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2024-03-31-accounts

Focused, relevant, ready to deliver

—

The Association of Accounting Technicians Annual Report 31 March 2024

aat.org.uk

Contents

~~Dn~~
Trustees’ report 1
About AAT 2
What we do 4
The President’s view 2023–24 13
CEO’s report 2023–24 16
~~Dn~~
~~Dn~~
Strategic report 21
Our highlights in 2023–24 22
Building our foundation
Our impact
Keeping our profession relevant
Driving up professional standards		 24
26
27
31
Building responsible business 37
Our success 44
How we measure success 45
Section 172 Statement 54
The future
Future plans		 63
64
Our goals 66
The environment around us 68
Economic 68
Political 70
Social
Technological		 71
72
The risks we face 74
Financial review 81
~~fe~~
Governance 87
Structure, governance
and management 88
Annual remuneration statement 96
Trustees’ responsibilities statement 98
Independent Auditor’s report to the
members of the Association
of Accounting Technicians 100
~~DT~~
The numbers 105
Financial statements 106
Members of Council and
the Executive Leadership team 136

The Association of Accounting Technicians Trustees are pleased to present the Trustees’ report together with the consolidated financial statements of the charity and its subsidiaries for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024, which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act 2006 purposes.

Annual Report 31 March 2024

Trustees’ report

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Annual Report 31 March 2024

About AAT – making an impact for good

AAT ensures that anyone can gain a globally recognised accounting qualification and can start on that journey irrespective of their background, experience, or qualifications. We’re the world’s leading professional body for accounting technicians.

For more than four decades, we have developed finance qualifications that help to develop skilled accounting professionals as part of an inclusive learning community. We have achieved this through providing lifelong learning support and access to continuing professional development (CPD) that equips our members to succeed. This support can also enable a pathway to self-employment and business ownership.

For a start, the inclusivity and diversity that is inherent in our approach makes us unique in the world of accountancy. It underpins how we empower people from all backgrounds to access vocational accounting qualifications that have a real market value. We back this up with support for our community as they develop a professional accountancy career and progress within it.

AAT operates in a fast-evolving world that we want to change for the better.

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We also work to make a wider societal contribution and are committed to delivering public benefit.

Every organisation, irrespective of size or sector, needs trustworthy and knowledgeable finance professionals. They need expert counsel on a variety of areas including how to improve cash flow, enhance productivity, increase cost-efficiency, measure performance, finance sustainable growth, and secure investment. Our members provide it, having learnt to be ‘real world ready‘ with practical skills so they can start making an effective contribution to their employers’ or clients’ organisations from day one.

Furthermore, we instil a culture of responsible business ethics throughout AAT's operations and among our stakeholder community, emphasising not only legal compliance but also societal and environmental considerations. We equip our staff, students, training providers and members to play a role in ensuring the continued relevance of professional accountancy and in tackling the global challenges of the future.

As both an awarding organisation and professional body, we are committed to raising standards and upholding professional ethics. We are recognised worldwide as being a gold standard for anyone wishing to develop their technical accounting skills.

This Annual Report highlights our endeavours and progress throughout the year ended 31 March 2024.

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What we do

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My ADHD, which means I find getting into a routine difficult, can also make doing exams challenging. I found AAT’s interactive online learning portal and exam kits really helpful and they were a lifeline for me.

Josh, AATQB and Finance Coordinator, who completed AAT Level 3 in 2022

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What we do

Established in 1980 with a commitment to the public interest, AAT’s mission is to cultivate an inclusive community of accounting professionals, empowering them with practical skills to tackle the evolving challenges of today’s dynamic business landscape.

Our vocational qualifications equip students and members with sought-after skills, plus we provide members with the practical expertise essential for driving careers and energising businesses.

Central to our profession are the standards that guide both us and our members. As an awarding organisation and professional body, we’re dedicated to elevating standards and maintaining ethical practices in accounting.

Our overarching goal is to instil increased trust and confidence in the profession among the public.

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Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and We’ve also made responsible equitable quality business commitments that are education and promote aligned with four relevant United lifelong learning Nations Sustainable Development opportunities for all. Goals (SDGs). These are:

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries. Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Goal 17:

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development .

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What we do

Quality education

Quality education underpins everything AAT does. It’s our mission to make it possible for more people to experience the opportunities a career in finance brings through our accessible qualifications and supportive community. We work continually to ensure that our qualifications are fit for purpose in a fast-changing world and help to produce qualified accountants who are ‘real world ready‘.

Reduced inequalities

In providing learning and qualifications that are open to all, AAT recognises that supporting social mobility is integral to the ethos of AAT activities across all the countries we are active in. We understand that socio-economic factors are not the only barriers to equality and mobility within the accountancy profession and have captured examples of how AAT’s qualifications have helped individuals in difficult circumstances to improve their life chances as a means to support others.

Climate action

AAT remains a carbon neutral organisation, with the UK PAS 2060 certification. We have also started using a formal greenhouse gas (GHG) recording platform that provides greater accuracy and visibility of emissions throughout operations and, in time, a more detailed understanding of supply chains. This will allow more targeted activity in emissions reduction.

Partnership for the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Few of our activities can succeed without our close working relationships with an array of stakeholders. AAT is a member of several international accounting bodies around the world, championing the impact that Accounting Technicians can make in the profession. We work in partnership with government departments and regulators to promote best practice and provide thought leadership. AAT also works closely with a number of not-for-profit organisations in order to share expertise and resources to the benefit of all members, regardless of their professional backgrounds.

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Supporting our community at every step

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In line with our responsible business commitment and specific mandate for the public interest, we actively promote awareness and engagement in the global sustainability agenda. AAT has demonstrated this through our pledge to increase awareness and engagement in the worldwide focus on sustainability. AAT has also pledged to improve social mobility through better accessibility to the profession for everyone. We will continue to reflect on our commitments, as outlined in 2023, making sure that they are given due consideration in support of all our activities and products in delivering our four core strategies:

Partnerships

Community

Ensuring that every decision we make is centred around a vibrant, inclusive community.

Digital innovation

Embracing a digital-first strategy in our operations to minimise our use of resources and our physical impact on our environment.

Establishing and nurturing mutually beneficial collaborations with governments, professional organisations, training providers and employers to foster growth and success.

Evidence-based decisions

We’ll seek varied and diverse views, and make effective use of our data to inform our decisions whilst sharing valuable insights with the profession.

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AAT’s charitable objects

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My experience with AAT has been amazing. Apprenticeships are a different path which often people overlook but it’s something I’m so glad I did. The level of confidence I’ve built just from having that knowledge, it gave me the fundamentals of accountancy that I need.

The AAT community is so great. It helped me a lot to connect with people in similar positions. To have that support was really beneficial.

Narpreet, became a MAAT in 2022 having completed AAT Level 2 and 3 while on an apprenticeship at Microsoft

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The President’s view 2023–24

Kevin joined AAT’s Council in 2015. His career in finance included board level roles in multinationals, corporates and SMEs, working across several sectors in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Greece and the USA. He became AAT’s President in September 2023.

Kevin holds non-executive directorships with several SME companies operating across different industry sectors; he serves on AAT sub-committees and panels and has previously chaired the Audit and Risk Committee, and is actively involved with the Federation of Small Businesses, both at a local and national level. His particular business expertise is in change management and innovation.

Kevin Bragg MBA FCMA CGMA MCMI MAAT

Why I’m proud to be President

As AAT has charitable objectives it means it plays a societal role. Our purpose is centred around raising professional standards and expanding access to quality accountancy education. It’s the ethos that underpins the organisation: our door is open to everyone. It’s why I joined the Council and am proud to be President.

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We have over 118,000 members and students in 104 countries. We make accounting careers accessible either through alternative routes such as apprenticeships or career routes from our qualifications and bursaries (we awarded over 20 this year alone).

Securing future relevance

When I became President, I took on AAT's Securing future relevance: Strategy to 2030 , which I was involved in developing while on Council. During the last year, AAT has begun to implement a new structure and appointed the remaining few members of the Senior Leadership and Executive teams who’ll execute it.

Our strategy is centred around three strategic pillars:

Relevance is critical. We ensure our members and students have the skillsets relevant to the fast-paced, evolving needs of the real world. Technology is going to have a significant impact and we already have AI-related continuing professional development (CPD) content available.

Professional standards matter because clients need to trust the services we deliver. Our qualifications are government-regulated and are continually refreshed and reinvented to meet – and usually exceed – evolving expectations.

Responsible business not only encompasses environmental sustainability, but also the morals, ethics and inclusive nature of a business’s activity. AAT plays a part in embedding responsible business practice, so our students, apprentices and members act ethically wherever they work.

Employability matters

I chose ‘employability‘ as my personal theme for the year of my presidency. The whole point of AAT is that it gives people a pathway to a broader career in accountancy and distinguishes you from people who don’t have the qualifications and commitment to lifelong learning that you do.

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To that end, AAT must give people the technical skills they need, but also the soft skills that contribute to employability, such as communication, innovation, teamwork, and leadership. AAT’s branch network is priceless for members coming together to network and a great forum for mentoring and softer skills development.

It’s a funny thing that a way of learning quite unfairly looked down on as ‘oldfashioned’ in some quarters is now seen as just the kind of real world, social experience graduates must have to make it in the job market and one that AAT has once again really supported in the last year.

AAT community

I’m pleased to report that from the vantage point of being your President during the last year, I’ve seen our purpose in action right across the breadth and depth of our professional community.

I’ve greatly enjoyed getting closer to the AAT community. I’ve been to numerous meetings across the UK, spoken to members, attended training providers’ and employers’ events, advocated for AAT in the UK Houses of Parliament, and represented AAT to other UK and international professional accountancy bodies – from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to IFAC – to maintain our voice in the profession and exert our influence.

Listening to members throughout my travels, they told me that it’s getting harder all the time to run a small business, pay the outgoings and manage cash flow.

They talked about the clean-up jobs they’ve had to take on when unlicensed accountants and unregistered tax practitioners make a mess of clients’ tax affairs. So, I am equally proud of the work AAT continues to do in championing small businesses through its support of making the voluntary Prompt Payment Code (PPC) compulsory as well as AAT’s ever-present support for the introduction of regulation for tax advisors.

I was also delighted to attend an award ceremony in Botswana where I got to shake the hands of 140 people in one evening and see first-hand their passion for what they do.

I want to thank everyone in AAT’s community of students and members for making my presidency good fun. Likewise, a big thank you to all the AAT staff who’ve assisted me, particularly with the magazine articles and communications that helped me get my thoughts across.

2023–24 has been a year of review and change: of new policies and systems, and of refreshing and modernisation. The Executive team has begun putting the foundations of the 2030 strategy in place and is improving the journey for AAT’s community of students and members alike. It’s been a pleasure to work with this team with their professionalism, energy and focus. I am grateful also for their support and working relationship throughout, helping to make everything I have done this year possible.

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CEO’s report 2023–24

We’re in fearless pursuit of our ambitious 2030 strategic plan, and this past year has been about resetting and laying the foundations for that. We’ve reshaped our senior teams. We’ve started redesigning systems and processes, embraced digital transformation, and innovated key products and services. We continue to celebrate diversity within our community. Our differences are what set us apart and make me proud to be a part of AAT. We’ve worked hard, with gritty determination, to deliver to our customers.

Sarah Beale MAAT FCCA, CEO, AAT

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The landscape

The operating environment this past year hasn’t been easy. Inflation and the cost-of-living crisis are impacting everyone. We have over 6,600 licensed members who serve in excess of 840,000 predominantly small and micro businesses. Most of these are balancing the pressures of rising costs with wage inflation in a tight labour market, where they struggle to secure the talent and skills they need at an affordable level. It’s the perfect storm. We’ve been mindful of this and have focused on providing value to our members who need to upskill and adapt to a changing environment wanting to ensure they can leverage their membership to do so.

Our key priority

We undoubtedly faced a big problem during this year. The new assessment platform didn’t perform as expected, and it was our responsibility.

Our number one priority was stabilising the platform so that students could progress their studies with the level of engagement and support from AAT they should expect. I’m happy to say this was fully resolved in December 2023.

We now have a market-leading suite of qualifications that effectively assess the skills and knowledge of students in practical accounting, as well as the key supplementary skills that employers have asked for in technology, communications, ethics and sustainability. ~~—~~

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Rallying around

Although now resolved, the assessment platform issues had the potential to impact confidence and goodwill in AAT from across our community. Yet, in the event, our partners rallied around, and worked with colleagues across AAT day and night to get to the root cause of some very complex technical problems and fix them.

This collaboration brought us much closer to our customers and what they want, and led to the creation of new student, employer and training provider forums. Going forward, these forums will help us make the evidence-based decisions that will shape AAT’s future.

Securing future relevance and digital innovation

We continued developing our qualifications and our CPD support to ensure our community remains relevant in a rapidly changing world.

We launched a revised Level 3 Endpoint Assessment and a localised tax pathway for our Botswana market, increased our CPD offering by over tenfold (over 170 titles available), launched a new online store where everyone can access the additional training, developed our remote invigilation pilot, which went live and launched in March this year, and our free-to-access Informi website, which supports SMEs with how to set up their business, saw over 190,000 visitors.

We announced a new partnership with Mebala Youth Studios in Botswana that will help build a more diverse and sustainable community, as part of a wider commitment to tackle issues with youth skills and unemployment.

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In the UK, we campaigned long and hard, with significant success, on regulating accountancy so the public can distinguish between a qualified accountant and somebody who just calls themselves an accountant, and in the process have forged deeper relationships with the UK Government.

Proudly trailblazing

It became increasingly clear this year that the established professions need to explore alternatives if they’re to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. We’re proud that AAT-qualified people bring not only high-quality, work-ready technical skills but also fresh, inclusive, diverse thinking.

Within our community, we have trailblazers who are major influencers on social media. They endorse our ethos of access for all and champion the benefits of employing a new generation of accountants in a different way. This is an AAT differentiator and is galvanising significant support.

I want to warmly thank AAT’s members, students, training providers and employers for how they support a more modern picture of the profession and our unique pathway into it, which has historically been very traditional. It’s this willingness to embrace fresh approaches that sets us in good stead to embrace the new opportunities that AI will bring.

I also want to thank my colleagues, whose genuine passion and commitment to what we do never ceases to amaze me. And I want to thank our Trustees and our member volunteers because, without their guidance and commitment, we wouldn't have the AAT that we do.

We’re leading the way, offering the profession something genuinely different, unique and valuable. It’s this that will underpin our success going forward.

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I’m a real ambassador for studying for an accounting apprenticeship with AAT. It’s a great way of joining up learning and working, and it opens the door to so many opportunities in a range of sectors because all companies need accounts departments of some kind. It’s always good to keep moving forward, which is why I am doing my CIMA qualifications now.

Laura, a MAAT since 2014 and FMAAT since 2019, is director and founder of Whyfield Ltd, an accounting practice employing 12 staff

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Strategic report

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Our highlights in 2023–24

Our Accountable campaign successfully resulted in the first public commitment made by a UK Government to consider mandatory membership of a professional oversight body for tax practitioners. = Completion rates this year for all of our qualifications and levels was a combined 14% higher than the previous year.

We had a busy year in Botswana including launching a partnership with a youth-oriented NGO and the delivery of a localised tax qualification pathway.

We helped our students and members progress their careers by issuing a record 35,052 certificates of qualification completion across all levels.

We successfully embarked on the delivery of our 2030 strategy by reorganising our divisions into three new portfolios, centred around our customers, and establishing new Executive and Senior Leadership teams.

Starts among those studying an accountancy apprenticeship with AAT rose 17% on the previous year and we increased the number of businesses offering our apprentice qualifications by 24%. __

In the Gulf region, our Q2022 qualifications gained greater recognition from the Bahrain Qualifications Authority (BQA). __

We greatly expanded our members' CPD programme , increasing our offer from 12 to 178 courses. —_

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We launched the new AAT Store in May 2023 to showcase the full CPD and training portfolio facilitating sales of £535k of products during the year.

We redeveloped the Level 3 EPA to become a mandated apprenticeship qualification and moved the EPA platform to the cloud, making assessments

available on demand.

We launched a new digital version of AT magazine , which has We won a Memcom award currently registered 8,302 affiliate for our latest accelerAATe and professional members. online student conference , which this year, for the first time, achieved over 10,000 registrations. We launched a new campaign on AML supervisory reform in response to the Government’s consultation, drawing attention to We delivered a suite of wellbeing risks and transitional challenges. resources for students. ~~—~~

We developed our AAT licensed We expanded the inclusivity of our application process to support product portfolio with innovative members and enhance standards and affordable offers, including through the delivery of the License bite-sized support resources Application Standards test. for members with low incomes. oe The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 23

Annual Report 31 March 2024

Building our foundations

This has been a crucial year for us in building our readiness and the foundations for the delivery of our 2030 strategy.

During the year, we have focused on systems, processes and people. A fundamental first step was a new organisational design: AAT’s new structure – designed to enable the organisation to be bolder in the future – that puts the customer at its heart and is organised around three new distinct portfolios: Strategy and Compliance; Customer, partnerships and Innovation; and, Performance and Transformation.

