I've been a member of the forum for a while, and I thought it was about time I introduced myself.
I am a mid-career, career changer currently working in the public sector, in a non-finance role. I have wanted to change careers for years, and run my own business, so I have finally decided to become a book keeper and open my own accountancy services business.
I am currently working out which book keeping association/ institute to study with. Thanks to the great info. on this site I am now able to make the right choice of training provider etc (I hope ) . So hopefully I will be able to start the ball rolling in the next few weeks.
Looking forward to participating more in the future.
Ray
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.................just an ICB student, at the moment.
a few of us career changers on here. I find that it's helpful if you can find some link between the two careers to give you a "build on" point.
Whats your level of knowledge of bookkeeping? Just thiking if your a complete newstart then why not take a look at the OU course B190 as an intro then just join one of the other bodies and sit their exams without the cost of a training provider.
many people find that they just need a helping hand for the first few steps and then are quite capable of building on that learning from books. If you fit into that category take a serious look at the OU approach (or AAT ABC which is basically the same course but giving different exemptions on completion).
good luck with whichever path you choose,
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.
Hi, I'm new to the forum but been reading it for a while,currently thinking of doing ICB qualifications with a view to starting my own business. I've done B190 with OU and also just passed financial accounting course with them, is it really do-able to pass ICB exams without using a training provider? Been looking at them all but money is an issue. Thanks in advance for any replies.
definitely doable but you will need a few books to help you along.
I did it from ACCA study texts but you could just as easily use the ICB's own texts or AAT revision companions.
Doesn't OU B190 give you exemption from the entry level IAB and ICB papers?
Got to go out in a min but if I remember I'll give you a list of useful texts in the morning for someone whose done B190 (you say that you've done financial accounting with the OU, that definitely gets you some exemptions. I think more with IAB than ICB).
If I don't post a list of study texts post a reminder in the morning and I'll get it sorted.
Talk soon and welcome to the forum,
Shaun.
P.S. I did B680 the forerunner to your OU studies.
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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.
Well, at the moment I'm thinking about going down the ICB route. I have a little experience, but basicly I'm statring from the beginning. Possibly, do D190 with the OU and get IAB accreditation first, then finish the ICB after that.
Considered AAT but rejected it as 1.) its expensive and 2.) there is a requirement to work for a year in accountancy before you get the qualification and at my age I'm not likely to get a trainee position.
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.................just an ICB student, at the moment.
To get from OU to IAB or ICB my recommended book list to support your studies without a training provider would be :
1) AAT Foundation Revision Companion for units 1-4(ISBN 9780751732283) - Newer versions available - Current Amazon price for this version from £2.78 (not new) or £8 (new)
2) a) Business Accounts for bookkeeping and financial accounting courses - David Cox - ISBN 1872962637 - Current Amazon price £16.39 (new)
OR (but preferably and)
2) b) Bookkeeping & Accounts - Frank Wood & Sheila Robinson - ISBN 9780273718055 - Newer Version Available - Current Amazon Price £29.60 (new)
3) Computerised Bookkeeping - Dr Peter Marshall - ISBN 9781845283971 - Current Amazon Price £10.02 (new)
4) Mastering Bookkeeping - Dr Peter Marshall - ISBN 9781845284466 - Current Amazon Price £8.74 (new)
So, if you bought every book on the list new that would be £72.75.
Buy the revision companion second hand and that drops to £67.73 (but of course you wouldn't then get supersaver delivery)
Or drop the Woods & Robinson teext and it comes down to £37.93.
Don't forget you will also need to buy some Sage software, pay for student membership and pay for the exams.
The Peter Marshall books come complete with old IAB and ICB papers for both manual and computerise exams so saving you quite a bit there. Although note that they do not come with the CD's of testdata that you get if you purchase past papers from the ICB.
Purchasing the above I can see no reason why that material alone should not get you to AICB. You may (or may not) require additional texts to progress to ICB level III. Best when you get to that stage to simply purchase past ICB papers and see whether the study materials that you already have suffice.
Note that there is an ICB text by Kaplan for levels I and II but my persoanl opinion is that whilst this might get one through the exams it is not sufficient to know the subject properly and as this is something that we look at in order to start a business more knowledge rather than just more bits of paper is definitely better.
The above materials relate to your specific situation where you have already completed OU course B190. You will find that a lot of the material is repetition of what you have already studied but at the moment you will find that the only way for acquired knowledge to become inbuilt so that you hardly have to think about it is repetition, repetition, repetition... But from different practical perspectives each being challenging in a different way otherwise it just gets boring (says the person who keeps doing the same cashflow excercises again and again... And still keeps getting them wrong!).
hope that this helps,
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.
Well done Shaun good advice there, and lots of it!
Just to clarify the OU B190 will get you an exemption from the ICB Level 1 (if completed within 2 years). It might be more flexible to do the ICB Level 1 rather than the B190, I think some course providers offer this at around £200 (inc ICB Reg but ex exam fee). Or just use one of the books Shaun has recommended.
