Are these Accountancy training companies legit?

[Denk15]

Hello

I have recently applied to do my ACCA and have been looking at getting some practical accounting experience.

I was contacted by a guy yesterday that wants me to do a sage course, but more importantly he said he can get me practical work experience, all for the sum of £299.

now the two websites that have been provided are accountancyworks.co.uk and unlcollege.com

Has anyone used these people? are they legit and worth it?

Thanks for any info

Matt

 

[Billmccallum]

both site offer sage training, not accountancy training.

if you want to learn how to use sage then its OK, but if you are looking for pure accountancy then I would look elsewhere.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Why pay for practical experience when you can be paid for practical experience?

 

[cheaper accountant]

Don't touch these companies! Real on the job experience is only gained from paying employers (aside from any voluntary experience given to a charity, etc).

I advise you never to pay for experience as doing so will never give genuine on the job experience.

You're better off searching the job pages for advertised vacancies. The economy is growing again and job vacancies are increasing so go down this route and it will pay off.

 

[teddys]

All sorts of nonsense is going on in this profession now:

- you can become an 'accountant' with 2 weeks' SAGE training

- then there are brokers selling you leads for a price - the cheapest of the five gets the client

- again, there are people specialising in marketing for accountants - long ago advertising professional services was subject to various restrictions

- and now accountancy training business - for the 21st century articled clerks !!

 

[Merchant UK]

All sorts of nonsense is going on in this profession now:

- you can become an 'accountant' with 2 weeks' SAGE training

- then there are brokers selling you leads for a price - the cheapest of the five gets the client

- again, there are people specialising in marketing for accountants - long ago advertising professional services was subject to various restrictions

- and now accountancy training business - for the 21st century articled clerks !!

I agree with you 100% there are loads of companies spring up that claim to make you "qualified" when all they do is offer some trivial training. What they are doing ins playing with your desperation to better yourself and get a decent job.

Quite a few of theses have been investigated by trading standards in the past .

Remember if an offer sound too good to be true and promises you that you'll be fully qualified in 3 weeks as opposed to 3 years then is probably is.

 

[hbeni79]

Hello,

Just came across this forum after doing some research, my son is currently doing the online course with this company and it seems to be going well. From what I have found these companies only really benefit trainee accountants or individuals who lack experience. If you are fully qualified or have allot of experience I would stay clear, there is no need for you to take two steps back to move forward. Also after speaking with them, I was told they make some type of commission from getting individuals into jobs, sounds similar to the process of a recruitment company and this seems to be how they are making the majority of there money.

Will update soon

Hassan

 

[AngieVA]

At the moment there is a Groupon deal for Sage training for £60 if you need training in that.

You might be best asking on a more specialised forum - one I can recommend is book-keepers.org.uk (because I'm new here, I can't provide a link, but you'll find it from that) - full of book-keepers and trainees, accountants and trainees, and training providers. They'll advise you on the best way to get practical experience.

 

[tolulope24]

I received a call from accountancy works a few days ago and they rejected me after a 15min conversation, apparently I was not suitable, they didn't feel that they could help me.. so i'm thinking to join home learning college.. they have an interesting course homelearningcollege.com/Courses/Bookkeeping/ICB-Sage-Computerised-Bookkeeping/ hopefully its a good course.. does any one know anyone who has done it? I don't want to pay a large sum unless I know if its beneficial or not?

Thank you in advance

 

[AngieVA]

I received a call from accountancy works a few days ago and they rejected me after a 15min conversation, apparently I was not suitable, they didn't feel that they could help me.. so i'm thinking to join home learning college.. they have an interesting course homelearningcollege.com/Courses/Bookkeeping/ICB-Sage-Computerised-Bookkeeping/ hopefully its a good course.. does any one know anyone who has done it? I don't want to pay a large sum unless I know if its beneficial or not?

Thank you in advance

Do you already have a book-keeping qualification, or experience? If not, consider doing the whole ICB course, so you have a thorough understanding of book-keeping. (You can go to their site to see what that involves).

I believe that Home Learning College are more expensive that some of the others out there - check out Premier Training, Ideal Schools and Training-Link as well, they should also provide the same course. Give them all a call and go with whoever you feels offers the best support for you. You'll find representatives of all of these colleges on the book-keeping forum I mentioned above.