As a result of this design, there have been critical changes to AAT’s leadership team ( see page 136 ) which will support AAT to fully evolve and anticipate the needs of customers, stakeholders and partners whilst delivering a complementary set of products and services.

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The new approach ensures adherence to high standards and provides strong organisational direction and oversight, and will help build our external influence.

By committing to transformational change and focusing on enhanced performance, we are also ensuring that we are efficient in delivering a highly customer-focused, integrated and innovative portfolio of products and services to our customers.

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The year has also seen us focused on resolving outstanding issues with the assessment platform, which has delivered a significant improvement, as acknowledged by our training provider community.

This has resulted in strengthened processes through the development of our technology and data strategy including a technology roadmap, blueprint and development of the digital capabilities required for the Transformation Programme. We have also delivered a new HR system and have additionally begun the redevelopment of our CRM platform.

AAT tutoring has really had a massive impact on my life. Going from not knowing what tomorrow looked like, to now working for a fantastic employer being able to tutor and help students to achieve.

Melanie, an AAT tutor currently studying AAT Level 4

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Our impact

In 2023–24, we began implementing our 2030 strategy, Securing future relevance . This is the blueprint that guided our actions, resource allocation and goal-setting throughout the year. The strategy has three overarching themes: Keeping our profession relevant, Driving up professional standards, and Building responsible business. We made significant progress on all of these on our road to 2030.

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Keeping our profession relevant

We want AAT graduates and members to be in demand throughout their careers, with an increasing number of organisations clamouring for their services and for businesses to thrive as a result of harnessing their expertise. For this to happen, AAT’s people must acquire sought-after skills that adapt to a changing world and must undertake CPD to ensure their skills and knowledge remain relevant throughout a long career. With that in mind, this section reports on activities directed at keeping our profession relevant.

Boosting our profile in skills and education policy

During the year we engaged with various opportunities, including responding to Ofqual consultations on regulating Level 2 qualifications and to a consultation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People on where there’s scope to strengthen financial literacy. Our response to the latter consultation included a call to encourage and incentivise the private sector, membership bodies and other organisations to develop accessible tools and information to foster the next generation of financially confident business leaders.

We also submitted a response to the Government’s consultation on the Advanced British Standard. In our detailed response, we commented positively on the proposed increase in pupil-teacher contact time. We did, however, ask for consideration on how this would be delivered given the current strain within the industry. Finally, AAT asked that the recognition of a 70-year-old English qualification brand is not forgotten or lost, but reflected that there is an opportunity to build a globally recognised qualification with significant export potential.

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Annual Report 31 March 2024

Innovating and enhancing AAT qualifications

In September 2023, the last assessments of the AQ2016 suite of qualifications were sat, the final act in successfully closing the qualification down. It followed an effective campaign that increased the number of students who completed the qualification or transferred to the Qualifications 2022 equivalent.

Following the closedown of AQ2016, we also successfully transferred all our End Point Assessments for Levels 2, 3 and 4 to our new assessment platform, Atlas Cloud. The performance of apprentices using the new platform has been maintained or improved.

We developed a localised tax pathway for Botswana for the Level 3 Diploma in Accounting. This tax assessment went live in September 2023 with the first assessments taken from November.

We aim to continually develop AAT’s core qualifications, so they stay relevant to the changing needs of a modern economy. Following the launch of Qualifications 2022, we developed a remote invigilation offer in the same way as for previous standards. This was launched with a small group of training providers in March, with assessments being introduced gradually through to summer 2024.

Thought leadership that leads to legislative change

During the year our policy positions not only contributed to Government thinking, but a number of the reforms we asked for were adopted, either in their entirety or in part within the Government’s announced package of measures.

Perhaps the most significant development was the Government’s announcement of its consultation on raising standards in the tax advice market . With the emphasis in the consultation on mandating professional body membership, it can be seen that years of lobbying through our Accountable campaign have successfully resulted in this welcome development.

Government proposals on the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) were broadly aligned with AAT’s recommendations, particularly on adding compliance to VAT obligations as part of receiving Gross Payment Status (GPS).

Government changes aiming to improve the experience of tax submissions for small businesses by simplifying the rules and expanding the cash basis showed alignment with AAT’s response, particularly with the flexibility provided through an opt-out for accruals and in relation to proposed turnover restrictions.

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In response to the statutory review of the role of the Small Business Commissioner , we set out our position on a range of late payment issues in the context of the Commissioner’s role. The Government’s decision to give the Commissioner new and enhanced powers of investigation was again aligned with those that AAT called for.

Finally, the Government’s intention to progress with reforms to research and development (R&D) tax reliefs to provide a more simplified system for businesses and to encourage greater R&D investment reflected AAT’s engagement with the consultation process – particularly relating to proposals around a single merged scheme for R&D.

Providing lifelong learning products

We expanded our members' CPD programme from 12 to 178 titles which included introducing sector-specific bootcamp events to support members working in practice, industry and the public sector.

Our Digital Decoded series included digital skills, as well as content on AI and data analytics. We supported licensed members through our licensed member support forums, covering topics that support members running their own practice in the areas they find most challenging, such as client management, anti-money laundering (AML), recruitment in practice, and AI.

Over the last year, we have worked in partnership with external specialists to deliver across a wide variety of subjects, including APARI who sponsored a Making Tax Digital bootcamp, Xero on Basis Period reform, and Sage who supported us with an update following the Spring Budget.

Our AAT Lifelong Learning Portal saw around 155,000 item launches (excluding the Progression Pathway) and over 45,000 CPD reflections recorded.

The value of sponsors

We continued to work with sponsors including Xero, Avalara, Mindful, FreeAgent, Sage and Kaplan who understand our audiences and deliver value by providing relevant and topical content. For example, we developed a highly successful AI showcase with a Learn Signal for our student conference, which attracted 1,700 session registrations.

Shopping for knowledge

We launched the new AAT Store in May 2023 to showcase the full CPD portfolio selling over £535k of products during the year for the first time with content, hosted on the AAT Lifelong Learning Portal. With improved customer navigation and experience, it showcases our full portfolio of CPD including e-learning, live classes and on-demand products, with over 170 titles in total.

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Keeping membership accessible and relevant

This year we reached over £1m in income from our commercial products and services for the first time. This is a huge achievement enabling us to grow our impact by ensuring we have a portfolio of valuable, relevant, and accessible products and services for our customers.

In August 2023, we introduced Licence Application Standard (LAS) tests, a development of the existing test that licence applicants need to complete to be approved for an AAT licence. Covering three areas – AML, ethics and practice management – the new test reflects feedback from our monitoring activity aiming to build an improved understanding of these areas.

Practical partnering

In 2023–24, we secured new partnerships that, increased the value of our products and services for members and other customers. We worked with partners to deliver new content more efficiently, including 10 AI e-learning courses , and we secured discounts for AAT members for relevant partner content.

We developed partnerships to create more targeted products for bookkeepers and licensed members. The first of our new products, developed in partnership with the 6 Figure Bookkeeper and designed to support licensed bookkeepers starting their own practice, was launched at the Festival of Accounting and Bookkeeping (FAB) in March 2024.

Building our insight capabilities

We spoke to 16,394 students and professional members this year through focused research activity which included individual conversations, focus groups and surveys. This supported our understanding of the key areas of interest as well as the challenges these key groups are facing, enabling us to ensure we offer the right support at the right time. Our annual survey was launched in February, with 7,638 respondents.

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Driving up professional standards

We want the general public and the business community to have greater trust and confidence in the accountancy profession and to recognise the value that appropriate skills and a commitment to professionalism deliver. To earn this trust, we’re committed to raising professional standards and upholding professional ethics in accountancy. This section reports on activity that relates to driving up professional standards.

Campaigning for higher industry standards

AAT’s Accountable campaign has long called for the Government to introduce mandatory membership of a relevant professional body for anyone offering paid-for tax advice. We have raised awareness of this issue and of our campaign through circulating our ‘Make tax accountable’ policy briefing with a wide array of parliamentarians, following the briefing up with a series of meetings with key stakeholders. We have captured and shared vital insight from our members about the impact that the current framework has had, particularly in terms of small businesses being severely adversely affected by the poor advice they have received from unregulated tax advisers. We stand behind our strongly held view that bringing unregulated tax advisers into a proper framework would ensure taxpayers and business owners will receive improved service through higher-quality advice and guidance. The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 31

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I followed accountants on social media and listened to podcasts from those who had their own businesses and that’s when I realised that I could get a practice licence with AAT, which I had no idea was possible. After that, everything seemed to fall into place, and I launched my own business.

Farheen, MAAT and small business owner

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Ensuring our qualifications map to nationally recognised standards

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) launched a new standard for the Level 3 Assistant Accounting Apprenticeship . We redeveloped the Level 3 EPA to match the plan and assessment strategy. Registration went live in September 2023 and assessments were available from February 2024.

Working closely with IfATE and the Trailblazer groups, both our Level 2 and Level 3 accounting qualifications have been identified as mandated qualifications within the respective apprenticeships.

Branch business

To build an engaged community, we supported 127 branch events in the year, including three in Botswana. Our Exeter, Birmingham, London and Bristol branches remain the most popular for support, regularly exceeding over 25 attendees for each event.

We held an in-person branch training event in Warwick in September, sharing best practices, networking within the branch community and providing an opportunity to explore how we can best support our committees. We held online events in December and February to ensure our committees had the support they needed in terms of promotional opportunities and information. We regularly added information to the branch zone of the website including recommended topics and free speakers available to attend branch events.

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Professional standards and ethics

We’ve continued to actively support AAT members to ensure that they are engaged with their responsibilities as outlined in our Code of Professional Ethics (COPE) . Alongside this, supported by our Professional Regulation and Standards Compliance (PRSC) Board, we embarked on a substantive review of the COPE.

The review took into account developments to the IFAC Code of Ethics as managed by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants in order to ensure that AAT’s code remains aligned. As one of the co-signatory bodies, we also continued to promote the importance of Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT) – which forms a key part of AAT’s COPE.

Enhanced AML monitoring and public awareness of member regulation

We continued to enhance our monitoring of AML compliance by extending the number of practice assurance reviews undertaken with AAT licensed members, including face-to-face and remote, as well as desk-based reviews. We also developed resources to support members with their ongoing AML compliance obligations, including AML webinars and sharing over 20 articles and technical updates over the last 12 months.

Detailed reports captured our ongoing delivery of key activity, reinforcing AAT’s approach to its obligations as a Professional Body

Supervisor for AML . These annual reports were submitted to HM Treasury and the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS).

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Key international partnerships that extend our influence

To help drive up professional standards globally, we want to increase the international recognition of accounting technicians and AAT. We feel our work is moving the dial because, in 2023–24, the international accounting community expressed a growing interest in offering employers practical accounting skills and in attracting more diverse individuals into the profession. We also continued to support the global profession through our membership of IFAC and the regional bodies CAPA and PAFA in Asia Pacific.

In October 2023, we celebrated the success of our students and members in Botswana at an Achievement Ceremony attended by our CEO and President. The ceremony recognised three students elected to full membership, 45 students elected to bookkeeping membership and 53 students recognised for completing their AAT qualifications, all whom which attended the ceremony. A total of 94 students from Botswana completed their AAT qualifications during the year and 142 were elected to a form of membership. Our commitment to Botswana continues and we launched a new Level 3 Botswana Tax module in September. We also signed a new partnership agreement with Melbala Youth Studios, a youth orientated NGO located in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, to support the employability of our students and develop the financial skills of young entrepreneurs.

In Asia Pacific , we recognised the achievement of over 80 students completing an AAT qualification at a celebration event in Kuala Lumpur in January. We saw a 270.27% increase in completed qualifications in Malaysia in 2023–24 and are preparing for accounting technicians to gain much wider recognition in Malaysia via the new ‘Accountants Act’ that is passing through parliament, which will boost interest in AAT qualifications and membership in the country. In nearby Myanmar, completed qualifications over the past 12 months have grown by 16.92% year on year.

Finally, in the Gulf region, our Q2022 qualifications have gained greater recognition from the Bahrain Qualifications Authority (BQA). This will make the qualifications more attractive to students and more highly valued by employers.

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Supporting professionalism Putting apprenticeships in key areas in the spotlight We extended our technical Masterclass With a dedicated team focused on series from 17 to 36 webinars, engaging raising awareness of apprenticeships with nearly 3,076 members. Our tax among businesses, the number courses were the most popular, reaching of employers offering apprentice over 860 delegates. The expanded qualifications with AAT as part of a programme focused on different sectors pathway programme increased by and roles, and by providing enhanced 10%. The team continued to grow its coverage of topics, including specialised partnerships, including with HFMA, tax areas, professional skills, HR and CIFA and the Government Finance employment law, digital skills and Function. AAT also saw an increase in sustainability in finance. top 100 accounting practices, public sector organisations and SMEs using We ran over 28 open AAT Essentials apprentice qualifications with AAT. finance training courses, reaching over 260 delegates, and 34 corporate courses, reaching more than 370 delegates. Our Business Finance Basics e-learning courses also grew in popularity with 200 sales. ~~>?~~ The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 36

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Building responsible business

AAT has a clear remit to act in the public interest and can do this in three ways. First, we can provide individuals with career opportunities, regardless of age, experience, or background. Second, we can supply the economy with well-trained finance professionals. Third, and more broadly, our profession is uniquely well-placed to support other organisations on their journey to becoming more environmentally and socially responsible.

For 2030, we’ve undertaken to continue our core commitment to social mobility, plus we want to demonstrate leadership and raise levels of awareness of, and engagement with, the global sustainability agenda. This section reports on the activity we undertook in 2023–24 in pursuit of these goals.

Supporting our members and protecting the public

Responding to the Government’s consultation on reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision , AAT was quick to produce a policy briefing that was circulated to parliamentarians and key stakeholders. This was supported by follow-up meetings and a concerted effort to raise awareness, highlighting risks and concerns over making significant changes without consideration of impact through press and media coverage.

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Informi , our website for small businesses and start-ups, helps us build our understanding of SMEs, informing our drive to maintain the relevance of our profession. It continued to perform well, with 190,000 visitors during the last year. The engagement rate for the site was 76%, which sits above the industry average and demonstrates that users are visiting the site and engaging with the content in various ways. Content aimed at entrepreneurs continued to be valued, with the e-book downloaded around 1,500 times. With an How to start a business in 20 days How to start a business with no money additional 3,193 subscribers in 2023–24, Informi continued to reach new audiences and now te sil! has around 19,000 newsletter subscribers. Strengthening our diversity and inclusion culture We use the Employers Throughout 2023–24, we Network for Equality continued our work on diversity and Inclusion’s (ENEI) and inclusion (D&I). Inclusion TIDE survey as a way of is one of our six employee behaviours focused on measuring progress and ensuring everyone can thrive in 2023 were awarded a and reach their full potential. bronze award. Our priority is the reduction of our Ethnicity Pay Gap . We’ve been collating and reporting on this since 2021, despite there being no legal duty to do so. As of April 2023, the mean gap was 25.3% and the median gap was 25.6%. We also report on the Gender Pay Gap and as of 5 April 2023, over half ~~a~~ our workforce (54%) is female, and we have a female Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Beale. Having reported a negative (-0.2%) mean Gender Pay Gap in 2022 (a pay gap in favour of women), we have seen an increase in the mean gap to 3.1% and an increase in the median pay gap to 17.3%. The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024

We use the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion’s (ENEI) TIDE survey as a way of measuring progress and in 2023 were awarded a bronze award.

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Supporting the reduction of the Ethnicity Pay Gap, we held ethnic minority listening group sessions developing an action plan based on the findings. Key outcomes from this plan were:

AAT is committed to equality in the workplace.

Our focus is on hiring the best people from a wide talent pool, regardless of any disabilities they might have, and who reflect the diversity of our customers and will continue to drive our business forward. AAT is committed to equal opportunities and as such gives full consideration to applications for employment for candidates who have any protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, including disability, where the candidate’s aptitudes and abilities are consistent with the requirements of the job they are applying for.

Opportunities are available to all colleagues, including those with disabilities, for training, career development and promotion, and reasonable adjustments are made during both the application process and once someone starts work at AAT. Where existing employees become disabled, AAT will continue to provide employment wherever practicable, in the same or an alternative position, and will provide appropriate training where necessary.

As a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2), we make these commitments:

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Engaging with internal stakeholders and the wider profession

This year, we engaged with members across face-to-face and online events, delivered by AAT, partners and third parties to provide support and understand their needs. We exhibited at Accountex, and other similar events, enabling us to meet members, students, employers, and partners. Of the 10,500 Accountex attendees, 2,200 (21%) were AAT members.

We held a refreshed online member celebration event in October, reaching 287 attendees across nine countries.

The event was an opportunity to celebrate those joining the AAT community for the first time, as well as recognising those who have reached membership milestones.

