You need to look at where you want to be to consider where you want to start from and if it's chartered accountancy then ICB would not be a good starting point... but it would non the less give you good foundations in bookkeeping knowledge which could form the foundations for further studies.
Whatever qualifications that you gain think not only of the knowledge that you will be gaining but also who you are gaining them to impress.
Unless taking a trainee on directly from university or someone with considerable practical experience a chartered practice would be looking for someone qualified to at least AAT level IV to consider taking them on in trainee accountant roles. But be under no illusions that such roles are easy to find. Only yesterday I was having a similar chat with someone on the site and pointed out that for accountancy students to gain their letters they have to work in practice so are willing to accept almost any money (or even no money) to gain the experience.
That said, there are roles for AAT people in practice and once you have your foot in the door it's not so difficult for the next step to onto the ladder.
Answering your three initial questions :
1) AAT
2) Premier, Eagle, Kaplan (Those all provide AAT courses. Jane from Premier posted an ad for an AAT foundation level course yesterday that might be right up your street.
3) Not sure what you mean by this? Bookkeeping encompasses all of bookkeeping and clients pretty much expect bookkeepers to be acccountants.
For timing to get from nothing to a qualification :
AAT would set you back 2 years of your life.
ACCA / ACA at least another 5 (and possibly nearer to 10).
You have to gain 3 years experience to get the letters and a further 2 years after passing all of the exams to get a practice certificate (but the 2 years can be part of the 3).
ACA (chartered) is higher up the tree than ACCA (chartered certified) but the skills and knowledge levels are approximately the same.
Have a read of a few other posts from the last couple of days as career change is something coming up quite a bit at the moment. I'm assuming that it's the usual new year / new direction syndrome and people are not being helped in their decisions by unachievable income promises being put accross by some training providers who of course have a vested interest in churning out newly qualified bookkeepers and accountants.
That said, no matter what career tjhat you end up in (most ACCA qualified accountants end up working in industry rather than practice) a sound qualification and the knowledge base behind it will set you in good stead for whereever life takes you... Just so often the place that the qualifications take them was not the place that they were aiming to be when they started it.
Be under no illusions, this is a really difficult career path requiring a specific mind set. The studies will eat up your entire life and they never, ever stop.
The above said, some people are naturals at this and take to it like ducks to water.
Before you invest a lot of money in this with training companies buy Business Accounts for bookkeeping an financial accounting courses by David Cox. Work through it within 8 weeks and if you come out of the other side understanding the basics and loving what you have just done then give Jane at Premier a call about their new AAT starter course which would lead on to AAT level III, then IV, then maybe ACCA studies and a starter position in practice.
Good luck going forwards Mike, sorry if any of the above is a little negative but better you go into this with your eye's wide open than just come out the other side with your pockets empty having made ill advised choices.
kindest regards,
Shaun.
p.s. amended as origininally posted quite late and some parts didn't read correctly.
-- Edited by Shamus on Friday 11th of January 2013 08:54:34 AM
__________________
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'm currently a self employed carpenter and been doing that for nearly 8 years now. I'm not wanting to do that for the rest of my life and at 26 think it's a good time for a career change :)
I eventually want to become a chartered accountant but would like to start with bookkeeping.
What I would like to know is;
1. Which is best AAT or ICB?
2. Which is the best distant learing company as I will be doing it while i'm still currently working and which is best priced?
3. What bookkeeping is best to start on?
I had some more questions but can't think of them currently so I shall add them when I remember.
Thank you for all your help on your post. In question 3 I was suppose to put which bookkeeping course is best to start on. I was thinking about starting with Sage Instant Accounts plus AAT Level 2 Award in Bookkeeping from Premier Training. is this a good starting base?
Kind Regards
Mike
Also where can I buy Business Accounts for bookkeeping an financial accounting courses by David Cox?
-- Edited by mikey5519 on Friday 11th of January 2013 05:36:12 PM
The AAT level 2 award is definitely a good start point.
As for Sage... whether in the real world you use it or not it's a good idea to get one or more accountancy packages under your belt and as Sage has the most accessible courses it's a pretty good place to start.
Whatever you study always think about whether it is making you more sellable.
Both of those that you have identified so far are great foundations to lead on to other qualifications but in themselves are unlikely to result in the potential for employment.
Sure that Nick from Premier will be posting in this thread soon with further details as to whether he believes that the suggested options are the best first step for yourself.
Nicks another great reason for going Premier as he's a qualified accountant who knows life from the pratice side of the fence.
note that from the resellers it starts at as little as 1p! (plus £2.80 delivery). Make sure that you get a copy that at least says that it's in Good condition.
-- Edited by Shamus on Friday 11th of January 2013 05:58:50 PM
__________________
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 just ordered my book so I shall be reading that when it arrives :)
If I get on well with the book I think I will start the 2 courses I said in my last post and then once they are complete, move on to AAT Levels 1,2,3 and 4 in accountancy. Does this seem a good route?
I look forward to hearing from Nick and his thoughts on what route is best for me :)
from reading Janes post I think that if you do well on the course you can go straight on to AAT level 3.
It looks as though that post has been removed (probably at the requst of another training company complained about advertising). For a link to the relevant page see here :
There is no reason for the Sage and AAT to be with the same training provider. I know that Training Link do a Sage line 50 course where as many of the others use Sage instant which is not the product that you would be likely to be working with.
See here for all three levels of Sage 50 training :
Don't forget though before signing on any dotted lines also check out Eagle, Kaplan, Ideal and Woodgrove tutorials as there are often bargains to be had y shopping around.
Good luck in your studies,
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.
If an accountancy practice, bank, financial services provider, etc. then AAT.
Most other sorts of business won't have heard of either.
As a tip. If ever you want to know how sought after a qualification is just go to the Reed Website and do a search based on it.
Just did a quick search.
AAT came back with 1021 jobs ACCA 3292 jobs IAB 9 jobs ICB 3 jobs Bookkeeper 382 jobs Accountant 4949 jobs
try it yourself with whatever key words you can think of,
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.
However, on thinking about this I think that my answer could be perceived not as I intended it.
The answer related to which was more recognised by employers. I don't think that you will find any disagreement on that AAT is more recognised.
However, when employers advertise for AAT they are expecting someone who has passed AAT level IV.
The AAT Bookkeeping course will be recognised in that it is from the AAT and can lead onto the AAT qualification but in itself the AAT bookkeeping course is only an introductory level qualification.
ICB through to MICB whilst not as well recognised would give you a greater knowledge base but is unlikely to find you a job in itself.
The above said, if you can get to interview and argue your case you would like as not have the recquired knowledge base for the client.
The issue is that clients ask for AAT as they have heard of it. Agents filter out CVs that do not have the clients requirements. As such, in a buyers market the likelihood of your CV getting to the desk that it needs to be on where there are so many fully qualified AAT and ACCA people looking for work is very remote.
Thats a shame as there are some very good ICB people out there and some not so good AAT ones (and vice versa). The paper that one holds is an indication that one can pass exams but does not say how well that you would fit into an organisation.
Many of the right people though are never given the opportunity to shine as they are passed over for those less well suited but having the right bits of paper.
I think that actually gives the answer better than the earlier post in that its not the quality of the knowledge gained but the recognition by employers of the bit of paper that one holds.
Hope that makes sense.
Regardless, as a first step I agree that you are doing right starting out on the AAT road if your intention is employment.
Just always bare in mind that this will cost you a lot of money and there is no guarantee at the end of it.
To make yourself more sellable as well as doing AAT ensure that you become an expert at using :
Excel (and I mean expert. not just end user so being able to use Pivot tables, Vlookups, etc.) Sage (You may never use it (I've banned it from my practice) but it is important that you know how to use it) Quickbooks Xero Kashflow VT
Basically the more of the common accountancy packages that you have under your belt the more of interest that you are to potential employers.
Accountancy practices take on clients with all sorts of software and having staff competent in the packages of multiple clients software is a real bonus that will get you ahead is you get to interview.
Other things such as IRIS and SAP would be too difficult and expensive to pick up off the job but if you get chance to work in a temp role that uses wither of those it could be worth considering a loss leader to get them on your CV.
good luck,
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.
