Hi Phil
Welcome to the forum.

Just a suggestion - if you can bob your name so that it appears under the signature at the bottom, will save us all looking up your name each time we post. You can do this by editing your profile.

So - what have you been doing for the last 15 years after you departed the Accountancy scene and then were drawn back into this mad old world?

What are your ideas/plans for your business - are you sticking to bookkeeping up to TB/continuing with an existing job whilst you build up your business? Do you have any clients at the moment? From seeing others posts on here it seems that others generally get started by doing the books of local charities. That starts you off with that real world practice which might then help with confidence.

I havent used Bookcert myself so cannot advise on that one, but what I can say is that your learning as a bookkeeper really starts with real clients and I would advise whilst you have the time to start reading the VAT Guide 700 and then as many of the other guides as you can which you think will relate to the type of clients you are looking to gain.

Whereabouts are you in Cornwall. You could be close to a regular poster on here - Rachel. She might be shooting poisoned darts across to you as we speak for stomping on her patch

Whether you use Bookcert or not - good luck with the business.

Good morning, almost midday Shaun!

Or perhaps Rachel killed Bill (ooo that could be a film!) as we havent seen Bill around for a while.

lol

Oh, I'm based down in St Ives by the way, and hope not to upset anyone else!

It has been a couple of year since I heard someone bring up 'bookcert'

A couple of books I'd push you towards are -

David Cox - Business accounts
Frank Woods - Business accounting.

Both great books.

You could of course say buy the six level 3 AAT books to study from. But having said that you'd want the newest VAT text.

I'd say for under £50, you'd have some great reading material in the above.

All opinion of course

:)

OOO - I like the look of your chair - where did you get it from! I need a new one. Although - I will hazard a guess its a gaming one? Which I dont need. Boys and their toys

Joanne notices the chair.

I notice the OS and think "Yeuck!"

Still, at least the Windows 10 "free" update period is over as of yesterday. Now I can set up my "new" (just over one year old) PC. I'm going to try to set it to dual boot Windows and Linux; Windows for that software for which I need it, and Linux for everything else.

Using a Linux Mint bootable USB stick, I've had a play on Linux. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my copy of Sage running under Wine. I've not tried VT. I also tried the "big" accounts software for Linux, Gnu Cash, and concluded it isn't a good replacement for the Windows software. Hence the need to keep Windows going... for now.

Much as I hate cloud stuff, one thing it has going for it is that because it's accessed using the web browser it doesn't need Windows - so for my cloudy clients, I can use Linux.

Aside from all those at Microsoft now knowing what I have for tea, it isn't too bad.

Its universal, windows, not 10 - so most software runs pretty smoothly. Always compatibility mode for older drivers no longer serviced old printers and all that!

It was freeeeeee, bonus; obviously nothing is free, there is always a catch, only God knows what information and data I've unknowingly donated to Microsoft.

I like Linux, together with OS, don't mind the odd play with the Pi either - But, like it or lump it :) Windows just gets it done. Although I'm not a fan of windows in 4K ATM unless it is on a reasonably sized monitor.

Bah, didn't spot the wide formatting when I replied before. I'll add line breaks for readability!

John: My only experience of Linux is that play I had with Mint that I'd put on a bootable USB stick - and that was on
a spare machine at a client, because my own laptop won't boot from USB no matter how I set the BIOS.

I've never had any need to try it before, because although Windows is not without many problems, it runs the
software I need and that's what mattered - and some versions, despite the problems, were half decent to use.

However, the shenanigans from Microsoft over the last year has basically seen them not just step over the line in
the sand, but but bring in the tools and remove the sand and replace it with a concrete base so that no more
lines can be drawn.

So it's changed from "it runs the software I need and that's what matters" to "unfortunately, I have to use it to
run some software" - one is just on the positive side of neutral, while the other is purely negative.

Once I have the new old machine set up with Linux Mint as one of the operating systems, I'll try again with Sage
and Wine (and also try VT and Wine, which I didn't before) in case I missed something, or there were problems
with the way I did it.

Johnny: So far, my only experience of Windows 10 is having to fix computers on which it has been installed - and
quite a number of them at that. This does not fill me with confidence about it, and certainly doesn't inspire me to
want to have it on my computer. And that's without considering the telemetry nonsense.

Cheshire wrote:

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VinceH wrote:

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Joanne notices the chair.

I notice the OS and think "Yeuck!"

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 The difference between men and women      

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First thing I noticed was the Dell keyboard (if its not a Dell its made in the same factory), where do I fit into things?.... Why am I thinking that the response is going to be the difference between men, women and sad muppets!

 

OK I also saw the Apple cable.

Plus lets all admit to trying to see what was written on the bits of paper stuffed into the textbooks at various stages.

lol

I was going to add a picture of my new office - but NO WAY will I now with all the stuff lurking on my desk, so just a very small part of the desk..... as I post this.    Such a dark piccie as its just started puddling down - so you wont be able to see much! 

Lol Joanne, how on earth did you find time to drink a mug of tea, or did it go cold