Bookkeeping
Are you interested in changing career and becoming a bookkeeper? Would you like to know how to study bookkeeping, gain an industry recognised qualification, and then start working as a freelance bookkeeper?
We can help. This website shows you what a bookkeeper does, what you will learn on a bookkeeping course, and illustrate what the costs of studying bookkeeping are likely to be.
Bookkeeping is the perfect profession for anyone who wants to work around family commitments. And as stated by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, work is easy to come by because there are so many businesses that need help with their books.
Bookkeeper – job description
A bookkeeper records business transactions. These can be sales, purchases, payroll, collection of accounts receivable, payment of bills. You would be expected to be comfortable using accounting software such as Sage, QuickBooks, etc. Small companies may use a bookkeeping firm or find a freelance bookkeeper. With the growth in the number of small businesses over the last few years, there is more demand for skilled and qualified bookkeepers than ever before.
Bookkeepers and Accountants – what’s the difference?
An Accountant would have a degree or have gained an AAT accounting qualification. Although there can be overlap between the two roles, bookkeepers tend to operate more closely with the business on a day to day basis than an accountant.
An accountant may look more deeply into the reporting side of the business, and offer advice and business analysis.
How to become a bookkeeper
How long does it take to become a qualified bookkeeper?
How much does bookkeeping training cost?
Finding the bookkeeping college that is right for you
Bookkeeping courses online
Bookkeepers salary – how much does a bookkeeper earn?
Career paths for a bookkeeper
Which bookkeeping qualification do I choose?
There are several different awarding bodies or industry associations that offer certification. The most established of these are probably The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB), and the International Association of Bookkeepers (IAB). As the bookkeeping profession has become more popular, other associations have developed certification too such as The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).
All of these have their merits, but the ICB have done outstanding work in promoting the profession and raising standards in the industry and are a very widely recognised authority in the industry. In short, ICB are probably the gold-standard for the profession.
How do I study bookkeeping
Your study method preference will probably influence your choice of course. AAT and IAB courses are typically more often found in traditional FE colleges. But since increasing numbers of bookkeepers crave the freedom and flexibility of working as a freelancer, it makes sense that studying from home is increasingly popular.
And if you want to study bookkeeping from home, then ICB is probably the best choice available.
There are plenty of different distance learning colleges out there which provide ICB courses. The better providers out there can be identified thanks to the annual ICB Luca Awards which honours and recognises achievements in the bookkeeping industry. The categories to look out for are Small Accredited Training Provider of the Year’, and ‘Large Accredited Training Provider of the Year.’ If you want the reassurance of top quality tutor support then the ‘Tutor of the Year’ is an excellent category to look at.