We launched a new digital AT magazine in November to deliver valuable and engaging content more sustainably to members. Currently, 8,302 members and affilliates had opted into this digital magazine, with over 1,500 having engaged with the first issue. Eighty-nine percent of readers commented in a survey that it was easy to use, rating the content 8.8 out of 10 (compared with 8.4 for the print magazine) and scoring relevance at 8.0 (compared with 7.5 for the print magazine). 88.8% of readers commented in the survey that the digital version was better than the print version. We also launched a new digital AAT student magazine in February 2024, with 6,879 students currently opted in to receive this.

accelerAATe goes from strength to strength

We won Best Event on a Shoestring at the Memcom Awards in September for our accelerAATe student conference. The conference was created to support students who were struggling to complete their qualifications following the COVID-19 pandemic and provide them with motivation and guidance. This year’s event included online webinars covering key subjects such as study support, assessment tips and career advice, with session timings to fit students’ schedules. It was a huge success, with over 15,000 registrations and overwhelmingly positive feedback from students who attended. accelerAATe is now a flagship annual event in the AAT calendar.

Extending the reach of the Bursary scheme

The AAT Bursary scheme provides access to our qualifications for those in the greatest financial need, regardless of background, thus aligning with our core commitment to social mobility .

The level of interest for our Bursary scheme was high again in 2023–24, with just under 400 applications, resulting in the granting of over 19 bursaries in July 2023. It’s our ambition to extend the scheme’s reach, and we began working at pace to design a refreshed format for the coming year.

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A talent portal for apprenticeships and jobs

Responding to the growing demand to connect talent to opportunity, we started developing a dedicated AAT jobs board and career space . This will support career opportunities and join up existing AAT activity in this space, including career advice and content.

AAT has had a huge impact on my life and career. What I’ve learned from AAT translates into my job so well, I’ve found so many links with what I do in the classroom and what I do in my work. ~~

Tahiya, Audit Apprentice at KPMG currently studying for her AAT Level 4

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Our energy use and carbon emissions

Streamlined energy and carbon reporting disclosure

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||||| |---|---|---|---| |Current|Comparison| |Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions|reporting year|year| |and energy use data for the period|(UK and|(UK and| |April 2023 to March 2024|offshore area)|offshore area)| |Total energy consumption used to|134,409.85|135,451.14| |calculate emissions in kWh| |Emissions from combustion of gas in tCO2e|-|43.12| |(Scope 1)| |Emissions from purchased electricity in tCO2e|24.67|22.85| |(Scope 2, location based)| |Emissions from business travel in rental cars or|3.70|4.27| |employee-owned vehicles where company is| |responsible for purchasing the fuel in tCO2e| |(Scope 3)| |Total gross tCO2e based on above|28.37|27.12| |Intensity ratio: gross tCO2e / m|[2]|0.03|0.01| |Intensity ratio: gross tCO2e / FTE|0.11|0.11|

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Methodology

As a large, unquoted organisation, AAT is required to report its UK energy use and carbon emissions based on the Environmental Reporting Guidelines: including mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting guidance (March 2019) issued by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). AAT’s methodology is consistent with the World Resources Institute’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard[1] .

The data detailed in this table represents GHG emissions and energy use for which AAT is responsible, including electricity consumption in AAT’s office and fuel usage in employee-owned vehicles during business activities.

There are no emissions sources outside of the UK offshore area.

We have used the main requirements of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard to calculate our emissions, along with the UK Government GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2023. We have used the Better Building Partnerships Real Estate Environmental Benchmark (REEB) 2020 to calculate these emissions due to data availability[2] .

Energy efficiency actions

Our office has maintained its commitment to using 100% renewable energy, and we have renewed our renewable energy supply for the reporting year.

1 GHG Protocol Corporate Standard 2 2020 Real Estate Environmental Benchmarks

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Our
success
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How we measure success

Our organisational success has been measured against five key areas, our strategic outcomes, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and transformation and enabling services. For these key areas there are 14 key performance indicators (KPIs) to report upon.

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EDT
KPI performance measures Approved
Keeping our profession relevant Responsible business Financial stability
AQ Number AAT
brand
completers of AQ’s AAT’s Financial
by level reputation influence metrics
progressing to
professional
membership
Go
Driving up professional standards Transformation and enabling services
Number of
Member
licenced Number of retention Customers People
members professional Internal
members delivery
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[ewlens
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Without my AAT qualification I wouldn’t have been able to start my accounting business at 21, it’s opened so many doors for me.

Grace, a recently qualified MAAT and small business owner

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Keeping the profession relevant

Accounting Qualification (AQ) completion

Completion of qualifications across the board is above target levels with Level 4 showing a 20.2% improvement on last year and overall all our levels returning a combined 16.1% year-on-year improvement. This is driven mostly by the closedown of AQ2016, seeing a push for students to finish their studies. The reduced fee incentive for students encouraging their transfer from AQ2016 to Q2022, also delivered an increase in quick completions.

End-of-year Full-year Full-year Full-year %
Product Level result target variance variance
2 9,330 8,100 1,230 15.2%
3 8,773 7,650 1,123 14.7%
4 5,349 4,450 899 20.2%
Total 23,452 20,200 3,252 16.1%

Number of AQ completers progressing to professional membership

End-of-year result Full-year target **Full-year variance ** Full-year % variance
5,106 4,982 124 2.5%

Brand reputation

Brand reputation
Measure Actuals Target Var % to target
Awareness of AAT amongst MPs through 45% 60% -14%
the annual YouGov MP surveyresults
AAT helps me stayrelevant and upto date 86% 85% 1%
AAT has helped meprogress mycareer 83% 85% -2%

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Perception measure

The AAT perception measures for its customers remain strong with both scores this year in the 80s. 86% agreed “AAT helps me stay relevant and up to date”, which is 1% greater than target. Whereas “AAT helped me progress my career” narrowly missed its 85% target by just two percentage points, at 83%, which is the same level as reported for 2022. A project to improve these customer scores was started in the autumn with campaigns to amplify the findings of our recent salary survey along with case studies of those who have continued their development with AAT CPD and those who have had a successful career pathway.

Awareness of AAT amongst MPs

The annual YouGov survey this year generated a result that was 16% below target with an awareness score of 45%. The survey was conducted through interviews with a representative sample of 108 MPs, which doesn’t always guarantee engagement from those AAT has established links with. Moreover, the turbulent political landscape with a host of parliamentary reshuffles is another contributory factor. Neverthess, we have continued to engage extensively with parliamentarians through our campaigning and lobbying activity.

Driving up professional standards

Number of professional members

For member population and retention, both were impacted by the closedown of AQ2016, leading to changes in our membership categories and the impact of progression pathways, which contributed to a larger number of lapses. We are expecting retention to return to the usual level in 2024-25with these changes now implemented.

End-of-year result Full-year target Full-year variance Full-year % variance Full-year variance Full-year % variance
51,395 53,048 -1,653
-3.1%
Number of licensed members
End-of-year result Full-year target Full-year variance Full-year % variance
6,894 6,950 -56
-0.9%

Member retention

Member retention
End-of-year result Full-year target Full-year % variance
89% 91% -2%

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Building responsible business

We measure our sector impact through an annual influence score. This year, our perception measure delivered a strong performance, scoring 84%-4% above target – for those who agree that AAT plays an important role as an influencer in the accounting profession.

Financial sustainability

For income, the full-year target was £33.9m, delivered was £33.5m, the actual within 1% of the target. Whilst income was in line with expectation, the deficit was redefined during the year, reducing from £6.4m to £3.4m due to project deliverables delay. Despite this reduction, and the target being missed, AAT delivered a trading surplus of £0.6m, this contains an element of genuine savings, as well as delayed activity.

End-of-year result **Full-year target ** Full-year variance
Income £33.5m £33.9m £(0.4m)
TradingSurplus/(Deficit) £0.6m £(3.4m) £4.0m

Customers

ServiceMark Accreditation is the national standard, independently recognising an organisation’s achievement and commitment towards upholding high customer service standards. ServiceMark accreditation provides an opportunity for AAT to demonstrate its delivery of high-quality customer service both internally and externally.

AAT was first awarded ServiceMark in 2022 and to maintain ServiceMark accreditation we must continue to demonstrate how we meet the requirements through both a Business Benchmarking survey with external customers and a ServiceCheck assessment with our employees on an annual basis.

AAT’s 2023-24 results saw us achieve a score of 80.9 in the Business Benchmarking survey against a target of 80, representing an increase of 0.4 on the previous year. This means we outperformed the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) all-sector average of 76. AAT also achieved a net promoter score of 51.5 – the metric based on the likelihood to recommend AAT – which remains higher than both the UKCSI all-sector average of 18.7 and retail (non-food) of 40.3, which we are benchmarked against.

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Internal delivery – transformation

Our organisation design project is focusing on our governance and processes, people structures, skills and capability elements, with phase one of the project completed this year. This included reorganising our divisions into three new portfolios, centred around our customers, and establishing new Executive and Senior Leadership teams. Phase two of the project, which is focusing on the detailed design of each function, is well underway and on track to be delivered in 2024-25.

The systems element of this delivery is now gathering momentum once more, with the organisation needing to focus attention on the assessment issues it was experiencing over the summer of 2023. We have taken the first steps of our digital journey, but we are not as far forward as we had originally planned. We are confident that we remain well-placed to deliver the overall plan as previously committed.

People

In June 2023, we ran the Best Companies employee engagement survey and retained our 1-star rating, with a response rate from colleagues of 83%. We received a final score of 663 and whilst we are disappointed that we did not achieve our stretch target of 678, we are happy with the result given the amount of change happening across AAT at the time of surveying.

This programme of transformational change will secure and embed the systems, processes and skills required to anticipate and respond to market needs.

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Total number of professional members

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2019–20 50,982
2020–21 49,811
2021–22 50,056
2022–23 51,542
2023–24 51,395
—_
ServiceCheck Assessment Benchmarking Scores
2019–20 80.8
2020–21 85.4
2021–22 81.0
2022–23 80.5
2023–24 80.9
=
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New members and bookkeepers
2019–20 4,782
2020–21 3,551
2021–22 4,426
2022–23 6,393
2023–24 5,846
This chart reflects all registered new members and new bookkeepers.
There are a small number of members who are counted in both groups.
Operating surplus as a % of recurring income
2019–20 9.2%
2020–21 18.5%
2021–22 22.7%
2022–23 14.7%
2023–24 2.8%
At 2.8%, our surplus on reoccurring activities for the year to March 2024 was
more than the deficit target set for the year. Income and costs increased year
on year as AAT invested in growing membership and enhancing standards,
as part of the organisational design work contributing to the 2030 strategy.
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Heading

Without people helping me, there’s no chance I’d be where I am. I’ve always wanted to give back to the community I live in. AAT underpinned the ethical side of it, and that allowed people to trust what we were doing.

My AAT studies have come into good use in the charity world. If you have accounting skills and want to do something purpose-driven, there are so many opportunities where you can employ this knowledge. Mark, FMAAT and Charity Founder, and AAT member since 2005 | |

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Section 172 Statement

In accordance with Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 , AAT's Council, comprised of non-executive directors, ensured the promotion of the organisation’s success by approving a business plan aligned with the long-term interests of the charity and its stakeholders.

The Council prioritises a positive culture, emphasising employee wellbeing, engagement and growth. Investment in management development training and flexible working arrangements, embraced by more than 40% of employees, reflects the commitment to work-life balance.

AAT's offices in Canary Wharf align with a new era of hybrid working, fostering a collaborative workspace with added wellbeing activities like yoga and fitness. The focus on community support spans from students to lifelong members, emphasising skill alignment with employer needs and adapting to industry changes. Strategic partnerships enable AAT to continue to offer a tailored range of products and services, empowering their community to have fulfilling careers through upskilling and staying abreast of professional standards.

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AAT’s Council prioritises maintaining a positive reputation and influence within the profession. Strategic investments in stakeholder relationships across political, regulatory and policy spheres aim to uphold and strengthen professional standards. Engaging external stakeholders involves various avenues such as qualifications, End Point Assessments, Informi subscriptions, events, and active PR and social media efforts.

Commitments to charters like Accounting for Sustainability, the Women in Finance Charter, and the Race at Work Charter, along with adherence to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, showcase AAT’s commitment to responsible practices.

With an Executive sponsor for Race, the organisation continues to support the development of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees as well as a continued focus on social mobility, underscoring AAT’s commitment to inclusivity and societal impact.

AAT’s governance structure includes an experienced Council that continues to ensure corporate governance best practices, supported by various boards overseeing compliance, nominations and remuneration. This foundation, combined with a commitment to education and responsible practices, positions AAT for future success and value delivery to its stakeholders.

Responsible business remains a core theme, with a focus on societal benefit and environmental sustainability integrated into all aspects of AAT’s operations.

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Stakeholder engagement

AAT acknowledges its pivotal role in advocating for the accounting profession as well as being a purpose-driven organisation reliant on engaging and partnering with a diverse range of stakeholders. By supporting individuals in joining and maintaining relevance, AAT ensures that its stakeholders continually benefit from their involvement and association with AAT.

From raising professional standards and upholding professional ethics to increasing social mobility, the following pages set out how we engage with our stakeholders and deliver benefits that are important to them.

Stakeholders How we engage Tailored benefits Our Council, comprised of elected The AAT professional designations and independent members, not only enhance the earning collaboratively crafts strategies potential for our community but with support from the Members’ also open doors to a wide variety of Members and affiliates Assembly. Members have the career opportunities. This includes opportunity to connect through empowering our members to online conferences and a network venture into self-employment and of branches both in the UK and in establish their own businesses. key international markets. We are committed to bolstering We ensure members are the AAT brand, ensuring that our qualifications are esteemed and well-informed and engaged pertinent in the market. through various communication channels, including our AT As part of the membership magazine, printed and digital, subscription, we offer access to weekly AAT News newsletter, a suite of products and services and AAT Comment articles, to keep our members abreast of supplemented by a diverse range industry developments, keeping of CPD opportunities delivered them relevant and compliant. through events and AAT’s For licensed members, we offer Knowledge Hub. comprehensive technical and Additionally, we conduct annual regulatory support, coupled with surveys to gain insights into supervision, to facilitate adherence our members' needs and to legal and regulatory standards in satisfaction levels. their practice.

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Stakeholders How we engage

We maintain consistent engagement with students through our AAT student magazine , | which we reintroduced in digital Students format at the beginning of 2024, as well as the AAT Weekly newsletter. Our website, online communities, branch network and drop-in sessions offer comprehensive study and career support.

To assist students in determining the most suitable qualification for them based on their current circumstances, we provide a variety of online support services, including Qualifications Navigator and Skillcheck.

Our dedicated team manages our partnerships with training providers, supporting through » effective communication channels Training such as SummingUp , our weekly providers newsletter, and SummingUp Live, our monthly webinar. Additionally, we host an annual conference and smaller networking meetings to keep our approved providers informed and updated on AAT developments, including our support for partnerships and students. Our website features a dedicated section to support providers, offering resources such as ‘Find a training provider,’ which facilitates efficient and effective market reach for providers.

Tailored benefits

We facilitate greater access to employment opportunities through our recognised and trusted qualifications, which also serve as a pathway to self-employment or business ownership. AAT qualifications significantly enhance our students' career prospects and potential. We strive to make funded pathways accessible whenever possible, offering initiatives like the AAT Bursary scheme and Granting Assistance, as well as apprenticeship opportunities through our partnerships with training providers. Additionally, we assist our students in accessing and navigating the various study options available with quality-assured providers.

We offer qualifications in high demand among both individuals and employers, along with accreditation that enables providers to deliver these qualifications effectively.

We support the success of our providers through continuous assistance, including helping them connect with students and promoting the delivery of quality, affordable tuition.

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Stakeholders How we engage

Tailored benefits

We have a dedicated team responsible for managing our employer relationships, ensuring | that valuable insights are Employers continuously gathered to enhance our products and services at AAT. To support employers, we offer a dedicated section on our website, complemented by regular communications via our monthly Employer News newsletter.

We offer access to trusted and recognised qualifications that cultivate the skills necessary to build effective and diverse accounting and finance teams. Utilising industry-standard qualifications, including those provided by AAT and the AAT Employer Scheme, not only saves time and ensures consistency but also aids in talent development and serves as a retention tool for employers. Additionally, we provide an alternative pathway into the profession to support wider participation and align with employer talent strategies. In addition to our core qualifications, we offer programmes aimed at enhancing financial literacy across non-financial teams.

Governments

Our dedicated public affairs team We collaborate with governments actively engages with government to foster the growth, development and policy-makers through and resilience of productive consultation responses and economies, leveraging insights direct relationships. from our community to inform and shape public policy in relevant domains. Our qualifications are designed to cultivate the skills required for a highly skilled, high-wage economy, ultimately contributing to economic prosperity.

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Stakeholders How we engage

We ensure regular engagement with our employees through all-colleagues events and our | online community, Workplace. Employees This includes frequent updates from both the Executive team and Senior Leadership team. Additionally, we are committed to investing in digital collaboration tools to facilitate effective virtual teamwork, while also dedicating resources to skills and culture programmes.

