News Archive

The Financial Sector Skills Council (FSSC) has approached the ICB directly to request information about bookkeepers to add to the Case Studies section of its website.  The FSSC, which acts as a link between industry, government and education, publishes case studies and job profiles as part of an online resource giving information about the range of career paths open to finance professionals and students, and currently the bookkeeper is under represented.  It is vi...

In June 2010 the Institute was asked to attend Bristol Crown Court as “expert witness” at the trial of a bookkeeper charged with “Fraud by abuse of position”.   We hasten to add that the bookkeeper was not a member of the ICB. Avon and Somerset Police contacted Patricia Marshall, Operations Director at the ICB, to give a professional opinion on the conduct of the bookkeeper. “We looked through the evidence given to us by the police&rdquo...

From the Chief Executive Phew! What a couple of months. As another issue of InVoice is put to bed I am left to reflect on a very busy couple of months. Things are normally pretty frenetic here but just recently there has been so much going on that at times we have wanted to stop the clocks for a day or so to let us catch up. Groundbreaking new exams The ICB has taken the digital age full on. From April, all the Level I assessments went on-line and have been...

We would be very grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to take part in a survey about ICB members meetings so that we can ensurewe continue to organise events which you find useful and enjoyable to attend.  You will need to log in to the website to view the test.  Please click here to complete the online survey

The ICB’s new online Level 1 assessment, that was only launched mid-April, has been an outstanding success and already more than five hundred people from six countries have passed. Entrants from the UK, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Singapore and South Africa have become the first to pass this groundbreaking new assessment. For a full list click here The online assessment replaces the old, paper-based version that has proved so successful since it was launched in 2000. The pap...

Congratulations to the following candidates who have passed the new online Level I Certificate in Basic Bookkeeping UK version.  The traditional paper-based Level I was transferred to the new online system in April of this year, so that candidates can book in for their examination and take it straight away.  Results are then issued immediately after the candidate finishes the examination. If you are interested in taking a look at the online Level I (for practice or ju...

The hotly anticipated new centre-based examinations are now open for bookings, and hundreds of you have already taken advantage of our dedicated online bookings site and organised yourselves an examination. The new system marks a significant improvement on standard examination procedure because it enables candidates to book an examination slot in any week of the year, and to choose their own centre from a global network of over 5,200 available venues. Any cancellations or postpone...

Last month's newsletter featured an article about Google initiative, Get British Business Online, which is providing free websites and easy to use templates for start-ups in this country.  The ICB has always recommended that Practice Licence holders set themselves up with some form of online presence.  It seems that clients these days would much sooner have a quick anonymous poke around your website than pick up the phone to call you to find out which services you can offer. With t...

  Free Local Networking Local events continue to spring up, and we are very grateful to our Regional Facilitators for helping to organise the following meetings: Horsham Tuesday 13th July Cheltenham Wednesday 4th August   Save The Date Rhoderick Davies MICB is organising a meeting in Fareham on Thursday 9th September.  Local members will be emailed details as they are confirmed and information will be updated to the online Events page. No events near...

Hopefully many of you will have noticed this picture which appears when you log in to the website: Clicking on the picture will give you some information about what you need to do to make sure you tick all the right boxes ready for M-Day on 30th September 2011.  30/09/11 is the day when the new membership structure comes into force and all members are expected to have proven competence in both manual and computerised bookkeeping. Our M-Day graphic has been on the website f...

IPP Interpretation of the 22 June 2010 Budget Diana Bruce, Policy Liaison Officer for the IPP     Introduction  As expected there was a goody bag of bad news!  The increase in personal allowances, and the NICs changes were expected, but the NICs holiday for new employers is going to present an administration challenge.  Although employers will benefit from NI savings, will the cost of monitoring and complying with the rules prove more costly than the sa...

Following on from last month's article on Activity Based Costing, ICB head of education, Dr Philip E Dunn, provides this instructive text about Overhead Recovery. If there is anything you would particularly like to see covered in future issues of InVOICE, please email your suggestions. Overhead Recovery.pdf Click on the link above to download the pdf If you experience any difficulties viewing this file, please try using a different web browser.     &n...

This is the latest in a new series of helpful hints, tips and shortcuts published in Study Corner to help you get the most from Excel.  The series has been provided exclusively for the ICB by Excel with Business (EwB) and this month's article can be downloaded as a pdf here EwB Study Corner July Following feedback from members at seminars, we understand that lots of you are using Excel for your work, but don't feel like you are always using the application to its full ...

1st: Due date for payment of Corporation Tax for period ended 30 September 2009. 6th: Deadline for relevant third parties to give non-employees information on benefits/expenses they have provided to them in 2009/10. Last day to file Taxed Award Scheme Returns, file P11Ds, P11D(b)s, P9Ds and Forms 42. Issue copies of P11Ds or P9Ds to employees. 14th: Due date for income tax for the CT61 period to 30 June 2010. 19th: Final date for payment of 2009/10 Class 1A NICs. Quarter 1 2009/09 PAYE...

Those of you who attended the recent Brighton seminar will know that Alison Jackman has very kindly agreed to take on the role of Regional Facilitator for the West Sussex area. All members are warmly invited to this inaugural event in Horsham on evening of Tuesday 13th July which will provide an opportunity to meet everyone and discuss a plan going forward, find out what people would like to get from these meetings, and determine if anyone has any professional contacts in the area who c...

Following on from the enjoyable event in Cheltenham on 23rd June, this active region is meeting at the same venue again. All members are invited to attend, please book your free place in the online shop to validate your CPD points.  For all those new to the group, venue details can be found in the shop.  You will need to login to book.

Click here for up to date information and analysis courtesy of Deloitte

From Debroah Honey, Regional Chair: I am pleased to invite members to the first Regional Meeting for the East Midlands area, taking place at a Nottingham City Centre venue for reasons of transport links.   Thursday 1st July - 3pm Please login and book your free place in the online shop where you will find full venue details. This informal meeting offers the chance for members in our region to meet up and get to know each other. I am hoping we can set the agenda for future meetin...

From Kenneth Bell, Regional Chair for the West Midlands Dear All, The initial Members' Meeting of the West Midlands South East section for Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire will be held: 30th June at 8pm near Birmingham Airport All members are welcome to attend, but please book in the online shop here where you can find full location details. The main items for discussion will be the group set up and future topics and venues. Please come with lots of ideas.   See you ther...

Following the success of the last meeting, the Regional Chairman for the South, Rebecca Ray, has organised another Members' Meeting for the South to take place in Avon: Monday 21st June 6.30pm Rebecca has organised for a speaker from HSBC to be in attendance.  They will cover what HSBC can offer small business clients and how they can help businesses grow. Members are most welcome to come along to discuss other topics and network with fellow members.   The meeting is free to memb...