I am thinking about retraining as a bookkeeper/accounting technician with a view to becoming self-employed after doing the AAT course. I'm currently a stay at home mum of two after being made redundant from my previous job in banking (admin/legal role).
Unfortunately, I'm not able to attend any courses at our local college due to husband's working hours so I'm looking at doing a distance learning course. However, there is only one AAT approved exam centre in Northern Ireland and they charge an arm and a leg to invigilate each exam. The cost of doing Level 2 will be approximately £1,200 (training provider fee + AAT membership & subscription + exam fees + invigiltor fee).
So, I'm thinking of enrolling on the OU B190 course (£350) in the hope that completion of this will enable me to bypass AAT Level 2 and go straight on to Level 3.
If anyone could advise on whether B190 will be sufficient preparation for AAT Level 3, I would be very grateful.
This one has actually come up a few times and has been a little bit of a bone of contention in relaion to exemptions however, rather than just directing you off to old messages (which seems a little impersonal for an answer to a first post) I'll try and fill in the detail you need to know an also open your options a little.
AAT is a great qualification if you are looking for employment but for self employment do you actually need that one?
OU B190 is an excellent introductory course that I am led to believe has improved and expanded somewhat since I did it as a free precursor to B680 back in 2002 (I din't think that the OU are so generous with giving away courses nowdays!).
B190 will give you exemption from all exams of the IAB so, whilst you would need to have this confirmed with the AIB, I believe you would pretty much be able to go straight from B190 to a practicing certificate with them.
My arguement has always been that whilst one can do this, I don't think that B190 is enough to warrant that. Of course, such aguement is based on knowledge of a course ten years ago and not the course as it exists now.
Onto the AAT.
You could be a member of the IAB and working towards AAT membership if you wanted... Or alternatively why not go IAB to IFA which are more closely linked? (thats Institute of Financial Accountants, not Independant Financial Advisor.... So many institutions, so few available three letter acronyms).
Also, lets not forget the ICB. They don't give the same level of exemption for B190 and I tend to agree more with the ICB approach on that one.
Sure that all I've done here is given you yet more reading and headaches over which way to turn.
Have a read of the websites of the IAB, ICB and IFA websites and then repost and we'll have another chjat later,
kindest 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.
Thanks for your reply - that's certainly given me a lot to mull over! I'll have a look at the websites you suggest and come back with any queries. I'm currently looking at some old threads in this section for further info.
Re: AAT - whilst the dream is to become self-employed, I think the reality is that I might have to go back to regular employment and from what I've read online, AAT seems to be a highly regarded qualification.
I'm just coming to the end of my AAT Level 3 course (1 exam to go, AP2) and can thoroughly recommend it. Most of the people on my course had completed the level 2 beforehand. One of my friends did an OCR course and has coped fine. I think your goal of self-employment is laudable and far more possible than gaining employment in accounts/finance. I am also currently a stay-at-home mum but looking for employment as my youngest is about to start school in September. Even though I am comfortable and competent in the classroom I have found that work experience trumps my qualification. I have found this very frustrating but I have a foot in the door of a small local company for me to gain some much needed hands-on experience.
I studied B190 last year and have just completed B291 (financial accounting) - awaiting my result now! I agree with what has been said here, I do not believe that B190 alone (or even after studying B291) that I am in anyway prepared to work independently as a bookkeeper!
I have just applied to join the ICB and have started studying for their full membership which includes both manual and computerised bookkeeping, as well as self-assessment and payroll. I believe that to be more useful for a career in bookkeeping than the Open University courses and a lot cheaper! I will also look at getting some well needed experience.
Before you make any decision investigate all of your options thoroughly to see what is best for you - that may be OU, AAT, ICB, IAB, or another organisation.
Re the content of B190, for the purposes of comparing against what is covered by the various exams and exemptions, here is the course content of the current B190 module.
Me posting this has been approved by the module team; obviously, actual chapter content is copyrighted and so I won't elaborate further.