We frequently conduct insight surveys and polls on key issues. These include topics relevant » to business and the accounting The public profession to support public value. Our communication strategy includes engaging with national and regional media, as well as leveraging our social media channels and participating in relevant events. Additionally, we run various advertising campaigns throughout the year to increase awareness of the AAT brand and our offerings.

Tailored benefits

We prioritise supporting our employees by providing an excellent workspace that fosters collaboration and innovation. We also promote a healthy work-life balance and have implemented a hybrid work model, offering greater flexibility and choice in terms of work location. To ensure our employees are fairly compensated, we regularly benchmark our salaries and benefits against industry standards. Additionally, we offer a variety of wellbeing support services, including confidential access to our employee assistance programme – Help at Hand.

Our qualifications, coupled with ongoing support for our members and students, play a crucial role in providing businesses with access to essential financial and business skills necessary for productive and resilient economies.

By developing skills aligned with a highly skilled, high-wage economy, our qualifications contribute to economic prosperity.

Furthermore, our open access pathways and funded programmes foster social mobility within local communities, ultimately promoting greater trust from the public in accountancy and bookkeeping services.

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Stakeholders How we engage

We have a relationship management approach with our key suppliers.

Suppliers

We maintain regular engagement with the business community through our website Informi, specifically designed to The small support small business business owners. Additionally, we foster community relationships with industry bodies and actively participate in industry events.

We regularly engage and collaborate with a network of professional bodies in the UK and internationally.

Professional accountancy bodies

Tailored benefits

We acknowledge the importance of collaboration and partnership in delivering our products and services. When selecting partners, we prioritise mutual benefit and ensure alignment with our purpose.

We facilitate connections between businesses and AAT licensed members through our ‘Find an AAT Licensed Accountant or Licensed Bookkeeper' service and accreditation. This access to quality financial and accounting support not only safeguards against corruption but also enhances business investment and promotes sustainable business practices. Additionally, our website, Informi, offers free, high-quality, easily accessible advice on finance and business to entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Our open access pathways, along with our funded programmes, facilitate access to chartered qualifications, while also providing opportunities to promote a more diverse, vibrant and strengthened profession.

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**Stakeholders ** How we engage Tailored benefits
We regularly engage and
collaborate with a network of
professional bodies in the UK
Regulators and internationally. of multiple qualification regulators
and in relation to our role as an
AML Professional Body Supervisor.
This involves submitting data,
compliance statements, detailed
reports and other information to
fulfil our regulatory obligations.
Additionally, we maintain an ongoing
dialogue with regulators through
regulatory audits, consultations,
regular meetings and other activities.
» We engage two independent
boards through regular meetings,
designed to oversee our focus on		 Our Awarding Organisation
Compliance Board reviews and
offers independent advice on our
Independent
boards		 raising standards and upholding
professional ethics.		 awarding arrangements, including
our compliance with regulatory
requirements. The Board also
makes recommendations to Council
on the submission of our annual
compliance statements.
Our Professional Regulation and
Standards Compliance Board
secures, maintains and develops
our high standards in relation
to membership eligibility,
professional conduct, ethics and
disciplinary procedures.

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Stakeholders How we engage

We invest in the AAT brand to raise awareness of alternative routes to a fulfilling career in accountancy. This includes securing regular coverage on national and regional TV and radio, leveraging social channels and engaging influencers. Additionally, our members and students contribute stories to inspire and inform the next generation, encouraging them to begin their journey with AAT.

Aspiring accountants

Tailored benefits

We facilitate greater access to opportunities through our qualifications, which are widely recognised and trusted by employers, offering a pathway to self-employment or business ownership. We prioritise making funded pathways accessible, including opportunities such as our AAT Bursary scheme and apprenticeships through our training provider partnerships. Additionally, we assist individuals interested in bookkeeping and accountancy careers by helping them understand the available opportunities and navigate their choices for studying AAT qualifications with quality-assured providers.

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Annual Report 31 March 2024 The future ~~a~~ The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 63 19/11/2024 15:22:07

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Future plans

In the ever-changing world, AAT has the opportunity to influence and shape the role of accountants and the environment in which they operate.

During the last year, we have been solidifying the commitments made in the 2030 strategy, Securing future relevance: Strategy to 2030 , which sets out what we’re aiming to achieve by 2030 and how we’ll get there.

This commitment will drive us to propel the accounting profession forward, ensuring evolution, adaptation and readiness for tomorrow's challenges. Through investments in our people and operations, we will continue to ensure that AAT remains relevant.

This strategy will advance the standing and recognition of AAT qualifications internationally, demonstrating the value they deliver to emerging economies.

Our purpose

To open up access to finance careers for everyone. To inspire and develop an inclusive community of accounting professionals equipped with the real-world skills needed to help businesses meet the challenges of our fast-changing world.

Our plan

Our plan is built around three overarching themes and delivered through four core strategies. It’s designed to progress our ambition for greater global relevance and recognition of accounting technicians.

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Our focus areas and approach

----- Start of picture text -----
Keeping our Driving up Building
profession professional responsible
relevant standards business
----- End of picture text -----

Community

We’ll put our dynamic, inclusive community at the heart of every decision we make

Partnerships We’ll develop and grow our effective partnerships with governments, professional bodies, training bodies and employers = Digital innovation We’ll apply a digital-first approach = Evidence-based decisions We'll consult diverse perspectives and leverage data effectively in our decision-making and share our insights with the profession > > ° e The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 65

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Our goals

Our commitment for 2030 will result in:

Global recognition for accounting technicians, delivered through effective partnerships applying transferable and comparable standards that will increase the capacity for accounting technicians to make a difference across the world.

A greater breadth of talent joining the profession and an increased number of those who take that first step and achieve a level of qualification that they can build their future careers on. ~~—~~ Increased numbers of learners progressing through the qualifications and attaining professional status. ~~=~~ New member categories_ , pathways and propositions in support of a more inclusive community and enhanced commitment to high standards of professionalism. a ~~.~~ The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 66

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More employers and businesses demanding and benefiting from engaging with professional members of the AAT community.

Increased engagement across all levels of AAT’s community with more user-led resources and participation in special interest group activities. — ~~~~ _ Enhanced activity through our stakeholder community, demonstrating real improvements in societal change and a commitment to sustainable business practices. ~~i~~ A greater influential position_ with governments and key stakeholders, stemming from AAT’s impact on relevant policy areas.

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The environment around us

From a UK perspective, the last 12 months have been dominated by continued economic challenges with the instability and uncertainty of the political landscape and the prospect of an election beginning to gather momentum. Households and consumers also faced a challenging financial environment with rising prices and interest rates remaining high.

The aftermath of Brexit continued to impact, with the UK still having to navigate trade agreements and relationships with the European Union. Other areas that remained topics for debate and concern included the shortages of skilled employees, affecting the accounting profession as well other industries. Employers still had to adapt to the changing expectations of employees in the workplace and with a continued focus on responsible businesses, particularly on the environmental impact and the wider issue of climate change.

Following are the key drivers shaping our AAT’s external environment over the last year.

Economic

We have seen a year of high inflation and continued higher interest rates bringing challenges for consumers and businesses and seeing the Government making pledges to bring inflation down and to grow the economy. This has proven more difficult with some small positive shoots emerging set against stubborn above-target inflation and GDP growing at a very modest pace. These factors continue to create uncertainty and pressure on our members, students, partners and colleagues.

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We continue to monitor these changing dynamics in the external environment so that we can quickly respond to the needs of our community and continue to demonstrate the value we offer to them.

Inflation and interest rate rises, combined with a high employment rate posed an increased risk to new student numbers and student progression from level to level, where individuals self-fund their studies. This year, we have been working on better access models to suit distance learners, including the introduction of remote invigilation. With costs rising, it's vital to ensure our qualifications attract government funding. We must also focus on showing the relevance and affordability of membership coupled with wider products and services to retain membership and attract new interest. Promoting the value of competence and membership, to secure investment in training from employers, was another area that we continued to focus on over the last 12 months.

With the small business failure rate the highest it has been for almost 20 years, helping businesses to survive through support was a priority for AAT, including the promotion of improved financial literacy and skills. Working with ACCA, we commissioned a survey conducted by YouGov which showed that nearly two-thirds (65%) of MPs think the voluntary Prompt Payment Code (PPC) should be made compulsory for organisations with over 250 employees. Separate data from the Federation of Small Businesses revealed many small businesses experienced a late payment leading to almost half of SMEs applying for credit to manage their cash flow. This comes at a time when the Government is assessing the responses to its Statutory Review of the Small Business Commissioner's effectiveness.

With the cost of goods continuing to rise, we have spent the year challenging our existing approaches to ensure that whatever we do is both efficient and practical and best value for our members.

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Political

The last reporting year has seen significant disruption of the political landscape with the Government losing seats both in the local elections and in a series of by-elections. This represented a key challenge for AAT, in terms of retaining established relationships with parliamentarians. In addition, cabinet reshuffles and local election results required us to redouble our efforts to maintain levels of awareness and impact in our lobbying activity. It is also clear that with the backdrop of a general election it was critical to understand and influence all the political parties recognising that a change in Government appeared to be a likely possibility.

During the year, the Government announced a series of reforms to tackle the tax gap and to simplify and modernise the tax system at the Tax Administration and Maintenance Day. AAT continues to push for making the UK’s tax system simpler, fairer and more effective, and we have continued to engage and submit consultation document responses to drive forward on this matter.

The Government issued a consultation proposing reform for the anti-money laundering supervisory system. AAT and the other Professional Body Supervisors responded to the consultation specifically highlighting the risks and challenges inherent in the proposed changes. AAT has continued to focus on this issue to build support for our position as the responses to the consultation remain under review with an expected announcement due later in 2024.

During the autumn, the Prime Minister announced a revised approach to meeting the legal 2050 net zero target. This largely involved delaying or diluting existing policy commitments such as the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars and the ban on new fossil fuel boilers for certain households, both of which we planned for the later date of 2035. This represented another example of how the landscape changed in the run-up to the general election.

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Amongst the more notable developments for AAT during the year was the Prime Minister’s announcement of a major shake-up of 16–19 qualifications. Effectively this would have seen A Levels and T levels merged into the ‘Advanced British Standard‘ which would have taken the shape of a new Baccalaureate-style qualification. Under the proposals, the new qualification was to be comprised of a combination of bigger and smaller subjects – called majors and minors – from both technical and academic options. AAT responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on the high-level proposals relating to the new Baccalaureate-style qualification framework in which we recognised that, if delivered flexibly, it could play an important role in addressing the UK skills gap.

AAT also welcomed the public commitment made by the Government at the Spring Budget statement to seriously consider mandatory professional body membership for those providing paid-for tax advice. This represented a significant development in line with our long-standing campaign to bring much-needed protections for consumers in the tax advisory sector.

Social

The labour market remains challenging with a shortage of skilled applicants and pressure on both salary expectations and employee benefits, including hybrid working. AAT has worked throughout the year to ensure it was an employer of choice, focusing on our culture, ensuring our salaries remained competitive, offering wide-ranging, high-quality benefits and a commitment to attracting high-calibre people from the widest talent pool.

Within the accountancy profession there was an increased emphasis on continuous learning and professional development that drove demand for accounting technicians in the acquisition of new skills and to stay updated with the latest industry practices. AAT continued to develop new, and adapt existing, products through the year to provide continuous personal development for our members and small businesses through the Informi website.

Shifting attitudes to remote work has impacted the traditional office-based nature of both accounting and other business sectors. As well as reflecting on how this continues to impact AAT members, AAT has continued to monitor how this is affecting its employees whilst reflecting on what is needed to deliver its services. The role of technology has remained a critical factor as well as bringing teams and the organisation together on a more frequent basis.

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The availability of qualified teaching resources for training providers remained one of the main challenges facing the market, given its potential to restrict the opportunities to grow courses and student numbers. Indications from the market were that, despite ongoing challenges, there was an increase in the volume and quality of applicants for courses amongst school leavers this year. Social mobility and access to opportunities within the accountancy profession continued to be a subject of focus, with efforts aimed at enhancing inclusivity and equal opportunities. AAT continued to engage in initiatives to improve access to quality education, maintain course funding, remove geographic barriers, financial aid and scholarship programmes. We continue to play a crucial role in fostering social mobility within the sector.

The recognition of the importance of work-life balance and diverse personal circumstances contributes to the implementation of flexible work and study arrangements. AAT, like many in the sector, continued to offer its employees flexible working choices including part-time and compressed hours. This allows individuals, including those from different socio-economic backgrounds, to pursue careers while accommodating their unique needs and responsibilities.

Technological

The last year has seen a continued acceleration in demand for digital delivery of qualifications and assessments, supporting greater access to education. Traditional education systems are being challenged by EdTech. We believe in the potential of technology and continue to invest in digital assessments to develop the practical skills needed and remote invigilation to broaden access.

The integration of advanced technologies into the vocational accounting sector represents a transformative shift, requiring a comprehensive adaptation of skills and approaches. AAT has recognised this need, and this is reflected in its digital-first focus, both in its products and services but also in how the organisation operates.

There has been a lot said during the last year about AI and its impact on the accountancy profession. Accounting Technicians and accountants need to adapt and develop new skills. The adoption of AI in accountancy introduces new possibilities for data processing, pattern recognition and decision-making. Those operating within the profession need to understand the principles of AI and its applications in financial analysis. This knowledge is essential for leveraging AI tools effectively and ensuring accurate and reliable financial reporting.

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As well as developing relevant technical abilities, success in the future will also be built on strong interpersonal skills with a focus on interactions with colleagues and clients to help them understand the numbers.

As technology continues to play a more significant role in accounting, there is an increasing need to navigate ethical considerations related to data privacy, transparency and the responsible use of technology. Understanding the ethical implications of technology in accounting practices is essential for maintaining trust and integrity in financial reporting.

As technology became more integrated into accounting processes, the need for cybersecurity competence also grew. The sector still needs to be well-versed in cybersecurity measures to safeguard sensitive financial information and protect against potential cyber threats. This includes understanding data encryption, secure data transmission practices and implementing robust cyber security protocols. As well as continually monitoring evolving threats and acting to minimise our exposure, AAT continued to engage our staff with regular e-learning and simulations to ensure that cyber security concerns remained in focus.

Collaboration between vocational accountants and IT professionals has remained integral as they may need to work closely in implementing and optimising technological solutions, troubleshooting issues and ensuring the seamless integration of technology into accounting processes. In essence, the integration of advanced technologies is demanding a holistic transformation of the vocational accounting skill set. From data analytics and automation to cybersecurity and AI, vocational accountants must embrace a technology-driven future to remain effective, efficient and competitive in the evolving accounting landscape. We continue to work with leading software providers to develop partnerships that will keep pace with the market whilst also ensuring that our products and services

The migration to cloud-based accounting systems continued to be prevalent over the last 12 months. Vocational accountants need to be proficient in utilising cloud platforms for collaborative work, data storage and real-time access to financial information. Cloud computing remain relevant. skills will contribute to increased flexibility, scalability, and accessibility in accounting processes.

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The risks we face

AAT’s risk management

Risk governance

The crucial role risk management plays within the fabric of AAT cannot be overemphasised. We remain fully aware of the protection that risk management gives to AAT, its members and key stakeholders in an ever dynamic and competitive external environment. However, it also gives us the confidence to be on the front foot in delivering and achieving our strategic aims, mission and objectives as a charity.

The Council, supported by the Executive team, has the overall responsibility of AAT’s risk management and risk appetite. Under the oversight of Council, the Executive team engages directly with risk identification, assessment and analysis, mitigation, and appetite to ensure a common understanding that AAT must take risks in order to achieve its strategic objectives and priorities and at the same time, ensure that there are robust control measures in place that will enable effective and efficient mitigation of any uncertainty.

To ensure that we are anticipating future events, navigating threats and risk management framework maximising emerging – assessing the effectiveness opportunities, AAT has this of AAT's risk management year adopted a focused framework, its risk strategy, robust approach in the appetite and risk profile. development of its risk management framework. As a result, we have changed our strategic and operational risks during the course of the year.

The Audit and Risk Committee, on anticipating future events, behalf of Council, reviews AAT’s navigating threats and risk management framework maximising emerging and internal control environment – assessing the effectiveness opportunities, AAT has this of AAT's risk management year adopted a focused framework, its risk strategy, robust approach in the appetite and risk profile. development of its risk management framework. As a result, we have changed our strategic and operational risks during the course of the year. The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 74

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AAT currently maintains two main risk registers.

Risk culture

AAT’s risk culture is driven by transparency, accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, collaboration and trust, all of which align with our organisational core behaviours. Through this, we are able to understand, identify, analyse, manage and monitor risk in line with the expectations set by Council. Given this, a robust process is in place to ensure that risk is monitored and assessed by all risk owners in the organisation.

AAT’s risk management framework

AAT’s risk management framework is reviewed annually to ensure that it remains adequate, relevant and fit for purpose, giving due consideration to new and ongoing developments within the industry and its external environment. Our risk management framework is reinforced by a vigorous critical incident protocol and reporting systems that provide the opportunity to identify emerging risks and maintain a continuous improvement process.

