I have completed my level 1 and 2 book keeping qualifications. Do you think I am qualified enough to set up as a self employed book keeper, or would I need further qualifications?
those who don't feel that they are ready are just those who have realised how much there is to all of this and if they wait until they know everything that they feel that they will ever need would never actually start their business.
Just get your practice licence, try to start small and build from there Manjinder. Maybe start by approaching family and freinds who are in business.
Don't do anything that you feel is beyond you but at the same time don't reject work just because it has some small element that you haven't attempted before.
It would help if you could gain some confidence through a bit of temping before going it alone but there's a lot of competition out there for positions (Reed Wolverhampton had 935 applicants in less than two hours for an accounts position a couple of weeks back!) so that may not be an option.
Good luck with the new venture.
kind regards,
Shaun.
P.S. if you intend to offer payroll or self assessment with the ICB you will need to pass additional papers.
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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.
As long as you have Professional Indemnity insurance and an ML certificate, ideally issued by a governing such as the IAB or ICB. It helps to belong to such a body due to advice beibg available when needed. Also, as long as you realise your limitations and dont advertise things you know your qualifications dont encompass.
those who don't feel that they are ready are just those who have realised how much there is to all of this and if they wait until they know everything that they feel that they will ever need would never actually start their business.
I've got to ask, what sort of animal is that in your picture? It looks seriously cute which of course probably means that it's got huge teeth and a foul temper.... A bit like most Rabbits.
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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.
That's a wombat, the cutest animal I've ever seen. I always dreamt of having one when I was a kid, but yes, they are not very friendly to people. I think they live in Australia and it's not a lot of them left unfortunately, I've heard they are protected.
Sorry to bother you again, but how do I get my practice licence?
As mentioned above, I have got bookkeeping qualifications up to level 2. Can you suggest where I can start in terms of getting work experience? I know some of you have suggested taking on small tasks, but how would you define whether or not a task is 'small' or 'big'?
You say that you have now passed the level II. Can I assume that you mean that you have passed both manual and computerised level II and as such you are now entitled to use the suffix AICB?
If so, for a practice licence fill in their practice licence application form available in their members area and send it off with your payment.
Note that in order to get a practice licence you must first have PII insurance which is available from many sources but two of the cheapest are either via the ICB prefered insurers Trafalgar or from this site via Arlington Professional Risks.
Small tasks does not refer to volume of work but rather complexity. I would consider lower complexity tasks to be Sales and Purchase ledger work.
kind regards,
Shaun.
P.S. For anyone else reading this ICB is not assumed but relates back to Manjinders first post.
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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.
You say that you have now passed the level II. Can I assume that you mean that you have passed both manual and computerised level II and as such you are now entitled to use the suffix AICB?
Morning Shaun
Just to clarify the AICB designation. Passing the exams only entitles you to become a member at associate level. It does not entitle the use of the letters until membership is upgraded.
In my rush to ensure that people were not still under the impression that you could be AICB after passing either of the level II papers rather than both my answer didn't read completely correctly.
Thanks for picking up on that
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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.
In my rush to ensure that people were not still under the impression that you could be AICB after passing either of the level II papers rather than both my answer didn't read completely correctly.
I thought you still could - for the next couple of months anyway. It's September you need both exams. Which means I hope I pass my computerised level II I am posting off in the next hour or so. I aslo hope to be passing manual and computerised level III before September as well.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
Yes, you're right Peasie and good luck with your computerized !!! I passed computerized last week and now I must take the manual exam (September soon).
I am in the process of sending out letters & cv copies to local book keeping businesses in the hope of landing a suitable job role. I would ideally like a role which I get paid for, but equally don't mind helping out voluntarily, just so that I can get the experience.
Can you suggest how I should interpret that in my letter. Obviously, if I say that I am willing to help voluntarily, then even if a prospective employer did have a paid job role to offer me, they would naturally want to take me on voluntarily so they don't have to pay me anything!!
Accountants will be concerned for the time that they need to invest in you rather than the amount they are paying you.
They're also well aware that having unpaid employee's is a minefield.
To be honest I wouldn't even offer to work for free but push your qualifications and any experience that you bring to the table.
Also, importantly your experience of various software packages. They will typically be looking for the holy trinity of SAGE, SAP and IRIS. Others like (but not restricted to) Quickbooks, VT Transaction+, Moneysoft, 12pay and various cloud offerings are less important but show variety and scope of knowledge.
The likelihood of you having the specific combination of all of the software used by a practice is pretty remote but the greater variety of software knowledge that you have on your CV the more interesting you become.
Oh, and never forget Excel which is possibly the most important expertise you will acquire. You need to be at a level where you can do Pivot tables and Lookups really without thinking about them.
With the software and qualifications combined with a willingness to be flexible in your working hours you should have no problem in getting an entry level position which you will feel is below the knowledge that you bring to the table but it gives you a platform from which you can then build a career.
Good luck in the job hunt, The market out therte is a lot healthier than it was this timne last year so that's a really positive point in your favour.
kind regards,
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.
