I'm ACCA qualified but about to do the ICB exams so that I can obtain a practicing certificate.
I can't decide whether to just jump in and take Level I, or invest in the text books and past papers first... Does anyone have a mock paper that I can look at? I know that you can buy them, but I've just paid by membership fee, and have to pay the exam fees, etc. I know they're only small amounts but they soon add up and I'm out of work at the moment so have very little coming in...
I really need to pass these exams ASAP hence my thoughts on just jumping on in. My head tells me I should pass it easily given I've been doing accounts for over 20 years now, but I can't help thinking "what if I don't"...
Usually it is the Level 1 that ACCA's need a refresher on. Of course this depends on what you have been doing in your job, but most wont have touched that syllabus for years.
There is an online mock for £10 you could just book and take, see how you do. Otherwise there are a range of books available, Kaplan's Practical Bookkeeping covers Levels 1 and 2 and is available in the ICB shop. Other ICB recommended books are Dr Peter Marshall's Mastering Bookkeeping which you can get from Amazon.
The higher levels should be closer to what you studied with ACCA. Have you thought about getting exemptions from some of the papers?
Hi Jo, I've just sent you one I had but didn't use,already had it on paper, so hopefully not breaking any rules as I didn't actually use it though I'd paid for it!!! Good luck, Maria.
Phheewww lol, was actually worried I might have done something I shouldn't, I don't want to be getting kicked out when I've only just joined!!!! Thanks James, Maria.
Couple of unrelated points to cover so bear with this thread.
I just used the old BPP study text for ACCA paper 1.1 (F3) to do my ICB levels I and II and got 99% and 98% so you might want to save your money on the study texts and just recycle your old ACCA fundamentals level studies.
I would however strongly advise doing a couple of past papers (which you now have) as it gives you a real feel for the ICB exams.
The other book that I found useful to get me into the right mindset was the AAT revision companion for units 1-4 (although your only interested here in units 1-3).
Here's an Amazon search that will list out all versions of it.
As it's bookkeeping doesn't have to be the latest version that you get (mines the 2007 version).
As a seperate point, there are several ACCA people on here and the ICB / ACCA issue has caused quite a bit of hair pulling over the past couple of years.
The more draconian ACCA rules take precedence so where ICB bookkeepers can produce final accounts when they reach the right level due to your ACCA status unless you have an ACCA practice certificate you will be restricted to only being able to do bookkeeping to trial balance, VAT and Payroll!
There's currently an AAT amnesty where if your an ACCA member you can transfer directly to MAAT MIP so there's the option of getting a practice certificate without exams! (so long as you have a qualified accountant to vouch for you)... But it would mean you either stepping down from the ACCA or getting permission from them to use your AAT practice certificate.
I can't find the thread at the moment but someone posted on here a couple of months back that in such situation the ACCA also expect you to pay nearly £400 for their pratice certificate even though you are practicing under the AAT banner.
Have a read around some of the old ACCA threads on the site and you'll see what I mean.
If you do go down the ICB path for the computerised papers there's also the Computerised accounts book by Dr. Peter Marshall which is very good... My only issue with it is that the ICB mock in it doesn't come with answers. However the IAB and AAT exam papers in it do.
James mentions exemptions but the only exemption that the ICB will give is where you have passed paper F3 within the past two years and who, whose reached membership level passed F3 / 1.1 within two years even if you passed them all at first sitting.
look forwards to chatting later,
All the best,
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.
think I'll be knocking on their door once I'm fully qualified as I just can't see how to get to a practice certificate with the ACCA.
How do you find them Hal?
I know that we've got several IFA's on here including Frauke and yourself (just assuming that your full IFA as you mentioned that you went that way in the AIA thread).
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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.