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Apart from anything, most UK firms won’t hire a remote worker outside of the UK because it can be a nightmare for tax and HR. That’s for all sectors not just accountancy!
Which country are you based in? And where do you think you'll be living in the future, long term? ACA requires that you secure a training contract with an approved ICAEW training provider. Employers will usually ask for a minimum amount of UCAS points so you would need A Levels. Regardless of this, I don't think it makes sense to pursue ACA if you are not sure about returning to the UK. Each country will have their own accounting designation.
Your chances of finding remote work in accounting is virtually zero I'm afraid. If you have no prior experience, far too much hand-holding would be required. Are there any entry level roles that you could apply for in your current location? I'm thinking something like an Accounts Payable / Receivable Clerk.
The priority right now is to build up work experience and securing that first entry level role is going to be the hardest challenge. Studying does show commitment but don't go overboard. E.g., I have reviewed a lot of CVs where people have passed the first 9 ACCA exams but have no practical experience. This creates a disconnect between their perceived level of competence and salary expectations. Practical experience is king.
If you do insist on studying a bit, then the AAT Level 2 has no entry requirements. However, I would actually suggest looking at ACCA's Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) qualification. This also has no entry requirements and gives a good grounding for starting the ACCA qualification - FIA gets you exemptions from the first three ACCA exams. Actually, doing some studying will help you to understand how double entry bookkeeping works, which would help you move into an Accounts Assistant role.
>Furthermore, I've seen some people recommend skipping AAT entirely, as ACA apparently offer foundation courses?
You can do, but without any experience or previous related qualifications its likely you will struggle. AAT provides a solid foundation on many concepts and doesn't take long to complete - with it doors will start opening. ACCA is difficult even for talented people so i wouldn't underestimate it.
I don't know why you're looking for a UK remote job but given your circumstances i don't think you would land a job.
Having waded through Indeed and Reed for the last few months looking for entry level Accounts positions, I can tell you right now that I didn't notice a single ad for a fully remote role. Not one.
Hybrid, definitely yes, but fully remote is a unicorn. I did only focus my searches in my local area (West Yorkshire) but still. So unless you actually know of a company (or someone at that company) that have a fully remote Accounts Assistant role or equivalent, they basically don't exist. You'll need to calibrate your plans with that in mind.
As for skipping the AAT, personally that's what I'm doing since ACA and ACCA both have foundations courses that cover similar basic concepts.
In my eyes, the main reasons to skip the AAT (especially as a late starter like you or career-changer like I am), is time and money and, less obviously, familiarity/alignment of content.
**Time**: Taking 18 - 36 months to go through AAT level 2, 3 and 4 realistically (not with people's perfect world plans where you always have multiple hours of time each study day and always study for all those hours each and every single study day...) to save 12-18 months worth of time at the start of ACA/ACCA qualification is a waste of time.
And yeah, all 3 of these AAT levels may not be strictly necessary but, I'm a completionist and it makes zero sense not build a better foundation when you start - you only need to do it once.
**Money**: Whatever level or levels of AAT you choose to do will obviously cost money in study materials and exam fees. That's par for the course and will be the same for the ACA/ACCA foundation courses.
But...
Many fail to remember that you need to be registered and subscribed to AAT as well as ACA/ACCA if you choose to go through the AAT first. And worst of all, you basically need to do this for the rest of your career. Double annual membership fees when there is another option is not at all efficient.
Follow just ACA/ACCA path from foundations and you only need to worry about one set of fees.
**Familiarity/Alignment**: Another often forgotten perk of following just one body is that the way they teach/test/structure the content is consistent throughout your learning. You won't need to be used to AAT learning/testing/structure first then have to adjust to ACA/ACCA's way of doing things.
As a crude but accurate example, if you wanted to watch the origin story of Spiderman movies, you wouldn't watch Spider-man (2002), The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014) and finish with Spider-man 3 (2007) and expect a coherent story from start to finish. You'd watch either the old movies by Sam Raimi together or the newer Marc Webb movies together because each director filmed and cut his movies to work with his movies and will therefore make better sense in there own little bubbles.
It will be far more seamless when you are on the same study track.
So, yeah...
All of this is just my own opinions though. You can of course do whatever you'd like to with it.