Hope that helps a little!

 

[Caspar]

I received a call from accountancy works a few days ago and they rejected me after a 15min conversation, apparently I was not suitable, they didn't feel that they could help me.. so i'm thinking to join home learning college.. they have an interesting course homelearningcollege.com/Courses/Bookkeeping/ICB-Sage-Computerised-Bookkeeping/ hopefully its a good course.. does any one know anyone who has done it? I don't want to pay a large sum unless I know if its beneficial or not?

Thank you in advance

Before I did my AAT Techician course, I signed up with home learning college and to be honest it cost me a lot as at the time I couldn't pay for it in one go, so they get you to sign up via a credit arrangement with a third party, I did a couple of the lessons posting my 'homework' off and it was , marked and sent back.

The difficulty I found, whilst working full time, was that I found it very isolating and difficult with having no experience to measure it against. I couldnt work through the answers as I had no knowledge in the field By month 2 I gave up, but still had to pay for the damn thing on a monthly basis - no refund.

By comparison, when I undertook my AAT courses, mixing with other people, going into college with real tutors, I was able to complete it as I feel there is no substitute for personal contact.

The tutors where able to give real life experience in the axamples we went through. I was also able to apply what I was learning in my job, so the two went in tandem.

I always suggest someone get some working knowledge before undertaking a course, as it helps you grasp the fundamentals first. It is hard to obtain, and feel that if you approach local charities or local churches, they all need book keeping done (some are manually done and some on computers). If you offer your time free of charge they are usually happy to receive help, and the person who does it usually isn't a professional book keeper either, and are happy to show you so that you can do some of the work for them - especially as its free. This can also only help you when looking for a job.

Caspar

 

[Ola1]

if you can afford to, consider offering to do intern work for one of your local acca or icaew firms. Might be unpaid, but will look great on your CV

 

[talkinpeace]

Sage Training : Press "F1"
thats about it.

THE ONLY way to be a good book keeper is to do lots of it under the supervision of an even better one
that is why Accountancy has always insisted on YEARS of on the job training
a degree proves that you can learn, not that you know.

I qualified as an ACCA and do not regret the exams at all
several years of marking ICAEW coursework was an eye opener

but most advertised courses are advertising because they NEED to call you, not you calling THEM ...

 

[SaMia]

Hello,

Just came across this forum after doing some research, my son is currently doing the online course with this company and it seems to be going well. From what I have found these companies only really benefit trainee accountants or individuals who lack experience. If you are fully qualified or have allot of experience I would stay clear, there is no need for you to take two steps back to move forward. Also after speaking with them, I was told they make some type of commission from getting individuals into jobs, sounds similar to the process of a recruitment company and this seems to be how they are making the majority of there money.

Will update soon

Hassan

Thank you for the post it was very helpful as I have also been accepted and paid the registration fee, however not yet heard from the admissions department. How long did the process take for your soon and how is it going? Is communication with the tutor as expected? I'm worried I made the wrong decision and would be grateful if you could please reply.

Thanks,

Samiya

 

[Merchant UK]

Thank you for the post it was very helpful as I have also been accepted and paid the registration fee, however not yet heard from the admissions department. How long did the process take for your soon and how is it going? Is communication with the tutor as expected? I'm worried I made the wrong decision and would be grateful if you could please reply.

Thanks,

Samiya

Why did you use these people as opposed to going to your local Collage or University?

 

[helen0722]

The best places to learn are colleges, AAT and Kaplan are very good and genuine. Anything from websites can be a bit tricky just do your homework before going ahead handing out your money!

 

[mintzee]

Just wanted to say thanks for the messages posted here.

I'm an AAT Level 2 Accounting studier and looking for employment. I was contacted by Accountancy Works and was given an enthusiastic and positive telephone interview and details they wanted me to hear - it was the work placements that attracted my attention most. I was asked several times if I was interested in the training program and it would include Sage (I was under the impression it would have other Accounting areas), work placements and a job at the end.

