Hi guys, this forum has been invaluable to me in terms of advice for the last few months, im just beginning to be able to reply to others post now so can at least give a bit back! Anyways, Jan this year I decided to start my book keeping training, I have 3 kids, the youngest born dec 09 so I knew I wanted to find a career that i could work from home. i love figures so book keeping seemed a natural route. I decided on ICB as i would like to be self employed, I did level 1 manual,level 2 manual and now level 2 computerised which i sould hopefully finish by christmas. My questions is, what should i do next? I need experience more than anything, i could get my practice licence now and head straight out there as it were,but im lacking in confidence. I have no past experience at all which doesnt help! i could also fork out for my associate ICB membership but if I pass my computerised level 2 i will need to pay again to update which is a bit of a waste. Any advice would be great, the quicker i can start to earn the better obviously!!! thanks!x
Yep, experience is what you need next as book-keeping in the real world is nothing like exam scenarios. There's no easy way when you have young children. You could volunteer but most of that would probably be with charities and they are a different kettle of fish to anything you will have come across whilst studying because they tend to have restricted funds which need income and expenditure accounting for each specific fund. You may be able to get some voluntary work from a local accountant which they may let you do from home which would give you experience and also supervision.
Have you read my articles on starting your own bookkeeping business? (in the link below). As you say, your only real holdback is lack of confidence. Running your own business is not difficult. You will start with one client and gain confidence that way. Read my guide, I am sure it will help, and feel free to fire any questions at me :)
As you have children, what about volenteering to be treasurer of the PTA, although its not paid you will gain some experience and can be done in your own time. Its normally a job at the AGM that no one wants!
HTH A
-- Edited by Amanda on Monday 20th of September 2010 10:34:55 AM
Thanks for your replies! Quentin..your website is excellent, very helpful. Just one more question...in the early days while im still learning,and for any work that isnt voluntary, how do i work out what to charge...my only experience is with a gardening business when my ( fully qualified and experienced) services were worth about £20 /hr. Also, how do you charge,per hr, per month etc etc any pointers would be great, pm me if preferred! thanks!
I charge per month and for any additional work depending on what it is either a fix amount or per hour. Like if the client wants some additional reports I charge a fixed fee but if they want me to enter a box of invoices I charge hourly. The rates I would think depends on where you live,too.
