I know that the "which professional body" question has been asked many times so I thought I would give it a twist.
I have been the treasurer of a small charity for roughly 4 years (and on their committee for 10), I went into the role with no previous experience or knowledge other than a good eye for detail and accurate record keeping. I only intended to take on the possition temporarily until they found someone else with some experience, little did I realise that I would enjoy it and actually be quite good at it.
I would like to take this further and become a fully fledged bookkeeper and be able to offer services to other local charities and non-profit organisations as a speciality - independant examination of accounts for example. Despite being a treasurer for 4 years I need to learn starting with the basics as I have never even learnt how to do double entry bookkeeping. I have looked at the courses from the three bookkeeping bodies (ICB, IAB, AAT) and at the OU courses B190 and S25 (B291 & B292), I note that the ICB Sylabus covers the subject in the Level III Manual & Computerised Diploma's, IAB has some coverage in it's level 3 certificates. The AAT and OU on the otherhand I find no mension of dealing with charity or non-profit accounts.
Do all the courses/sylabuses teach to the same level with regards to charities and non-profit accounts or are some more detailed than others?
Is it viable to specialise in non/not-for profit as a bookkeeper?
And lastly, once you are a bookkeeper who is registered to practice, are you still allowed to undertake voluntary accounting work? As I would like to continue as the charity treasurer once qualified.
Maybe confusion over the odd rules regarding money laundering and treasurers.
For instance, a dentist could act as a treasurer with no MLR implications (other than staying within the law). But a bookkeeper or an accountant has to comply with MLR rules even if it's voluntary.
There are other implications with charity accounts - when income exceeds certain amounts. Under £25,000 and any capable person can act as an Independent Examiner. But if full accrual method is used then you need to be a member of certain bodies -and the ICB / IAB is not on the list. (At least, not on the list OSCR has in Scotland). Not sure if AAT is.
I wouldn't have thought it was viable to specialise in that field - just my opinion.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
This is driving me nuts now. I'm sure I read £25,000 somewhere on their regulations/reports/website. I should have printed it out and used highlighter for my own reference.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
It was £100,000. That increased 2 years ago to £250,000. The document I linked to above is a really good source of information, and strangely easy to read.
Can I ask - why do you think you cannot continue as charity treasurer once qualified?
I'm not entirely sure myself! I suppose I didn't know whether I would be restricted in some way or whether I would be committing some kind of conflict of interest (I guess that's something I would have to check with the Charity Commission). I guess by the/your response that it is not a problem.
This is driving me nuts now. I'm sure I read £25,000 somewhere on their regulations/reports/website. I should have printed it out and used highlighter for my own reference.
Actually you are correct, for England and Wales a charity must have it's accounts externally scrutinised if it's income is over £25,000 it is up to the charity (or it's governing document) to decide if they would like/need an independant examination or Audit. However, If the income is over £500,000 it must have an audit. A charity must also have an Audit over an independant examination if their gross assets are over £3,260,000.
When I say I would like to specialise in charity accounts I do not mean that in the sense that I would deal with just that solely, but I feel that it would be a shame to not utilise my knowledge and experience by sharing it with other similar organisations.
This is driving me nuts now. I'm sure I read £25,000 somewhere on their regulations/reports/website. I should have printed it out and used highlighter for my own reference.
Actually you are correct, for England and Wales a charity must have it's accounts externally scrutinised if it's income is over £25,000 it is up to the charity (or it's governing document) to decide if they would like/need an independant examination or Audit. However, If the income is over £500,000 it must have an audit. A charity must also have an Audit over an independant examination if their gross assets are over £3,260,000.
When I say I would like to specialise in charity accounts I do not mean that in the sense that I would deal with just that solely, but I feel that it would be a shame to not utilise my knowledge and experience by sharing it with other similar organisations.
That must have been where I saw the £25,000 figure - which doesn't help me as I'm in Scotland and the charities are governed by OSCR with different rules. I thought I was going mad.
Funny thing is, when I did an Independent Examination recently the woman mentioned to me that charities were struggling to get examiners. (She was promptly handed a bundle of my cards which she said she would hand out at their AGM......it was a federation of local charities). It was the most enjoyable job I have done because everything was there and I didn't have to go backwards and forwards looking for information.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
I actually found the OSCR document on Scottish Charity Accounts provided by Kjmcculloch83 interesting reading. I was surprised by the fact that Scottish charities do not escape any external scrutiny when their income falls below a certain amount, unlike in England and Wales.
Anyway I think this has gone a little off topic (although still interesting and informative ), time to get back to the matter at hand.
Which professional body &/or course syllabus (including the OU) covers accounting for non-profit organisations in the most detail?
My experience only lies with payments & receipts accounts, not the accrual method.
Does anyone that deals with charity accounts find that the course they did/followed helped them to deal with this type of accounts better, or did you still need to research it with the Charity Commission / OSCR anyway?
Which professional body &/or course syllabus (including the OU) covers accounting for non-profit organisations in the most detail?
...
Does anyone that deals with charity accounts find that the course they did/followed helped them to deal with this type of accounts better, or did you still need to research it with the Charity Commission / OSCR anyway?
Below Chartered level (I haven't looked enough into all of those), none of them?
They all teach you basic accountancy and bookkeeping, but in the form of companies (under international format). If you want to actually work with charities accounts, you have to study the SORP yourself - <http://www.oscr.org.uk/media/1971/SORP%202005.pdf>. The information from the course obviously helps, but don't expect to be taught charities accounting directly with any of them.
Also the first 9 exams of ACCA can count towards a degree in applied accounting, then you could do something like the above, I have no idea how useful that would be, but it looks interesting if you really want to specialise in charity work, and maybe a good alternative to trying to get the work experience to become a fully chartered, maybe others can evaluate this option.
), time to get back to the matter at hand.