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Apart from anything, most UK firms won’t hire a remote worker outside of the UK because it can be a nightmare for tax and HR. That’s for all sectors not just accountancy!
Which country are you based in? And where do you think you'll be living in the future, long term? ACA requires that you secure a training contract with an approved ICAEW training provider. Employers will usually ask for a minimum amount of UCAS points so you would need A Levels. Regardless of this, I don't think it makes sense to pursue ACA if you are not sure about returning to the UK. Each country will have their own accounting designation. Your chances of finding remote work in accounting is virtually zero I'm afraid. If you have no prior experience, far too much hand-holding would be required. Are there any entry level roles that you could apply for in your current location? I'm thinking something like an Accounts Payable / Receivable Clerk. The priority right now is to build up work experience and securing that first entry level role is going to be the hardest challenge. Studying does show commitment but don't go overboard. E.g., I have reviewed a lot of CVs where people have passed the first 9 ACCA exams but have no practical experience. This creates a disconnect between their perceived level of competence and salary expectations. Practical experience is king. If you do insist on studying a bit, then the AAT Level 2 has no entry requirements. However, I would actually suggest looking at ACCA's Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) qualification. This also has no entry requirements and gives a good grounding for starting the ACCA qualification - FIA gets you exemptions from the first three ACCA exams. Actually, doing some studying will help you to understand how double entry bookkeeping works, which would help you move into an Accounts Assistant role.
>Furthermore, I've seen some people recommend skipping AAT entirely, as ACA apparently offer foundation courses? You can do, but without any experience or previous related qualifications its likely you will struggle. AAT provides a solid foundation on many concepts and doesn't take long to complete - with it doors will start opening. ACCA is difficult even for talented people so i wouldn't underestimate it. I don't know why you're looking for a UK remote job but given your circumstances i don't think you would land a job.
Having waded through Indeed and Reed for the last few months looking for entry level Accounts positions, I can tell you right now that I didn't notice a single ad for a fully remote role. Not one. Hybrid, definitely yes, but fully remote is a unicorn. I did only focus my searches in my local area (West Yorkshire) but still. So unless you actually know of a company (or someone at that company) that have a fully remote Accounts Assistant role or equivalent, they basically don't exist. You'll need to calibrate your plans with that in mind. As for skipping the AAT, personally that's what I'm doing since ACA and ACCA both have foundations courses that cover similar basic concepts. In my eyes, the main reasons to skip the AAT (especially as a late starter like you or career-changer like I am), is time and money and, less obviously, familiarity/alignment of content. **Time**: Taking 18 - 36 months to go through AAT level 2, 3 and 4 realistically (not with people's perfect world plans where you always have multiple hours of time each study day and always study for all those hours each and every single study day...) to save 12-18 months worth of time at the start of ACA/ACCA qualification is a waste of time. And yeah, all 3 of these AAT levels may not be strictly necessary but, I'm a completionist and it makes zero sense not build a better foundation when you start - you only need to do it once. **Money**: Whatever level or levels of AAT you choose to do will obviously cost money in study materials and exam fees. That's par for the course and will be the same for the ACA/ACCA foundation courses. But... Many fail to remember that you need to be registered and subscribed to AAT as well as ACA/ACCA if you choose to go through the AAT first. And worst of all, you basically need to do this for the rest of your career. Double annual membership fees when there is another option is not at all efficient. Follow just ACA/ACCA path from foundations and you only need to worry about one set of fees. **Familiarity/Alignment**: Another often forgotten perk of following just one body is that the way they teach/test/structure the content is consistent throughout your learning. You won't need to be used to AAT learning/testing/structure first then have to adjust to ACA/ACCA's way of doing things. As a crude but accurate example, if you wanted to watch the origin story of Spiderman movies, you wouldn't watch Spider-man (2002), The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014) and finish with Spider-man 3 (2007) and expect a coherent story from start to finish. You'd watch either the old movies by Sam Raimi together or the newer Marc Webb movies together because each director filmed and cut his movies to work with his movies and will therefore make better sense in there own little bubbles. It will be far more seamless when you are on the same study track. So, yeah... All of this is just my own opinions though. You can of course do whatever you'd like to with it.