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OK no problem.
The quickest way to get an overview is to take a look at the syllabus which you can find on the home page - strangely enough it is under syllabuses (although maybe it should be syllabi?).
In essence it will cover everything that anyone working or intending to work in the accounts department will need to know about legal accounting. It includes administrative matters - for example the regulatory structure, the information that will probably be needed to open up a new matter on "the system", client accounting, office accounting, petty cash, vat, work in progress, invoices, credit notes and also revisiting profit and loss and balance sheets.
Yes this is a Level III qualification and everyone should know about P&L and BS at this level but it doesn't hurt to revisit these now and again especially in the context of a new environment.
The course also covers disbursements - I don't want to give too much away in this area (a little knowledge being a dangerous thing), suffice it to say that this particular subject is probably the most disputed area that I have come across in the profession and is the cause of many an argument.
As you will have seen from the newsletter I have been working in legal accounts since 1979 and I have to be honest and say that I was surprised to find when I was writing the course how many technical areas there are which I take for granted.
The course is the only one of its kind, there is another institute which is dedicated to legal accounts and administration - however they are not a recognised body which means that their members are not regulated in the same way as the members of the ICB are and cannot therefore be accountancy service providers on the back of their qualifications (unless they go down the HMRC route).
Time will tell - but I would like to think that that legal profession will embrace the qualification with open arms. I do know that the Solicitors Regulation Authority have given favourable comments on the original draft.
Also it is a home study course and home examination which should please the members who do not like (or have the time) to go to a local centre.
SOLD????
edited spelling errors
Edited at 10 Jul 2011 07:08 PM GMT
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