I suppose I could buy one of those SAGE Self Study CD-ROMS and learn the software myself. I could then write on my CV that I know how to use SAGE.

The only accredited SAGE Certificate is issued by the SAGE company itself. The certification isn't cheap so I won't be going for it.

 

-- Edited by Tim on Tuesday 1st of October 2013 01:36:49 AM

Its a matter of getting in the door more than anything else.

You are going to be going up against a huge amount of competition so you need to make yourself as sellable as possible.

If a hundred people apply, 70 are Sage certified and 30 are not then that knocks the managers job down by 30% of applicants straight away even if someone is in that 30 who could have been perfect for the role.

Do not underestimate the issue of getting your CV to the right desk and that often involves being over qualified for the roles available.

Generally you will have to get past basic checking by a low level agent just looking for buzzwrods in your CV, more advanced checking by the real agent who will be matching your skills and experience to the role before being put forwards for the role which the agent knows that you could do, then reviewed by the client before being shortlisted often for two levels of interview where you will be competing for the positions on offer.

There are more people looking for jobs in this business than there are jobs available so competition is fierce.

Sage is not a very forgiving bit of software if you make a mistake so employers are particularly keen that temp staff are adept in it before being let loose on their systems.

That said, straight repetitive data entry is not rocket science and as you say you should be able to able to pick that up on the job if you can get interest from an employer.

That sort of data entry work is very, very far from what self employed bookkeepers do which tends to be more interesting work although still with a fair bit of data entry.

There is no reason that you could not do sales and purchasse ledger work if you can get the interviews and that depends almost as much on luck as it does on skill.

kind regards,

Shaun.

Also, you've done the level II qualification and paid for it yourself.

Have you thought of the 24+ loans available for levels III and IV that are not repayable until you are earning enough to repay them (I believe at the moment its more than £21k).

So, using the loan you could go from the certificate to the full AAT qualification without money being the immediiate issue.

If the issue is wanting to earn as quickly as possible before having really done the level of training to prepare you for the role (and even then reality is a quantum leap from the studies) then you will have difficulties as for every role you will be going up against fully qualified bookkeepers.

And of course, its right that they should be considered first as they have invested a lot of their time getting themselves into a position where they have made themselves a sellable commodity.

As mentioned above, you can currently do that at no immediate cost except for your time.

One further point to add to Nicks comments worth noting is that PLC's dont as a rule use Sage. They use something called SAP but the PLCs will be looking for you to prove that you have had exposure to computerised accounting packages even if it is not SAP (which you can read about but its not something that you will be able to afford to put on your home PC and even if you could every SAP instalation is slightly different as the software is geared towards tohe needs of the business rather than being a straight off the shelf sollution).

You say that Sage certification is expensive but the course in a box is quite reasonable and includes certification.

As you say, you don't need to be Sage certified you just need to know how to use a high end computerised accounting package. What concerns me there is in relation to your original question that spoke of self employment.

Where this industry is not an expensive one to enter there are costs.

For example, for MLR you can either get such through the practicing certificate of your professional body or direct from HMRC and both options have an associated cost.

If through HMRC then thats £120 per year.

Then there is software costs, again an annual fee which can be quite expensive.

Then there is insurance. You will need PII (unlike MLR though its not a legal requirement although if you got MLR through your professional body its a professional requirement).

As I say, its not expensive but neither is it free.

Also, the less experienced and qualified you are the more you will need PII but the more expensive it will be... A little like insurance for new drivers.

The above all sounds very negative but the reality is that you have taken an excellent first step with the AAT certificate in bookkeeping an it would be really nice to hear back from you a couple of months down the line that you have secured a good data entry role with a plc.

Taking the 24+ loan to fund full AAT could (but will not necessarily) open doors as you use the reasoning to employers that you are looking for relevant roles in iorder to support your studies.

If you can, also look at credit control roles. It takes a peculiar interpersonal skill set but as an aside it means that you are doing accounting work thats a little more interesting than straight data entry.

Good luck,

Shaun.

Hi Tim,

I think knowledge of line 50 is over rated.  Everyone thinks because it is bigger it is better, when i have into a company to finish off their accounts when they are using Line 50, 9/10 times they are doing nothing on it that cant be done on instants.  They have just wasted their money.

Learning instants is easily scaleable to line 50, they even look the same (unlike instant payroll and line 50 payroll) so it wont take you long to learn the extra (should you need to).  However, ( as Shaun says) if they can warrant a dedicated sales ledger clerk, they are unlikely to be using Sage.