The killer part came when a registration fee of £299 was required plus £1499 which can be paid by instalments once you're in a full time job. I was called on a Wednesday and the registration fee had to be paid by the Saturday in time for the course/program to start.

At this point alarm bells started ringing and I said I had to think about it and to kindly email me the details. The callers attitude completely changed and they couldn't wait to hang up asap.

I did receive the email and I looked at their website and searched for reviews and came across this post. It seems it's home distance learning for Sage. You can select when you wish to start your program and can study at your own pace and convenience. So thanks(!) for putting me under pressure to pay the £299!

And no I didn't pay it and don't intend to. I am already studying the Computerised Accounting unit (Sage) of AAT Level 2.

So thank you for the previous messages, it has confirmed to me that I don't need these training program services, never mind paying for them! You know the saying, if it sounds too good to be true... then be wary and stay away! Do some research and don't be pressured into signing/paying for something that might not benefit you. By all means if it's what you're looking for then go ahead!

 

[helen0722]

Do not go for those expensive training places there are a lot of them sprouting about because with Government cuts with courses, if you want to learn or get experiences you could always search for retired Accountant that are willing to train you or do voluntary work in an Accounting practice and gain experience that way. I know of an Accountant that charge £120 or £100 to train and can help you getting a job at the end of your training also there are decent recruiting companies that are looking for young people that has taken their AAT courses, my young son has 4 such recruiters willing to help him get a job with no cost at all. Just do your homework and be careful of scams!

 

[Flair91]

Ok, so I felt the need to add to this section.

There is currently a company by the name of All Accountancy Training offering a very similar package, fortunately, when you google the name of this bogus company this forum comes up on the first page of results! I'm warning anyone who has correspondence with this company it is a scam.

They ask for an upfront registration fee of £349.00 for 'ACCA' and Sage training, they also promise a work placement. DONT FALL FOR THIS, if you look up the accountancy works scheme posted above you'll realize the website is no longer active. The same will happen with AACT (all accountancy training). They're out to make a quick buck, the website is only 6 weeks old and all owner info is hidden. If you call the number on their website you dont get an answer. I have passed information onto trading standards, they are investigating the company.

Whilst talking to trading standards they also mentioned that there was no company by that name registered at the London address provided. This is a bogus company, they will make money out of this, dont hand over any money as it will be difficult to retrieve. You wont be able to take this company to court because the info provided is false and therefore impossible to trace.I hope I save some people the money/effort potentially wasted on this

 

[entrepreneur133]

I think its too late for me as I have already signed up with AACT for initial 349 and rest when they have placed me in a paid job. My focus was only to get some sort of sage training as it increases your employability chances. Since I have signed up with their programme I received only one call from them in which a lady mentioned she is unable to find paid work for me but she has found some unpaid work for me and she will send me via post and I have to complete the assignment and send it back to them as this work will give me some exposure to work and accounting software. and once I have a reference from this unpaid work it will be plus point to get paid training job. I do have accounting background and have worked in audit firms before but not in England. All I wanted to get some accounting software exposure as sage is everywhere in UK. I think I chose the wrong site should have looked for proper sage training institute. I am not sure! I don't know what to do now?

 

[KD2309]

I would think twice before signing up with Accountancy Works.

I was contacted by them after applying tojobs which I didn't get due to a lack of experience actually working in the field. They told me that they would provide me with Sage training and then find me practical work experience with a company. I was very sceptical but at the time rather desperate as I had been applying to quite a few jobs and rejected by all of them due to not having enough experience. Also as I already worked full-time and lived on my own I wasn't really able to offer my self to companies as an unpaid intern. After speaking to Accountancy Works a couple of times they said they would be able to get me practical experience of one day a week or at the weekends, which I was willing to do.

So after some consideration I decided to do it, for a fee of £500. This was all very recently but on signing up with them I realised that they had misled me a little bit. First of all they don't provide the actual Sage Line 50 programme for you to practice on. Then going on to their tutorial material I realised they had just photocopied the user guide from Sage from start to finish. Then finally I was made aware that to complete the 3 levels of Sage Training you had to pay a fee of £66 per exam to Sage so you could actually take the test, so a total of £198 for all 3 levels. So regarding the training material and extra costs I would say it is definitely not worth the £698.

