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I think the scheme would have to be very flexible as newly qualified bookkeepers vary hugely in terms of the experience they already have and so everyone's needs would be different. Also some will be doing quite a lot of work whereas others may only have the odd client so their needs, their ability to become 'experienced' within 2 years and the amount of money they would see as fair to contribute to costs would similarly vary.
I think we would need to be very clear on what the objectives of the scheme are. Mentoring isn't usually about quality assurance, it's more about support, if it's QA we're focussing on then that's more supervision and assessment than mentoring. We would need to train and support(/supervise/assess) the mentors/supervisors/assessors. They would need, IMHO, a set remuneration rate. There would need to be very clear guidelines regarding acceptable standards and what to do if substandard work is observed. How much time would the mentor/supervisor/assessor be expected to give per newly qualified bookkeeper, what if an individual needed substantially more than that? The quality assurance relationship is quite different to a supporting relationship.
An alternative would be a more informal mentoring role, where the focus is on guidance and support, being available to chat through issues that arise for the mentee. Having an 'experienced friend' to turn to would probably in itself lead to improved quality even if that isn't the main aim of the scheme. However, simply being knowledgeable and experienced as a bookkeeper doesn't mean you would be a great mentor, so in terms of who should do it, I think the criteria needs to be about more than just being a fellow or having worked for x number of years. I think those should apply but you should also need to demonstrate the skills required to support, to enable mentees to develop rather than telling them the answers to problems, for instance.
I don't mean to be negative, it concerns me that someone can do a bit of self study, pass level 2, get a practise licence and set up in practise with no experience and possibly limited true knowledge, but having worked in training, supervising, assessing and mentoring elsewhere (and having had substantial and validated training to take on those jobs), I think we need to be aware that there are lots of issues to take into account when considering how to set something up.
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