However, getting an exemption is very easy, just send in a copy of your certificate to the ICB at registration and then you can continue onto the Level 2.
Also the ICB no longer produce a CD for the computerised examinations. Now the data is given to you in the paper, and you enter it onto a software package of your choice.
Wow, thank you so much for the info, really appreciate it. Will let you know how I get on when I finally finally decide which way to go!!! By the way, think this forum is fantastic, reading other posts is giving me the confidence to think I actually can do it!!!
-- Edited by madmaz on Tuesday 28th of June 2011 01:01:29 PM
ICBUK wrote:Just to clarify the OU B190 will get you an exemption from the ICB Level 1 (if completed within 2 years). It might be more flexible to do the ICB Level 1 rather than the B190, I think some course providers offer this at around £200 (inc ICB Reg but ex exam fee). Or just use one of the books Shaun has recommended.
I'd like to interject on this please... :D (and on my first post too! lol) The B190 course is a very useful course to do, I myself have done this course (completed in Dec '10, with distinction.. ;) ) and found it rather straight forward and easy to follow. And upon completion of this short 12 week course you can apply for membership to the IAB, at Member status (the second level) meaning you can use the letters MIAB after your name like me! :D
What i would like to point out it is quite pricey to do this for the first time, it cost me around 130 notes i think, but this includes a one off 'admin' charge and future renewals only cost around the region of £85. Now the exemptions you gain from studying B190 ONLY apply to the IAB NOT the ICB, they require you to take their exams to gain status with them, costing around £200 more to get to the same level you would be through the IAB.
So i went the IAB route and am now a MIAB qualified Bookkeeper! :D
(If ANYONE wants to know anythong about the B190 course then please dont hesitate to PM me :D )
-- Edited by ClawzCTR on Wednesday 6th of July 2011 12:08:02 AM
As mentioned in the other posts Gary, being an IAB qualified bookkeeper after only doing B190 seems wrong.
B190 is intended as an introductory course. It's foreruner used to be given away as a self study course to do in the 12 weeks before starting B680 and only once you had passed B680 (now B291, 292 and 293 I believe) could you gain any exemptions from ICB or IAB (or AAT, or ACCA, or CIMA).
Don't get me wrong, the OU B190 is excellent as is the AAT ABC (same course, different cover!) but you have to realise that it is only a starting point and will not in itself prepare you for self employment as a bookkeeper.
I can understand the qualification getting you exemptions from IAB or ICB introductory papers but straight to MIAB seems too much for this qualification and to me slightly devalues the MIAB status.
Normally my complaint is the some supervisory bodies do not give enough credence to the qualifications of other bodies (look at ACCA and ICB... Both ways around). In this case I think that the IAB is giving a little too much and the ICB have got it exactly right.
The golden rule as always has to be "just because you can does not neccessarily mean that you should".
In your other post I think that I answered based on the paper you failed being B291 where you actually took B292? The paper that you should be taking as a follow on the OU B190 is B291 financial accounting. B292 is management accounting (so the additional material would be ACCA paper F2, not F3 as I posted in the other thread).
I think that MIAB should only be awarded based on completion of B291, not B190. That's my opinion but I'm sure that others will disagree with me on that.
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.
Hi First time user!!! Just found this site when i googled whats the difference between FIAB and MIAB???
I have read below that the OU course can give you MIAB (wow) lol
But would the OU course B291 Financial accounting allow you FIAB status?? Or if on completion of B292 Management Accounts and therefore the Professional Certificate in Accounting would that entitle you to apply for FIAB??
Just what exactly is the difference in the 2 memberships??????
Thanx!!!!
Shaun it would appear that people don't really care about not having the knowledge as long as they can advertise that they do!
I've seen you post about this many times.
This topic keeps coming up, along with other similar topics, and I don't think the IAB are going to change as why would they, this topic alone as seen 3 people do the B190 only and join as Full Member with IAB!
Going to make the ICB's objective of increasing awareness of the job roles of a professional bookkeeper harder, if there are full members only doing basic work for lower wages.
after a while it does feel a little like hitting your head against a brick wall.
Jennifers situation is slightly different though as she's talking about B291/292 rather than B190.
Jennifier,
Your situation is a little different to the previous one's as we're talking here about having passed B291 and B292.
From reading Fraukes posts membership to the IAB is determined at their monthly meetings and is not guaranteed until you gain approval at the meeting.
However, my understanding is that unless the monthly meeting comes up with a reason why you should not join them then you would be able to join them at MIAB.
To join as FIAB you must also have evidence of two years practical experience.
See this page for some pointers :
http://www.iab.org.uk/mems_routes.asp
However, it would be remiss of me not to say that you should at least take a serious look at the ICB as well before making your decision as to which way to go. Don't forget that we're talking about K01 here (B291 and B292) which will give exemptions from ICB levels I, II and III allowing you to join as a full member making the two bodies comparable in this instance. (my issues are only with the B190 level of exemptions where I come down more on the ICB side than the IAB's).
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.
) . So hopefully I will be able to start the ball rolling in the next few weeks.
