AAT Level 2 Bookkeeping vs a Level 2 bookkeeping certificate course: which should you take first?

The two routes at a glance (prices checked 22 October 2026)

Figures are as each provider showed them on its own course page on 22 October 2026. AAT student membership and assessment fees are set by AAT and are charged on top of the ICS Learn fee and the Open Study College course-only fee; check aat.org.uk for the current amounts.

Which should you take first?

• You have never done bookkeeping and want to learn the method properly. Take the Level 2 Bookkeeping Course first. You learn double entry, the ledgers, VAT, bank reconciliation and the trial balance on real-style business records, with a tutor marking every unit, and you can stop at the end of any month.
• You want to keep the books for your own business and nothing more. Start with Bookkeeping Basics: six modules, about six hours, £19.99 paid once. Move up to the Level 2 course if you find you enjoy it.
• A job advert names AAT, or you want to go on to AAT Level 3 and Level 4 accounting. Enrol on the AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping with a provider that can register you with AAT. Budget for the exam and membership fees as well as the course fee.
• You are not sure yet. The cost of finding out is one free week at Lift College. If you finish the Level 2 course and still want the AAT letters, the AAT Level 2 content covers the same ground, so the second course is revision with exams rather than new learning.

What the AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping involves

The AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping has two units, Introduction to Bookkeeping and Principles of Bookkeeping Controls, each assessed by an exam set and marked by AAT. ICS Learn states that the exams can be sat by remote invigilation or at an AAT assessment venue, that the average completion time is three months, and that exam and registration fees are not included in its £349 course price. Open Study College states four tutor-marked assessments and two exams, a study period of up to one year, and a minimum age of 16, with a £519 course-only fee or £719 with course material and exams.

Because the certificate is awarded by AAT, it appears on job adverts and on the AAT progression route to the Level 3 and Level 4 accounting qualifications. That recognition is what you pay for: the course fee, the AAT fees, and the time to sit two timed exams.

What the Lift College Level 2 Bookkeeping Course involves

The Level 2 Bookkeeping Course is written and taught by Lift College. It is a certificate course of 90 guided learning hours in six units, from the first sales invoice through purchase ledgers, VAT, banking and reconciliations to the trial balance, with a synoptic assignment at the end where you keep a small business's books for a full month. Every unit is marked by a named UK tutor, there are no exams, and the certificate of achievement is issued by Lift College when you complete it. It is not a regulated qualification, and Lift College does not teach AAT or ICB qualifications.

The price is £29.99 a month after a 7-day free trial, or £305.99 for the year, with nothing charged until day 8 and a 14-day money back guarantee on every payment. If you skip the trial and start now, it is £25.49 a month or £260.09 a year for as long as you study. The fee covers the course, the tutor and the certificate, with no exam or registration fee to add.

What three months costs on each route

A learner who finishes the Lift College course in three months and decides against the AAT route has spent £89.97 or less. A learner who wants the AAT certificate from the outset saves nothing by doing the Lift College course first, except that they sit the AAT exams already knowing the material.

Can you do both, and in which order?

Yes. The AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping has no entry requirement beyond the provider's minimum age, so you can enrol on it at any point. Most people who do both take the certificate course first because it is cheaper per month, has no exams, and shows quickly whether bookkeeping suits them. The order that costs most is starting AAT Level 2, paying the registration and exam fees, and then stopping. If exams are the thing you are unsure about, the Lift College course lets you learn the whole method without sitting one.

Read our guide to how to become a bookkeeper in the UK for the routes into paid work, including the anti money laundering supervision self-employed bookkeepers must have, and our comparison of bookkeeper vs accountant if you are weighing a longer accountancy path. The full table of providers is in best online bookkeeping courses UK compared.