I don't think you're being naive. Thanks for providing a bit more context, that's helpful and makes sense. I am thinking "out loud" a bit here so please feel free to disregard things if you don't feel they're helpful.
Off the top of my head I can think of a couple of people I have worked with who originally worked in admin roles for many years before moving across into the audit or accounts team on a training contract. They have qualified and are doing well. So in principle I don't see anything outlandish about what you are aspiring to do.
If you had gone straight into an accounting role rather than an admin role at 16 we would have put you through AAT first and I can understand from what you have said why you wanted to test the water with it first and develop your skills and confidence. Sort of like doing an access course. In your circumstances, having L2 or L3 AAT would demonstrate to an employer (and yourself) that you are serious and capable of passing the exams. If you interview having passed the exams, I would make clear that you self-studied rather than going on a course because that would be quite impressive and show what you are made of.
You also mentioned that you have had some QB experience? That is useful. You may have other experience that would help you - managing relationships? Customer service? Practice roles have lots of client relationship management.
Is your 18 month time frame because you won't be in a position to start an accounting trainee position sooner, or because you think that's how long you need to study L3 AAT?
I am reluctant to encourage you to spend money on the exams because they're not cheap, but I am wondering if it may be useful to you to do the real L2 exams to get the experience of the real exams and develop your exam technique (e.g. managing the pressure, managing the time, remembering details whilst nervous) because that is an important skill which can be easier to develop when it's lower stakes. In the same way that I have seen ex-admin staff fly with their exams, I have also seen high-achieving graduates fail to pass a single exam and bomb out of their training contract. So I would be cautious of under-prioritising exam skills - the more steps you take to set yourself up for success the better.
Either way, I think what is perhaps missing from your tentative plan is the employer research. If you want to target practice training contracts, these generally have one intake per year starting in late summer/early autumn and therefore the recruitment process opens as much as 10-12 months beforehand (depending on the size of the firm and how many posts they have). So if you wanted to start as a trainee in September 2027, you would probably need to be starting your research into employers now, finding out when they open trainee recruitment, finding out what types of trainee roles they offer and what the requirements are, signing up for alerts, and preparing to start the application cycle later this year.
I would then be planning any studies to that timeline and think about the qualifications the employers would put you through. For instance, if you want to apply for an audit apprenticeship doing AAT, check what level AAT they would be starting you on - if you've already done that level, it will become more hassle for them and might make you a less attractive candidate because you won't slot neatly into their intake or systems. If they start their apprentices on L3, I would probably just take your L2 exams and start applying for roles before sitting any more exams (even if you start studying the content).
You could have a look at Accountancy Age Top 50+50 to get a sense of the bigger firms and research what might be the right fit for you, but there will also be smaller firms that take on trainees.
I do think you need to be preparing yourself for the employer side in some way whilst you study. Otherwise you're going to get the exams done but not yet even be at the starting blocks for converting it into a job. That's my big worry about people doing AAT without a job yet - I don't like seeing people sink time, money, effort and enthusiasm into something and then get stuck.
I would also maybe be cautious about under selling yourself by going for voluntary or low paid work rather than a training contract. Don't set yourself up for exploitation. Almost all trainees in accountancy start out knowing nothing about accountancy and with zero experience - that's totally normal. The thing you need to demonstrate to a potential employer for a training contract is that you're capable of meeting the demands of studying and working.
Did you know that you wanted to work in practice from the get go?
No. I barely knew anything about accountancy when I first had the idea and even once I had done my research I definitely did not have a long term plan besides qualifying. I mainly wanted a route that would offer respected qualifications and opportunities to progress and specialise. I hoped that once I qualified I would have plans forming for what to do next - and that does naturally happen, you set your next goals and things become clearer with more experience. I work in a more specialist role now doing something that never would have made my original shortlist!
The main reasons I started out in practice were firstly because that was where the most opportunities for training contracts with the most supporting structures are, and secondly because I thought it would keep the most options open. It's fairly common for people to move to industry after training in practice - whether short term for experience or long term for lifestyle - but it's harder to move the other way.
The other factor was that I had heard of month end stress in industry and it also sounded more repetitive at trainee stage. I didn't want to spend every day just posting purchase invoices onto Sage and I was concerned that I wouldn't get the right/enough experience to progress. That said, sometimes you just need a foot in the door.
Advantages I see of practice, at least as a trainee:
- You get to work with lots of different clients, lots of different businesses, different needs, different systems, different people. Great experience.
- Established pathway, often other trainees on the pathway with you (albeit probably for you they will be younger), more experienced people who have just been through the same thing
- highly structured, clear reporting lines, clear progression routes, faster progression often
- Constant learning, people there to support you, feedback on all your work
- opportunities to get involved in different things, you might start in audit then move to accounts or tax or corporate advisory
- opportunities to take responsibility for a client portfolio within your first few years (with supervision and support) so you can plan your workload and get to know your specific clients
- variety, day to day, week to week, client to client
- where I work, if line managers/partners realise you are working over your hours on a regular basis they will step in because they don't want that
- more likely to offer you a proper training contract with fully funded courses, student registration fees, exam fees, and time off for college and exams. (Won't be the case for everyone but I am aware some people in industry had courses funded but had to use annual leave to attend etc)
- once you qualify, you'll be supported to meet your CPD requirements with ongoing training
Downsides:
- timesheets (but you get used to it)
- feedback on all your work (a positive but sometimes draining)
- you don't have month end, but you have a bunch of different deadlines instead
- chargeable hours targets and budgets
- some firms have long working hours (usually the very biggest firms)
- some firms have much younger cultures (by which I mean even the qualified senior staff are predominantly under say 35) - for you specifically I would factor this into employer research if you think you might be less comfortable somewhere like that
- sometimes stressful at the busiest deadlines
One downside that is the same for industry and practice: studying and working is demanding. Even with time off for college and exams, you will still have to study in your personal time. Being older and more experienced might make that easier as you may have better developed strategies to organise your time.
I think if you choose an employer that's a good fit, some of the downsides won't exist and others will be manageable or you will be supported with. Plus once you qualify you can move to industry to try that, or try a deeper specialism. You don't need to have the whole career planned out, just a decision about whether you're aiming for technician status only or full chartered status and then a realistic route to qualifying.
Sorry this is so long. I think I've waffled because I'm tired! I wanted to try and give you enough details to start building up a picture that you could mull over and weigh up what to explore further.