I'm new here and have been researching into becoming a bookkeeper. I thought I may as well take advantage of you knowledgeable folk :)
Basically, I work in administration as a virtual PA and would like to add bookkeeping to my list of skills, however im unsure as to which route to take - i know others have been in the same boat here!
I am not looking to start my own business, but I am moving to Australia in around 18 months and would love to work in bookkeeping there, in addition to Payroll.
I have researched and found that they favour experience and qualifications, and like their candidates to be trained in MYOB. While it would be sensible to get work expeirence there, I wondered whether it was worth looking at getting the ball rolling here?
I work full time at the moment, but I wouldnt mind putting in extra hours with home based study. Any help or advice would be appreciated - thanks alot :)
Best to do a basic course in bookkeeping from your local college and then do exams for Australian governing body equivalent to ICB and AAT. Not sure if valuable for you to do AAT or ICB because I presume Australian direct and indirect taxes are different from VAT , Corp tax and Income tax (for people)
Being in software industry; MYOB is a nice software with a big fan club but is no longer available in UK.
Being from Arithmo, one of uk's leading online bookkeeping software- I cant beleive i am saying this but here to give you best advise for your cirmcumstances- have a look at familiarising yourself with Xero's online bookkeeping software as its a New Zealand product and thus popular in that part of the world, as well as MYOB.
If you change your plans and stay in UK and open your own bookkeeping practice here, you can always come back to Arithmo
As mentioned to Iain the two suggested books are a good starting point as is the Open University introduction to bookkeeping (course B190). In your case professional membership probably isn't what you are looking for in the UK as this sounds like prep work for a move rather than a business over here.
The estimate on the OU site is around 100 hours of study over a maximum of 24 weeks however I've learnt in the past that one really needs to double OU estimates!
That will start the ball rolling.
As for MYOB I thought that had died back in 2008 with the licences of existing users being sold to Mamut? I could be wrong but you might have some problems learning that here. Interested to hear from anyone with comments on what's happening with that software and whether any UK based bookkeepers still use it.
Good luck in your escape plans.
all the best,
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.
The OU idea seems like it would suit me, as I have completed a level 3 course with the OU and am familiar with the way they work etc - yes sometimes the timings can indeed be off but you can also speed through on some! Yes, I wont need PII as I do not intend to practice from home just yet.
When I was looking at typical bookkeeping vacancies on australian job boards, MYOB was mentioned. It *appears* to be the top software in Oz, but I will be sure to consider Xero. Also, i was looking at ICB, and as it were, ICB is also present in Australia so I guess the next step is to check whether OU will allow me to join ICB Australia as an affiliate...
Thanks again for the advice, it has really helped - I feel a little bit better about it all now :D
1, are you going to work in the UK before you leave? (after you finished your course and before you fly out)
2, how long are you going to stay in Australia for?
If the answer to 1 is no, and your going to stay in Australia for some time, then I would suggest you don't study UK bookkeeping at all and just start an Australian course.
Although there are similarities, Australian bookkeeping is quite different, with its own terminology, taxes, laws etc. Australian payroll is even more different.
MYOB is the market leading software package for bookkeepers. They haven't heard of Sage there, its all MYOB
I suggest you try looking at some Australian bookkeeping forums, or try the Australian bookkeeping bodies as they will have their own accredited colleges, and look for some distance learning or online courses.
The larger membership bodies there are: ICB www.icb.org.au (same as the ICB UK part of ICBGlobal) AAPB www.aapb.org.au (Australian Association of Professional Bookkeepers) AAT www.aat.org.au (is linked to AAT UK but not sure how) Don't think they do payroll
Other bodies: ABN www.austbook.net (Australian Bookkeepers Network, profit making company that offers courses as well as membership)
I will be making a permanent move to Australia (sunny Perth!) and I cant wait! Thanks for the links, I'll be sure to take a look - maybe see if I can do some distance learning in MYOB as well. I know the sensible thing is to wait until I get over there, but I cant help myself - I want to be prepared for everything!
It lists all their training providers most of which offer distance learning that you could start here in the UK.
Alternatively you could join ICB UK and transfer your membership when you move by taking some additional 'local' exams. However, it might be a waste of time I would recommend you go directly to Australian training.
Another newbie here. Can anyone tell me if its possible to do an Australian bookkeeping course, as mentioned above, in order to gain a working visa to live and work there permanently?
I'm soon to be 31, so have missed the one year working holiday visa, which is inappropriate anyway as i dont fancy picking cherries on a farm...
bookkeeper is not on the list of skilled occupations required to emigrate to Australia. Training to become a bookkeeper means that you could work as a bookkeeper once you were in Australia but it would not get you into Australia in the first place.
For these you should be looking at qualification via CCAB organisations or CIMA.
ACCA being a globally recognised brand might be a good starting point. However, expect qualification to take between five and ten years!
It's a long shot but a fully AAT qualified person is considered an accountant (can you hear the sound of a thousand ACCA and CIMA people grinding their teeth at reading that sentence!). Before embarking on that route though it might be a good idea to get 100% confirmation that AAT would be sufficient to be considered an accountant in the Australian immigration process (becomeing AAT qualified you would be looking at three to five years).
For a full list of current skills in shortage see this list :
Good luck and hope that you get wherever in life you really want to be.
kind regards,
Shaun.
-- Edited by Shamus on Friday 20th of May 2011 04:46:06 PM
__________________
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.
ICB Australia can certify you as a BAS agent which I think comes under Accountant General / Management Accountant. The visa office have not finished the clasification yet so I assume bookkeeper would be added.
Failing that as Shaun says you may need to become a public/chartered accountant, it looks like you can only do this via the IPA, CPA or ACAA for Visa purposes:
