AAT Qual/ACCA Student need license for bookkeeping

Not sure how i go about working self employed for a company bookkeeping, that requires a license

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Hi,
I am looking into doing basic bookkeeping work for a company that has approached me. However as above i am worried about the ACCA/AAT crossover. I am not concerned with the signing off of accounts or such like, however i do need a bookkeeping license to be able to work with this company.
The work load entails bank recs, sales/purchase invoice processing etc. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to be able to do this whilst i am 2 exams away from being qualified (however as i understand it i still need 2 years post membership experience before i am eligible to apply for a practice cert through ACCA.. which is my second dilemma, how do i get this whilst being self employed! :S)
All i require just now is a bookkeeping license, but i am worried that obtaining this through AAT will break rules of my ACCA membership.
WHY DO THEY MAKE IT SO HARD!!!!!!!!! :(
Thank you in advance for any help

Replies (9)

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JCACE
By jcace
18th Jan 2018 20:10

Book-keeping services, as defined in paragraphs 8(2)(a)(i) to 8(2)(a)(iii) of the Membership Regulations 1996, do not constitute public practice.
per http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-members/2012/2012p...
If in doubt, contact ACCA - I'm sure they'll be quite happy to clarify things for you.

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Replying to jcace:
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By andrea2286
18th Jan 2018 20:34

Yes i have discovered that.. i however need a licence as stipulated by the company who plan to give me self employed bookkeeping. However not sure how i do so as i am unsure of the clear guidelines of having a bookkeeping licence through AAT and being a student of ACCA. Thank you

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Replying to andrea2286:
JCACE
By jcace
18th Jan 2018 20:50

As I said, I would speak to ACCA.

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Replying to jcace:
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By andrea2286
18th Jan 2018 21:07

I have already e-mailed them.. and spoken on the phone, was just seeing of anyone had any other suggestions or had came across this before.
Thank you

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By Accountant A
18th Jan 2018 20:19

Quote:

WHY DO THEY MAKE IT SO HARD!!!!!!!!!

To protect the integrity of the profession. A qualification is only worth having if it's rigourous and demands high standards to be admitted.

Admittedly, that isn't apparent from half the stuff you see on here from posters who claim to be qualified.

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Replying to Accountant A:
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By andrea2286
18th Jan 2018 20:35

I get that.. and have worked within accounts for 15 years now, in a variety of roles, public and practice. Therefore feel when i have passed my remaining exams.. i should be able to at least submit a self assessment tax return. But from my understanding, i have to wait a further 2 years post membership to qualify for a practising certificate to enable me to do so! Seems a little ridiculous to me.
Annddddd my self employed work won't actually count toward my 2 years experience, therefore i am unsure how i am even going to achieve this, working from home around my children is seeming to look like its not an option for me for much longer.

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boxfile
By spilly
19th Jan 2018 09:51

ACCA do make it quite difficult to get a practice certificate for anyone who is not working under supervision in a large company or in practice.
I've been qualified for over 12 years but since then have always worked as the senior person in finance teams of small businesses. I can't see me ever getting a practice certificate through ACCA, so will probably leave it and become one of the 'unregistered' practitioners.
I wont be able to use ACCA anywhere though, even thought I am still a qualified accountant. It's a bit like taking a degree and then not being able to tell anyone which university awarded it to you!
For some good news, my friend dropped out of the ACCA exams at module 6, and has always earned far more than I have (annoyingly).

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
19th Jan 2018 10:03

My understanding is that it is OK for an ACCA student to perform basic bookkeeping on a self employed basis, so long as they do not refer to their ACCA status.

However, AAT require any of their members doing self employed accounting / bookkeeping work to be licensed, where they do not hold a practising certificate from another body. You need to contact AAT to find out more about this. Having an AAT license shouldn’t affect your ACCA stutus so long as you stick to basic bookkeeping.

Being self employed does not preclude you from later obtaining an ACCA practising certificate. However, your difficulty will be in getting sufficient practical experience and having someone in a supervisory role who can sign off your records. If you can’t do that in your self employed bookkeeping role then you need to perhaps rethink what you are doing if the ACCA practising certificate is important to you.

I am not sure if it is still the case, but ACCA used to specify that some of that supervised experience was in an “approved training practice”.

As others have mentioned, ACCA sets quite a high bar before they are prepared to let their members loose on the general public unsupervised.

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Replying to Locutus:
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By legerman
19th Jan 2018 14:11

Quote:

However, AAT require any of their members doing self employed accounting / bookkeeping work to be licensed, where they do not hold a practising certificate from another body.

No. You can be self employed bookkeeper or accountant whilst a student, as long as you don't mention AAT.

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