Book Keeping

OnceBitten

Back to the question, folks? i.e. Should this lady who may know as much about book keeping as I know about opera, pay £300 for a course which promises to make a book keeper of anyone who can breathe in 4 weeks. My answer - No way.

A_little_stressed!!

I've got my college prospectus infront of me it has the courses with a level in brackets

BOOKKEEPING CERTIFICATE (level 1)
ACCOUNTING CERTIFICATE (level 2) (BOTH OCR)

Then I was wrong AAT starts at level 2

AAT FOUNDATION NVQ 2 (level 2)
AAT INTERMEDIATE NVQ 3 (level 3)
AAT TECHNICIAN (level 4)

When my tutor told us we could skip the first AAT course I presumed that was AAT level 1, I was mistaken as there is not a level 1.
We can however begin at AAT NVQ 3 (level 3)

I apologise for the confusion, (I'm not very good with numbers!:rotfl: :rotfl: )but the outcome is still the same, the course I am doing is supposed to be the equivilent to the 1st AAT course!

I'm not looking for a full time career out of this, just some extra cash & experience till my OH sets up his business & I do his books :eek: and be his general assistant.

When he's set up on his own and has things running smoothly, then I'll decide if I wna continue studying.

2 ladies from my course are now earning £10 & £12 per hour doing books for people a few hours a week, and we've only completed the 1st course!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE STUDYING!

kaz1970_2

Thanks to all those who have replied. Just to add I have worked in various finance assistant roles for the last 20 years, but thought getting qualifications was way forward, especdially if I want to work for myself. Finish HNC in Accounting in June & then considering AAT or ACCA. Working from home is something I am only wishing to do for the next few years while kids are so young. At present it is to supllement mat pay until Sept.

After reading replies am going to give this offer a wide berth. Will maybe take route of getting Sage software & finding local clients as Geordie Joe suggests.

pedantic10

Sage is indeed a widely-used package, but having used several accounting systems, I feel it is not terribly user-friendly.

I'd suggest you'd be far better off with Quickbooks. It's easier to learn, easier to use, much cheaper, and far more forgiving of the mistakes you'll inevitably make as you learn.

Good luck, whichever way you go
.

Timmne

pedantic10 wrote: »

Sage is indeed a widely-used package, but having used several accounting systems, I feel it is not terribly user-friendly.

I'd suggest you'd be far better off with Quickbooks. It's easier to learn, easier to use, much cheaper, and far more forgiving of the mistakes you'll inevitably make as you learn.

Good luck, whichever way you go
.

Couldn't agree more! :beer:

Becles

A_little_stressed!! wrote: »

I've got my college prospectus infront of me it has the courses with a level in brackets

BOOKKEEPING CERTIFICATE (level 1)

I did this at a local college for free. It was one evening a week for a term, so it lasted about 12 weeks.

I was working in a small company as a receptionist but there was never enough work for me to do, so the accountant asked if I would like to be her assistant as well as the receptionist. She sent me on the course.

She said it was best learning books manually first before you start on computer software, as then you understand what you are doing, rather than just relying on the computer to work it out. She was right too!

If you do something like this course for free, it'll give you a taster of the work involved in accounts and you can make an informed decision on if it is something you would like to study further.

kazd

I too am doing a bookeeping course, I am doing IAB which also starts at level 2. I completed level 2 last year and took the exams which I passed. I start level 3 this year but this is broken into two stages with exams for each stage.

I also thought it was better to do manual bookeeping first before progressing onto Sage.

I was working for a company that located new accountants for businesses. The owner was a chartered accountant with his own firm and he said that really good Sage Bookeepers are hard to come by. He said he charged his clients about £45 per hour for bookeeping but only paid his bookeeper about £15 and she was excellent. Seems to me you are better off working for yourself than having the accountants take their cut.

As I said I have completed the level 2 and some people start to practice from this point but I do not feel confident enough and will complete the next level plus Sage and then maybe do some temping within accountancy firms to get some experience.

A_little_stressed!!

Becles wrote: »

I did this at a local college for free. It was one evening a week for a term, so it lasted about 12 weeks.

I was working in a small company as a receptionist but there was never enough work for me to do, so the accountant asked if I would like to be her assistant as well as the receptionist. She sent me on the course.

She said it was best learning books manually first before you start on computer software, as then you understand what you are doing, rather than just relying on the computer to work it out. She was right too!

If you do something like this course for free, it'll give you a taster of the work involved in accounts and you can make an informed decision on if it is something you would like to study further.

Your lucky to get yours free! Did you get the exams free too? I've had 3 exams, they send them off to be marked because it's OCR. Also it's 2 nights (6hours) a week for 13 weeks. I would be well annoyed if it's the same I could have got for free! :rotfl:

Becles

I had to pay a small fee for the exam and certificate from OCR. I think that was around £20, but the course itself was free.

I did it in 2003 at City of Sunderland college, so things might have changed since then!

Lemon_Tree

I've always wondered how someone only part qualified AAT has the courage to go and set themselves up doing peoples accounts. There is no offence intended with my comment it's just something i've wondered.
I'm a qualified CIMA accountant with excess of 10 years experience in the 'Real world' and now 'public sector' and i'm still too much of a chicken. I'm wondering if it's because i'm all too aware of what can go wrong, what i don't know to the nth degree and what exactly is required for stat. accounts etc, maybe it's a little case of ignorance is bliss for those that set up whilst they are still training and by the time they're finished training they've got it all sorted.
This sounds really horrible, which is not my intention, it's just something i've always wondered. My aim is one day to work part time in a company and part time for myself but it takes a lot of courage to leave a full time job. I could do with the second income though!