My hope this year is to start a course which will lead me on the way to be able to do the accounts for my Dads Limited company and also as I am training currently in fashion and design to eventually open my own company and do my own books. I have had a look around at Kaplan and NEC but it seems very complicated to know which course to do and some people say ICB is a good place to start then others say ACCA and I dont want to start and pay for the wrong course only to realise I am not on the correct path to get to where I would like to be . I would have to do the courses by distance learning as I live in mid Wales and there isnt anywhere to study here and if they do have a course its always full instantly so any advice you would have would be wonderful and I would be very grateful. Thank you!
Best wishes and Happy New Year
Zoe
-- Edited by samsomoley on Wednesday 2nd of January 2013 04:43:19 PM
I would recomend before you sign up for anything do plenty of research and make sure that you feel Accountancy and bookkeeping is right for you.
I also think that the AAT would be the best route if you want to prepare Limited company accounts. If you want to try it without having to buy a whole level, you can try the AAT award in bookkeeping. This is just a couple of exams and introduces the concept fo double entry bookkeeping. If you like it you get exemptions from 2 of the 5 exams at AAT level 2, and you havent wasted your money. If you find you dont like it, you havent spent alot of money on a whole level.
As for training providers, i really recomend ring around, and ask to speak to tutors when you do, as they are the ones that you will be dealing with. Hopefully after speaking to a few you should be able to make your own decision as to which one is right for you. DO NOT be pressurised into siging up to anything then and there. This is a big decision and needs some thought.
-- Edited by NickCraggs on Wednesday 2nd of January 2013 06:31:03 PM
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Nick
Nick Craggs FMAAT ACA AAT Distance Learning Manager
AAT is an excellent qualification to start you on the path to accountancy whilst giving you sound foundations in bookkeeping.
Be warned that there is a lot to the profession and whilst the principle of putting together a set of books may at the moment not sound too difficult once you understand how it all fits together you will realise why bookkeeping for many is a full time occupation rather than something that is done in addition to your main income source.
If you are serious about this then be prepared to dedicate at least 20 hours per week to your studies for two years plus with the knowledge that it will actually take over every waking moment as the more that you learn the more that you realise you don't know.... And when you do know it the standards setters will just come along and change it.
The above aside, if you want for any business that you run to be a success then having a sound grounding in bookkeeping and accountancy with a quality qualification such as AAT will ensure that your business has the best chance of success.
Note that the majority of qualified accountants out there do not work in practice but are rather work in industry often at the head of companies. There is a reason that successful companies have financial professionals at the helm.
To get to AAT level IV will take two years out of your life but it will give you the foundations for the rest of it no matter which direction that goes.
Good luck in your studies. For distance learning providers of AAT the usual site recommendations are Premier Training, Eagle education and Kaplan.
Before starting though save yourself some money and buy Business Accounts for bookkeeping and financial accounting courses by Dadid Cox (osbourne books).
If you hate it then this business is not for you and you have just saved yourself a fortune in training. If it makes complete sense and you had the commitment to work your way through to the end of the 650 pages then sign up to study AAT.
Hope that helps and welcome to the forum,
kindest 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.
Hello, Thank you for your help and for the book recommendations, it does sound like a good idea to have a read up about everything., the online courses on Kaplan don't really say much about what each course is to someone who doesn't really know and I'm slightly surprised how many different bodies there seems to be. Basically at the moment my Dad does his books using quick books, he then sends them to the accountant and they take forever to come back and every year its a nightmare so just to be able to do the books for him and change to Sage instead of quick books because Im sure that's half the reason it takes so long at the accountants and know how to do it properly would be a good start and may make it easier for my Dad. I don't know much about accounting or book keeping as you can probably tell, Ive always been good at maths though so I know I could do it but it's trying to understand what the situation is and how qualified you need to be. The only qualifications I have currently are GCSE's and A levels which I did by distance learning in Biology, chemistry and Environmental Science and I'm now studying fashion design and pattern cutting also via distance learning whilst learning in a primary school so I don't have loads of spare time but I wouldn't mind doing books for a living say as a string to my bow should I need too as a back up and source of finance. Although having my own business designing wedding and evening dresses is more my ideal but for that I would need to do the books as well so all in all could just be sensible to learn. I hope that makes sense any advice is really helpful and Im sorry if I sound silly or rude asking. Best wishes Zoe
it is Basic Accounting 1 and 2. It basically the same units just rebadged, but if you complete them you get the AAT Bookkeeping Award. After you have done that you can add basic costing, WEAF and computerised accounts and get the level 2 certificate if you want. It is a nice step into accountancy.
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Nick
Nick Craggs FMAAT ACA AAT Distance Learning Manager
Don't worry nobody on this site is treated as silly and you are not rude in asking anything. Everyone needs to start somewhere and in the minefield of qualifications it's always useful to have the backup of a site that is totally unbiased and manned by people who are actually practicing bookkeepers and accountants.
I would not advise you to move away from Quickbooks. To my mind its a better product than Sage and I believe on the cusp of hitting the UK market with a vengence espechially as Sage licensing makes the software ridiculously expensive for small practices.
There can be all manner of reasons why your fathers books take an age to process the most likely one being that if it is a busy practice your books get pushed back until necessary to process for the return dates. That means it won't make any difference what software that you use it will still take the same time and you will simply have moved to software that is both more expensive and alien to you meaning that you will incurr a learning curve that to my mind you don't need to when you have perfectly good software already.
Feel free to ask anything. You'll get sound advice on here and free help in getting you started on your path.
kindest 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.
Just to add, you could try speaking to a few other accounatnts to compare their service and charges, you might find an alternative who seems better able to meet your needs than the person you currently use.