However I have only just started doing this course so I cannot comment on their ability of finding me practical experience with a company. So at the end of it if they find me some practical experience with a company, then at least I will have got something from it.

I would just recommend thinking twice before signing up with a company like this!

 

[entrepreneur133]

These recruitment agencies forward our CVs to these fake companies, so when they call us they have all the information infront of them and it gives you the impression that you must have applied to their company. Im in process of reporting them for fraud to the police. hope it goes well.

 

[wisesheep]

I was contacted by a company calling themselves UACA Accounting their website is uaca.co.uk UACA are going to get me placement and some sage training but i have to pay £300 for this and because i am a graduate, UACA said they will cover my full fee and all i need to pay is the admin fee of £300. They are pressing me to pay these fees and they say if I don't pay by tomorrow then they can't hold my place. Does this sound legit? Has anyone heard of this UACA accounting organisation before?

I searched online but can't seem to find where their offices are based and can't see any real people talking about UACA online? I am very keen to get a job and to be honest I am desperate.

I really can't afford to waste this kind of money is this UACA company is a scam? I am very nervous and cautious.

I noticed they didn't put the price on their website? And I can't find the address.

 

[Scalloway]

Any business that does not put an address or phone number on their website is suspect in my eyes. It sounds like they're preying on your desperation.

 

[NRLtd]

Hi

Maybe somethin for the HR or Legal forum, but i was under the impression it wasn't legal to charge a candidate for employment services, only the employer...?

 

[Energise Accounting]

ACCA will give you a list of training providers.

 

[jwall46]

Interesting

Ok, so I felt the need to add to this section.

There is currently a company by the name of All Accountancy Training offering a very similar package, fortunately, when you google the name of this bogus company this forum comes up on the first page of results! I'm warning anyone who has correspondence with this company it is a scam.

They ask for an upfront registration fee of £349.00 for 'ACCA' and Sage training, they also promise a work placement. DONT FALL FOR THIS, if you look up the accountancy works scheme posted above you'll realize the website is no longer active. The same will happen with AACT (all accountancy training). They're out to make a quick buck, the website is only 6 weeks old and all owner info is hidden. If you call the number on their website you dont get an answer. I have passed information onto trading standards, they are investigating the company.

Whilst talking to trading standards they also mentioned that there was no company by that name registered at the London address provided. This is a bogus company, they will make money out of this, dont hand over any money as it will be difficult to retrieve. You wont be able to take this company to court because the info provided is false and therefore impossible to trace.I hope I save some people the money/effort potentially wasted on this

 

[jwall46]

I was recently contacted by an organisation called Rolling Accountants their website is rolling-accountants.com

Having a detailed read into this forum and many others I have noticed a few interesting things about Rolling Accountants. They offer guaranteed placements for every person that joins... interesting. Also sage training, payroll and ACCA training.. Sounds just like AACT allaccountancytraining.com. Who also called me about the same course earlier this year.

They charge a fee of £359 - Rolling Accountants, similar to AACT who offers the same service for £349, coincidence! Rolling Accountants called me for an interview and told me I did not have any experience, to my surprise I was successfully forwarded to a second interview. Once I spoke to the manager I was near enough certain these guys are the same company. They have been putting allot of pressure on me to pay these fees and they keep saying if I don't pay on the day, they can't hold my place.

 

[jwall46]

I am certain this company is not legit. Has anyone else heard of Rolling Accountants or AACT?

My guess is these guys are taking advantage of job seekers who are desperate for work and will do almost anything to gain some experience "fool me once, shame on you.. fool me twice, shame on me."

I have googled Rolling Accountants and also checked their site rolling-accountants.com and noticed that they have hidden their company registration number and details, surly this is not legal? They also have no contact number or address that their students can't go to visit them, very similar to AACT allaccountancytraining.com. They have also hidden the fee from their sites, this is very fishy, something is going on here...

I have already wasted my time and money with these dodgy tricksters who take your money and run, so FOR ALL READING THIS, DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS ME.

