Hello to everyone and thank you for all your advice on this forum.
I am new to the whole world of bookkeeping and accounting and I find it really interesting but yet confusing.
I am currently not living in the UK but would move there soon to stay with my boyfriend. I worked in the hospitality field for a few years and I actually enjoy it and I will stay on this path at least for now. What I am interested in is gaining "financial literacy" along with a qualification to have on my Cv and I wanted to start this from the basics to grasp well the subject taught.
My first choice was to start studying the Award in manual bookkeeping as it seemed to give the foundations for further studies in bookkeeping and eventually moving to accounting but I have been put off by reading that taking the IAB would mean gain a qualification useful to be self employed which is something that I am not considering. I thought maybe the AAT certificate in bookkeeping at level 1 and then progress to level 2.
I was also thinking to buy the book "bookkeeping for dummies", the last UK edition. Since I don't have practical experience with paperwork I thought that maybe the book would be written in a simpler way with examples from the real world.... I've never read a dummies book but I have been told that they are good.
Anyway, I am not even sure if there is a real question in my thread, just a lot of confusion from my side about how to start this experience.
Thanks in advance if you want to give any suggestion.
Tiy could do the new AAT level 2 and 3 certificate in bookkeeping. This would give you a introduction to bookkeeping, and when the new licencing framework comes in would also give you the self employed option. You can then do the extra units to get the full AAT qualification. If you are thinking employment the AAT is the best route to go down.
Good luck in what ever you decide to do, but you have found the right place for any questions.
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Nick
Nick Craggs FMAAT ACA AAT Distance Learning Manager
Sound advice there from Nick. I won't take that part of you question but rather go for giving you more confidence on books to read if you want to get a feel before starting a course.
Dummies books can be very hit and miss but the Jane Kelly version of Bookkeeping for dummies is very good. See here :
I reviewed that one and if you read my review on Amazon (I'm s.morris and have the top review for that one) I give a full review plus links to other books that you may find useful
looking forwards to chatting 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.
I was eating the cake whilst writing it... Has the same effect of me that Spinach has on Popeye.
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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.
Don't be put off by doing IAB manual bookkeeping. It does not mean you have to become self-employed. There are lots of people working in accounts departments that only have IAB qualifications.
Just because a job advert specifies a particular qualification (e.g. AAT), it does not mean you cannot apply or cannot get the job.
Every job I have been successful in getting through the long interview process has specified a Chartered qualification, except one, and that one specified a MBA! And I have neither. I have never let not having the asked for qualification as a barrier for applying or successfully become employed. Nor should you or anyone else.
but you will of course appreciate that applying for a role where you do not have the specified requirements means that no matter how well suited you may be for the position nowdays your CV will not get past the agent gatekeepers.
The issue that I'm having at the moment is that my CV is not getting through to companies for my own jobs (roles that I have previously held).
Its on a different scale I know but my CV can't get past the gatekeepers as my job role requires a minimum of a first or 2:1 in accountancy or business from a top tier university (MBA preferred), plus fully qualified ACCA / ACA / CIMA with experience signed off with a big four firm. (I've not got a degree at all and even though I've worked at length with the big four my ACCA experience is signed off by three banks).
Strange don't you think that I was doing a job perfectly well that I now cannot even get my CV to the right desk for!
So, if a role asks for AAT regardless of anything else it will be filtered out by the agents if you do not have AAT.
I miss the good old days (not so long ago!) before agents and HR departments made up for their lack of meaningful qualifications by developing God complexes over those of us who can actiually do the jobs that they advertise.
Hope that you are having a good day,
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.
I agree Shaun,
there are so many people chasing the jobs that filters are put in place just so they don't have to read the cv's. I recently put an ad in for a part time admin person. I had well over a hundred replies for even that. No way could I interview everyone so I had to be quite draconian. Unfortunately I ended up picking the wrong person!
I don't agree Shaun, not all agent gatekeepers automatically reject CV's that don't fit, etc. I have to admit the trick is to leave it until "late" as by then they are often being less selective in the process they have put in.
Every so often others do get through, due to the ones that fit, get rejected for other reasons and so the gatekeepers have to go back and look at the ones rejected - or as I have suggested above, change the process for the later applications.
There is a tendency for the gatekeepers to prefer people similar to them, hence one organisation I know, will not employe a graduate in Sales simply because the Head of Sales worked his way up and does not like graduates! You never can tell! I suspect the gatekeepers for your job roles have the level of qualifications you mention which is why you are struggling to get your CV past them. Keep trying, you will eventually find one, who is different.
Thanks Shaun, I am going to have a short day today, cheques seem to be back in fashion and I have to pop to the bank in the next town. I have had quite a few graduates apply for the apprentice post I was offering and every one was overqualified so I could not consider any of them. I did find someone suitable (Up to A'level educated only), but the very good person who I was dealing with from BPP has gone, and the new person has not been communicating with me, so it has not moved forward.
Hello, and Thank you a lot to all of you for your comments.
I think at present I will go ahead with the book that Shaun reviewed. It's a really good review and It made me feel comfortable about buying it.
Was scared of ending up with one of those books where I can't understand the topic because lack of bookkeeping background, but I am definitely give this a try, at least to see if it is something that I can become passionate about.
Regarding the course, I am not so sure at the moment what I will choose. What I am aiming to is to really understand the subject at the core and have a strong base to move eventually further in my study. Therefore I will keep reading the forum and I will try to define what exactly I would like to learn in the future since at the moment is just a big smoking cloud in the air.
Thanks again for your responses, it is really nice to know that there is a place where I can ask question regarding this career.
Think there is a degree of pragmatism on the HR side.
If they specify a role as needing ACA and they get plenty of applicants who appear that they can do the role and who have that qualification then it is an easy screening process for them. If they don't - then they will look at other candidate qualifications and experience etc.
I think you are probably right Hal, but I think there are so many well qualified (on paper) candidates that there is less chance of those who do not fit the criteria getting that opportunity.
