I've been lurking round this forum for a few days, read loads of really useful advice but think I'm even more confused now than when I first stumbled across it! So I thought it might be easier to post my own thread and see what you all think, so apologies if it gets a bit long winded and confusing.
I am currently not working as I left banking to raise my family 5 years ago, but I would like to retrain in some kind of book keeping role as I now have some child free time to study.
About 5 years ago I started doing AAT level 2 certificate in bookkeeping with premier training. But as my children then came along I never finished, when I contacted Premier earlier in the year they advised me that that course is now out of date and I would have to buy an updated version to carry on.
So looking into things I was going to do the ICB qualifications via Ideal Schools distance learning course until I came across this forum. Now I don't know whether to carry on with AAT route, or do the ICB qualifications so I can get up and running to do some work from home or do the IAB exams so if I decide to go further as my children get older they would go towards my AAT's.
I think I'm looking down the route of being self employed for a few years, at least until my children have started full time school anyway. In September I will hopefully have some data entry and Sage work to do, so that will give me some useful practical experience to start with. I have also previously worked with a Sage package entering invoices and doing bank reconciliations for my parents business.
If I do the IAB qualifications, will I be able to get a practising and money laundering certificate off them to enable me to take on work in 12 months or so, or is the ICB route the best to take for that?
And my other question is, I've read somewhere on here that people manage to do a self study route. If I was to do a self study route apart from working through the Frank Woods Business accounting book 1 (edition 8), which I got half way through when I studied last time, are there any other publications you'd recommend to get me through the level 1 ICB/IAB or AAT foundation stage? Having already paid for a home learning course that is no longer any use I'd like to try and save some pennies for my first exams if possible.
Hopefully someone can make sense of that! thanks in advance
ill be rather interested in what others have to say about this too like you im rather puzzled about all the different qualifications and different institues to go with and started considering self study and discovered mastering book-keeping by peter marshall but am unable to find any bookstore that has it has anyone else used it and what did they think-it claims to cover pretty much all syllabuses
