AAT Connect 2025
Heather, Mahdokht, Matt, Rosie and Sarah attended AAT Connect in November 2025. Sarah talks about her experience below:
I've been so glad to be able to attend AAT Connect in 2024 and 2025, after the restrictions on events during COVID. It is a great opportunity to come together with other members working in a range of roles, to go to inspiring and useful CPD sessions, and to celebrate the achievements of members in the Impact Awards.
I attended three great sessions in the morning CPD section. The first was on the topic of how to have impact as a CFO, with Claire Elliott FMAAT. I am not a CFO (and don't plan to become one!) but there were insights for everyone working in finance. One takeaway was that there should be no surprises at board meetings – I took that as a broader encouragement to understand what the meetings you attend are for, to know your work and to feel confident in what you have done. Another great insight was to talk to those receiving the financial data and ask - what do you do with the data I'm providing? If we understand what our clients or other stakeholders need the numbers for, then we can have a better chance of explaining and presenting the figures in a way that supports that work. Working in our practice, we are bringing the kind of data that larger organisations get from their CFO so we can ask these questions and support our clients.
Another good session was about having a mindset for success, and was a panel of AAT members - Donna Spalding, Julie Spence and Carlene Pearson - with very different backgrounds and at different stages in their AAT journies. It’s inspiring to see the different paths that AAT members have taken and to hear how they have met their challenges. They encouraged us to Persevere; Know yourself; Know your why; and Take challenges as a springboard. It is great to have reinforced that AAT supports a range of different pathways and that members can work and succeed in a range of organisations and sectors.
The third session I attended was the bookkeepers session led by Libby Walklett – where we discussed the challenges of bookkeeping in the current climate of increasing AI and other developments like outsourcing. My main takeaway was not to say ‘just a bookkeeper’ – bookkeeping is the foundation of quality financial information and AI is not going to replace the need for skilled bookkeepers who understand the data they are working with. Libby is leading the way in championing bookkeeping representation at higher levels of AAT.
Among the many interesting conversations I had at AAT Connect, I caught up with Charterpath, who are helping finance professionals to find a volunteer role that matches their skills and interests – great to see the impact that finance professionals can have outside their day job.
The AAT Impact Awards ceremony was kicked off with a delicious lunch - and it was great to see the range of different interesting and meaningful work being done by AAT members to support their communities and to promote learning. We were there with three shortlistings for our team - and while we didn’t come away with any awards it was great to be recognised alongside so many great winners. The entertainment wasn’t quite as much fun as last year – but Jess Robinson was a huge hit in 2024 so it was difficult to top her amazing performance. Would love to see her at another AAT Connect in the future - and I’ll be booking my ticket for 2026 as soon as they go on sale.