Hi. This is in response to ChrisA and MathewH. (Sorry, I'm trying to answer to two separate threads and I don't know my way around things ).
I am not practising yet and only passed my Payroll earlier this month so I can only speak as a Student. I just wanted to say that I struggled with manual payroll and found it difficult. Also, I kind of resented doing it as it seems that manual payroll is kind of redundant now.
My tutor, Nick from UK Open College, explained that we need to know manual as we can't just expect to plug data into the software. We need to be able to interpret and understand the output in case there's a problem like the wrong legislation figures or something. Also, he explained that clients tend to ask questions like "What would happen if ...?" or "Why is this ...?" and we should be able to tell them.
This made me more determined to push through the difficult stuff. I submitted the assignments and got them back with help and feedback. When it came to computerised payroll it was such a relief as it was so much more straightforward and I got through that quite well. I finally submitted the exam and got a respectable 93%.
So Mathew, please don't despair. Use your college and your tutor. They are a great resource and they will help you through everything. Just keep asking, keep trying and your tutor will explain why/if anything is incorrect.
Chris, I think you should definitely do payroll as well. I have just submitted my Self Assessment exam and some of the areas overlap so I feel that knowing one subject would help in the other. It's another service to offer clients and it can only add to our overall understanding of bookkeeping.
Good luck to you both.
Helen
Edited at 25 Oct 2013 05:23 PM GMT
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