During the course of 2023-24, we have reassessed, re-evaluated and enhanced our risk management framework and risk practices to ensure that we are future-ready. In view of this and as part of our wider and ongoing process to enhance our risk management activities and capabilities, we have identified new strategic and corporate risks associated with the execution of our new corporate plan and delivery of our strategy to 2030.

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AAT’s risk statement

Risk management is integrated and embedded across the organisation, supporting the delivery of our mission, strategic aims and objectives. As part of AAT’s organisational culture, we Our vision from a risk perspective, is are of the view that identifying and having that through advice, challenge and absolute clarity on what can impede or continuous improvement of our risk stop us from achieving our strategic goals management framework, methodologies, and business objectives is an essential processes, culture and competencies, and positive action. Similarly, there is risk management fundamentally informs ~~a~~ a corporate expectation at all levels to effective decision-making across AAT. identify new and emerging opportunities that will enable the delivery of AAT’s strategy and ensure sustainable growth. Risk AAT is unable to keep pace Risk with the speed of digital development required. The accountancy profession, and/or AAT, is unable to meet changing global demands for its services Risk and consequentially AAT is unable to meet loses relevance. the evolving customer expectations in a highly Risk competitive market. AAT is partially, or entirely, non-compliant with legislative or regulatory obligations. ~~-~~ The Association of Accounting Technicians | Annual Report 31 March 2024 76

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The risks we face

In response to key factors shaping our external environment, we have a multi-layered approach to managing risk.

It’s driven by our Council’s oversight of the Strategic Risk Register through the Corporate Risk Register managed by the Executive team and overseen by our Audit and Risk Committee, with more detailed risks captured at a departmental and team level across the organisation. The risk management framework is further underpinned by our critical incident reporting processes that often help to identify emerging risks.

----- Start of picture text -----
Impact
----- End of picture text -----

The accountancy profession, and/or AAT, is unable to meet changing global demands for its services and consequentially loses relevance.

Mitigating actions

Delivering clear policy and PR activity.

Ensuring relevance through developing our new suite of qualifications.

Establishing partnerships with appropriate bodies in the UK and internationally.

Improving standards across our member and licensed members.

Enhancing a talent management solution.

Promoting a clear, compelling and modern view of accountancy to the current and next generation of accountants.

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Impact

AAT is unable to meet the evolving customer expectations in a highly competitive market.

Mitigating actions

Committing to long-term investment in our systems and processes, in support of a ‘digital-first’ strategy.

Incorporating pricing considerations for each product and service to ensure suitability, relevance and value.

Increasing the range and visibility of AAT’s social impact activity, providing support to those most in need.

Increasing investment in capability and capacity to deliver improved end-to-end customer experience.

Promoting employer campaigns.

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AAT is unable to keep pace with the speed Impact of digital development required.

Mitigating actions

Continuing to invest in products and services aligned to the 2030 roadmap.

Securing a greater range of partners with digital expertise.

Delivering a Transformation Programme (commenced in April 2023), with the option for longer-term investment, as options evolve.

Developing internal acquisition and talent management systems.

Researching and responding to market demand with agility.

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Impact

AAT is partially, or entirely, non-compliant with legislative or regulatory obligations.

Mitigating actions

Ongoing assessment of AAT’s compliance with legislation and regulatory requirements.

Maintaining a transparent and open relationship with all regulators.

Ensuring all our legal and regulatory obligations are met.

Evaluating the impact and responding accordingly to emerging legislative and regulatory change.

Undertaking continuous self-assessment of our key regulatory obligations.

Periodically assess internal skills and compacity.

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Financial review

Income reserves level

The income reserves level, after tangible and intangible assets, equivalent to free reserves, was £27.5m as at 31 March 2024 (2023: £28.8m).

This year, income levels increased by 2.9% compared to the prior year predominantly due to the transition from AQ2016 to Q2022 qualifications. Income generated in 2024 totalled £33.5m (2023: £32.5m), but costs increased as investment in skills and infrastructure continued; year-on-year costs increased by £3.2m to £32.9m in 2024 (2023: £29.7m). This investment will increase over the next few years, as AAT progresses with the ‘Fit for the Future’ transformation programme to support the 2030 vision. Infrastructure investment progressed during 2023-24 to deliver a range of business priorities of varying size and complexity. The implementation of the new finance system, delivered in July 2024, is a foundation for upgrading business-wide systems as part of the broader transformation project.

The significant activity and investment will see reserves levels reduce to a lower level within one or two years. In line with increased risk within the market, falling investment values and final salary pension scheme deficit risk, it is deemed prudent and appropriate to hold a higher level of reserve in the short term.

AAT’s Group unrestricted funds as at 31 March 2024 were £33.2m (2023: £34.5m), the defined benefit pension scheme liability calculated at £0.7m (2023: £0.9m). The payment plan agreed with the pension scheme Trustees is explained on page 83 . There are no restricted funds that are unavailable for the general purpose of the Charity.

We receive our funding primarily from our awarding body and membership activity – mostly through subscriptions and assessment fees. We also receive income from other streams such as sponsorship, CPD events or courses organised for our community, most of which is online. We use this income to fund the provision of our assessments and member services, ensuring our qualifications are widely recognised and of high quality.

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In addition, we invest in e-learning material and other services that support our students and members, including the provision of quality assurance services, promoting the wider profession and representing our community’s need at policy and government level.

Our expenses include staff costs for employees directly involved in providing or supporting our activities. This excludes costs for non-executive Trustees (Council members), who do not receive remuneration.

In the provision of all our services, we incur costs in human resources, marketing, information and communication, administration, compliance and facilities – all of which are critical enablers to the business.

Review of our financial position for the year to 31 March 2024

The strong cash and investment situation puts us in a good position to execute the business strategy, in support of AAT’s business and charitable objectives.

The financial statements on pages 105 to 135 are based on the results of the AAT Group. The Group Statement of Financial Activities on page 106 shows a level of net income in 2024 before other recognised gains and losses of £0.6m (2023: £2.8m). Net income reduced despite a growth income of 2.9%, due to investment in business activities during 2023-24. Investment loss of £1.7m (2023: £0.2m) is driven by falls in investment portfolio due to volatile market conditions, although over the previous three years, the investment portfolio has returned 5.6%. Income from charitable activities increased by £1.6m in 2024, due to an increase in subscription and fee income associated with the transition from AQ2016 to Q2022.

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The transition between qualifications has also increased deferred income, to £13.8m (2023: £12.6m), the accounting treatment for Q2022 qualification will be reviewed 6-monthly to ensure accounting treatment is reflective of course completions.

The net movement in unrestricted income funds of the AAT Group, after the loss in pension reserve arising under Financial Reporting Standards (FRS)102, was a decrease of £1.3m (2023: £1.4m increase).

We continued to invest in staff and systems to maintain and improve services we provide, and to deliver our digitalisation agenda. The expenditure on recurring activities was £32.6m (2023: £28.7m) as investment in growing membership and system functionality increased. We continue to look for efficiencies and scrutinise any additional expenditure, whilst also delivering significant change load to encompass the digitalisation agenda to 2030.

During the period, we continued our investment in development projects, with net development expenditure of £3.3m (2023: £3.4m), of which £1.3m was capitalised (2023: £2.3m). This included investing in software to facilitate new products and services, enhancing customer services and improving internal efficiencies.

Review of AAT’s final salary pension scheme

The most recent triennial valuation, as of March 2021, for scheme funding purposes, calculated an actuarial deficit of £1.84m with a market value of scheme assets of £25.3m and scheme liabilities (technical provisions) measured at £27.1m. This equates to a funding level of 93%. It was agreed with the Trustees of the scheme that the deficit recovery plan that was put in place following the previous triennial valuation in 2018 would continue, with AAT paying £400,000 into the scheme in April of each year until 2024, followed by a final payment of £275,000 in April 2025. The 2024 triennial valuation is underway and early indications are that the funding level has increased to 98% due to AAT’s contributions to March 2024. Committed additional funding totals £675,000 as part of the 2021 triennial review.

A separate report for FRS 102 purposes at each year end is produced by an independent actuary whose assumptions are unbiased, mutually compatible and selected to lead to the best estimate of future cashflows that will arise under the plan. While these assumptions are appropriate for valuing the liabilities for Pension FRS 102 accounting purposes, they may not necessarily be appropriate for valuing the scheme’s liabilities for the scheme funding purposes.

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The 0.3% uplift following the high court judgement made in 2018 in the Lloyds Banking Group case, with respect to guaranteed minimum pension (GMP equalisation), has been maintained for 2024–year end.

Compared with the previous year, the discount rate has increased by 0.2% (2024: 4.7%, 2023: 4.5%) per annum and CPI inflation 0.1% (2024: 2.65%, 2023: 2.55%), RPI has maintained at 3.25% for 2023 and 2024.

Over the year, the fair value of the assets has slightly reduced (2024: £17.0m, 2023: £17.1m) though AAT’s annual contribution of £400,000 has offset the benefits paid to members during the year. This has resulted in the FRS 102 actuarial report showing a reduced position of net deficit of £(0.7m), (2023: £(0.9m)), in contrast with the triennial funding valuation report which showed a funding deficit of £1.8m.

The agreement with the Trustees is to continue with the deficit recovery programme, paying a total of £400,000 in 2024 and £275,000 in 2025.

The triennial review is due in 2024-25.

We provide further details in notes 1 to 7 in the accounts.

Investment policy and objectives

Statement of investment principles and treasury policy

Council is responsible for setting and overseeing AAT’s investment strategy, although the day-to-day management of surplus cash held by AAT is delegated to the Executive team. Ruffer LLP (Ruffer) was appointed in May 2009 to manage our non-cash assets and achieve our investment objectives below.

The investment objectives focus on medium-term to long-term funds in an ‘absolute return’ strategy to seek more consistent returns and reduce volatility and target a long-term real return. Our goal is to optimise asset growth, to protect the assets of the organisation from impact of inflation and to achieve returns ahead of the return on cash. AAT’s commitment to investing responsibly drives Ruffer investment decisions, which are based on both fundamental and environmental, societal and governance (ESG) analysis. By investing responsibly, Ruffer also believes that it will achieve better long-term outcomes for its clients. Throughout the investment process, consideration is given to ESG issues as they represent both sources of values and investment risks. Fully incorporating these considerations into the investment approach forms an essential part of Ruffer responsibility to us as our professional investment manager.

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They also engage directly with companies they have invested in and exercise the voting rights and responsibilities that equity investing confers on them. Ruffer provide formal monthly reports on the performance of the investments under management.

Surplus cash is invested in treasury non-cash assets after careful consideration of our business plan. This takes into account the free cash resources needed to fund the business plan and cover a reasonable risk allowance to cover any potential financial impact.

It is AAT’s treasury policy to invest in surplus short-term cash (over a period of up to one year) to maximise the level of interest of income while, at the same time, ensuring that capital is preserved and working capital requirements are met. The treasury policy states that any excess cash should be placed in short-term deposits of ‘A’ (preferable higher) credit-rated institutions. UK Government backed institutions are preferred.

As at 31 March 2024, the Group held £13.7m in cash and short-term deposits (2023: £12.1m).

Council has maintained the same investment strategy for this financial year, as reported last year. A review is due to be completed as part of the longer-term business strategy.

Investment performance

Council receives updates of investment performance, including presentations directly from Ruffer, to review the portfolio's most recent performance and oversee the longer-term investment strategy, ensuring it continues to meet AAT’s investment objectives.

As of 31 March 2024, the Group held £28.5m (2023: £30.4m) of investments with Ruffer contained within the Charity Assets Fund. The performance for the year represented a loss of 6.25% over 12 months.

There was a high level of risk in markets during the financial year. Ruffer has a forward-looking approach to risk, and tend to become defensive early, this has historically served the investment portfolio well. The long-term performance of the portfolio has delivered an average annual return of 4.7% since inception, over delivering against portfolios of a similar risk appetite. The first quarter of 2024/25 delivered a 1% increase in investment valuation.

Ruffer continues with its approach to keep risk capital concentrated on the core conviction of inflation protection and protect against stock market downturns, whilst avoiding taking any risk that they do not feel comfortable with.

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Investment in subsidiaries

Council monitors the Charity’s investment in its wholly owned subsidiary ‘Accounting Technicians (Services) Limited' (ATSL) by receiving regular performance reports, through its oversight Board, as well as overseeing budgets and business plans. These reports enable the Board to confirm that the return to the Charity and the carrying value is appropriate. ATSL's wholly owned subsidiary, ATEL, ceased trading in 2018, the entity was dissolved in November 2023.

AAT’s other subsidiaries ‘Accounting Technical (Publications) Limited’ and ‘AAT Botswana (Proprietary) Limited’ are dormant.

Going concern

AAT produces realistic annual budgets and forecasts, which undergo internal rigour and Council oversight on an annual basis. This process is supported by a plan to 2030 to forecast the financial position post-transformation projects.

AAT’s trading subsidiary, ATSL, presents a profit of £0.3m (2023: £0.2m). There is a detailed budget for 2024-25 and a plan renewal expected in 2025-26. ATSL shows a net asset position of £1.0m (2023: £0.7m) and has adequate cash reserves to meet its liabilities as they fall due.

ATEL was dissolved in 2023, and two entities are dormant, so have not been considered as adversely affecting the going concern of the Group.

A contingent liability has been recognised during the financial year. AAT is working to resolve this issue, which is not expected to materially impact the Charity.

Having reviewed the strategic risks facing AAT and the Group, as well as the forecast model and the expected level of cash and investments, the Trustees consider there is sufficient reserves held at 31 March 2024 to manage those risks and achieve the revised business plan. The Trustees believe AAT and the Group have adequate resources to fund their activities for the period of at least 12 months from date of signing the accounts. Accordingly, the Trustees are of the view that AAT and the Group are a going concern.

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Governance

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Structure, governance and management

Reference and administrative details of the AAT Group

The Association of Accounting Technicians, referred to throughout this report as AAT, is registered as a company limited by guarantee with Companies House in England and Wales (No. 1518983) and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (No. 1050724).

AAT’s trading subsidiary, ‘Accounting Technicians (Services) Limited’ (ATSL), is a private limited company registered with Companies House in England and Wales (No. 03116873). The company’s principal activity is undertaking commercial activities on behalf of its parent entity which fall outside of AAT’s charitable objects. ‘Accounting Technicians Enterprises Limited’ (ATEL), a subsidiary of ATSL, was a private limited company registered with Companies House in England and Wales (No. 11272946) and was dissolved on 14 November 2023.

There are currently two Directors of ATSL: one who is a Trustee of AAT and the Chief Executive of AAT.

The registered office for AAT, ATSL and Accounting Technician (Publications) Ltd (a dormant subsidiary) is 30 Churchill Place, London E14 5RE.

AAT Botswana (Proprietary) Limited, a subsidiary company and office of AAT (registered in Botswana No. BW00001129005), is in place to meet regulatory requirements imposed by the Botswana Qualifications Authority. There are currently two Directors: AAT’s Chief Executive and, as required, one director who is resident in Botswana.

Organisation and control

AAT’s governing body is its Council. All members of Council are both Trustees and non-executive Directors of AAT. Day-to-day management is delegated to AAT’s Chief Executive and the Executive Leadership team.

The Trustees are responsible for ensuring the Group acts solely to further AAT’s charitable objects. See page 136 for details of the members of Council and the Executive Leadership team.

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Organisational structure of the AAT Group (how decisions are made)

Council is responsible for specific functions, which it does not delegate. It also oversees a framework of delegation, with clear levels of authority, which enables other matters to be dealt with by relevant supporting committee and panels, and the Executive. Council reviews the terms of reference of committees, panels and boards together with the scheme of delegation at least annually.

Council is made up of both elected and independent members, providing the basis for greater diversity and a broader mix of skills and experience. Council is supported by the Audit and Risk Committee, Nominations and Governance Committee, and Remuneration Committee,

and two independent regulatory boards: the Awarding Organisation Compliance Board and the Professional Regulation and Standards Compliance Board. In addition, there are several support and technical panels.

The Members’ Assembly provides a voice for the wider AAT membership and a mechanism to provide feedback to Council on policy issues and matters of wider concern affecting the membership as a whole.

All decisions taken by the Board of ATSL, AAT’s trading subsidiary, are in line with the parent Charity’s objects and any conflicts of interest are managed and addressed within the Group’s best interest.

During the course of 2023–2024, the Council reviewed its governance structure and has considered it appropriate to implement significant changes. The proposed changes will be shared with the membership in due course and a resolution will be voted on at the 2024 Annual General Meeting.

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AAT governance structure

----- Start of picture text -----
Council
Members' Assembly
Professional
Nominations Awarding
Regulations
Audit and Risk and Remuneration Organisation
Executive and Standards
Committee Governance Committee Compliance
Compliance
Committee Board
Board
Disciplinary
Appeals
Tax Panel and Conduct
Panel
Panel
Responsible Malpractice
Business Review
Panel Panel
+ + + + + +
Payroll Panel + + + + + + +
Digital
Advisory
Panel
----- End of picture text -----

How the directors have promoted the success of the company for the benefit of the stakeholders

See the Section 172 statement on page 54 for further details.

