help needed regarding which course and supplier - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

mrsl07 · Newbie

help needed regarding which course and supplier

john Boy · Veteran Member

Quick piece of advice: DO NOT go with HLC!!!!

mrsl07 · Newbie

thanks for the advice is there a reason why? like i say after an advice at all

john Boy · Veteran Member

http://www.book-keepers.org.uk/index.spark?aBID=106474&p=3&topicID=38492168

Wella · Expert

Hi Sarah

I second Johns advice, cancel your appointment. Be prepared for hard sell but it is easier to cancel over the phone than face to face.

You haven't said if you are looking to be self employed or employed, which can have a bearing on which route to take.

Bill

mrsl07 · Newbie

Thanks for the reply, eventually i would like to be self employed but thought about work placement first to gain on the job experience.
Thanks Sarah

Amanda · Expert

Hi,

Premier Training are good for long distance learning and they don't do the hard sell either, give them a call and get a price.

cheers

mrsl07 · Newbie

thanks John for the advice going to give them a call and cancel.
Thanks Amanda will take a look at the website and give them a call

Carrie · Veteran Member

Hi. I am just doing Level 1 ICB and have foud the 'Training Link' really good. There was no hard sell, David was really nice when I contacted them for more information. They seem reasonable prices when you compare them with other Providers and you can pay in installments if you wish. So far my Tutor has been fab, so may be worth giving them a call, here's a link to their website:

http://www.training-link.co.uk

Good luck!!!

ES · Veteran Member

Definitely go with training-link you won't regret it, they will give you all the support you need and quickly. the tutors must work all hours! I've always received answers to my queries and had assessments back with in hours. I've passed all my exams with them and distinctions.
Did pay for a course with Ideal School and that was that awful, what a waste of money! Couldn't understand the training notes and it took 2 weeks to get my 1st assignment back and was told it had to be written rather than the way I did it on the computer.
Definitely go with training-link you won't regret it, they will give you all the support you need and quickly. I'm a mum with 2 young children and really helps getting answers to my queries straight away.

Infact it was the owner of training link and my tutor who encouraged me to start my business in December and a month later I have 4 clients!!

-- Edited by ES on Monday 24th of January 2011 08:13:13 PM

Abacus · Newbie

Hi

Researched providers till the cows came home and can safely say that Training Link are definitely the provider to go with. I agree with the comments above, no hard sell, really helpful and the course materials were with me before I knew it!

http://www.training-link.co.uk

albascott · Member

Hi folks

Been on before...a while ago....and whilst browsing noticed some comments re Ideal Schools - I thougth I'd offer some balance.

I have studied with them, as have colleagues, and have to say no-one has ever been told anything about format of assignments...some use pen, some excel, some word and it was all fine. Also (thankfully) I've never waited 2 weeks for an assignment back. As for exams I was more than prepared and did well....Ideal Schools as far as I am aware still have highest ICB pass rate. No-one in my firm has struggled at any exam due to the tuition or course contents.

It seems to be a very personal thing and people get a feel for a college but I would certainly give Ideal Schools a phone as I did and colleagues still do when we have people requiring boookeeping courses. Their stuff is simple, easy to follow and gets you through the exam with room to spare.....

That's my opinion anyway....good luck with searching.

albascott

Rhianrach · Expert

I would and have gone with premier training Sarah and have to say they are very good.
One of the biggest factors with distance learning is the support you receive, premier training give you loads of it and appear to have very well thought out training packages, they are also one of the cheapest around.
In a nutshell an unpretentious company big enough to be successful and not so big that you lose the personal touch.

Heather89 · Member

Hi, I've been looking at the ICB complete package on the training link website. Does anyone know if this price includes the exam fees? And if it doesn't, would you say that price is worth it?? (£1200)

ADAS · Guru

I'd highly recommend people look at ADL, their student support is amazing and their Payroll / Manual Bookkeeping Tutor - Paul is the best tutor I've ever come across !!

