I am a new member to this site and was wandering which qulification to follow.
I have been an Assistant Accountant for 15 years and never formerly qualified. I have registered with CIMA as a student many years ago, but never studied.
I have recntly decided to set up on my own as a part time business, so need some advice, CIMA, ICB, AAT??
It really depends on what you want to do. The ICB is bookkeeping whilst CIMA is Accountancy the AAT is gaining a qualification to be an Accountants assistance.
If you want to set up and do book keeping the ICB is the way to go.
If you have sufficient experience and can prove this (by way of references etc) then maybe you would be better with the IAB as you would not need to do further qualifications. To set up on your own if you feel confident you don't actually need qualifications what you do need is supervision for MLR which can either be by a supervisory body such as ICB, AAT, IAB, etc or if you aren't or do not wish to become a member of an organisation by completing the paperwork and paying the fee to HMRC to cover you.
I think Ghis has hit the nail on the head, it depends what you want to do, your not really comparing like for like as such.
Looking at your website you list services which I would say was more bookkeeping than certified accounting. (I assume you have a license and are covered under the Anti Money Laundering Regulations as Semsley mentioned?)
Perhaps continue with CIMA if you are already registered and you wanted to become an accountant.
Your other option would be ICB or AAT then CIMA or ACCA etc. The benefit of this is that you might be able to qualify quicker and get the support to run your business while you study to become an accountant.
ICB might be better if you are already running a business as they have more study options and more flexible examinations. You maybe entitled to exemptions based on your work experience.
AAT might be better if you wanted employment, or might be quicker in the long run to get into the accountancy bodies, however, this is possible via the ICB.
If you want free advice you can call the ICB on 0845 060 2345 and talk to an advisor (don't worry they are not sales people and will give you impartial advice)
