Hi i am AAT qualified adn have 6 years experience in accountancy. I want to set up my own book-keeping business and was hoping some of you may be able to give me some advice.
1) Is it worth getting book-keeping qualification? I would be willing to study at home. Who should i use to get these qualifications?
2) I have no experience of book-keeping software. If i were to do the sage qualification, do you learn yourself that through text books or have to attend classes?
Im confident in bookkeeping, im just not sure what i have to do to start up. I would be grateful for any tips and advice.
Firstly as you have six years experience then I would say you should have more than enough experience to start your own business. As far as qualifications go I'm not qualified myself yet, only by experience. I chose ICB mainly because I could sit the level 1 and level 2 computing at home and do it in your own time, once you have these you can then apply for your ICB practicing certificate and become a member. There is no need to take the manual level two or level three, although ICB would recommend it, but let's face it 99% of firms these days use a computerised accounting systems and while knowing the ins and outs of the manual system is useful it is not necessary in this day and age. You can as I understand it then take the self-assessment module with ICB which is a sort of stand alone module, this would then give you the confidence and qualification to do tax returns for small businesses, i.e. sole traders.
There is no need to do expensive courses, I'm using the Kaplan Practical Bookkeeping available direct from Kaplan or the ICB for about £27 including postage, this should be fine for taking you up to level 2 ICB. However you may want to take a look at the AAT bookkeeping qualification or IAB qualification, I don't think your clients will be really too bothered which one you have but it does show creditability and will help you get a better rate for your liability insurance, do not forget to get this! If you are looking to stay in employment then seek advice from accountants, specialist recruitment agencies to see what they think is the best qualification.
As for accounting software, you may be able to download a trial version for so many days, don't waste your money at this stage, get some experience, there are some reasonable priced Sage courses, look at their website, you can even learn at home. Try e-bay you may be able to pick up a cheap version of Sage to practice on.
Building up this business takes time, so dont rush to give up your job, slowly take on work, that you are comfortable and able to do, you can advertise using postcards in newsagents & Post Offices to start with, you could also try writing to accountants to see if they would be willing to pass some bookkeeping work to you, make sure you make them aware that you only do bookkeeping and will not take any tax work etc off them, offer to do some work for free to gain experience and get their trust.
Lastly keep on reading the threads on this website, there is lots of useful info on how to get started and qualified.
