I am currently studying my AAT qualifications but would like to start a little bit of bookkeeping to gain some practical experience.
I understand that I cannot use AAT in any of my advertising without being AATQB as the minimum however I was under the impression that a practice licence was essential. A colleague has said however that his sister is doing some bookkeeping without a practice licence and just using HMRC for MLR and arranging separate PI insurance. Is this correct?
What other essentials is there in terms of being compliant?
As long as you don't mention AAT there is no issue with getting started, subject to the criteria you've mentioned, but it's also important that you don't take on any work that is beyond your capabilities.
Where are you up to with your AAT studies? A personal opinion but I would ensure level 3 is completed first before considering self employment.
Addition: I see you've asked a similar question in another thread, which Joanne has responded to, and you've answered.
-- Edited by Leger on Wednesday 13th of September 2017 12:33:44 PM
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John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Morning John Yes a wee bit confusing with the two threads.
Hi Mike Totally agree with John on the 'capability' side. At this stage you perhaps do not know what you do not know, but I will add further on the other post - linked here for future veiwing.
But a great post earlier this week by Shaun, that Ive pinched the relevant part from and quoted as is below....
'' there's no legal restriction on practicing without membership of a professional body. The only restriction currently is that people must have Money Laundering Supervision. You get that from HMRC if you do not have a professional body.
However... If you make a mistake your client can sue you for you to put them back into the position that they would have been in had the mistake not been made. Some small mistakes can have enormous effect such as bank loans or overdraft facilities being rescinded. client legal costs, etc. To cover us for these eventualities there is something called Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) which all professional bodies make you have as part of getting a practicing certificate from them. he expectation is that you need cover of at last the lower of £50k or 25 times one's highest fee income. So, if you have a client with fee income for the year of £5k you would need PII for £125,000... Trust me that those lower limits are determined by the professional bodies sensibly.
Now here's the rub. If you dont have a professional body you may find it difficult (perhaps impossible) to get PII which exposes your firm to the risk that in the event of a claim the claimant could come after one's personal assets for that money. If you do not have a professional body and you do get PII the PII company may refuse to pay out in the event of a claim if it judges that you lack the required knowledge base to do the work that you were providing for the business that they were insuring. (insurance companies only like taking money. you have to repeatedly beat their fingers with a mallet to get anything from them).
So, short answer to that statement... Get qualified, get a practice certificate, get MLR cover from your professional body and get PII.''
Ive linked the other post so you can see the reference as a whole, although your circumstances are different to the poster, but the above by Shaun is worth taking heed of by any newbies to the industry. Plus gives you an idea of some of the other 'essentials' you asked about