Business relationships

See the Section 172 statement on page 54 for further details.

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Employee reward and benefits

Alongside our organisation-wide bonus, AAT has a pay framework that links individual performance to a base salary increase. Any increases are usually applied in June and are backdated to April. For more information, see the annual remuneration statement on page 96 .

AAT provides a range of benefits that are available to all staff, including a health cash plan, critical illness cover, a generous contribution pension scheme as well as income protection cover.

The AAT Group personal pension scheme, which is currently managed by Scottish Widows, has performed well over the last year. We run pension presentations as part of our benefits communications strategy to encourage colleagues to take an active role in planning for their retirement, whatever their age. The approach that Scottish Widows takes to ESG standards aligns to the ethical values and principles of AAT.

All Scottish Widows funds seek to exclude investment in companies that deal with cluster munitions and landmines, activities of which are illegal in the UK and banned by international conventions to which the UK Government is a signatory. Scottish Widows has launched an ESG impact tool that enables employees who are members of the scheme to better understand the impact of their investments from an ESG perspective.

We have also been promoting our different benefits through our internal communications function through our intranet to increase awareness and usage of benefits.

Our office is managed through WeWork and staff can utilise the communal facilities that WeWork provide and may also participate in managed events, such as film nights and office lunches, which we actively promote.

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Governance and internal control

AAT continues to pursue high standards of governance, based on the Charity Governance Code for larger charities and the UK Corporate Governance Code . Where applicable, the principles and guidance are considered in managing the affairs of AAT, for example in terms of leadership of the organisation and the effectiveness of Council.

As an important component of good governance, AAT has in place a Code of Conduct for Council members, which Trustees are expected to sign up to on appointment together with a declaration of eligibility. In addition, AAT holds a register of Council members’ interests to ensure clarity and openness and to uphold the integrity of AAT. All are reviewed at least annually. Declarations of possible conflicts of interest in respect of matters to be considered are raised and recorded at each Council and committee meeting. AAT Council meetings are chaired by our President. On behalf of our membership, our Council ensures AAT has the appropriate levels of governance to oversee an effective substantial charity.

Effectiveness

Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees

Council has ten elected members – six independent members and three ex-officio members: the President, Vice President and one Past President. The Vice President is elected by members of Council, a position held for one year, before taking up the role of AAT President.

Commitment

All AAT Trustees commit to serving as a member of Council and may also be members of one or more of the supporting committees. The Council year begins from the close of the AGM in October and members meet at least four times a year. Committees typically meet three or four times a year with a mix of physical, hybrid and virtual meetings. In addition, Council has an annual strategy day, which provides an informal forum for activitybased working with the Executive team. Trustees are expected to attend all relevant meetings and the Articles of Association require that at least 50% of Council meetings are attended.

Members of Council play an important role in representing AAT to the public and, as such, are encouraged to attend a variety of events in their ambassadorial role.

Members can serve on Council for a total of nine years (not including time served as an ex-officio member) before they are required to take a break.

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Development

There is a framework in place for Council members’ learning and development which provides the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge and to help members contribute effectively to the work of AAT. Learning and development sessions are held throughout the year to facilitate continued learning and this year the focus has been on risk management.

The coming year will see changes to the corporate governance structure, implementation of a consistent induction programme and introduce a formal performance evaluation process.

Information and support

Under the leadership of the Chief Executive, members of the Executive Leadership team provide help, advice and support to Council and its committees and panels.

Diversity

Council recognises that there is scope to improve the breadth of diversity, within its make-up and this will continue to be a key focus moving forward. For the Council year 2023–24, Council comprised of 19 Trustees, 6 (32%) of whom identify as male and 13 (68%) female. Of the total full and fellow membership, 38% identified as male and 62% as female. AAT will seek to capture and report on additional diversity statistics in the future.

Audit and Risk Committee

AAT’s Audit and Risk Committee is a crucial component of AAT’s governance structure, and it acts independently and reports directly to Council. The Committee’s terms of reference are based on guidance issued by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and there is at least one independent member serving on the Committee.

The Audit and Risk Committee has an oversight responsibility over AAT risk management framework, risk strategy and risk systems, its internal control environment, checking and challenging on its adequacy and operational effectiveness, its governance and assurance processes escalating any key issues to the Council, assessing compliance with AAT’s regulatory requirements, its financial reporting, the internal audit process including the appointment of auditors, the external audit process, as well as reviewing (and providing constructive challenge, as and where necessary) the annual report and financial statements of AAT and its subsidiaries. This is done with a particular focus on compliance with accounting policies and relevant standards, clarity of disclosures and adjustments resulting from the audit. The Committee’s activities include dealing directly, on Council’s behalf, with the external auditors regarding the conduct of the audit.

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AAT’s Internal Audit function is provided by an external resource, BDO LLP, which acts independently of the external auditors. This function undertakes a programme of internal control reviews and reports to the Audit and Risk Committee on the effectiveness of these controls and associated risk management on a regular basis.

Data privacy and information governance

AAT continues to operate a data privacy and information security management framework including a comprehensive policy framework, ongoing training and awareness, technical controls, management oversight and monitoring arrangements.

A key focus for the Committee during the reporting period has been the oversight of AAT’s risk management framework and related reporting, including cyber security and data privacy, the continued monitoring of the delivery and implementation of major projects in relation to risk, and the rolling internal audit programme.

AAT is committed to complying with all applicable data protection legislation, effectively addressing evolving data risks and promoting strong information governance practices.

Our internal data privacy steering group continues to monitor data protection and cyber security risks and oversee the work in this area; formally reporting to the Audit and Risk Committee and chaired by our data privacy manager, who sits outside of functions involved in processing activities such as HR, marketing and IT,

The consideration of risk is integrated and embedded within AAT’s business planning strategy and process, the Audit and Risk Committee reports to Council on the management of key strategic risks at each of its meetings. to promote independence.

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This year

With many organisations continuing to experience the detrimental effects of cyberattacks and the education sector being increasingly targeted, we introduced new screening criteria for training providers and assessment centres. Our aim was to support centres to improve and maintain higher levels of cyber resilience and strengthen compliance across the sector. In what remains a volatile environment, we were once again pleased to report that throughout 2023–2024 we did not experience any serious cyber incidents.

We remain committed to ensuring the security of our systems and processes though continuous improvement, and we continue to report minor incidents and near misses internally, notify affected individuals where necessary, analyse causes and lessons learned, and implement additional control measures or changes to working practices to prevent future incidents.

We are closely monitoring and assessing the impact of potential upcoming changes to UK data protection law under the proposed Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. ~~1~~

Other matters

Details of AAT’s advisors

The names and addresses of the third parties who were the main advisors to the AAT Group during 2023–24 are as follows:

Bankers

Lloyds Banking Group, Thavies Inn House, 6 Holborn Circus, London EC1N 2HP

Solicitors

Edwin Coe LLP, 2 Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn, London WC2A 3TH

External auditor

RSM UK Audit LLP, 25 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB

Internal auditor

BDO LLP, 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU

Investment manager

Ruffer LLP, 80 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL

External Tax and Financial Consultancy

RSM UK Tax and Accounting Limited, The Pinnacle, 170 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK9 1BP

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Annual remuneration statement

The Remuneration Committee met three times in 2023-24 and continued to oversee the pay framework that was approved in September 2023. The Remuneration Committee consists of six AAT Council members and a recently Council-appointed pay and reward specialist as an independent advisor.

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The Committee’s primary responsibilities are:

Our remuneration framework aims to incentivise employees fairly and responsibly, promoting excellent performance. In addition to providing salaries that benchmark favourably, AAT offers a contributory pension scheme with up to 10.15% employer contribution, a health plan and employee wellbeing assistance. We also have a discretionary bonus scheme for all employees based on achieving targets set at the beginning of each financial year.

The remuneration ratio between the highest and median salary remains at 5:1, consistent with the previous year.

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Trustees’ responsibilities statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of the Association of Accounting Technicians for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK GAAP) (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the Group, and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable Group for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose, with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the company and enable the Trustees to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 . They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees confirm that:

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The Trustees confirm that in approving the Trustees’ report they are also confirming the strategic report in their capacity as Directors of the charitable company.

By order of the Council.

AAT President and Trustee Company number: 1518985 22 August 2024

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Independent Auditor’s report to the members of the Association of Accounting Technicians

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Association of Accounting Technicians (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘Group’) for the year ended 31 March 2024, which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, the Group and Company Balance Sheets, the Group Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

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Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group’s or parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our Auditor’s report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

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Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors’ report or the Strategic report included within the Trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees’ responsibilities set out on pages 98-99 , the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Group’s and parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the Group or parent charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditor’s report that includes our opinion.

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Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

The extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities are instances of noncompliance with laws and regulations. The objectives of our audit are to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding compliance with laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, to perform audit procedures to help identify instances of non-compliance with other laws and regulations that may have a material effect on the financial statements, and to respond appropriately to identified or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations identified during the audit.

In relation to fraud, the objectives of our audit are to identify and assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud, to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material

misstatement due to fraud through designing and implementing appropriate responses and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit.

However, it is the primary responsibility of management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, to ensure that the entity’s operations are conducted in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations and for the prevention and detection of fraud.

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud, the Group audit engagement team:

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As a result of these procedures we consider the most significant laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements are FRS 102, Charities SORP (FRS 102), Companies Act 2006 , Charities Act 2011 , the parent charitable company’s governing document, tax legislation and Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016. We performed audit procedures to detect non-compliances which may have a material impact on the financial statements which included reviewing the financial statements including the Trustees’ report, remaining alert to new or unusual transactions which may not be in accordance with the governing documents and evaluating advice received from internal/external advisors.

The most significant laws and regulations that have an indirect impact on the financial statements are those in relation to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and General Data Protection Regulation. We performed audit procedures to inquire of management and those charged with governance whether the Group is in compliance with these laws and regulations and inspected correspondence with regulatory authorities.

The Group audit engagement team identified the risk of management override of controls as the area where the financial statements were most susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud.

Audit procedures performed included but were not limited to testing manual journal entries and other adjustments, evaluating the business rationale in relation to any significant, unusual transactions and transactions entered into outside the normal course of business and challenging judgements and estimates.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is provided on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our Auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 . Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Hannah Catchpool

(Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of RSM UK AUDIT LLP, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants 25 Farringdon Street London EC4A 4AB

23 September 2024

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The numbers

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Group Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating the income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March

2024 2023
Total Total
funds funds
Notes £’000 £’000
Income from:
Charitable activities
Subscriptions and fees 3 19,073 18,067
Assessments 13,306 12,714
Events 79 ‐
Other 505 586
Total income from charitable activities 32,963 31,367
Raising funds
Trading activities 20(i) 511 951
Investments 2 35 231
Total income from raising funds 546 1,182
Total income 33,509 32,549
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Growing membership and other customer relationships 4 (12,496) (10,684)
Developing accountancy skills 4 (12,745) (11,409)
Enhancing standards of, 4 (5,216) (4,787)
and commitment to, professionalism
Broadening our influence 4 (2,008) (1,873)
Raising funds
Trading activities expenses 20(i) (155) (711)
Investment management costs (291) (252)
Total expenditure (32,911) (29,716)
Net loss on investments 12(iii) (1,723) (202)
Net (expenditure)/income (1,125) 2,631
Other recognised gains and losses
Actuarial loss on defined benefitpension scheme 7 (151) (1,190)
Net movement in funds, including pension reserve (1,276) 1,441
Total funds brought forward 34,508 33,067
Total funds carried forward at end ofyear, including pension reserve 19 33,232 34,508

All income is unrestricted for the years ended 31 March 2024 and 2023. The notes on pages 109 to 135 form part of these financial statements.

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Balance sheets As at 31 March 2024

AAT AAT
(Parent charitable (Parent charitable
company) Group
2024 2024
2023		 2024 2023
Notes £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 10 5,260 5,130 5,260 5,130
Tangible assets 11 400 530 400 530
Investments 12 29,009 30,983 28,463 30,437
Total fixed assets 34,669 36,643 34,123 36,097
Current assets
Debtors: amounts falling due within one year 13 2,288 2,987 2,344 3,019
Debtors: amounts falling due after more than one year 13 174 174 174 174
Cash and cash equivalents 14 12,630 11,366 13,704 12,118
Total current assets 15,092 14,527 16,222 15,311
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts fallingdue within oneyear 15 (14,513) (14,025) (14,603) (14,125)
Net current assets 579 502 1,619 1,186
Total assets less current liabilities 35,248 37,145 35,742 37,283
Creditors: amounts fallingdue after more than oneyear 17 (1,858) (1,897) (1,858) (1,897)
Total net assets before deducting pension liability 33,390 35,248 33,884 35,386
Defined benefitpension scheme liability 7 (652) (878) (652) (878)
Total net assets after deducting pension liability 32,738 34,370 33,232 34,508
Represented by:
Unrestricted income funds
General reserve 33,390 35,248 33,884 35,386
Pension reserve 7 (652) (878) (652) (878)
Total unrestricted income funds 19 32,738 34,370 33,232 34,508

All funds are unrestricted.

The notes on pages 109 to 135 form part of these financial statements.

As permitted by S408 of the Companies Act 2006 , the Charity has not presented its own income and expenditure and related notes. Included in the consolidated income and expenditure is the Charity-only net expenditure of £1,481,000 (2023: net income of £2,392,000) and net movement in funds of (£1,632,000) (2023: £1,203,000). Approved by the Council on 22 August 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Kevin Bragg

AAT President and Trustee Company number:1518983

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Group cash flow statement (incorporating the income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March 2024

(incorporating the income and expenditure account)
For the year ended 31 March 2024		 (incorporating the income and expenditure account) (incorporating the income and expenditure account)
2024 2023
Total funds Total funds
Notes £’000 £’000
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cashprovided by operating activities a) 2,570 5,234
Cash flows from investing activities
Dividend and interest income 2 35 231
Purchase of intangible assets 10 (1,270) (2,331)
Proceeds from sale of fixed asset investments 18,907 23,383
Purchase of fixed asset investments (18,656) (28,312)
Net cashprovided by investing activities (984) (7,029)
Changes in cash and cash equivalents in the year 1,586 (1,795)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of theyear 14/21 12,118 13,913
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of theyear 14/21 13,704 12,118
a) Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from
operating activities
Net (expenditure)/income for the reporting year as per the (1,125) 2,631
Statement of Financial Activities
Amortisation of intangible fixed assets 10 1,140 519
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets 11 130 156
Losses on investments 12 1,723 202
Investment income 2 (35) (231)
Loss on disposal of fixed assets - 62
Decrease in debtors 675 42
Increase in creditors 439 2,165
Pensions reserve fundingdeficit movements (377) (312)
Net cashprovided by operating activities 2,570 5,234

The notes on pages 109 to 135 form part of these financial statements.

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Notes to the financial statements

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice ('the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice SORP') applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the FRS applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006 . The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis except for investments, which are shown at bid market value as stated in the accounting policy below. The financial statements are prepared in pounds sterling, which is the functional currency of the Group, and rounded to the nearest thousand pounds.

AAT meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

Going concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis; the conclusions of the Trustees’ going concern review are set out in the financial review section on page 86 .

Consolidation of financial statements of AAT’s subsidiaries

The consolidated financial statements consist of the financial statements of AAT and all its subsidiaries disclosed in note 20. No separate Statement of Financial Activities has been presented for the Charity alone as permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 . All intra‐Group transactions, balances and unrealised gains on transactions between Group companies are eliminated on consolidation. Further detail on the basis of consolidation can be found in note 20.

Reduced disclosures

In accordance with FRS 102, the Company has taken advantage of the exemptions from the following disclosure requirements in respect of its individual financial statements. These disclosures are provided on a consolidated basis:

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Notes to the financial statements

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds comprise accumulated surpluses and deficits on general funds that are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the general objectives of AAT, after deduction of the pension reserve. There are no restricted funds.

Recognition of income

Income is recognised when the Group has entitlement to the funds and it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably against an invoice, contract or agreement.

Income attributable to the financial period is recognised as follows:

Deferred income

Student, full and fellow member subscriptions are payable in respect of a rolling 12-month period and are credited to income over the period to which they relate. Student registration fees for Q22 paid upfront on registration and recognised over a rolling 24-month period which is an estimation of the time to complete the course. The balance of this income that falls after the period end is shown as deferred income (see note 16). No obligation exists to repay this or any part of it to student, full or fellow members.

Resources expended

All expenditure, inclusive of irrecoverable VAT, is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. A further analysis of this expenditure is given in notes 4 and 5.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of the objects of the Group.

Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources. All support costs have been allocated based on headcount.

Governance costs are those incurred in relation to the running of the Group and include strategic planning and attending to the constitutional and statutory affairs of the Group.

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Notes to the financial statements

Pensions accounting policy

The Group has both defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. Normal contributions to the final salary pension scheme ceased during 2010, so it closed to future accrual.

