Technician Level Qualifications:

AAT: Accounting Technician
Responsibility for purchase ledger, sales ledger, credit control, payroll, cashier, product costing, cash-flow forecasts, budgeting and profit projections. Project costing. Management accounts. Preparing annual accounts. Assisting with tax returns, tax computations and completion of audits. Can train in practice or industry. 		CAT: Certified Accounting Technician
Is a derivative of AAT for those who only want to progress to ACCA. 		ATT: Tax Technician
Preparing tax computations, completing tax returns, assisting tax planning. Will generally train in practice.

Professional Level Qualifications:

These could take up to three years to achieve with up to four stages of exams. Exemptions can be obtained for parts of these with prior qualifications such as the AAT.

To encourage take up of Chartered Accountancy training, the ICAEW have introduced a four year fast track AAT - ACA’ qualification. This is of particular interest to post A level students as it could see them as fully qualified chartered accountants by the age of 22.

ACA (ICAEW): Chartered Accountant
In business - Financial accountant, financial controller, financial director. Management accountant. General management. In practice - Accounts, tax or audit manager or partner. Generally train in public practice but increasing number can train in industry. Can also train in National Audit Office and other similar bodies.

ACCA: Chartered Certified Accountant
As for ACA but more training in industry - more financial accounting than cost & management accounting.

CIMA: Chartered Management Accountant
As for ACA but train in industry - more cost & management accounting than financial accounting.

CIPFA: Chartered Public Finance Accountant
As for ACA but train in local or central government, District Audit, NHS.

CTA (CiOT): Chartered Tax Adviser
Generally in practice, specialising in taxation issues, corporation tax, income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, indirect taxation. Both compliance and planning. Although many qualified accountants supplement their qualification with CTA, you can study for it directly via ATT.

Although with particular dominance in their respective markets, ACA, ACCA, CIMA and CIPFA are all in potential competition with each other for the best candidates and there is overlap with their training locations.