I've been reading through the threads and everyone seems to be ICB or IAB qualified through various home learning providers (some a rip off and some not) and it always costs £1,000's.
I'm looking at doing the AAT bookkeeping course through BPP with a view to taking the full qualification, and the bookkeeping course only costs £175 - am I missing something? This is a lot, lot cheaper than the rest of the discussions would indicate for a course like this.
Has anyone done the AAT with BPP and is it worth it?
(my background is accounts, but unqualified, and now I have a young child I'd like to move out of the office and into self-employment)
I've just had a look round their site and from what I can make out (It's not easy to find the prices but I did find this on line brochure http://www.bpp.com/aat/pdfs/1H10-bristol-insert-aat.pdf ) it will cost £1870 to do the full qualification training (probably plus AAT fees)
Just had another look and bookkeeping is a level 2 so it is a bit cheaper but the pricing structure is not very clear, in fact if you can work it out I think you have passed level 2 already!
Thats for the Bristol area.
I also stumble on some information on their site that the AAT qualifications are being revamped in June? (i think), so it may pay to hold on for a while.
Bill
-- Edited by Wella on Friday 12th of February 2010 06:45:26 PM
I was banging on about this some weeks back to newbies.
The course that your talking about is the ABC AAT bookkeeping course.
Its written by EQL for BPP.
Its also the course sold by the Open University as course B190.
It is absolutely excellent and will get you through ICB level I and II. With the addition of the revision aid for units 1-4 it will also get you through AAT foundation stage. (you may find that if you've done ABC you have exemptions anyway).
The thing not to get confused with here is this £175 being for AAT. it's not, it's for the pre AAT bookkeeping course but the use of AAT in the name confuses matters a little.... But it is excellent non the less. (I did it through the OU as the first part of the B680 certificate in accounting).
For AAT training try Premier training who seem very reasonable on price and come with a lot of recomendations from this site.
Hope to talk soon,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
if your coming to this with experience you would probably be better starting at AAT intermediate. Talk to premier about your previous experience and they should be able to sort you out from that level if your comfortable starting there.
cheers,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Wella - the £175 is just for the bookkeeping course, not the full technician qualification.
I have accounts experience, but not a lot in 'pure' bookkeeping, which is why I want to start with the bookkeeping course. I'm looking at AAT because I want to do bookkeeping , then payroll, then the accounting technician course to make me fuly qualified. I see this as the ideal way to keep pushing myself forward and being able to offer a wider range of services.
I assum I can start bookkeeping with just the AAT bookkeeping qualification - I don't have to do the whole technician course first?
Shaun - thanks for your advice.
If I qualify in AAT which professional body can I/should I become a member of?
I know that's in the future, but I like to be organised and know where I'm going!
you can do the bookkeeping without any qualification but the reason people go ICB is because (historically) it was the fastest route to a practicing certificate which covers you for Money Laundering Regulations and opens up PII at a reasonable rate.
The MLR can be acuires for around £170 from HMRC directly (£120 for your office and £50 for you) if you were not a member of the ICB.
AAT is definitely a great option. Its sought after by business (unlike ICB) and an AAT member in practice can call themselves an accountant (after you've jumped through a few hoops).
It might be better to save your money for the bookkeeping course and do AAT foundation which covers the same material in more detail. You could get exemptions from this but it sounds like you want to the bookkeeping as many of us do in order to gain confidence.
As to which professional body. I'm ACCA and ICB but I believe that I've made a mistake. ACCA restricts what I can do and ICB are playing silly games with membership at the moment.
Perhaps a better option would be to aim for AAT membership but possibly starting off as ICB to get that practicing certificate, PII and MLR coverage.
At the end of the day it all depends on where you want to be and what you want to do. If you are going to be working in practice I would highly recomend going for ACCA. If you may be working for yourself and in practice then AAT. If you just want to work for yourself then there may be no reason to look any higher than either the ICB ir IAB.
Let us know what path your looking at and we'll no doubt find all possible options and the best and cheapest routes to get there.
take care of you,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Shaun - thanks for your lengthy and knowledgable reply!
I ultimately want to work for myself, offering full accountancy services - including bookkeeping and payroll, probably with a couple of employees - which is why I want to do AAT. I want to start with the bookkeeping qual. so I can jump in and start as soon as possible. I'm writing to local accountants to see if I can get some temp/contract work with them to give me some relevant experience (I've been off on maternity leave and before that was working in an invoicing/AR role so am a little rusty).
If I complete the AAT bookkeeping can I become a member of ICB or IAB and get the practising cert., PII & MLR coverage? Or can I get all that just by completing the first part of the AAT?
Thanks for all your help, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future!
it's a strange one as seemingly the same course gives different exemptions.
I would strongly advise looking at the Open University course B190 as they seem to have negotiated with the various bodies more exemptions than you get for the ABC AAT course which is to all intent and purpose identical!
I just took this from the Open University website. It used to also mention the ICB but the way that the ICB are thinking above their station at the moment they may have removed their exemptions.
Introduction to bookkeeping and accounting (B190) is accredited by the International Association of Book-keepers (IAB). The course provides exemption from both their Level 2 Certificate in Book-keeping and also their Level 3 Diploma in Accounting and Advanced Book-keeping. Therefore on successful completion of B190 students will be able to apply to become Members of the IAB.
Its worth checking with the ICB and AAT directly whether the B190 course gives exemptions.
The AAT ABC bookkeeping course will give you exemptions from ABC foundation. this is from their website :
The course is extremely flexible because you can apply irrespective of your age, experience or previous qualifications and you study at your own pace, on your own computer, when and where you want.
There are three levels to the course and each level consists of several modules. At the end you will have an introductory qualification that will give you exemptions from the main AAT Accounting Qualification, so it can really boost your career prospects!
ABC covers part of the content of the AAT Accounting Qualification, so you may be able to go straight onto that qualification at the mid level (subject to agreement with your college).
The supervisory bodies are all going through a period of change and what was true of swapping qualifications a couple of months back may no longer be assumed to remain true.
For the fastest route to a practicing certificate I would now advise looking to the IAB rather than ICB but I am no expert on that organistaion so will leave it for others to fill in the details on acquiring an IAB practicing certificate.
Sure that's given you loads to think about.
good luck,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
In schedule 2 of the IAB bylaws it states that to gain a certificate of compliance (required to practice) you must be at member or fellow membership level with the institute.
from the main site I took the following :
A Member is entitled to use the designatory letters MIAB.
To apply for this grade of membership you must hold as a minimum one of the following IAB qualifications or equivalent qualifications from other awarding or professional bodies:
IAB Level 3 Diploma in Accounting and Advanced Book-keeping IAB Level 3 Diploma in Computerised Accounting
No practical experience is required for this level of membership.
Those in practice are also required to apply for and hold an IAB Certificate of Compliance or an IAB Practicing Certificate (dependent on their levels of experience).
The AAT ABC only gives exemption to level 2 so in answer to your earlier question you cannoty go straight from that to practice.
Talk later,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
