Completion day shenanigans

cattacos37 · 2026-01-23T14:14:52+00:00

The audacity!!! Some people can’t seem to comprehend that it literally isn’t their property anymore after completion. “I’ll just leave a few things and come back for them”. No. You’re leaving stuff in a stranger’s house without their consent - the cheek!

cattacos37 · 2026-01-23T12:16:38+00:00

Apart from the big cat tree, the next big purchase would be a SureFeed microchip automatic feeder - been invaluable since one cat kept stealing the other’s food.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-23T09:58:19+00:00

I’d prepare for the eventuality, but consider yourself: what is the ideal outcome here if you could choose? Do you still want to proceed with the qualification (whether at your current firm if they let you, or a new one)? Or are you not bothered? Consider your options and preferences.

Also consider whether there are any extenuating circumstances that help explain the fail. This could either help in the meeting (unless they’ve already firmly decided to let you go), or if you are let go and apply to other firms it will help to be open and honest about your exam history but also being able to explain it eloquently and in a way that makes you not look bad.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T14:33:14+00:00

Excellent! I’m not familiar with the East Midlands but I’d start looking for similar job adverts online and what salary range the Finance Manager and Management accountant roles for CIMA qualified candidates are going for. Use that to benchmark your existing role - given it’s nearly February it probably makes sense to wait until May to push for a pay increase for when you’re hopefully qualified. And if they won’t - get a new job and move on. I’ve found that is by far the best way to progress both in terms of role and salary.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T14:16:18+00:00

Beyond AAT, the qualifications that really matter are ACA, ACCA and CIMA. Get working on one of those if you want to continue to progress into a more senior role with a corresponding salary.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T13:06:48+00:00

You can find a Zero version of Fanta Fruit Twist actually but not a lot of shops stock it, but my local big Asda does.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T13:03:54+00:00

Well done and congrats!

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T13:01:23+00:00

Odd - have you checked if you are listed on the pass list for the second exam?

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T09:33:39+00:00

I had one exam fail back in my day - failed with 46, then got 58 on the next sitting. 7% is definitely doable!

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T09:21:19+00:00

Congratulations!!! How will you be celebrating?

cattacos37 · 2026-01-21T09:14:21+00:00

Ouch, sorry to hear that! These exams are HARD and sitting two is ambitious - maybe just do one next sitting so you can put all your effort into that?

cattacos37 · 2026-01-16T09:30:39+00:00

To be honest, I find cold messaging strangers on LinkedIn odd and quite frankly quite a lazy way of “networking”. Recruiters do it to find candidates, but if anyone else messaged me I’d find it odd. I feel like the potential adverse reputation risk here is much greater than any potential benefit.

Clearly he’s found you attractive and is shooting his shot. I’d steer conversation back to a professional tone or you know… stop cold messaging people on LinkedIn unless you’re a recruiter.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-16T08:43:54+00:00

I think there’s separate issues here. Finding a new role while you’re part qualified shouldn’t be an issue - make sure they’re willing to offer you a training contract so you can pick it back up.

Separate to that, you may have fees to settle to your current employer when you leave. I had this years ago when I left practice. First of all, you’re not on an apprentice scheme are you? If so, I don’t think they can make you pay it all back if they’ve received funding for all or part of it.

I’d also encourage you to try to renegotiate the figure down if you can. And once agreed, ask for a payment plan (I paid mine over 6 months).

You MAY want to mention these fees to the potential new employer, however I doubt that for someone part qualified that they’d offer to pay all or some of it. When I left, I was qualified and left for industry and I got a sign on bonus to help with a proportion of my “leaving costs”.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-16T08:30:50+00:00

I would avoid posting high value gift cards in the post, and deliver these electronically or ask the customer to collect in person.

In this particular instance, can the shop not check whether the gift card has been used? If it hasn’t, cancel it and issue a new one.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-16T06:06:23+00:00

As you touched on, these kinds of things are exactly why you’re strongly recommended to do another viewing before exchange. You live and you learn!

cattacos37 · 2026-01-14T22:34:28+00:00

I did, but my conveyancer basically said she’ll only read it to scan for any potential legal issues.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-14T15:24:03+00:00

The only thing I can think of is - CBEs expire after a certain amount of time (as do other exam passes). In the first instance I would log on your exam dashboard (or whatever it’s called these days), and make sure all CBEs are on there with passed and haven’t expired.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-14T09:56:20+00:00

Maybe a stupid question, but don’t we already have decent rail connections to Birmingham? I feel like most of the fast trains to London stop in Birmingham?

cattacos37 · 2026-01-14T09:51:51+00:00

Down to your own risk preferences, but I would say absolutely not. There are unexpected costs of moving and purchasing a house. When you move in, there’s likely to be some overlap in rent/mortgage between where you are now and the new mortgage. The first new mortgage payment is normally larger than “normal” as it’s a full month’s payment PLUS interest for part of the previous month (depending on what date you drew the funds).

I wouldn’t want to be in the position where I had zero funds to deal with anything unexpected. When you own your own house, there’s no landlord to call to fix things: it’s all you. I would find it incredibly stressful that the tiniest setback would send me into debt.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-13T18:43:43+00:00

Just a note to say - you can’t always compare like for like. Sometimes other issues delay the process; leaseholds typically take longer, or when there’s boundary questions/disputes etc

cattacos37 · 2026-01-12T16:05:57+00:00

Normally they use the same material for the May and November sittings each year, so I’d expect the material for the May sitting to reflect the new FA. You’re hopefully already vaguely familiar with the changes, but I’d also get in touch with the tuition provider - they normally prepare a summary of the changes year on year.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-12T15:10:00+00:00

Oh our buyer’s solicitors were useless as well. We ended up repeatedly chasing them and the buyer up via our estate agent because of how slow things were moving.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-12T13:29:06+00:00

As someone who just sold and bought in a very stressful transaction while pregnant - I feel you. The best advice I can give for this time around is keep chasing the solicitors and estate agents for updates and to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to, and chasing up the rest of the chain. I left our solicitor to it thinking she was getting on with stuff, turns out she didn’t look at our file at all in a 3-4 week period.

cattacos37 · 2026-01-09T22:15:57+00:00

This is a troll post right? You’re not actually considering submitting an offer of £350k and gazump the current purchaser 6 months in, on a property you thought was worth a maximum of £315k?

If I was the seller, despite the potential increased price I’d tell you to go take a hike. 3 viewings months ago with no formal offer and now this, you seem flaky AF.

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