Boost your business with an ICB apprentice

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Apprenticeships help bring valuable skills into your business with the government's support. They’re suitable for people at any level so you can hire someone new or upskill an existing employee. You can also upskill yourself through an apprenticeship under certain circumstances

What are the benefits of hiring an accounting or payroll apprentice?

Apprenticeships are an exciting option for both apprentice and employer.

You can:

hire someone new or upskill an existing employee
put yourself on an apprenticeship if you are an employee of the business
employ apprentices at different levels, from school leavers and university graduates, to more mature people
get funding from the government to help pay for apprenticeship training
make NI savings on younger apprentices
adapt apprenticeship training according to the needs of your business and apprentice
use apprenticeships as a funded route into ICB membership

Accounting and payroll apprenticeships lead to ICB membership

Apprenticeships make a great alternative route into ICB membership for people who want to earn while they learn, or for employers who want off-the-job training support for their staff.

Once your apprentice has completed their end-point assessment in any of the four ICB-assessed standards, they will be eligible for exemptions from the ICB professional qualifications so they can become an ICB member straight away.

With ICB membership your apprentice will have access to our technical, tax and legal support lines, as well as monthly technical webinars included within their membership.

Apprenticeship	ICB Qualification Exemption available	Membership eligibility
Accounts/Finance Assistant (Level 2)	Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping	Associate (AICB)
Assistant Accountant (Level 3)	Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping and partial exemption from Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping and Accounting	Associate (AICB) with a fast-track route to Member (MICB) after one further on-demand bridging exam
Payroll Administrator (Level 3)	Level 2 Certificate in Payroll Administration and Level 3 Diploma in Payroll Management	Payroll Agent / PM.Dip
Payroll Assistant Manager (Level 5)	Level 2 Certificate in Payroll Administration and Level 3 Diploma in Payroll Management	Payroll Agent / PM.Dip

How much does it cost?

You can get help from the government to pay for apprenticeship training.

The amount you get depends on whether you pay the apprenticeship levy or not. You pay the levy if you’re an employer with a pay bill over £3 million each year.

As an employer that doesn’t pay the apprenticeship levy, you pay just 5% towards the cost of training and assessing an apprentice.

The government will pay the rest up to the funding band maximum. You’ll pay the training provider directly and agree on a payment schedule.

If you employ fewer than 50 employees, the government will pay 100% of the apprenticeship training costs up to the funding band maximum for apprentices aged:

16 to 18
19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan provided by their local authority or has been in the care of their local authority

If you exceed the funding band maximum, you’ll need to pay all the additional costs.

You can find out each of the funding bands for the ICB-assessed accounting apprenticeships on our website here:

> Apprenticeships

Incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice

Employers can apply for a payment of £3,000 for new apprentices of any age who have an employment start date of 1 October 2021 to 31 January 2022. These apprentices must also have an apprenticeship start date of 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.

Applications close 15 May 2022.

The incentive payment is in addition to the £1,000 employers already receive for hiring an apprentice:

aged 16 to 18 years old
aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care plan or who has been in the care of their local authority

Find out more about financial incentives for hiring a new apprentice or how apprenticeships are funded.

Hire an apprentice who has been made redundant

You can also use a new government service to help you hire apprentices who have been made redundant.

Many of these apprentices may already have the skills and knowledge you need. Hiring a new apprentice in this way could mean you have a work-ready apprentice who can quickly add value to your business, shortening the time you’ll see a return on your investment.

It also means you are supporting an apprentice to complete their training and achieve their apprenticeship.

If you hire an apprentice that has been made redundant, you can apply for incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice.

Paying your apprentice

You’re responsible for paying your apprentice for their normal working hours and any training they do as part of the apprenticeship.

You must pay them at least the National Minimum Wage rate depending on their age and the year of apprenticeship training they’re in.

The rates from April 2020 are:

Apprentice	Under 19	19 to 20	21 to 24	25 and over
In 1st year	£4.15	£4.15	£4.15	£4.15
Have completed 1st year	£4.15	£6.45	£8.20	£8.72

Paying employer National Insurance contributions

Employers may not need to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions for an apprentice, if the apprentice is:

under 25 years old
on an approved UK government apprenticeship standard or framework (for example any of the four ICB-assessed accounting apprenticeships)
earns less than £967 a week (£50,270 a year)

The apprentice, as an employee, will continue to pay Class 1 insurance contributions through their salary, this will only benefit the employer.

Read HMRC's guidance on paying National Insurance contributions.

Find a business to fund your apprenticeship costs

Large levy-paying businesses who pay the apprenticeship levy can pledge up to 25% of their unspent levy funds to a business of their choice.

You can apply to receive a transfer of funds to cover 100% of your apprenticeship training and assessment costs (up to the funding band maximum).

You can view all live pledges using our public website. Read our guidance on GOV.UK for further information on how to apply.

Our small and medium-sized businesses are the cornerstone of our economy, and so I'm thrilled that we're making it easier for them to taken on apprentices.

- Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak

Recruiting an accounting apprentice

Whilst you can use an apprenticeship to up-skill existing staff, you may decide to hire someone new and put them on an apprenticeship.

Before you do this, you'll need to think about the right person for you and the benefits they can bring to your organisation.

Most apprenticeship training providers can help you recruit an apprentice.

You need to think about:

The salary offer – is it competitive, and will it go up over time?
How much experience does your candidate need – they may have none
Why would they want to come and work for you?
What will you say when they ask about their future career prospects with you?

There are resources to help you find the right apprentice. You could:

Speak to an ICB-accredited training provider
Hold an open day
Invite potential apprentices to ‘experience’ a day with you before they join
Post a job vacancy through gov.uk by setting up an account to manage apprenticeships

Finding an ICB-accredited Apprenticeship Training Provider

Apprenticeships are a partnership between the employer and the training provider. The very best training providers will have a hands-on approach from recruitment through to graduation and beyond.

An ICB-accredited apprenticeship training provider may also be able to help with:

Recruiting the right apprentice for you
Customising the apprenticeship to the needs of your apprentice and your business
Making sure your apprentice is working in an appropriate environment
Finding the right pace of learning for your apprentice
Working with you to make sure your apprentice is learning the right skills in their job

Find a list of ICB-accredited apprenticeship training providers here

End-Point Assessment

Once the apprenticeship training is completed an independent End-Point Assessment (EPA) will take place.

ICB is an End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) for:

The EPA is the apprentice’s opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned throughout the duration of their apprenticeship.

When your apprentice successfully completes their apprenticeship and EPA, they will be awarded a certificate. ICB will request the certificate on your behalf.

Conclusion - taking on an accounting apprentice step-by-step

Choose one of the ICB-assessed accounting apprenticeship standards here
Find an ICB-accredited training provider here
Work with your training provider to recruit an apprentice or discuss up-skilling yourself or an existing staff member
Select your apprentice and sign an apprenticeship agreement and commitment statement. These can be found here

Any questions?

If you would like further assistance, you can:

call us on 0203 405 4000
email us via apprenticeships@bookkeepers.org.uk
find out more about taking on an apprentice on GOV.UK
search for an apprenticeship training provider
post a free job vacancy for an apprentice on our website

We are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday

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