ICBUK · Guru

Hello All,

You can get a list of ICB recommended distance course providers here: http://www.bookkeepers.org.uk/where_to_study/distance_learning

Best thing to do is ring a few of them and compare prices and don't forget to ask if they include examination fees.

I don't think Training Link include fees, give them a call to confirm. If it is the full package (Level 1, Both Level IIs and Level IIIs and Payroll) the total examination fees would be £285.

albascott · Member

Heather89

I'd check if the software is fully licenced....some providers do 180 day training software and there is a cost there in buying the actual fully licenced software after 180 days.

Always check the hidden costs in these things.

albascott

soliver · Newbie

Hi there,
I've been having a look at the list of training providers and have called a couple of them. Clever Cloggs seem to be really good, they have responded to all my queries promptly and seem to have good student support in place.

Has anyone used them?

Thanks

Aleksandra · Senior Member

ES wrote:

Infact it was the owner of training link and my tutor who encouraged me to start my business in December and a month later I have 4 clients!!

Wow, tell me how did you manage to find 4 clients in 1 month? Someone else was complaining the other day, that she is trying to find clients for over a year now, unsucessfully...

Addenuff · Member

Hi Everyone

I have to agree with Albascott. I did all of my training with Ideal. I am a Mum of 4 so distance learning was also the only option for me. I found them to be so friendly and absolutely no hard sell. In fact I was encouraged to speak to other providers to make sure I choose the right one for me. I submitted handwritten assignments for levels 1 & 2 but decided by level 3 that I should join the 21st century and sent them computerised. This was never a problem - for them anyway! I never had a problem waiting for assignments to be marked, they are extremely reasonable, have the highest pass rate, offer all of the courses and won training provider and student provider of the year - no I'm not on commission!! Just thoroughly enjoyed my studing experience with them. Really sad to hear that there are some that didn't but I guess to keep everyone happy would be impossible. Anyway, definately worth giving them a call and seeing what you think.

In reponse to post re clients - I contacted all of the accountants that are listed locally to me and now work as a subcontrator to one of them. It's great, I have my own clients but top up my income by doing books for some of their's. I don't get involved with the clients, the accountants office drops off the work and picks it up. I invoice him at the end of the month and get paid straight away - easy!!

ES · Veteran Member

Aleksandra wrote:
Wow, tell me how did you manage to find 4 clients in 1 month? Someone else was complaining the other day, that she is trying to find clients for over a year now, unsucessfully...

Just luck, I haven't even advertised yet!! Picked up a client on the ICB job vacancies and just looked casually around. I know it's crazy, I now have 5 and only started on the 10th Jan! I'm considering expanding already! I can't do anymore clients myself at the moment so am thinking of advertising my business and then taking someone on casually. If I put my mind to it I'm sure I could pick up some more clients, a mum from school runs lunches for business mum's in the area and I haven't told her yet.

Aleksandra · Senior Member

Well done !!!

Thumbs up for a positive attitude and thanks for giving me hope, that after completing my ICB course, I'll be able to find clients too...

"If you really want something, and really work hard, and take advantage of opportunities, and never give up, you will find a way."

Jane Goodall

JEM · Member

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick question with regards to the Training Link ICB courses - it states that you can become MICB trained within 12 months. Is this realistic or will it take much longer?

Thanks, Janine

ICBUK · Guru

Hi Janine,

Well yes if you dedicated the time and effort to it. Distance learning is done in hours, rather than classes, so if you don't have any other priorities (job, kids etc) then I think that is possible.

JEM · Member

Hi James,

Thanks for that, so realistically with 3 children and a job I'll be looking at a lot longer!

Need to organise myself better then :)

Kind regards,
Janine

Aleksandra · Senior Member

I am doing my course with Ideal Schools and when I asked them how long it usually takes, they told me,
that they've had a person who's finished the course in half a year, but normally it takes between 1 - 3 years.

