Would love to here form any other ACCA's who are successfully operating as bookkeepers without a practice certificate.
That's the boat I'm in and I think the restrictions we are under have been well covered already on the forum.
I'm wondering what there key market is for us though, I'm just starting out and wonder which areas are most likely to be interested in the services i can provide.
Seems to me that the smaller sole traders will want someone to take them further than trial balance. So should i just target Ltd's that are not big enough to have in house accounts team and don't want to pay there accountant to do the basics to trial balance.
I'm not ACCA qualified myself, but I had a colleague who passed his ACCA exams but couldnt obtain a practising certificate. He's set up his own financial management business, basically taking on the role of an in house financial director. He prepares all the VAT returns, management accounts, etc, for his clients, but the reports get signed off by the directors / Accountants. I believe this is how he gets round the ACCA issue.
He seems to be doing well!
Stuart
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Stuart
Birmingham City FC - Blues is my religion St Andrews is my church
congratulations on passing all of the exams. P7 is still my Nemesis at the moment.
I know that after passing their exams a lot of ACCA's get work in banking, insurance and high finance but that of course is an alternate career path for which of course you don't need a practice certificate.
Depending on what other skills you bring to the table and what sort of grades you got in your advanced papers you might think of using your qualification to apply to the likes of KPMG, PWC, E&Y, Deloit etc. As after a couple of years you should be able to have all of the requirements to achieve that elusive practice certificate.
In situations where you work directly for the public as a bookkeeper it's best to get clearance for your services from the ACCA but my understanding is that until you have the practice certificate no matter what you do you are not allowed to refer at all to your ACCA status either explicitly or implicitly.
As Stuart states there's the option of getting all of your work signed off or it's down to bookkeeping to trial balance, VAT and PAYE.
To be honest, that one is not allowed to give any financial advice at all is really frustrating considering what we know and I for one certainly wasn't able to make a living at.
Personally I've given up my ICB practice certificate (covered me for MLR) and gone back to being a banking analyst where at least I can put my knowledge to good use (as it says at the end of every BPP success CD).
Good luck with your business and I completely sympathise with your current frustrations.
All the best,
Shaun.
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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.
I was studying with the ACCA for several years until I become a partner in an unchartered accountancy practice a few years ago. I was surprised to learn that I would not be able to continue with my studies as you cannot act as a principal or partner whilst a student, this is not advertised to my knowledge, although I guess it must be somewhere in the code of practice.
I also learnt that my experience as an accountant (in both corporate and practice roles) in the past 10 years would not be accepted unless it was signed off by a chartered accountant, I think its also needs to be an ACCA with a practice certificate??
Anyhow, in the end I contacted CIMA who said that I could continue my studies with them and also acquire a practice cert on completion of studies and experience, although this also needs to be signed off by a chartered accountant. I have still to complete my final 2 exams but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I spoke to a friend of mine who is a chartered accountant, and he has said the quickest route to chartered status is to complete the ATT and then the Chartered Institute of Taxation exams (CTA) as you could potentially get to chartered status in 2 -3 years.
Food for thought, have a great weekend,
Ross
-- Edited by RossDunn on Saturday 4th of December 2010 05:54:07 PM
Thanks for the CIMA tip! I've always been put off going for ACCA due to the experience and sign off requirements. I may look into the CIMA qualification in the new year to see if this is a possibility for me.
Cheers
Stuart
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Stuart
Birmingham City FC - Blues is my religion St Andrews is my church
I'm not that frustrated to be honest, I understand the ACCA restrictions and why they are in place. Just wondered if anyone else was making a go of it working to Trial Balance and what sort of customers they target. Guess its just me sticking it out, so i'll post some updates as things (hopefully) progress.
Anyway this is more a sideline for me and something to keep 'The misses' out of trouble while she enjoys her extended maternity leave.
I'm a good couple of years post qualified and work full time as a finance manager for a large global. I'm not intending to give up corporate accounting or the day job.
Things have started to pick up, should be signing my first customer at the weekend, onwards and upwards.
I myself I am an accounting / a book-keeper working in Mauritius under the Mauritian Law. I have an own firm doing the following:
- Accounting - Book-keeping - Value Added Tax (VAT) - Advance Payment System (APS) - Income Tax Computation
In fact we are not fully qualified and we have several small and medium companies which has already entrusted to us the responsibility of their book-keeping.
We are now turning towards overseas book-keeping firms, especially in UK, for them to outsource / subcontract their book-keeping clients / services to us. We use the Quick-book software as our main book-keeping entries. We are very reliable, trust-worthy and flexible with quick delivery of service.
For further details, kindly check our website (zaydsalauroo.page4.me). To those interested with our proposal, please do not hesitate to contact us through our mail (zaydsalauroo.acc@gmail.com).
Thank you for much for your attention.
Zayd
-- Edited by Zayd on Tuesday 14th of December 2010 07:07:31 PM
I actually studied with an accounting practice so it was only logical for me to wait the two years, although it was very frustrating. I wasn't that clear on the rules post qualification to obtaining my practising certificate.
Now that I have it though I do feel it was worth the wait and means I can offer a much wider range of services with the backing of qualified regulation.
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Phil Hendy, The Accountancy Mentor
Are you thinking of setting up your own practice or have you set up and need some help?
If so a mentor may be the way forward - feel free to get in touch and see how I can assist you.
Dont you only need a practice certificate in order to advertise and use the ACCA logo on your company stationery and website etc..In other words, make a point of being ACCA qualified?
Dont you only need a practice certificate in order to advertise and use the ACCA logo on your company stationery and website etc..In other words, make a point of being ACCA qualified?
It depends on the services you are offering; if as an ACCA member you want to prepare accounts or give tax advice, you need to have a practising certificate. If not you would most likely lose your membership.
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Phil Hendy, The Accountancy Mentor
Are you thinking of setting up your own practice or have you set up and need some help?
If so a mentor may be the way forward - feel free to get in touch and see how I can assist you.
The key is to make sure that as much as is practical that every one who supervises your work post membership award is a member of a Chartared Accountancy body. I was lucky , I use to use my ACCA fellow status as leverage to get higher salaries in public sector/ consultancy but when things got rough I needed to practise on my own . Not having the practising cert was a disaster , but luckily most of my Senior management bods were members of chartered bodies.
Thank god -seriously
Now I am almost back to where I used to be . Work 2 ays a week for more than £50K in corporate and building practice for rest of week. Very busy , but I have a great quality of life- home office practise.
