I have recently enrolled on a City & Guilds course in book keeping with a view to eventually starting my own book keeping business. I am 59 and am looking to gradually build up the necessary qualifications, experience and client base for my "retirement" at 65. I am also looking for any advice that anyone can give me!
What is the client base that you are looking to service?
Do you have people / businesses that you know that have already indicated that they are willing to use your services?
You need to have a focus on your eventual market to know what you need to be doing to prepare for it.
Any further information on your plans would help in trying to put you on the right path,
kind regards,
Shaun.
p.s. why did you choose City and Guilds? Boookkeeping is bookkeeping and to a large extent it doesn't matter who you study with but just wondering why you chose that path?
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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.
Normally if you are looking for self employment i would suggest the ICB or IAB as these are the quicker way to self employment. The ICB would be the quicker of the two, but the IAB will get you exemptions from further qualifications.
However, as you have 6 years before you need it, the AAT is also an option. You can become a self employed member in practice with the AAT, and it is more widely recognised and so would be better should you need it, and you will learn more. It will probably cost more to obtain, but then you dont get anything for nothing.
As Shaun says, it depends on your personal circumstances on what would be best. If you just want to have a few clients to keep you busy, and stick to bookkeeping, the ICB or IAB would probably be best.
Six years is plenty of time to get the necessary qualiifcations and get the legal aspects sorted, such as money laundering.
Kind regards
Nick
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Nick
Nick Craggs FMAAT ACA AAT Distance Learning Manager
I chose C&G simply because it was available at a local college on a Saturday at was relatively cheap. My thinking as far as a client base is concerned is the insecurity in the jobs market at the moment which seems set to continue and will encourage more people to become self-employed. I too have been self-employed in the past and employed book keepers simply because I had more important things to do. My intention is to take the C&G qualification which is in three parts, on the basis that book keeping is book keeping, and then get training on Sage. I've looked at payroll qualifications but have found them expensive and only available through distance learning. In the past I have been a finance salesman and was once a financial advisor for a bank. I left the bank because I found their bias towards pensions disingenuous and misleading and finance sales because I found them frankly dishonest.