Personally, I think it depends on how motivated you are to get your course finished and how much time a day/a week you are able to spend studying.

Moomin · Member

Hi all,

I also used Ideal Schools for my level 1 and 2 ICB and found them really good. I emailed most of my assignments and had them marked and returned within a week each time, always able to get hold of someone if I had a query. It took me 8 months to do the two levels, tho I stopped for about 6 weeks over the summer as kids were home biggrin

Jackie

confuzed · Member

Hello I am a confused Newbie

After deciding to become a Bookkeeper and trying to find a training provider where I can study from home has been to say the least a total nightmare. After coming across this forum a couple of weeks ago finding sound advice on the different providers became even harder.

There are appraisals and complaints on this forum about a few of the providers, with comments about check to see if price and membership is included, do they use fully licensed software or 180 day trial versions? To be fair the forum has even made me wonder if there are training providers on the site self promoting under a different guise?

I felt I had to investigate these different providers myself, which in turn raised even more confusion about different membership status and qualifications needed to be attained to gain that status. Some providers telling me AICB status can be attained from just Level 1 and 2 Manual, or Level 1 Manual and Level 2 Computerised. Others tell me that from September this year I will require Level 1 and 2 Manual and Level 2 Computerised for AICB status. Even more confusion!!!!

This brings me to the software; all the training providers except one that I contacted use Sage Instant accounts to teach ICB Level 2 Computerised Bookkeeping. More research told me I can purchase Sage Instant Accounts for well under £100 whereas the 180 trial software offered is based on Sage 50 Professional Accounts, more research told me this has a retail price of over £1000, which then raised even more questions as to why. Again more investigation and calling Sage directly to explain to me the differences in the packages made it clear to me learning the Sage 50 Pro software would prove much more beneficial to learn, especially on the job front, so providers who advertise we give you fully licensed software and not 180 day trials for me is just a sales ploy.

I still am yet to make my mind up who to train with or I may even consider classroom training, but for what it is worth, if anything? Out of all the training providers I have contacted the only one to have encouraged me to shop around and also told me if under any confusion about ICB memberships or does and donts just to contact the ICB direct and that company was Training Link. Very Impressive I must say and give the choice of Sage Instant fully licensed software or the 180 day trial.

I never realised that choosing a new career and a training provider who actually knows what they are talking about would be so difficult.

Any tips or advice to add to my confusion would be much appreciated. Would an AAT qualification in Bookkeeping be more widely accepted qualification than ICB?

Adam

ICBUK · Guru

Hello Adam,

Welcome to the forum.

Yes choosing a course is complicated, like anything nowadays I guess.

I will takle your points that the ICB could answer:

ICB Membership and Exams included:
Some providers don't include the examination fees, most of them include the ICB Registration fee (£45). Take a look at the ICB fee structure to see the prices: http://www.bookkeepers.org.uk/Membership/Fee%20Structure. Basically if you are thinking of becoming AICB you have the Level 1, Level 2 manual and Level 2 Computerised. Thats a total of £125. So if a provider does not include examinations, their AICB course should be £125 cheaper.

AICB requirements:
In September of this year the ICB is changing its membership requirements so that you have to complete the Level 1, Level 2 Manual and Level 2 Computerised in order to get AICB.
Now, if you were to buy your course, complete it before September, you may be able to upgrade to AICB. However, come September you would have to complete the other Level 2 in order to stay there.
So basically you might as well go for a course that offers both Level 2 Manual and Level 2 Computerised.

Software:
This does inpact the cost of the course, but course providers are usually flexible so speak to them. Some of them offer trial versions like you say. This software is free, so will make the course cheaper, but you have to complete your course within the trial time.
If you are looking for employment then really the software does not matter too much. Most employers will use Sage Line 50, which is different to Instant but you should be able to get a hang of it after some practice. Training on Instant does save you from paying for Sage Line 50, which is good if your not going to use it after you complete your course.
If you are thinking of going Self employed you might want to do a course that includes Sage 50 as you will probably buy it after you finished your course anyway, so then you save also buying Instant. However, recently more bookkeepers are moving from Sage to other software providers so maybe it doesn't matter.

