Hi I am considering studying to become a bookkeeper. My wish is to become a self-employed bookkeeper but I have some questions. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide:
I have worked doing some bookkeeping in another country and currently work in banking so I have some knowledge of the basics. I am really interested in keeping costs down, therefore I am considering book studying and doing mock exams for Level 1 of IBC then taking the level 2 courses with a course provider. Has anyone done it this way? If so, based on your prior experience were you successful?
At what point can you set-up a bookkeeping business and help customers?
What insurances or anything else do you need to be a self-employed bookkeeper?
From your experience, what type of income can you expect to make during the first year? (I am a single sole earner)
If you studied and then immediately became self-employed, how hard did you find it to establish yourself?
Any other advice would be greatly received....thanks
Hi I am considering studying to become a bookkeeper. My wish is to become a self-employed bookkeeper but I have some questions. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide:
I have worked doing some bookkeeping in another country and currently work in banking so I have some knowledge of the basics. I am really interested in keeping costs down, therefore I am considering book studying and doing mock exams for Level 1 of IBC then taking the level 2 courses with a course provider. Has anyone done it this way? If so, based on your prior experience were you successful?
I'm assuming that you mean ICB? I did it that way but I already understood bookekeeping so not really a fair comparrison. Using only ACCA materials and doing a mock for each paper that I took to understand the format and expectations I got 99% at level I and 98% at level II so it is quite possible to do it without a training provider altough many prefer the safety net of the support of a professional training company.
At what point can you set-up a bookkeeping business and help customers?
Its been a bone of contention between myself and the ICB in the past that some people have set up before they should. The issue is public expectation of what a bookkeeper is. For most micro businesses the expectation is that a bookkeeper is simply a cheaper accountant and if you are offering services beyond trial balance then you really need to know a lot more tax than is in the syllabuses of some bodies at the lower levels of their qualifications.
Ideally if you can find clients who require a bookkeeper and an accountant then you are able to stop at trial balance. My experience is that there are not that many of those sort of clients but they tend to pay more so swings and roundabouts.
What insurances or anything else do you need to be a self-employed bookkeeper?
You must be registered either though your professional body or via HMRC for Money Laundering (MLR). If not you face imprisonment and unlimited fine.
That aside PII insurance is advisory but not compulsory. That said, if you make an error you would be expected to put the client back in the situation that they would have been in had the error not been made.
From your experience, what type of income can you expect to make during the first year? (I am a single sole earner)
Thats very much an how long is a peice of string type question. As a rule of thumb take the absolute minimum that you think that any idiot could make and then divide it by 4! There is a lot of competition out there and it can take a lot of clients, especially smaller one's, to start making a living at this.
Don't take any notice of anything that you read abut there being millions of businesses and only 3400 bookkeepers. Its total rubbish and a gross manipulation of the figures. There are bookkeepers from many bodies plus many accountants offer bookkeeping services.
Thats not to say that you will not drop on some good clients quickly but you just need to be aware that getting the first few could take a while and there will always be others willing to undercut you.
If you studied and then immediately became self-employed, how hard did you find it to establish yourself?
I think that everyone's experiences are different on this one. As much comes down to luck as to skill. i.e. what made the client phone your number from the list of local bookkeepers on Google? You will find once established that much of your business comes by referal rather than advertising.
You could hypathetically start busienss and never be short of clients.
Of course you could also go a year and get noone.
At the end of the day its a real business and as with all business it comes with inherent risk.
Any other advice would be greatly received....thanks
Best advice that I can give would be to have a wander around the site and have a look at some of the discussions that we've had in the past on this matter.
There's a lot of information on here and some real hidden gems of discussions including those around marketing your services, networking, etc.
Hope to chat soon,
kind regards,
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.
Shaun has provided some great help and what he says regarding the self employment opportunities is true. There is work out there and there is an element of luck involved in how quickly you get that fist opportunity upon qualifying and start to build your business. In terms of the ICB qualifications, this link shows their Membership structure and what you can do in terms of employment at each Level of Membership: http://www.bookkeepers.org.uk/out/51493/Membership%20Structure%20Arrow
Re Level I self study, the ICB have a book available for this and would probably be your cheapest option. However, many providers have course packages that bundle the levels together and this can also end up being a cheaper option in the long run. A full list of providers can be found here: http://www.bookkeepers.org.uk/Study--Qualifications/Bookkeeping-Courses