From what I can see the main benefit for starters is PII through Zurich for £78. A saving of £50 over the rate for none BKN members which if you need PII its paid for itself there and then (£100k cover on £15k turnover with 6 year run off).
I don't yet know what's in the BKN members only area but if it's pro forma letters I would be up for that.
Not sure how useful the directory of local bookkeepers will be for starters but then that's just like this site. The balls now rolling and it's become priceless. We won't know whether the network works until we start registering and clients start using the service.
I wouldn't join BKN for the directory alone at the moment but that may grow into a useful feature as other join the network.
And I suppose one more point tht shouldn't be overlooked is that it brings in some money for the site which may help towards the upkeep costs of our beloved forum. I know that the forum itself is promised to remain free ad infinitum but surely we should be giving something back for it.
At £24 it seems pretty good to me as that's around 6.6p per day.... How much is this site worth to you?
Don't know how feasible it is but maybe site admin should indicate in post info as to whether people are BKN members which would give membership a badge of acceptance amongst the posters on here and help towards uptake of membership.
For myself BKN membership is on the to do list. I will sign up but at the moment it's importance is suffering behind other things that I put off on the run up to exam season.
Well, that's my two penneth worth.
Sure that others may have different views on the importance of various aspects of membership.
talk soon,
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.
did such a good job of convincing you that I convinced myself that I had put it off for too long and am now all signed up as a fully fledged member.
I've found that there's an engagement letter and a business plan in the members area that seem quite useful. That aside it feels a lot like a work in progress with lots of things that I would like to see (such as MLR forms) which are not there yet.
The privacy section is quite good giving you the options to control all aspects of how you appear to the outside world. I've started near invisible but will go loud once I restart the bookkeeping side of my business later this year.
Right, next on my list. Where's that Zurich PII application form now that I've got my £50 off.
Talk later,
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.
Thanks for your interest in BKN Full Membership (and for signing up Shaun!).
The member resources section is definitely work-in-progress at present. It will be an on-going job for the team to beef up the section with the aim to have all the tools, resources and forms any book-keeper in practice will need. Obviously a big task but we feel we're up to the job.
By the end of the week we aim to have added some Money Laundering Resources to the member's only section. We'll also be launching a new member's only offer this week, which should make it easier (and cheaper) for members to accept credit and debit card payments from clients.
Since I launched The Book-keepers Forum in March 2007 (how time flys), it's always been my aim to ensure the forum remains free to join and use and this will always be the case. Although we aim to add resources to the BKN members only section over the forthcoming months, we'll also be adding free resources to the BKN site that everyone will be able to access (members and non-members) including CPD webinars, technical resources, software reviews, interviews and much more!
As always we're open to suggestions for improvements to the site. A forum member had a good one this week regarding jobs and recruitment, and this is one we'll be working on shortly. So thanks Dustin!
Don't know how feasible it is but maybe site admin should indicate in post info as to whether people are BKN members which would give membership a badge of acceptance amongst the posters on here and help towards uptake of membership.
Hi Shaun
Thanks for the suggestion. The BKN site and the forum run on two separate servers and require two separate logins. We'll look into how feasible it is to automate this process. It might be that we ask members to quote a BKN membership number in the signature area as a work round. We could also provide a downloable membership badge as well.
I find this forum really helpful and have signed up for the membership over the weekend - I think the £24 that is costs for the year is really good value for money.
haven't seen you around for ages. hows life with you?
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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.
Yes things are great thanks - my business seems to have really taken off of the last few months, so it's been all go which is all good news and just been on holiday which was lovely and relaxing. I feel like I'm running 'proper' business now with regular monthly clients that I see and do work for which is great and I'm really enjoying doing the work which is even better. So good to be paid for something you enjoy doing - I fully recommend it to anyone.
How are things with you? have you got exams coming up soon? or just taken some?
There certainly seems to be a change of outlook from when I first joined the site when everyone was pretty despondent about the lack of work.
Did ACCA P2 (again!) last week. At least I answered every question this time but not even close to being confident about passing.
Gave my pitifully few clients away last year before going off to play at being a banker again in Scotland. Will be relaunching the brand again imminently so lets hope that the current rate of growth in small businesses persists for a while yet.
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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.
