After years of working as a legal clerk (personal injury and conveyancing) I have decided to make a career change. Due to the government reforms of the RTA process (ie fixed costs for legal firms, resulting in loss of profit) I have slipped away from this area and now working in a call centre due to lack of opportunities
After investigating the education opportunities with ICB, I have decided to enrol onto the level 1 course and make a fresh start this September
If anyone is local to me (ie Merseyside) please drop me a line. It would be great to chat to somebody "in the know"
Sounds as though you may be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. This business is also going through some transition with Real Time Information (RTI), relaxation of micro business reporting requirements, etc. combined with many people turning to this route on the back of redundancy.
Before going down any training path you need to think about what you are trying to achieve.
If you are looking for employment then AAT would be a better choice.
For self employment either ICB or IAB are fine.
If your intention is to retrain to accountancy rather than bookkeeping then either AAT or FIA would be a good start point with a view to moving on to ACCA or CIMA / CGMA.
Good luck with whichever route you are looking to progress down and hope that you enjoy exchanging messages on here,
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.
I think that the ICBers (and IABers) get treated a little unfairly in the jobs market as the knowledge base required at ICB level IV is not that dissimilar to AAT.
However, the issue that invariably those doing the employing are ex AAT who have moved up the ladder and expect for those following to have followed the same path.
The yardstick for any qualification is to go to the Reed website and do a search based on a given qualification.
For ACCA and CIMA they are often referred to as PQ (part qualified).
Where businesses are looking for AAT or equivalent that means that they are looking for AAT or PQ.
You will also hit the issue where you cannot get a job without experience and you cannot get experience without a job... Which is where ICB and IAB really come into their own as they give people the opportinity to run their own small businesses either to gain experience for employment or as an end in itself.
ICB is a sound choice if the qualification suits your requirements however, one difference between the bodies that you should be aware of is that the ICB route will not give any exemptions from AAT or the accountancy qualifications whereas the IAB qualification does offer some exemption and also links nicely into the IFA qualification.
That said, IAB is only differentiated there in that it is of more use if your intention is to use the qualification as a stepping stone to something else.
I'll be honest. The qualifications are a compelete minefield and that's before you even go near the training companies.
Sure that you've read the recomendations on the site but if you go with a distance learning training provider the better choices are Training Link, Premier Training, Ideal Schools, Woodgrove tutorials, Kaplan and Eagle Training.
Whatever qualification you take you will gain a good understanding of the subject matter that will enable you to take the exams of other bodies even if you don't get exemptions.
Good luck in your studies and hope that the career change proves to be a lucrative one for you,
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.
we try to make sure that everyone who comes here is given unbiased advice with nothing hidden and no hidden agenda's.
If you make the wrong choice at the start it can prove to be an incredibly expensive mistake further down the line.
Any other information that you need just post and either myself or one of the other regulars on here will be happy to help if we can,
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.
Shaun that is great and truly unbiased advice. You have answered some questions I have always wanted to know too.
I studied through the ICB then joined the IAB simply because the IAB exams were OfQual accredited.
My perception of the 'top' qualification is to end up with the letters FCA after your name. Would be very interested to hear what you think?
John, starting your own business is easy (really). You can offer just pure bookkeeping to start with on a part-time basis. Explain that what you will do is record their ins and outs and it is up to them to submit to an accountant afterwards etc.
In other words, start in the shallowest of waters with things you know how to do. As the VAT threshold is currently £77,000 you can target sole-proprietors who are not VAT registered and who do not operate PAYE.
I recently got some research done from the IoD which showed that 11 years ago there were 3.5m businesses in the UK, and by 2011 that had grown to 4.5m. That is a massive increase.
Furthermore 74% of those are sole-proprietors and 55% are neither VAT registered nor on PAYE. So the market is very big.
Meanwhile you can hunt for a job, which when you get one will help to build your confidence.
Ask any questions you may have about this. There are lots of helpful people on this forum.
My perception of the 'top' qualification is to end up with the letters FCA after your name. Would be very interested to hear what you think?
Hi Quentin,
good to see you back on the site again, you've been missing too long.
Oh that one could attain the giddy heights of FCA.
When I first started along the ACCA path that was also my intention but the ICAEW have now blocked that route which some of my freinds took of getting ACCA then jumping accross via dual memberships.
An expensive acquisition of letters having to have two memberships and two practicing certificates in order to put three little letters on your stationary but obviously worth it.
Completely concurr. and as I've always said when doing my little pecking order charts on the site ICAEW / ICAS / ICAI are to my mind the top layer of the cake (#1) and to attain FCA is the cherry on top of that.
That said, many of our members on here have different but no less worthy aspirations and I will not knock anyone for wanting to be at the top of their tree even where such is not the tallest tree in the forest.
On the site we just try to make sure when people start climbing the tree that they've picked the right tree for them and not simply picked the most accessible one at the edge of the forest that has a stepladder left leaning against it... Although it has to be said that once mastered tree climbing is a transferable skill.
Oh goodness... How many analogies can I squeeze into one reply. lol
And what are we taking away from this reply... Tree climbing is good for you and the cherry on top is the best bit of the cake... And people think that they learn nothing from this site
Have a good day Quentin and talk later,
kindest regards,
Shaun.
#1 add to that CTA for tax specialisation.
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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.