For the defined benefit scheme, the pension liability recognised in the balance sheet represents the fair value of the scheme’s assets less the present value of the defined benefit obligation, as calculated by AAT’s actuaries under FRS 102. Any surplus is not recognised while AAT is committed to the deficit reduction plan. Scheme assets are measured at fair values at the reporting date. The defined benefit obligation is calculated annually by independent actuaries using the projected unit credit method which requires various actuarial assumptions to be made, including discount rates, mortality rates, retail price inflation and consumer price inflation. The present value of the defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting future payments using interest rates equivalent to market yields on high quality corporate bonds deemed to be AA-rated. The actuarial assumptions for calculating the value of the liabilities are set using ‘best estimate’ principles and reflect market yields and related factors at the balance sheet date.

Assumptions should be mutually compatible and reflect underlying economic factors consistently.

An approximate allowance of 0.3% of the non-equalised liabilities has been made for the requirement to equalise GMPs in the scheme following the 2018 High Court judgement relating to the Lloyds Banking Group. This additional liability is reflected in the balance sheet position as at 31 March 2024 and is consistent with last year’s accounting disclosures made by the actuary in his FRS 102 report.

Actuarial gains and losses arising from experience adjustments and changes in actuarial assumptions are credited or charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as they arise. Pension scheme finance costs/ income is calculated by applying the discount rate to the net balance of the defined benefit scheme obligation and the fair value of plan assets. The difference between interest income and interest cost on the defined benefit obligation is recognised immediately in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Contributions to our Group personal pension scheme, a defined contribution pension scheme, are charged to income and expenditure according to the period to which they relate.

Employee benefits

The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense, unless those costs are required to be recognised as part of the cost of stock or fixed assets.

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the company is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

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Notes to the financial statements

Capitalisation and impairment of fixed assets

All single purchases of less than £10,000 (incl. VAT) are written off in the year of purchase unless forming part of a more comprehensive scheme where the total is £10,000 (incl. VAT) or more. Capitalisation and the amortisation period are reviewed on a project basis. Impairment of these assets is reviewed annually and provisions are made if an adjustment to the value is required.

Intangible fixed assets

Intangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses. Amortisation is calculated to write down the cost less any residual value over the expected useful lives, using the straight-line method.

Expenditure, including own staff costs, incurred by AAT in relation to the development and implementation of internally generated assets, such as online services including e-learning, membership, website development and finance system development have been capitalised at cost. These costs relate to the development stage of the project and are deemed to have a future economic benefit of more than a year. The amortisation of such expenditure is charged on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset up to a maximum of three years and is apportioned across all four charitable activities in the income and expenditure account. The rates applicable are:

Category Rates applied
Online services and e-learning 33.3% – 50.0%
Membershipand finance computer software 12.5% – 33.3%

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost, less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses.

Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost, less any residual value over the expected useful lives (or the remaining period of the lease for leasehold improvements) using the straight-line method. The rates applicable are:

rates applicable are:
Category Rates applied
Plant and equipment 10.0% – 25.0%
Leasehold improvements Over the life of the lease
Computer hardware 20.0% – 50.0%

Leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged to income and expenditure on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

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Notes to the financial statements

Financial instruments

The company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 'Basic Financial Instruments' and Section 12 'Other Financial Instruments Issues' of FRS 102, in full, to all of its financial instruments. The company only has financial assets and financial liabilities that qualify as basic financial instruments.

Recognition and measurement of financial instruments

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the company becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Classification of financial instruments

Financial instruments are classified as liabilities and equity instruments according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.

Investments

Investments listed on a recognised stock exchange, including investment and unit trusts, are stated at fair value using the closing quoted bid market rate at the balance sheet dates. The Statement of Financial Activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluations and disposals throughout the period. It is AAT’s policy to keep valuations up to date such that when investments are sold, there is no realised gain or loss arising. As a result, the Statement of Financial Activities does not distinguish between the valuation adjustments relating to sales and those relating to continued holdings as they are together treated as changes in the investment portfolio throughout the period.

In the company’s financial statements, investments in subsidiary undertakings are stated at cost, less any adjustments for impairment.

Trade, Group and other debtors

Trade, Group and other debtors (including accrued income) which are receivable within one year and which do not constitute a financing transaction are initially measured at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost, being the transaction price less any amounts settled and any impairment losses.

A provision for impairment of trade debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the amounts due will not be collected according to the original terms of the contract.

Trade creditors, Group and other creditors

Trade and other creditors (including accruals) payable within one year that do not constitute a financing transaction are initially measured at the transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost, being transaction price less any amounts settled.

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Notes to the financial statements

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash in hand, on-demand and short-term deposits with a maturity of less than three months with banks and similar institutions, which are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and are subject to insignificant risk of changes in value.

Significant accounting estimates and judgements

Preparation of the financial statements requires management to make significant judgements and estimates. The items in the financial statements where these judgements and estimates have been made include:

Pensions

In determining the pension cost and the obligation of the defined benefit pension scheme, a number of key assumptions are used, including life expectancy, the discount rate, price inflation and the expected return on the scheme’s investments. Management relied on the assistance of an actuary in choosing assumptions about these factors based on historical experience and current trends, as disclosed in note 7.

Membership lapsing provisions

In reporting membership subscription income for any period, a lapsing provision is recognised to account for those students, affiliates or members who are expected to have their membership ended, if they have not renewed or settled their subscriptions by a specified date. At the end of any accounting period, some members may not have renewed their subscriptions and, if they still have not renewed their subscriptions after a specified date, they will be lapsed on the systems but this usually happens a few months after the renewal date. To ensure that the lapsing provision is matched to the subscription income that it relates to, the provision needs to be accounted for in the same period that the subscriptions were to be renewed. The membership subscription income is therefore adjusted downwards by the lapse provision. The provision is based on the number of students, affiliates or members who are expected to lapse by the end of a particular period, and calls upon a combination of historical trends and member behaviours at that time.

Investment impairment provision

ATSL’s activities in the year to 31 March 2024 resulted in a profit of £356,000 (2023: £240,000).

ATSL is planned to deliver sustained income growth and generate profits to 2024, consistent with AAT’s strategic plan.

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Notes to the financial statements

Q22 registration income

Q22 registration income is received in advance when students register for the qualification. The time for completion of this qualification is estimated as two years with £1,858,000 (2023: £1,897,000) recognised as deferred income due in more than one year. This estimation is based on analysing the trends for each level of qualification since the inception of qualification in September 2022. This trend to date shows that it will take an average of two years for the qualification to complete. Although there are only 19 months completed at 31st March year end, every six months a review will be undertaken to ensure the accounting treatment remains in line with completion time.

The Trustees have evaluated the impaired value of the investment and, as it is smaller than the net assets at year end and because ATSL is still expected to generate future profits, the Trustees are not proposing any further impairment this year.

2. Investment income

2. Investment income
Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Interest receivable 23 62
Dividends receivable from UK investments 12 169
Total 35 231

3. Subscriptions and fees

3. Subscriptions and fees
Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Full members’ subscriptions and fees 9,993 9,388
Student and affiliate members’ fees 9,080 8,679
Total 19,073 18,067

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Notes to the financial statements

4. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

Group Group
Support and
Directstaff Other direct governance
costs costs costs 2024
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Growing membership and 4,279 2,551 5,666 12,496
othercustomer relationships
Developing accountancy skills 3,660 4,903 4,182 12,745
Enhancing standards of, and 1,082 1,320 2,814 5,216
commitment to, professionalism
Broadeningour influence 609 643 756 2,008
Total 9,630 9,417 13,418 32,465
Previous year
Direct staff Other direct Support and 2023
costs costs governance £’000
£’000 £’000 costs
£’000
Growing membership and 3,522 2,085 5,077 10,684
othercustomer relationships
Developing accountancy skills 3,213 4,792 3,404 11,409
Enhancing standards of, and 1,018 1,438 2,331 4,787
commitment to, professionalism
Broadeningour influence 531 652 690 1,873
Total 8,284 8,967 11,502 28,753

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Notes to the financial statements

5. Analysis of support and governance costs

Group
Growing Enhancing
membership standards
and other Developing of, and Broadening
customer accountancy commitment to, our Total
relationships skills professionalism influence 2024
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Information and 2,325 1,716 1,155 310 5,506
communication
technology(ICT)
Human Resources 647 477 321 86 1,531
Finance 546 403 272 73 1,294
Procurement and 610 451 303 82 1,446
facilities
Programme 786 580 390 105 1,861
Management Office and
Corporate Development
Governance 279 206 138 37 660
Chief Executive’s Office 121 89 60 16 286
Enterprise Data 193 143 96 26 458
Central 159 117 79 21 376
Total 5,666 4,182 2,814 756 13,418

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Notes to the financial statements

Group
Growing Enhancing
membership standards
and other Developing of, and Broadening
customer accountancy commitment to, our Total
relationships skills professionalism influence 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
ICT 2,319 1,554 1,064 315 5,252
Human Resources 541 363 249 74 1,227
Finance 551 370 253 75 1,249
Procurement and 661 443 303 90 1,497
facilities
Programme 261 175 120 35 591
Management Office and
Corporate Development
Governance 241 161 110 33 545
Chief Executive’s Office 99 66 45 13 223
Enterprise Data 191 128 88 26 433
Central 214 144 98 29 485
Total 5,078 3,404 2,330 690 11,502

In the table above, the basis of apportionment of the costs across the charitable activities has been headcount numbers.

Governance costs comprise staff costs of £264,000 (2023: £249,000), audit fees of £69,000 (2023: £52,000), legal and other professional fees of £233,000 (2023: £139,000) and costs of Trustee and other business meetings of £94,000 (2023: £92,000).

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Notes to the financial statements

6. Employees

Group
2024 2023
Staff costs £’000 £’000
Salaries and wages 12,608 10,785
Employer’s social security costs 1,342 1,270
Employer’spension costs – Group personalpension scheme 1,152 979
15,102 13,034
Staff recruitment and training 530 435
15,632 13,469
Staff costs capitalised in developmentprojects duringtheyear (72) (753)
Staff costs charged to Statement of Financial Activities during theyear 15,560 12,716

Individual redundancy payments of £58,000 representing pay in lieu of notice and £37,000 representing redundancy (2023: £28,000) were made during the year. All payments, in both the current and prior year, were made as compensation for loss of office. Such payments are recognised in the year they arise. In the prior year an ex-gratia payment of £10,000 was made, no such payment was made in the current year. This payment related to a settlement with a former employee, which was made at the discretion of the Executive.

Employee numbers

The average number of staff employed by AAT throughout the year was as follows:

2024 2023
No. No.
Charitable activities 135 126
Support andgovernance 117 114
Total 252 240

Emoluments of senior staff

The details of employees whose emoluments, excluding pension contributions, amounted to £60,000 or above for the year are as follows:

Employees Chief Executive
(excludingChief Executive)
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Salary 3,025 2,848 215 195
Bonus 55 54 9 4
Private medical insurance 6 5 1 1
Total 3,086 2,907 225 200
The Association of Accounting Technicians Annual Report 31 March 2024 The Association of Accounting Technicians Annual Report 31 March 2024 The Association of Accounting Technicians

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Annual Report 31 March 2024

Notes to the financial statements

The ratio of the CEO’s emoluments (annualised) to the lowest paid employee is 9.1 (2023: 7.3) and the ratio to the median paid employee is 4.9 (2023: 4.4).

The number of employees whose total emoluments, excluding pension contributions, amounted to £60,000 or above for the year is as follows:

2024 2023
No. No.
£60,001 – £70,000 22 15
£70,001 – £80,000 7 9
£80,001 – £90,000 3 4
£90,001 – £100,000 1 2
£100,001 – £110,000 3 2
£110,001 – £120,000 - 1
£120,001 – £130,000 - 1
£130,001 – £140,000 2 -
£140,001 – £150,000 - 1
£150,001 – £160,000 1 1
£190,001 - £200,000 - 1
£220,001 - £230,000 1 -

The key management personnel of AAT comprise the Trustees and the 6 members of the Executive team as listed on page 136 (2023: 7 members). No remuneration is paid to the Trustees. The total remuneration of the Senior Management Team, defined as the Executive team, is as follows:

Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Salary 917 838
Bonus 27 25
Employer’s social security costs 120 114
Employer’s pension costs 97 76
Private medical insurance 7 6
Total 1,168 1,059

During the current year and prior year, the emoluments of senior staff contained a bonus amount relating to the year before, which were paid in June 2023 and June 2022 respectively. All members of the Executive team are members of the Group personal pension scheme. None of the six members of the Executive have retained retirement benefits under the defined benefit pension scheme (2023: one of seven).

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Notes to the financial statements

7. Pension arrangements (AAT and Group)

AAT operates both a closed final salary pension scheme and an ongoing Group personal pension scheme to provide retirement benefits to its staff.

The Group personal pension scheme

This is a defined contribution scheme which involves no commitment by AAT other than that of paying an agreed level of normal contributions, currently set at a minimum of 6% and maximum of 10.15% of basic salary (the employee rate is a minimum of 3% of basic annual salary). Contributions during 2024 were £1,036,000 (2023: £901,000). AAT offers ethical fund options for staff members.

The final salary pension scheme (closed)

The final salary pension scheme was closed to new members in June 2002 and closed to future member benefit accrual from 1 May 2010.

The administration of the final salary scheme is the responsibility of the Trustees of the scheme, and its assets are held separately from those of AAT and managed professionally. Contributions to the final salary scheme are determined by a qualified actuary, based on triennial valuations using the attained age valuation method to determine contributions to the scheme.

FRS 102 disclosure note

The final salary pension scheme is a defined benefit scheme providing benefits on final pensionable salary. The latest FRS 102 actuarial valuation was carried out at 31 March 2024 by an independent actuary, Broadstone.

Reconciliation of funded position of final salary scheme

Reconciliation of funded position of final salary scheme
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Net defined benefit liability at 1 April (878) -
Movement in year:
Employer contributions 400 400
Expense recognised in the income and expenditure account (23) (88)
Actuarial loss (151) (1,190)
Net defined benefitposition recognised at 31 March (652) (878)

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Notes to the financial statements

The main financial assumptions used at the past two balance sheet dates were as follows:

2024 2023
Discount rate 4.70% 4.50%
Retail price inflation 3.25% 3.25%
Consumer price inflation 2.65% 2.55%
Increases to pensions in payment
– Total pensions accrued prior to 6 April 1997 3.00% 3.00%
– Total pensions accrued between 6 April 1997 and 31 January 2007 3.65% 3.65%
– Total pensions earned from 1 February 2007 2.20% 2.20%
Revaluation of non-GMP in deferment
– Pre-April 2009 2.65% 2.55%
– Post-April 2009 2.50% 2.50%
Commutation allowance 20.00% 20.00%

The mortality assumption used is in line with the following tables: mortality before and after retirement: S3PA mortality tables projected by year of birth.

The scheme’s assets and liabilities were as follows:

Value at Percentage Value at Percentage
31/3/24 of total 31/3/23 of total
£’000 assets £’000 assets
Fair value of the scheme’s assets:
– Equities 2,630 15.5% 2,610 15.2%
– Alternatives 1,697 10.0% 1,755 10.2%
– Bonds 7,300 42.9% 7,312 42.7%
– Liability-driven investments 4,214 24.8% 4,430 25.8%
– Gilts 908 5.3% 952 5.6%
– Other assets 264 1.5% 82 0.5%
17,013 17,141
Present value of the scheme’s liabilities (17,665) (18,019)
Actuarial deficit at end ofyear (652) (878)
Recognised defined benefit scheme
position at end ofyear (652) (878)

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Notes to the financial statements

Reconciliation of fair value of plan assets over the year

Reconciliation of fair value of plan assets over the year
AAT and Grou AAT and Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Fair value of plan assets at the beginning of the year 17,141 25,241
Interest income on plan assets 778 661
Return on plan assets excluding interest income (859) (8,811)
Employer contributions 400 400
Benefitspaid (447) (350)
Fair value ofplan assets at end of theyear 17,013 17,141

Reconciliation of defined benefit obligation over the year

Reconciliation of defined benefit obligation over the year
AAT and Grou AAT and Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Defined benefit obligation at the beginning of the year 18,019 23,999
Interest cost on the defined benefit obligation 801 619
Loss from the effect of experience adjustments (806) (7,655)
Gain from the effect of info changes in assumptions 98 1,318
Benefits paid (447) (350)
Past service cost - 88
Defined benefit obligation at end of theyear 17,665 18,019

Pension (expense) recognised as part of income and expenditure

AAT and Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Interest income on plan assets 778 661
Interest cost on defined benefit obligation (801) (619)
Net pension scheme finance costs (23) 42
Interest expense restriction - (42)
Past service cost - (88)
Totalpension expense (23) (88)

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Notes to the financial statements

Actuarial loss to be recognised after net (expenditure)/income

2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Return on plan assets excluding interest income (859) (8,811)
Gain from the effect of experience adjustments 806 7,655
Loss from the effect of changes in assumptions (98) (1,318)
Reversal of surplus not recognised - 1,242
Restriction of net interest income due to effect surplus restriction - 42
Loss recognised in theyear (151) (1,190)

Return on plan assets

2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Interest income on plan assets 778 661
Return onplan assets excludinginterest income (859) (8,811)
Return onplan assets (81) (8,150)

8. Council and Board expenses

AAT and Group AAT and Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Total Council and Board expenses incurred in respect of travel,
accommodation,and subsistence 43 51

Included in the above are £13,020 (2023: £12,091) of expenses reimbursed to 17 (2023: 17) Trustees in respect of travel, accommodation and subsistence.