On further research of Rolling Accountants I noticed in their privacy policy in the following line "At any point in time candidates have the opportunity to un-subscribe from Rolling Accountants’s services by sending an e-mail to enquiries @ parkerascott.co.uk" - I have many screen shots as evidence

Does this mean that they work under Parker Ascott parkerascott.co.uk? is Parker Ascott the company behind AACT, Rolling Accountants, Accountancy Works, UACA....

 

[LadyBracknell]

Has anyone heard of a company called SLG Training LTD, or slgtraining.co.uk, After reading the information from all the posters above I have become very worried. This company has took my money and now when I contact them, I get no response. I did research and have found that the director is only 22 years old, this has to be a scam?

 

[Mrhunger27]

I've actually used rolling accountants and they offered me the opportunity to go straight into work, it was unpaid but I just needed experience to get my foot in the door. I used them and started working on accounts I wasn't interested in sage or training. Any company doing that is suspect although rolling did offer it to me. I don't think it was a training course more of a refresher as they called it plus I've been in retail since I came out of uni and did need a brush up if I was to get into my career. I did the unpaid work and updated my cv. I did get a far better response when applying for accounting roles, I finally got some interviews, went to quite a few actually and got myself into a trainee role. Rolling accountants also did my reference which I'm assuming means they can't be fake. Just take care which company you go for if I'd read this blog before I joined I most likely wouldn't of went with any company and probably still been in pursuit of my career. But worked for me, they emailed me after they did my reference and asked me to write at least one review. I would definitely recommend just to get into the field as that's the tricky part and the fact they provide a reference increased my chances. I'm happy overall.

 

[MrsT.maria]

I've never written a review before even if I received a terrible service. However I'm exceptionally delighted to say that I've used rolling accountants. I've read some of the reviews here and from what I've gathered a lot of people have used all the named companies except Rolling Accountants well apart from one user. Let me shed some light on this I haven't heard of the other companies and from what I've read they haven't delivered what they've said. Now I can say as a customer of Rolling Accountants who struggled to get into accounting for almost 3 years I joined there programme and did the bookkeeping course just to get back on track after working in a furniture shop since I came out of uni. I needed those skills brushed up, I then went to the practical side which was unpaid and I worked on about 11 companies whilst I worked in the furniture store. I obviously needed money so the fact that I was gaining experience and doing my current job for money was ideal as opposed to me working without pay. Once I did that I received an employment link for my cv which had all my duties and my reference which I added to my cv. So off I went and started applying for roles immediately I was getting responses so I had much more confidence as I felt completely ignored even though I achieved a 1st. I got into a role within 2 months of doing Rolling Accountants practical experience. I think a lot of people who've used Rolling Accountants tend to find a job and move on as I did but but they asked me via email to write a review of my experience and I could see why, as there is some confusion between who is genuine and who is not. Well I can only speak on Rolling Accountants as I've used them and been very satisfied and I would recommend them over and over. As I have ( Friend of mine completed her AAT L4) also got into a role so no doubt in Rolling Accountants.

 

[Mikeyson]

I too received an email from rolling accountants to give my experience. I did research on all the companies above and then went with rolling accountants as they've sent me emails which guarantee work so I had that as evidence and went with them. I just finished an AAT course so i didn't bother with training as I've done sage and Payroll already so I asked them to send the work to me right away. I t worked on company accounts for about a month some of the tasks I did on sage and payroll. However most of them on an excel spreadsheet. While I was doing that they advised me to update my cv and look for roles at the same time. I got a role quite quick, in fact before I'd even completed the work. They asked me to complete the work so I can get my full reference but had to ask for an extension on the clients accounts as the job I got was hectic. I had too speed up the process because my new employer asked me for my reference so completed it just for that sake. Otherwise I wouldn't of bothered as I got a job from just mentioning the experience. Good service but must have a good understanding of accounts as they won't hold your hand. It worked for me as it got me in and that's all I needed thanks.

 

[Karimbo]

If a recruitment company is offering training, run a mile. There was a company featured on BBC watchdog recently, they were a fake recruitment company - they pushed all their customers into getting these poxy training courses and had no jobs lined up at all.

Their whole business was to sell useless training courses.The recruitment side was to lure desperate people needing jobs.

There should be a law against any recruitment agencies referring you to training courses or directly offering training.