AAT:
If you wanted to become an accountant, or seek employment then the AAT might be better recognised. If you wanted to become self employed then ICB would probably better suit.
You may also want to look into training and examination schedules as ICB can be more flexible depending on how far along AAT/ICB you were thinking.

Sorry for long post, hopefully that helps and doesn't just raise more questions smile

Don't forget you can call the ICB on 0845 060 2345 for advice.

Brian McVean · Senior Member

Well said James, and hello Adam,

Adam, you have done the correct thing in "shopping around" and making sure you get as full a picture of what is involved in the qualification side of things, as well as what other providers can offer you. We at Ideal Schools use the Instant Accounts software to help to keep the course affordable, and also to give the student the software to use upon completion of their studies, even if it is only to keep their own financial records in order. If you later go onto to use the Sage 50 software anything you learn within the Instant software will be transferrable, and it would save you investing on a £250 user licence for your own business when upgrading.

I hope your searching results in you finding a course and provider that can help you acheive your goals.

Good luck & regars
Brian McVean

confuzed · Member

Hi James

Thank you for such a detailed and quick response, much appreciated.

I have to laugh to myself when each question I have answered raises another question, it is like a bottomless pit biggrin

With regards the software the company I have been impressed with so far is Training Link, their sales chap spoke to me at length about the different Sage Packages and their usage and told me that should I learn all the aspect of the professional then I would know how to use all the aspects of the other packages in the 50 range excluding payroll as this is different software. I was of course making notes but he did advise me to call Sage and ask them the same questions I was asking him, which I did and got exactly the same answers. So for me with all the choices I have and the information I have attained I think the Sage 50 pro 180 day trial is better. I did ask the question what would happen if the 180 days ran out and was told they would just send me out another version. But like I say I do have the option of the instants. I contacted Training Link again who tell me that their 180 day trial is not free and they buy them direct from Sage and regardless of which package I chose the course fees remain the same. I think when training providers have such a wide range of prices for the same qualification it makes it harder for the learner to choose!

Training Link have the AICB package at £720 with exam fees added £845 compared to what is around and their sales chaps honesty and the positive feedback I have seen on this site about them this is probably the way I will initially go, but as you can see James I like to get into the nitty gritty of things before I spend my hard earned money.

Thank you again for your explanations.

Adam

confuzed · Member

Hi Brian

Thank you for taking the time to respond, I just thought that Sage was just software and did not know it comes in so many different formats, due to the different cost of the software at first glance it would be more prudent to learn on the Instants, but according to the chap I spoke to at Sage he tells me that I would need to pay for upgrades should the software or legislation be changed and as I understood it Sage Instants is only of use for one client? For me I would rather know how to use the software before I buy it, that way when I am ready to buy I will get the latest versions, if that makes sense.

Please appreaciate from my perspective Brian that when I contact Training Providers I am being given different bits of advice and weighing up the pro's and cons of each one has at times made me think about forgetting the whole thing, as in my email to James each question asked and aswered raises 10 more questions.

I will have another look around before finally making my choice. Thanks again for the advice.

Adam

Rhianrach · Expert

ICBUK wrote:

AAT:
If you wanted to become an accountant, or seek employment then the AAT might be better recognised. If you wanted to become self employed then As a Bookkeeper ICB would probably better suit.
You may also want to look into training and examination schedules as ICB can be more flexible depending on how far along AAT/ICB you were thinking.

Sorry for long post, hopefully that helps and doesn't just raise more questions

Don't forget you can call the ICB on 0845 060 2345 for advice.

