Newly qualified ACCA accountant seeking advice.

ppaul · Apr 22, 2007

Hello,

I am a starving newly qualified accountant seeking advice!

I would like to explore the possibility of starting up my own accountancy business on the side, with a view to either supplement my current income and possibly leave work and become self employed.

I have been searching the net for a forum/message board for people in similar circumstances and/or a good source of advice (internet site or club to join). Can anyone suggest something?

What I am looking for:
The type of extra income I could generate
The types of clients to look for and those to avoid
The tools I will need to start this venture
Etc

Any advice would be very helpful.

Many thanks

Paul

bwglaw · Apr 22, 2007

Does your current contract of employment actually allow you to do this? Many people run into difficulties with the employer at a too late stage regarding the restraint of trade issues.

I would have thought you would know the answers to the questions you have put to us. I can only suggest you hang around this forum for useful information and advice on running a business.

ppaul · Apr 22, 2007

bwglaw said:
Does your current contract of employment actually allow you to do this? Many people run into difficulties with the employer at a too late stage regarding the restraint of trade issues.

I would have thought you would know the answers to the questions you have put to us. I can only suggest you hang around this forum for useful information and advice on running a business.

Thanks for replying. I think I will learn lots from taking part in this forum.

The reason I do not have the answers to the questions is that I have 6 years practical experience in Finance at a large insurance company. I have good experience in:
Finance stems
Bank/control recs
Statutory accounts
FSA returns

I think I am missing a bit of practical experience in terms of doing the books for small companies and all the practical nuances I would have picked up if my experience was in smaller accounting firms.

I am confident I will competently provide a service to any clients however I think it would be prudent to start off with basic work see how I get on.

I dont have any friends that could give me the advice I am after.

I obviously have a lot to learn, but I will get there in the end.

Many thanks

Paul

Arcadian · Apr 22, 2007

Hi Paul

It sounds as though you need more hands on experience with the smaller businesses before you set up on your own. I suggest at least a six month stint with a firm who have the kind of clients you would like to deal with. That will give you some experience and tell you if it's what you want. It can be very frustrating running your own practice. When I was running my practice full time I only managed to stay sane by doing consultancy work for other local firms two days a week. Otherwise there was no peer conversation!

You might also want to do some temp or part time work while you build up your client base. A lot of new clients have just started their own business. So you won't be doing their accounts and billing them for at least a year.

bwglaw · Apr 22, 2007

ppaul said:
I think I am missing a bit of practical experience in terms of doing the books for small companies and all the practical nuances I would have picked up if my experience was in smaller accounting firms.

I see. I suppose it depends who you intend to target if you were to set up in business on your own. If you have less experience with small businesses then maybe a good idea to move to a smaller firm to acquire the experience. I did this when I was studying law by moving between private and voluntary sectors.

I must mention that just qualifying in a profession does not always make you ready to practise on your own account. From experience you will find that as much as 50% of your time is used to seek new clients and deal with the running of your business. The other 50% is actual client work which generate the fees.

Are you ready to be solus?

Jonathan

Philip Hoyle · Apr 22, 2007

The rules of ACCA limit the type of work you are allowed to do if you don't have a practicing certificate (which I am guessing you don't have, but correct me if I'm wrong).

Basically you CAN'T prepare accounts and tax returns, but you CAN do basic book-keeping, payroll and VAT.

This rule is particularly harsh as it requires you to effectively work for another accountancy practice for a fair amount of time under their supervision, before you have enough "time" for you to qualify for a practicing certificate.

If you want to "practice" on your account without a practicing certificate (i.e. accounts and tax return preparation) then you need to resign from ACCA.

It is also noteworthy that some people make the mistake of thinking that as long as they don't mention being ACCA and don't use the initials, then they can practice - sorry they can't.

ppaul · Apr 22, 2007

bwglaw said:
I see. I suppose it depends who you intend to target if you were to set up in business on your own. If you have less experience with small businesses then maybe a good idea to move to a smaller firm to acquire the experience. I did this when I was studying law by moving between private and voluntary sectors.

I must mention that just qualifying in a profession does not always make you ready to practise on your own account. From experience you will find that as much as 50% of your time is used to seek new clients and deal with the running of your business. The other 50% is actual client work which generate the fees.

Are you ready to be solus?

Jonathan

Before I started my Finance career I worked in the family business. I was the manager and was involved in running the business and acquiring new business. I feel this is something I was good at and am confident i could transfer the skills to accounting.

I suppose it is the client work I am worried about. From what you guys are saying it looks like I should try and get some practical experience.

Thanks for your help on this.

ppaul · Apr 22, 2007

Philip Hoyle said:
The rules of ACCA limit the type of work you are allowed to do if you don't have a practicing certificate (which I am guessing you don't have, but correct me if I'm wrong).

Basically you CAN'T prepare accounts and tax returns, but you CAN do basic book-keeping, payroll and VAT.

This rule is particularly harsh as it requires you to effectively work for another accountancy practice for a fair amount of time under their supervision, before you have enough "time" for you to qualify for a practicing certificate.

If you want to "practice" on your account without a practicing certificate (i.e. accounts and tax return preparation) then you need to resign from ACCA.

It is also noteworthy that some people make the mistake of thinking that as long as they don't mention being ACCA and don't use the initials, then they can practice - sorry they can't.

Thanks for that, I didnt realise I would have trouble getting a practicing certificate. I assumed that once I was qualified and had my logbook signed off I would be good to go.

From what the kind people on this forum are saying it is looking like it would be a good idea to get some more relevant experience anyway.

I am wondering if the best thing would be to come to an agreement with a practicing accountant where I could get my own clients and have the work either verified by the accountant or have it appear that the other accountant was doing the work. The result would hopefully be:
I would get relevant experience
I would build a client base up I would have my work checked by the accountant
This supervision would count towards me getting my practicing certificate

This is starting to look like a good plan because I was worried about my lack of experience in practice anyway.

Thanks for your help

Paul

Joyous · Apr 23, 2007

The ACCA have a pretty good guide for those looking to start a practice. You can find it here.

Regards

Joy

ppaul · Apr 29, 2007

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

I heard from someone in the pub (not the best place to decide if you should start your own business!) that it is possible to get a probationary practicing certificate. All you need to do is to get someone who has a practicing certificate to agree to complete your work if you are posted missing.

Has anyone else heard of this?

He also says he gets £1k per client (small businesses), does this sound too much?

Many thanks

Paul

Philip Hoyle · Apr 29, 2007

Is your "mate down the pub" an ACCA member? Different bodies have different rules - I've never heard of the term they are using and it doesn't sound right at all in view of the ACCA rules.

Re the £1k per small business client, are they referring to sole traders, partnerships or limited companies. Probably not too far for a ltd co depending on how much they do, but seems way too high for the average small s/t or partnership - more like £300-£500 for a s/t and say £500-£750 for a partnership depending on complexity etc.

You also need to appreciate that as a small new practice, your client base will likewise be small new businesses, so the fee range above may be too high unless you are aiming for a specialism/niche or already have loads of potential clients lined up from elsewhere.

Search

Search

Newly qualified ACCA accountant seeking advice.

ppaul

More options

bwglaw

More options

ppaul

More options

Arcadian

More options

bwglaw

More options

Philip Hoyle

More options

ppaul

More options

ppaul

More options

Joyous

More options

ppaul

More options

Philip Hoyle

More options

Latest Articles

Cookie Consent

Essential

Analytics

Marketing

Newly qualified ACCA accountant seeking advice.

Arcadian