I qualified with the ACCA in 1999 and have always worked in the public sector.
I will be taking redundancy this summer and have thinking about what to do next.
I don't want to go back into the public sector and want a better work / life balance.
I have been thinking about self employment as a bookkeeper. After reading various forums I understand that I would have to cancel my ACCA membership as I don't have the experience to get an ACCA practicing certificate.
I am considering going down the ICB route and would be interested in what others think:
About the qualification
The feasibility of working as a self employed bookkeeper without any previous practice experience?
At my age would it be possible to get experience in a practice or are they only interested in new entrants. I realise that it would be low pay, but that wouldn't be a problem providing that it was reasonably local.
We've had many students who have previous accounting qualifications, such as ACCA, CIMA, etc and after a prolonged break in their careers look at the possibility of bookkeeping as an alternative option. A major benefit in these cases when it comes to completing the ICB exams is that you'll be able to do this relatively quickly. You completed your ACCA qualification a while ago but you'll still be familiar with many aspects which means you'll be able to hit the ground running in your new qualification. In terms of you gaining clients as a self employed bookkeeper, nothing is guaranteed, but age should certainly be no barrier. Indeed, with your educational background you stand a good chance of building up a decent client base.
Good luck with your new venture and welcome to the BKN forum.
With your qualifications I think it would make more sense to join the Association of Accounting Technicians or the Institute of Financial Accountants. Both qualifications are academically higher than ICB. I am pretty certain that both of them would accept you straight away for membership without requiring a technical assessment.
With AAT you would officially need to present a record of one year of relevant CPD before they would grant a practising certificate (although I think they exercise some discretion regarding this).
With IFA, I believe that although you are required to have a plan of ongoing CPD, they will grant a practising certificate without initial evidence of CPD.
With either of these qualifications you could focus purely on book keeping initially and retain the option to branch out into other accountancy services. This would give you the potential to earn a decent income.
I think you should check the ACCA requirements for obtaining a practising certificate in detail before you cancel your membership.
for IFA you need to have a qualified accountant sign off that they will vouch for your competence.
When you apply for the practicing certificate each year you supply a breakdown of your CPD and you need to keep your evidence in case you are one of the firms audited that year.
Considering however that the IFA has become a home for those who cannot traverse regulation 8 its now bulging at the seams with ex ACCA people. The result being that the knowledge base of members (being trained ACCA) is doing great things for the qualification to the point where one hopes that the ACCA will be forced to take notice and amend that most draconian of regulations.
The exemptions from the IFA qualification were reasonable as well being a one of exemption fee rather than a paper by paper exemption in the form of a guaranted pass without sitting the paper which is the approach of the ICB and ACCA.
HTH,
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.
