Could i open my own bookkeeping / accounting business?

nicd1981

Hi Debbie,
what Mick said above is correct. Most accountancy practices have agreements with their employees in place that they can not take on any work out side of their employment. That said, check with them .
other than that excel is perfect for starting off, although www.vtcashbook.co.uk is brilliant for running P & L , Bs and self assessments.
Good luck Debbie, let us know how you get on
Nic xx

Karl19

Inspirational story in deed! I'm so glad your hard work is paying off! Me and my friend are part way through AAT and are considering setting up a bookkeeping business together. Do you have any tips? Would we need to get a practising certificate or is that only for practices and firms? Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you in advance

nicd1981

Hi Karl,
Biggest tip is just do it , don't wait as long as i did! best and most freeing thing ive ever done .
You don't have to a practice licence unless your setting up through AAT then you absolutely do.
You also need a money laundering supervisory (I use AAT as part of my licence ) PII Insurance.
Main points to remember is make sure your compliant, get your ICO licence for data protection, get Professional indemnity insurance , and you only take on what your licence covers (what your experienced in ) and your good to go

Karl19

Thank you so much for the advice and speedy response! I'm going to make sure I get started on it straight away.

Best wishes

nicd1981

Karl, have you joined any of the Facebook pages? so much advice for new start ups xx

There are a few, ukbookkeepers , The accounting students network, etc

Karl19

No I haven't heard of them, just started looking in to it today and found your post. I'll have a look on their pages, thanks . Is it only you running the business or do you have a partner/employees?

nicd1981

Just me at the moment, but I start uni in September and need to hire an apprentice or an assistant to train up as I'm going to be out of the office 3 days a week.
Currently I still work full time but have handed notice in at work , will be based in office 2 days a week
Are you going to set up a partnership ? make sure you have a partnership agreement in place , will solve a whole heap of issues later on down line x

Bmer82

Nicola, if you are thinking of hiring staff especially an apprentice you need to bare in mind the health and safety legislation regarding lone working especially when offering a training position the college will be very hot on this and to be honest leaving an apprentice unsupervised for 2 days a week (assuming they are at college for the 3rd) isnt really fair on the learner and will up your workload checking their work from this period to safeguard your no claims on your PII.

nicd1981

Hi Bmer , your probably right. My office is in a shared space but even then would probably be more suited to a bookkeeper in training. I don't think id have enough work to hire a qualified person , they would get fed up with data entry and leave after a few weeks lol

Bmer82

someone semi retired looking to sweep some boredom perhaps also a thought

Karl19

Shame you in Liverpool or I would have offered to help

nicd1981

I move into offices 1st October so currently just ideas. I really need someone to answer phone, data entry on spreadsheets etc but would be nice to have someone to chat to who can do bookkeeping or payroll etc
ive not even written an advert yet , very early days as I had to give 2 months notice in work so last day is 25/09/17!!

exciting times

Bmer82

How is the CIMA coming along?

nicd1981

Karl19 said:

Shame you in Liverpool or I would have offered to help

Ah , where are you based Karl? I really need an employee relationship that way I can insist on a confidentiality clause, and ensure no paperwork leaves the office. Data protection is a big worry of mine with hiring someone. Trust is now my main concern.

Karl19

Sorry only half my message posted... what are you going to study? Not sure if we're going to do a partnership or a limited company yet, haven't even thought of a name lol.. very early days. Nervous making the first few steps, specially when you don't know where to start! I'm based in north London. Yes, I agree trust is a major key in any type of relationship! I bet you're excited to finish working for someone! I can't wait for that day

nicd1981

I've decided to study for an Accountancy degree. I know I don't need it, but personally it means a lot to me. Now my children have both left school its my time if you know what I mean. I'm sure it will make me a well rounded accountant as its heavily professional exam based. Karl I was petrified at first, checked and double checked every single transaction which made my business take me twice as long !! But , my confidence has really grown massively, plus dealing directly with business owners, in all weird and wonderful industries grows your mind, and knowledge base. The research I've had to do , plus the long suffering of HMRC and the AAT helpline have made me the accountant I am today. I stick to HMRC guidelines, but love to challenge them if I find a rule that contradicts!!

I'm excited for you

nicd1981

Bmer82 said:

How is the CIMA coming along?

Have my final exams to do . But will put on hold to study for my degree .
I love CIMA , but theres no tax!!

cant wait to study the ACCA tax modules in year 3

Bmer82

True but of course with automation looming CIMA will still give you a useful niche to offer services that wont be having margins squeezed. just out of interest why a degree and not combining your Cima with ATT CIOT? that would qualify you at a higher level than a degree in probably a shorter/similar time

nicd1981

Bmer82 said:

True but of course with automation looming CIMA will still give you a useful niche to offer services that wont be having margins squeezed. just out of interest why a degree and not combining your Cima with ATT CIOT? that would qualify you at a higher level than a degree in probably a shorter/similar time

The tutor at the first uni I applied to rang me and said ''what's the point, you are more qualified than people graduating with a degree'' my answer was that personally I have always wanted to do this. and life's too short. I love to study, and love accountancy. I know this is 3 years, but to be fair I did AAT at night school over 3 years and look how much it changed my life.