Double entry and the balance sheet - Accounting records and financial statements - Accounting records and the business entity concept - Definitions of assets, capital and liabilities - A simplified UK balance sheet format - T-accounts, debits and credits - Balancing off accounts and preparing a trial balance
Double entry and the profit and loss account - Making a profit and generating cash - The effect of profit on the accounting equation - The profit and loss account - Income and expense accounts - Accounting for closing stock - The accounting equation and the double-entry rules for income and expenses - Post trial balance nominal ledger accounts
The profit and loss account and the balance sheet: further matters - Accounting for opening stock - The trading account - The profit and loss account format - The structure of the balance sheet - The balance sheet format - Linking the profit and loss to the balance sheet
Ledger accounts and journals - The nominal ledger and the personal ledgers - The use of manual ledgers and computerised ledgers - The use of journal entries - The typical errors in processing transactions - Suspense accounts - Accounting for VAT
Accruals accounting - Thinking beyond cash - the accruals method of accounting - Accruals or accrued expenses - Prepayments - Other adjustments required by the accruals concept - Fixed assets and depreciation - Accounting for fixed assets and depreciation - Bad and doubtful debts - The extended trial balance
Books of prime entry, personal accounts and control accounts - The importance of books of prime entry - Day books - The purpose of control accounts
Cash books, petty cash books and bank reconciliations - The cash book - The petty cash book - Bank reconciliation statements - The use of the cash book to record bank and unbanked cash transactions in separate columns
Final accounts for companies and non-profit organisations - Types of business organisation - The accounting requirements of limited companies - Published accounts of limited companies - The accounting requirements of non-profit organisations
From bookkeeping to accounting - Materiality - The accruals (matching) concept - The going concern concept - The consistency concept - The prudence concept - The distinction between bookkeeping and accounting - The fundamental ethical principles of professional accounting - Some contemporary issues in accounting - Career opportunities in accounting
Computerised accounting and Sage Instant Accounts: - The use of spreadsheets in accounting - The growth of computerised accounting packages - Learning Sage Instant Accounts - The approach taken on B190 to learning the key principles of Sage Instant Accounts - The first steps on learning Sage Instant Accounts - The general advantages of computerised accounting packages
Guide to international accounting terminology
(c) 2011 The Open University. Copied with permission.
doesn't look as though it's changed much since I did it.
pretty much level II ICB / IAB level knowledge methinks which is what worries me as IAB are giving exemptions to level IV which includes accounts production which is barely touched upon by B190.
Also there seems to be a complete lack of tax (except VAT) in the syllabus.
Don't get me wrong, I think that the OU B190 is brilliant introduction. I just disagree that it carries as many exemptions as it does espechially when under the bonnet the AAT ABC is basically the same course with less exemptions.
__________________
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 so much for taking the time to post your very useful advice.
I've had a look at the IFA, IAB and ICB websites and at the moment I am minded to enrol for an ICB qualification largely because they have an exam centre in Belfast. I see that Ideal Schools do a very comprehensive package (the ICB Career Path) which includes full Sage software and am wondering whether to bite the bullet and go for it. If I decide to do things a bit more incrementally, then I might do B190 and apply for ICB Level 1 exemption then enrol with Ideal or similar to do Levels 2 & 3.
So, a bit more thinking and comparing of course content and pricing is required and then I'll make a firm decision.
I'm just looking at training packages with Training Link and Ideal Schools and am a bit confused about the Sage products they offer. Can anyone explain (in simpleton's language) the differences between Sage Instant Accounts and Sage 50 Accounts? Training Link seems to suggest that the former would not be appropriate for a professional book-keeper.
Also, is it worth investing in a package that provides a full licence for this software? Am I wrong in thinking that you need to purchase multiple licences for Sage if you are working for several clients? Having read some of the comments about Sage on this site, it seems like it is popular with clients but not so much with book-keepers...
My brain hurts.
-- Edited by The Hamburglar on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 02:40:44 PM
I'm also based in NI and have experienced the same sort of issues you have, the AAT centre in Belfast charging a fortune, i decided to ditch that and went for CAT instead, the ACCA version of AAT, the exam centres are much cheaper.
I would echo previous comments - go for ICB etc... if you want to go self employed, CAT etc... if you want to get a job.
I started off by going down the ICB route, the training company supplied me with Sage Instant to cut my teeth on and to be fair, this is an excellent package for someone starting out in bookkeeping, Sage 50 Accounts has more functionality but a lot of which you may not use for a while so i would say Instant is perfectly acceptable for you.
In terms of multiple licenses, if you have a few clients, yes you will need a new license for each client.
Let us know how you get on.
-- Edited by Nimac on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 03:00:15 PM
I think I'm going to sign up for the MICB package with Training Link, I'm just waiting for them to clarify a couple of queries on Sage 50 training/certification. The course fee doesn't include the actual software (other than for training purposes) but I think some training in Sage 50 rather than Instant would be useful if I need to get a job rather than setting up on my own.
-- Edited by The Hamburglar on Friday 25th of May 2012 10:42:56 PM
