I have recently become a Member in Practice with AAT, & would like to specialise in bookkeeping for sole practitioner solicitors. I worked for an independent willwriting firm who also administered deceased Estates for 6 years, & dealt with all the bookkeeping for their Office & Client accounts (it was a general Client account, rather than individual accounts).
I am not sure if this experience alone would be enough for me to carry out bookkeeping for solicitors, as my previous employers weren't actually solicitors, so I didn't have to apply Solicitors Accounts Rules. Does anyone think I would also need to take a course on Solicitors Accounts Rules to attract clients?
ICB are on the point of releasing a level 3 course in legal bookkeeping. As an MAAT MIP can you just do the ICB exams that you want in order to gain the additional letters that are nothing to do with your primary qualification or would you need to get to AICB before you would be allowed to take them?
Interested to hear James view on that.
On the direct question I think that your prior experience puts you in a better position than many but studying a formal qualifiction which considers all aspects of the role must surely sell you better as a specialist in this area.
Personally, even if you know the solicitors rules I would take the qualification as it's going to set your services appart from the competition.
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.
For the ICB Legal Bookkeeping, you would need to be at ICB Level 2 (AAT Level 3) before you could take the examination. You most likely would get exemptions via your AAT qualifications and your experience together.
I as part of the ICB would always recommend training and qualifying in a subject before you started charging for it. Your experience could count as training.
I would check with the AAT to see if there are any restrictions via your Practice License. Also check with your insurance provider to make sure you are covered, last thing you want to do is annoy a bunch of solicitors without cover
Thank you for your replies - that's a good point about my insurance! I am very interested in the ICB course so I'll contact them today to find out about exemptions etc. & check with AAT to see if there are any restrictions on my licence.
There are a couple of other routes I could go down (another course, & a seminar) from other providers which aren't regulatory bodies, but the ICB course is more detailed & directly related to the work I would be carrying out.
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I've had a look at their courses & they offer a good range.
I need to decide which course is the most appropriate for the work I would be doing, whether that's the ICB or ILFM. Also, Legal Finance Professionals run a half-day course - 'SRA Accounts Rules for Solicitors: A Practical Guide to Compliance,' which might be suitable.