No payments are made to members of the Council for their services as Charity Trustees or Directors other than the reimbursement of expenses incurred in providing such services. None of the Trustees held any beneficial interest in the share capital of any of our subsidiary companies.

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Notes to the financial statements

9. Net (expenditure)/income for the year is stated after charging:

Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Net (expenditure)/income is stated after charging:
Operating lease expense 964 1,220
Development expenditure not capitalised 2,072 1,117
Amortisation charges 1,140 519
Depreciation charges 130 156
Fees payable to the Group auditors, excluding VAT:
Charity 63 47
Subsidiaries 6 5
Non-audit services 23 25

10. Intangible fixed assets

10. Intangible fixed assets
AAT and Group
Membership
and finance
Online computer
services software Total
£’000 £’000 £’000
Cost
At 1 April 2023 5,761 3,578 9,339
Additions - 1,270 1,270
At 31 March 2024 5,761 4,848 10,609
Amortisation
At 1 April 2023 (2,663) (1,546) (4,209)
Charge for theyear (1,140) - (1,140)
At 31 March 2024 (3,803) (1,546) (5,349)
Net book value
At 31 March 2024 1,958 3,302 5,260
At 31 March 2023 3,098 2,032 5,130

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Notes to the financial statements

11. Tangible fixed assets

AAT and Grou AAT and Group
Leasehold Plant and Computer
improvements equipment hardware Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Cost
At 1 April 2023 877 417 1,033 2,327
At 31 March 2024 877 417 1,033 2,327
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023 (715) (329) (753) (1,797)
Charge for theyear (40) (21) (69) (130)
At 31 March 2024 (755) (350) (822) (1,927)
Net book value
At 31 March 2024 122 67 211 400
At 31 March 2023 162 88 280 530

All tangible fixed assets are held for charitable use.

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Notes to the financial statements

12. Fixed asset investments

(i) AAT held the following investments at 31 March:

AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Investment portfolio (see note 12(iii)) 28,463 30,437 28,463 30,437
Investment held in net assets of ATSL(see note 12(ii)) 546 546 - –
Total investments held 29,009 30,983 28,463 30,437

(ii) AAT has interests in the following subsidiary undertakings:

Country of
incorporation/
Holding Nature of business registration and number
ATSL 100% Private Limited England and Wales
(see note 20(i)) £1 ordinaryshares Company 03116873
ATEL 100% Non-trading England and Wales
(see note 20(ii)) Indirectly through ATSL 11272946
£1 ordinaryshares
Accounting Technician 100% Dormant England and Wales
(Publications) Limited £1 ordinary shares 02063899
(see note 20(iii))
AAT Botswana 100% Non-trading Botswana UIN
(Propriety) Limited 1 pula ordinary shares BW00001129005
(see note 20(iv))

On 14 November 2023, the non-trading subsidiary ATEL was struck off (see note 20 (ii).

Investment in Accounting Technicians (Services) Limited

AAT
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Carryingvalue at beginningofyear 546 546
Carrying value at 31 March 546 546

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Notes to the financial statements

(iii) Investment portfolio

(iii) Investment portfolio
AAT and Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Investment portfolio 28,463 28,315
Cash - 2,122
Total 28,463 30,437
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Investment portfolio movements are as follows:
Valuation at beginning of year 28,315 24,210
Add: acquisitions at cost 18,655 27,690
Less: disposals (16,784) (23,383)
Net losses on revaluation (1,723) (202)
Fair value at 31 March 28,463 28,315
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
These investments are held in the following securities:
UK equities - 1,423
Overseas equities - 4,056
Bonds - 12,159
Other - 10,677
Multi-asset trust units 28,463 -
Fair value at 31 March 28,463 28,315

The investment portfolio transitioned to Charity Assets Fund (CAT) during 23/24, the benefits being a common investment fund offering flexibility and protective strategies in the challenging economic market.

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Notes to the financial statements

13. Debtors: Amounts falling due within one year and more than one year

AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Trade debtors – see below 1,661 2,146 1,697 2,238
Other debtors 121 18 201 73
Prepayments 446 640 446 641
Amount due from subsidiary undertakings 60 117 - -
Accrued income - 66 - 66
Amounts falling due within oneyear 2,288 2,987 2,344 3,019
Other debtors: due after oneyear 174 174 174 174
Total 2,462 3,161 2,518 3,193

Trade debtors

Trade debtors
AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Organisations 1,531 2,009 1,567 2,101
Individuals – fees and subscriptions 500 1,303 500 1,303
Less membershiplapsing provision (370) (1,166) (370)
 (1,166)
Total 1,661 2,146 1,697 2,238

14. Cash and cash equivalents

AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Cash at bank 6,630 3,656 7,704 4,408
Treasurydeposits 6,000 7,710 6,000 7,710
Total 12,630 11,366 13,704
12		 12,118

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Notes to the financial statements

15. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Trade creditors 1,134 1,104 1,139 1,104
Taxes and social security 510 490 510 490
Other creditors 22 47 22 47
Accruals 927 1,621 934 1,626
Deferred income 11,893 10,663 11,971 10,758
Fees received in advance 22 26 22 26
Provision for AQ22 exam refunds(see below) 5 74 5 74
Total 14,513 14,025 14,603 14,125

Provisions

Provisions
AQ22 exam
refunds 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000
Balance at beginning of year 74 74 644
Provided during the year 5 5 74
Utilised during the year - - (271)
Reversed duringtheyear (74) (74) (373)
Balance at 31 March 5 5 74

During the prior year, all provisions relating to dilapidations on leasehold property held was either utilised or reversed.

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Notes to the financial statements

16. Deferred income

16. Deferred income
AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Balance at beginning of year 12,560 9,477 12,655 9,574
Deferred during year 18,537 22,118 18,465 22,412
Released during year (17,346) (19,035) (17,291) (19,331)
Balance at 31 March 13,751 12,560 13,829 12,655

Student, full and fellow member subscriptions are payable over a rolling 12-month period and are credited to income over the period to which they relate. Subscriptions for AQ22 are paid upfront on registration and recognised over a rolling 24-month period which is an estimation of the time to complete the course. The balance of this income that falls into the following period at the period end is shown as deferred income. No obligation exists to repay this, or any part of it, to student, full or fellow members.

17. Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

AAT Group
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Deferred income(see note 16 see note 16) 1,858 1,897 1,858 1,897
Total 1,858 1,897 1,858 1,897

18. Operating lease commitments

The total future minimum operating lease payments are as follows:

AAT and Grou AAT and Group
Property Plant and e Plant and equipment
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Within one year 843 815 3 3
Between one and fiveyears 1,698 2,541 - 4
Total 2,541 3,356 3 7

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Notes to the financial statements

19. Unrestricted income funds

19. Unrestricted income funds
Group
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
At beginning of year 34,508 33,067
Net(expenditure)/income for theyear (1,125) 2,631
Income funds before pension scheme actuarial loss 33,383 35,698
Pension scheme actuarial loss (151) (1,190)
At 31 March, including pension reserve 33,232 34,508
AAT
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
At beginning of year 34,370 33,168
Net(expenditure)/income for theyear (1,481) 2,392
Income funds before pension scheme actuarial loss 32,889 35,560
Pension scheme actuarial loss (151) (1,190)
At 31 March, including pension reserve 32,738 34,370

Net assets are all attributable to the unrestricted income fund.

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Notes to the financial statements

20. Subsidiary undertakings and intra-Group transactions

(i) Accounting Technicians (Services) Limited (ATSL)

The company made a profit before tax of £356,000 in 2024 (2023: profit of £240,000). Its activities for the year are summarised below:

2024 2023
Profit and loss account for theyear ended 31 March £’000 £’000
Turnover 511 951
Cost of sales (70) (200)
Gross profit 441 751
Other operatingexpenses (85) (511)
Interest receivable - -
Profit before taxation 356 240
Tax onprofit/(loss) - -
Retainedprofit for the financialyear 356 240
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Intangible fixed asset
Current assets 1,190 902
Current liabilities (149) (217)
Net current assets 1,041 685
Total net assets 1,041 685
Represented by:
Share capital 700 700
Profit and loss account 341 (15)
Shareholders’ funds 1,041 685
2024 2023
Total costs reported as from trading activities £’000 £’000
Cost of sales 70 200
Other operatingexpenses 85 511
Total asper Statement of Financial Activities 155 711

Most of ATSL’s costs are incurred by AAT and recharged to ATSL a month in arrears, payable in 30 days. During the year, £60,000 of costs were invoiced by AAT to ATSL (2023: £586,000). As at 31 March 2024, ATSL owed £60,000 to AAT (2023: £117,000) as shown in note 13. In the year, ATSL distributed £Nil Gift Aid payment to AAT (2023: £Nil). There were no other related party transactions between AAT and ATSL.

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Notes to the financial statements

(ii) Accounting Technicians Enterprise Limited (ATEL)

The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of ATSL and was formed in March 2018. It did not trade in the four years to 31 March 2023. During 2023, the directors of ATEL made the decision to strike off the company, which took place on 14 November 2023. In the previous year there was a credit recognised in other operating expenses of £154,000 relating to a loan waiver with ATSL, its parent company.

(iii) Accounting Technician (Publications) Limited

The company has been dormant for several years, and the value of its net assets as at 31 March 2024 was £100 (2023: £100).

(iv) AAT Botswana (Proprietary) Limited

The company was formed in December 2017 and has not commenced trading. The value of its net assets as at 31 March 2024 was £7 (2023: £7).

21. Analysis of changes in net funds

Group
01/04/2023 Cash flows 31/03/2024
£’000 £’000 £’000
Net Cash
Cash at bank and in hand 12,118 1,586 13,704
12,118 1,586 13,704
AAT
01/04/2023 Cash flows 31/03/2024
£’000 £’000 £’000
Net Cash
Cash at bank and in hand 11,366 1,264 12,630
11,366 1,264 12,630

22. Related party transactions

The related party transactions between Group entities are shown in note 20(i).

The remuneration of key management personnel is shown in note 6 and Council and Board expenses incurred are shown in note 8. There were no other related party transactions.

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Notes to the financial statements

23. Taxation

AAT is a registered charity and is therefore exempt from tax on income and gains falling within Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied for charitable purposes within AAT's charitable objects. Taxation is only relevant to the subsidiary, ATSL.

24. Status

The Association of Accounting Technicians is a company limited by guarantee (restricted to £1 per full member) and not having a share capital and is registered as a charity. The Charity’s registered office is at 30 Churchill Place, London E14 5RE, company registration number 01518983.

25. Contingent liability

As of the reporting date, the company has identified a contingent liability related to a potential obligation of indirect taxes that arises as a result of past events.

A preliminary review into the liability has confirmed that it is probable that there will be an outflow of resources in relation to this but at the time of signing the financial statements it is difficult to measure the size of the outflow with sufficient reliability to meet the definition of a provision.

The current possible outflow has been estimated at approximately £600k. A review that covers multiple financial periods is ongoing, so it is not possible to ascertain a reliable estimate of the total potential outflow until this review has concluded. Furthermore, the above potential liability does not consider any potential penalties which may arise in relation to the liability.

At this stage, a possible reimbursement of the amount is considered unlikely.

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Members of Council and the Executive Leadership team

Members of Council who held office during the reporting period 2023–24 as Directors and Trustees

Kevin Bragg (President) Michael Steed (Vice President)

David Frederick (until 15 September 2023)

Rebekah Glover

Chris Argent

Sharon Burrows (from 15 September 2023) Ernest Badasu (until 15 September 2023)

Amanda Boustred

(from 15 September 2023)

Lucy Cohen

Wayne Cook (from 15 September 2023)

Jane Cuthbertson

(until 15 September 2023) Kay Daniels (from 15 September 2023)

Paul Donno[∆]

Heather Durrell

Rachel Harris

Heather Hill*

(Chair, Nominations and Governance Committee)

Anne Moore

(Chair, Audit and Risk Committee)

Andrew Murray (until 15 September 2023)

Rita Patel

Mark Powell (until 15 September 2023)

David Quigg*

(Chair, Remuneration Committee)

Francesca Tricarico

Libby Walklett

Beverley Flanagan (from 15 September 2023)

∆ Indicates Director of Accounting Technicians (Services) Limited, a subsidiary company

¥ Indicates Director of AAT Botswana (Proprietary) Limited, a subsidiary company

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Members of the Executive Leadership team and Company Secretary

Chief Executive: Sarah Beale[∆¥]

Executive Director of Customer, Partnership and Innovation: Claire Bennison

Executive Director of Strategy and Compliance: Jonathan Gorvin (Started 17 January 2024)

Finance Director: Debbie Taylor (Started 1 November 2023)

Director of HR: Olivia Hill

Technology and Project Management Director, Michael Perillo (Started 17 April 2023)

Company Secretary: Karen Marshall (until 29 September 2023)

Company Secretary: Sophie Joseph (from 15 February 2024)

Director of Education and Learning: Suzie Webb (until 7 August 2023)

Chief Operating Officer: Janine Edgar (until 4 August 2023)

Interim Chief Operating Officer: Charles Scott (until 9 June 2023)

Director of Professional Standards and Policy: Adam Harper (until 30 April 2024)

∆ Indicates Director of Accounting Technicians (Services) Limited, a subsidiary company

  • Indicates Director of Accounting Technician (Publications) Limited, a subsidiary company

¥ Indicates Director of AAT Botswana (Proprietary) Limited, a subsidiary company

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Honours and awards

Honorary members

1984 Michael G Lickiss 1992 Fred P Langley
1986 Eric C Sayers 1996 John Hanson
1986 Edmund Gibbs 2007 Robert Thomas
1990 William Hyde 2014 Jane Scott Paul
1990 Richard G Wilkes 2021 Mark Farrar

Past Presidents

1980–82 Michael G Lickiss 2002–03 Mike Dudding
1982–83 Peter T Hobkinson 2003–04 Jan Bell
1983–84 Peter R Dallow 2004–05 Jess Bond
1984–85 Professor Michael G Harvey 2005–06 Trevor Salmon
1985–86 Geoffrey J C Lockhart 2006–07 Brian Allen-Palmer
1986–87 Paul Treadaway 2007–08 Tim Light
1987–88 Stanley Husband 2008–09 Catherine Steel
1988–89 Kenneth A Sherwood 2009–10 Pam Dyson
1989–90 Reg J Carter 2010–11 Neil Price
1990–91 John N Farquhar 2011–12 Dr Hilary Lindsay
1991–92 Malcolm S H Bell 2012–13 Henry Cooper
1992–93 Noel Cannon 2013–14 Mike Evans
1993–94 Edna Jolly 2014–15 Dr Rachel Banfield
1994–95 Geoff P Mason 2015–16 Allan Ramsay
1995–96 Ken Sommerville 2016–17 Mark McBride
1996–97 John Newman 2017–18 Nicola Fisher
1997–98 Noel Sladen 2018–19 Vernon Anderson
1998-99 John Vincent 2019–20 John Thornton
1999–00 Margaret Rawding 2020–21 David Frederick
2000–01 Andrea White 2021–22 Heather Hill
2001–02 Professor David Hunt 2022–23 Christina Earls

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Past Secretaries/Chief Executives

1981–87 Anthony B Sainsbury 1997–14 Jane Scott Paul 1987–96 John Hanson 2014–22 Mark Farrar

Past Presidents’ Award winners

This award, voted on by past presidents, recognises a full member who has enhanced the reputation of AAT by their effort and services.

2008 Paul Buzzard MAAT 2009 Lesley Sureshkumar FMAAT 2010 Jane Towers FMAAT 2011 Jennifer Frost MAAT 2012 Duncan Majinda MAAT 2013 Neil Montgomery FMAAT 2014 Martyn Strickett FMAAT 2015 Con Kelly FMAAT 2016 Jeremy Nottingham FMAAT 2017 Caroline Green MAAT 2018 Ian Bennett MAAT 2019 Dawn Clarkson FMAAT 2020 Ali Jaw FMAAT 2021 Lucy Cohen FMAAT 2023 Gemma Heard MAAT

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The Past Presidents’ Award 2023

This award to Gemma Heard MAAT recognises her outstanding contribution to enhancing the prestige of the Association and her embodiment of AAT’s strategic themes.

Gemma is an ardent ambassador for AAT, driven by the recognition of how her AAT membership and AAT’s commitment to high standards has given her the confidence to succeed. Gemma has harnessed online channels to share her experience and establish an online resource community. She has developed support resources for local businesses, helping them to develop resilience strategies to enable business success.

Gemma’s innovative approach is representative of the developing demands on the accountancy profession and helps to empower clients and local businesses alike.

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AAT is a registered charity No. 1050724 Information is accurate at the time of publication.