I have recently read a number of threads on this forum and it appears to be a upto date, friendly and informative community to "belong" to ,with this in mind any room for one more application? :)
Some background about myself.
I have qualifications in Bookeeping and Accounting (IAB AAT and a DEGREE) However these were all obtained many years ago Eg AAT in 1998, therefore given that i have been working in various Finance departments since then and most recently that of a multinational company before being made redundant, i feel that i may lack some of the relevant experience i need to set up and work for myself as a bookeepers considering it has been 10+ years since i did some basic bookeeping and payroll in a small local practice before going to university. I am wanting to set up on my own both for flexability (I have a young growing family which is about to get bigger in a few weeks time !) and ultimately to build an asset in the form of a growing client base.
I would appreciate any feedback and info, particularly practicing certs etc ie what do you do if you are a member of more than one association ?
Has anyone used Bookcert ? I have been strongly considering this option as it appears to be aimed at people in my position and assumes nil or very little practical knowledge about bookeeping as a business (not exams). If so, any good?
With your qualifications and experience I would imagine you could become a member of either IAB or AAT (personally I'd go for AAT). If you don't feel confident in doing book-keeping again, perhaps a short refresher course in manual to trial balance would be a good idea but I'm sure reading through the books again would give you all you would need. HMRC do payroll courses/advice sessions annually if you contact them they'll let you know what's on in your area. A computerised payroll program should have everything you need to help you with this too. Go for it.
I purchased the Bookcert course and I found it useful, although I was a complete beginner. Some of the letter and document templates that they use are good and I like the cash book software that came with it and have used it myself.
