Voluntary work - not a licence member

Gemwor

Hi,

I'm considering at some point in the near future applying for a licence to become self employed. Having worked in the 3rd sector in recent years there are some gaps in experience I need to address first, for example, ltd company statutory accounts. A friend of a friend has a small ltd company and has said she'd be happy for me to do some voluntary work for her to help gain experience. Is this possible without a licence? If so, what sort of work could I do without a licence - e.g. could I prepare the statutory accounts? Are there any other things I need to consider?

Grateful for any advice/comments.

Thanks in advance.

MarieNoelle

I would help her with the bookkeeping side but it may be an idea to work alongside an accountant or an experienced mentor so they can review your work and offer advice for the stat accounts. Even for a small ltd co the accounts have to be filed in a suitable format (choice of FRS, notes to the accounts, to name but a few..).

Gemwor

Thanks for the reply. It would be completely voluntary with no payment whatsoever. I just really want to gain some experience so I'm grateful for the opportunity. She's not a friend of mine and we've never actually met, she's a friend of a friend so I don't feel that there's any real issue there. As for AAT I have 'said' that I'm qualified but no more than that.

So if I did prepare the statutory accounts would I just provide my name and home address? obviously I don't have a business yet and probably won't for some time.

Gemwor

Good point @MarieNoelle. It's a very small and simple business from what I can gather but I'd still be a little nervous I think. I'm finding it extremely difficult to get the experience - the usual chicken/egg situation so I just didn't want to pass up the opportunity without exploring it.

Gemwor

Sorry @MarieNoelle I forgot to say thank for the reply! Thank you

Gemwor

I'm not too concerned about the accuracy but maybe a bit nervous about the advice giving so you're probably right. I'm just really struggling to get the work experience. Can't get into a practice which seems to be quite a common issue. I think I'll start with the bookkeeping licence and figure out a way to address the statutory accounts experience later on. Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply, your answers have been very helpful.