I am new here and have been scouring the board all afternoon for advice but I cant seem to work out if any of it is relevant to me and thus I should follow so I thought I would start a new thread to see if anyone has any words of wisdom for me.
Basically I have a 1st Class degree in Accounting and Finance BUT (and its a massive BUT!) I never went into employment for a number of reasons, the main one being young and wanting to see the world and to experience life before work! My degree is now 10 years old and I guess doesnt count for much without 'official experience'.
I have been self employed for a number of years and do my own accounts and those of my husband as well as friends and friends of family who have self employed careers so I am not completely rusty. However when I did my degree the computerised accounting modules were fairly new and we definitely didnt use Sage. In fact I think it was just two lessons in Excel which I still use for my own records etc and am fairly proficient in. I know my way around a computer and expect that with a few tutorials I could probably get to grips with Sage but am not sure if a professional qualification is required to practice as a bookkeeper?
Basically, I would like to build on the experience I have and go out on my own as a book keeper but I lack the confidence to advertise myself as a bookkeeper and look for business outside of my little social circle and was looking at course etc to give me that push. I was looking at ICB with the option of studying the manual stuff on my own and just sitting the exams. I am a little reticent to spend hundreds on courses if it will be going over old ground and telling me things I already know so I wondered if anyone could give me an empathetic viewpoint....what would you do in my shoes?
Thanks in advance for any advice and responses....and sorry for the mammoth background story!
Hi Jess and welcome, you have come to the right place.
There is no need to spend hundreds of pounds on courses but a few good textbooks are recommended. There are other bodies but as I'm with the ICB it is theirs I would recommend. However for the computerised exams you would need access to software (not necessarily Sage) and this generally comes with the course if you buy a course.
There are representatives of the ICB and various training providers on here who I'm sure will give you plenty of advice about your learning options. I would say it's most important to make sure that you have the manual bookkeeping side well under your belt as the computerised side of things does follow on from that. There are numerous Sage training courses available but I've heard that they are pretty expensive. Perhaps an existing bookkeeper could help you with some training on that, it's something I"ve done for a few clients who wanted to set up and use their own system rather than have me do it for them.
If I was you I would buy some of the ICB mock exams and give them ago and I'm sure you'll be fine and then I would join and book some exams! You could register with HMRC to be a bookkeeper but I think it is better to be a member of a body.
Not everyone uses Sage to do the computer exams if you have a look on the ICB forum you'll see some of the software other students use (free trials!).
as Jenny suggests, considering your history I would just go for reading the books to refresh yourself rather than paying a lot of money to start again from rote learning of Capital = Assets - Liabilities level.
From the sound of things it wouldn't take you too long to get to an ICB or IAB practicing certificate which would cover you for your MLR. (You could get that direct with HMRC but it's nicer to have a supervisory body behind you).
There is plenty of advice on this site but as you say it can be a bit difficult to find sometimes. You might be better off searching the site using Google than trying to wade through it for what you want.
On the software remember that if you have your own business sage becomes an option rather than a necessity. As it costs an arm and a leg to have more than one client on it you might be better taking a look at VT Transaction+ or Quickbooks as your preferred software for accounts work and either 12pay or Moneysoft Payroll for payroll work.
Be aware that as soon as you join a supervisory body there will be restrictions on what you are allowed to do so be careful which body (if any) you choose.
Good luck with the move to bookkeeping and impending study / exams. Oh, and a big welcome to the forum. Look forwards to chatting soon,
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.
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.
A lot of useful advice there....I think my main problem is lack of confidence due to being away from study and a work environment for so long. I think I shall take up the advice and get a couple of books and start to refresh myself, if I find I am really bamboozled by it then I will start again to look at courses.
I am sure I will be back in here bombarding people with questions about things I dont completely understand soon! Now all I need is to muster up the discipline to study *groan*
Thanks again for all your help.
Jess.
PS - Sorry one last question. I have seen a lot of people reccoment the David Cox books for self study....is this the general consensus or should I look at others too?
-- Edited by jburne0705 on Friday 18th of November 2011 11:29:42 AM
The David Cox book Business Accounts for book-keeping and accountancy students is one that I tend to recommend and Bill (Wella) recommends the business accounts book by Frank Woods and Shiela Robinson.
To be honest either of those two are excellent books but they may be too basic for you considering the 1st class honours that you acquired some time back.
By all means get one of those two as a refresher but I don't think that it would take long before you are ready to move up a gear to ACCA study texts even if you're doing a qualification further down the food chain.
Have a look at the old study texts that you will find very cheaply with Amazon resellers for the BPP Study texts for ACCA papers 1.1 and 1.2. I mention those as I think that they are better than the later F2 and F3 study texts that followed them.
AAT study texts tend to be cut down ACCA ones and ICB study texts rehashed versions of the AAT texts. The questions are a little different but they basically cover the same material often with the same text.
AAT and ICB texts tend to have more of a technician angle to them so more emphasis on books of prime entry rather than accounts.
One book that you may find useful in getting up to speed on the manual bookkeeping side is BPP foundation revision companion for units 1-4. It's the most basic of the revision companions but probably one of the best. Doesn't really matter which year version you get as it's book-keeping and unlike accontancy book-keeping remains pretty constant. (Learning accountancy sometimes feels like trying to build a castle on quicksand as everything is always changing).
Hope that those few suggestions give you something to think about. If you need anymore information about any of the books mentioned just post and I'll dig out any details that you might need.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
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.
I have worked on and off in accounts for about 20 years, never actually have proper training, only learning by working experience. I have just been made redundant and would like to do a proper home learning course. Which incorporates all sage book keeping and an icb qualification. I have had details from Home Learning College and Open Learning, but not all good reviews on them. Can anyone give me advice on how to go about this and what is the best thing to do
I'm not going to pass adverse comments about any training provider but suffice to say that if you decide to go down the training provider path I would not have recommended the one's that you have looked at so far.
Considering your background background I think that you would be better off financially just using the study books, mock papers and sitting the exams independant of a training provider.
However, if you would prefer to use a trainign provider due to the motivational aspects of going down that path then try these one's :
Premier Training
Ideal Schools
Training Link
All three have excellent reputations through the site and I think you will find the prices quite competative.
I've not checked out if all of them offer all of the courses that you are interested in so you will need to do your own research there. You may end up going to one training provider for the manual side and another for the Sage training but such matters little as it's all distance learning anyway.
Good luck in your studies and good to have you on the site.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
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.
