I hope you can help me cut through all the waffle on the various professional websites.
I am a part qualified bookkeeper with ICB, sitting level 3 exams next month.
I have self studied then done some Open University courses which have exempted me from the IAB exams to MIAB level. (They will also exempt me from about half the level 3 & 4 exams with AAT.)
Will membership of either of these bodies allow me to produce and file final accounts, calculate corporation tax etc. for small Ltd companies? If not which of the other organisations should I consider joining? (I have plenty of real world experience of this but I think I need a practice licence from someone).
My main criteria are speed and convenience of qualification.
For speed and convenience I think it has to be ICB level 4. Or for something with the word 'accountant' in the title there is IFA. Or of course you could do AAT, but I believe it's likely to be most costly and time consuming (but I could be wrong about that!).
I thought for any paid work you had to have a practice licence and money laundering licence? The AAT is level 4 before being able to have a practice licence and ICB will only allow final accounts at level 4 but you can have a practice licence
The benefit of continuing your ICB study to Level IV is that you'll get the personal and business tax aspects required to complete limited co accounts. You can also to straight into practice on your own, without the requirement of initially gaining experience.
I agree that legally anyone can produce final accounts for Ltd companies which only need auditing for turnovers over 6 and a bit million, I have done it myself. I was looking for the backup of a professional body that could help with all the fiddly bits like money laundering and professional indemnity insurance but was unsure where their areas of jurisdiction/competence ended.
The ICB website was confusing me as all I could find for level 4 were the words "Draft Financial Statements" which didn't sound very final.
I will be covered under ICPA for PII when my current insurance runs out in June. But they are the same provider which I already use in QDOS so wont be any real change other than I think ICPA gives a larger standard cover.
Plus lots of other benefits of ICPA. But dont know if you will be restricted by their entry requirement of either 1) having 10+ year accounting experience or 2) 5+ year personal pratice experience.