ATT ill read alongside as I'm always reading up on tax for my CPD . but don't want to register for the exams until I know ive nothing else to study for .I think ill still be studying at 50 haha

Bmer82

Fair enough! brings a whole new meaning to life long learning

Alicia84

I've just finished Level 4 and run my own Accountancy Business. I can't decide what to do next as I thought I'd be doing ACCA but they won't allow me to continue to practice so just out of principle I refuse to give it up. From an employed point of view I feel CIMA would be best but from my personal (and business point of view) I feel ATT would be better - plus I genuinely love tax! Which would you recommend? I'll probably end up doing both but can't decide which to do first. Plus a little concerned about ATT as I can't seem to find much online about it other than the actual ATT site and Kaplan.

MarieNoelle

@Alicia84
Try Tolley - other providers actually use their manuals
https://www.tolley.co.uk/products-and-services/exam-training/att

P.S: Have you applied for a licence with AAT to offer accountancy services?

Alicia84

@MarieNoelle Yes I have applied for a licence with AAT, it's going through as we speak. I just can't decide whether ATT or CIMA would be better.

MarieNoelle

It really depends on what services you wish to offer. If it's tax compliance and planning ATT will probably be most useful - it gives you an excellent knowledge of the tax you will encounter in a practice environment and it's a practical course too. I can't give you any advice on CIMA but I don't think the qualification covers as much tax, however it may prepare you better for accounting/ management accounting. Hopefully some CIMA members may be able to give you their views.

Bmer82

@Alicia84 as @MarieNoelle has said before It really depends on where you want to take your business. I am looking at setting up a practice as a CIMA MIP and have recognised that beforehand I will need to build my tax knowledge as it is not something that is really covered in the syllabus anymore, personal tax doesnt even get mentioned. That said CIMA is an excellent qualification not only for management accounting but also general business, this opens up a raft of consultancy services which you could offer and can really add value to your proposition. I also read recently that the big 4 are now training more CIMA's as they prepare for automation taking away a lot of compliance leg work so looking at the future of the sector this is worth a look even if you do ATT first.

Alicia84

I've (99.9%) decided that I'm going to do CIMA first and then, depending on how I feel regarding potentially years of studying I'll either do ATT or CTA. ATT looks great but CTA builds on ATT and you can go straight to that without doing ATT so seems a bit pointless and it would get me pretty much as qualified as you can possibly be in everything between the two of them.

Bmer82

@Alicia84 keep in touch as you progress through CIMA I run a study group on whats app (90+% pass rate since Aug 16) for the final case as well as a cpd group.

kelrob74

I would be grateful for any advice that can be offered.

I am keen to start my own accountancy company. I have completed AAT and ACCA and currently work as an Finance Director in industry.

My plan is to run an outsourced finance department, covering in management accounting, vat returns, payroll, book keeping and FD advisory. Unfortunately I cannot deal with tax issues or finalise accounts without a practising certificate which will be difficult to obtain as I've always worked in industry.

Can anyone please provide any pointers, Do you feel there is a need for this service, prices to charge, advertising, systems to use etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Bmer82

> @kelrob74 said:
> I would be grateful for any advice that can be offered.
>
> I am keen to start my own accountancy company. I have completed AAT and ACCA and currently work as an Finance Director in industry.
>
> My plan is to run an outsourced finance department, covering in management accounting, vat returns, payroll, book keeping and FD advisory. Unfortunately I cannot deal with tax issues or finalise accounts without a practising certificate which will be difficult to obtain as I've always worked in industry.
>
> Can anyone please provide any pointers, Do you feel there is a need for this service, prices to charge, advertising, systems to use etc.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> 

you will need a practice certificate to offer any services unless you resign membership to professional bodies

David Ballantyne

Hi Kelrob,

There is certainly a market for outsourced bookkeeping, VAT returns and payroll. Hourly rates for this can vary between £18 and £25 per hour depending on how good your marketing is and what your target market can afford. I have heard of rates of £35 per hour charged by Tax Assist (high street accountancy franchise).

There is a market for management accounting and FD advisory but I think clients are a bit harder to find. I have heard from a reliable source of a CIMA part qualified (last case study yet to do) charging £50 per hour for management accounting/FD advisory services.

Regarding a practising certificate, yes, you will have to get one from ACCA. You should make enquiries to ACCA to find out in principle if you can get a practising certificate just for the services you wish to offer and what the process would be for obtaining the certificate.

Hope that helps.

David.