Career
Football
Beaton became a referee in 2001 and was admitted to the SFA senior list in 2005 before becoming a Category 1 referee in 2009. He has refereed at the Union of European Football Associations U17 Championship Qualifying Tournament in 2009 and the Scottish Junior Cup Final. He currently referees in the Scottish First Division and Scottish Premier League.
He refereed two games at Union of European Football Associations u19 Elite Round in Serbia in May 2012.
His first Europa League match appointment is 5 July 2012 Elsborg v Floriana. In March 2010 he was stuck in snow gates overnight on the A9 in Scotland after refereeing an Elgin City match, along with the Queen"s Park team
Beaton became a Fédération internationale de football association referee in 2012. He appeared as a fourth official in the 2014 World Cup qualifier between Romania and the Netherlands.
Non football
Outside of football Beaton started his career as a journalist before becoming Communications Officer for Strathclyde Police.
He is currently Communications Officer for the University of Strathclyde.