their actions and interactions.
Respect for others and the ethical requirements of their profession.
Proactively managing own development.
Effective planning and prioritising and co-ordination of others in order to meet both deadlines and changing priorities.
How information can be used most effectively to add value to the organisation.
Flexibility to maintain high standards in a changing environment.

Self study

Microsoft Specialist Skills

Optional modules covering core Microsoft products, over 100 hours of online tuition supports learners in preparing for Microsoft accreditations. Globally recognised, our tuition and exams available at Associate and Expert levels will equip apprentices with the skills to unlock the potential of Microsoft Office products.

Available in a range of subjects including

Word
Excel
Powerpoint

date_range Timetables

Programmes are running regularly throughout the year. View our timetables for scheduled sessions to see when the next one is running.

View timetables

Why choose Kaplan?

The leaders in accountancy training

Kaplan has over 80 years experience in designing and delivering programmes that help individuals to achieve results and business to achieve success.

Future facing

Our apprenticeships equip your employees to make a positive difference in the workplace, applying their learning in real life projects which can transform teams and cultures.

Comprehensive learning

Learners attend scheduled classes involving lots of practical discussion and application, and combine this with additional online learning that can be completed at their own pace.

Expert teaching

Our tutors are all subject matter experts, with real world experience, and teach groups of diverse learners from organisations across the UK.

Support for employers:

Named client solutions point of contact to support you at every stage
Recruitment service to help you hire an apprentice for a new vacancy
Transparency throughout the application and onboarding process for your learners
Sector expert tutors and talent coaches delivering relevant training and development
Learning that is applied to your organisation through work based experience
Accurate, timely and accessible tracking for each learner
Line Manager visibility of your learner’s portfolio dashboards

Support for learners:

Tutor contact via email outside of scheduled classes
Regular 1:1 contact and progress reviews with their line manager and a named, industry experienced talent coach to keep them on track, review their portfolio and get them fully prepared for their End Point Assessment.
Peer to peer contacts from across the industry as part of a small cohort - creating opportunities to spark new ideas and get new perspectives
Apprenticeship ePortfolio to track their progress, capture off-the-job activity and hours, manage and capture progress reviews, upload evidence, as well as communication with their Talent Coach
Student Service support available 362 days a year
Work based projects and support from a line manager to be able to contextualise and apply their learning back in the workplace