I corrected it for you James so as not to be misleading :)

ICBUK · Guru

I have just been informed that some trial versions of Sage have reduced functionality and so you may not be able to complete your ICB examinations on it.

Unfortunately, to add more questions, there seems to be more than one trial version. Best speak to the training provider as I am sure if they were providing a reduced version they and the ICB would have heard from the student who was unable to complete their paper.

Brian McVean · Senior Member

Hi Adam,

I'm only too pleased to help, or not as it appears to be.

Most of the colleges will give you good honest advice and Training Link certainly have a good reputation. Like them, we don't use sales staff so if you need anything explained further please get in touch.

Regards
Brian

confuzed · Member

It appears I may have opened a can of worms here which was not my intention.

With so many options and different price structures for the same qualifications and so many ICB training providers fighting for business it for me has made it virtually impossible to make a choice. As someone with zero Bookkeeping knowledge I obviously wanted to gain as much information as possible.

With the feedback I have had from this forum I contacted Training Link in the hope I could get the course fees reduced, this was down to your comments about 180 software being free and that if a training provider does not include exam fees (as they dont) then the course fee should be £125 cheaper. This has no basis as it appears the ICB let training providers charge what that want for their services regardless of training format. I spoke to someone called Gary who assures me that their 180 software has all functions except Report Designer and that it is the same software used by Sage for their own home study training packs. they are not free and cost Training Link £70 He also told me that I would also recieve 3 Sage 50 Pro certificates of competency and that I would be learning around 60% more than is actually required to pass ICB level 2 Computerised Bookkeeping, which probably in laymans terms explains why there is such a massive difference in the price of the 2 software packages. If I am looking at spending a lot of money to become a Bookkeeper then on a personal note I want to learn the best package on offer. Its all about knowledge and not just about passing exams with the minimum requirement!!!!!!!

What I like about Training Link is they deal in Fact and every question raised and investigated through 3rd parties has been confirmed to be true, they appear to offer more choice for the same qualification.

I think I have done all my groundwork inasmuch as distance learning is concerned, going to have a look at AAT and IAB to see the differences. Thanks for the advice.

Adam

MrsH · Newbie

I got the hard sale from HLC unfortunately, it cost me over a thousand pound and from what I can see from the ICB syllabus it does not cover everything. The descriptions states Manual, intermediate and advanced bookkeeping, however looking at the level 2 syllabus it does not cover the none profit section on the syllabus which is very irritating, also they said they would register me with ICB but I never received anything about it, also the tutor was quite narky when I emailed her.

I have run out of tutor support now but have decided to work through the material myself, as I do accounts anyway, with the additional support of the ICB Practical Bookkeeping book which I would recommend to anyone studying level 1 as I struggled to understand some of the course material but with the book as additional support its perfectly clear.

Hoping to register and complete level 1 exam by month end. I study for 2 hours each night after putting my daughter to bed, however 5 and a half months pregnant so want to get 1 and 2 exams completed before baby comes in July. If anything being a mum and also pregnant again has given me the motivation to pull my finger out.

The trouble with distance learning is the getting started part; it really does take discipline and motivation. I applaud anyone who gives it a go as its tough but great when you get into it.

ICBUK · Guru

Hi Tina,

Sorry to hear you are un-happy with an ICB provider, pop an email to the ICB with some details we can look into it.

You say your tutoring has run out, how long ago did you buy the course?

Are you not registered with the ICB then? HLC should register you within 6 weeks of you purchasing the course.

Glad to hear you find the text books helpful.

Best of luck with your studies, and meeting the important deadline!

ghis · Senior Member

HI Guys

I have been doing my research on what course to study ICB, IAB , AAT. ive come to the conclusion of doing ICB level 1 & 2 and computerised level 2. I'm looking into Kaplan long distance for achieving this, however there are not many recommendation or reviews on them.

any suggestions

Funny Lass · Member

Course and supplier.

Pink_yvette · Newbie

RE: help needed regarding which course and supplier