I'm new around here and I'm very happy to have discovered this website, i'm sure it will prove to be an invaluable source of information as I progress into hopefully becoming a practising bookkeeper.
I have recently passed ICB level 1&2 manual bookkeeping exams with distinctions and i'm now at exam stage for level 2 computerised.
I would appreciate a little guidance, if it can be offered, without wishing to break any rules:
I am unsure whether it is likely in an exam scenario, that I might be expected to create an additional nominal code, if I felt that those I have been asked to customise for the company, did not seem relevant to the invoice(s) I am being asked to post. Can anyone perhaps advise whether I'll lose marks for creating another N/C so long as it falls within the correct part of the chart of accounts?
I have completed 3 mock papers with no real problems, although I found the N/C's were more clearly defined.
Maybe I am just overthinking things, but I'm giving myself a headache worrying about it in the process!
Welcome to the forum. As long as your new code falls within an appropriate range of codes within the nominal code structure then there should be no deductions.
welcome to the forum and good luck with your exams.
I've got a follow up question that is more for Brian / James / Dave.
I'm sure I read in an old post that the ICB had moved away from giving Sage backups in order to do their computerised exams as it was a general test of computerised bookkeeping rather than a test specific to Sage.
The question here talking about nominals which is predominantly a Sage concept would indicate that it is still in fact a Sage test so how does that fit with bookkeepers where offering services to the SME sector Sage would be unlikely to be first choice due to their pay per client rather than the likes of Quickbooks and VT and the plentiful cloud offerings.
Of course, for employment or where using the client systems then a knowledge of Sage is very important as it by far still has the lions share of the market.
This question not anti Sage (plenty of those elsewhere on the site) and its nothing against the computerised exams which I have to say the old ICB's exams were an excellent way of learning Sage (Still treasure my Arena Aerospace, Smart Computers and Wyde Manufacturing papers). Its simply an observation that I thought that the ICB had dumped the idea of their exams being tied to directly to use of Sage software and I'm interested to know how true that is for advice that I might give in future posts.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
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.
A quicky as just heading out. The ICB computerised exam is generic and, as far as i'm aware, can be completed in most bespoke accounting programs, as long as it has appropriate report options. Due to pure demand, most providers use Sage for their training.
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.
I don't know the percentages for the different types/brands of software used but I can tell you that there are numerous posts each year asking about exam capable software on the ICB forum - the main criterion as Brian said is the reporting levels the software provides. If you think about it this would be obvious as the exams are necessarily marked based on the reports the candidate provides to answer the questions set. This tends to mean trial versions where reporting can be limited and cloud solutions where again the reporting leaves a little to be desired are not going to get the candidate the highest marks as the reports produced will not be able to completely answer the questions asked.
I ended up writing bespoke reports (in Sage) to be sure every point on each question was covered in the report produced - I got a distinction for my lv2. That is not to say that Sage is a requirement, it's more that an ability to work the software and bespoke the reports is! Also - as ever, the exam is a test of how you read the question. Be very sure you are answering what has been asked and not what you think they may want to see.
As to adding or altering nominal codes or however your chosen software does such things - adding/altering expense types - it is conceivable that a question might require this, just be very sure you have mapped the COA correctly.
