ICB test centre exams - The Book-keepers Forum

RE: ICB test centre exams

attilabenko wrote:

Ok. Bookkeeping and payroll are exempt. I just phoned the ICO and spoke to the registration team.

I phoned recently and was told this, then phoned 30 minutes later and was told I did need to register. I think it shows even the Information Commissioners Office don't really understand their own rules.

Kris

Which government department does? Although I have found the ICO to be better than most.

I also read that its no longer a straight £35 to register. Is this true?

P

Then this question is back to ICB. I pay them, they tell me if they require me to register...unless they make me, I am not willing to pay for it. Anyway can anyone explain me what would I actually pay for? I mean what would I get for my money?

They said to me if I only do bookkeeping and/or payroll I don't have to register but if I do other accountancy I will have to. I suppose other is SA, personal taxation,etc. but that is just a thought.

What do you get for your £35 - a little certificate that says you've paid for a year!!!!!!

I'll do you one for £25 if you really want one.

Steve, can you do it for £20? Being a first time customer,etc.

attilabenko wrote:

They said to me if I only do bookkeeping and/or payroll I don't have to register but if I do other accountancy I will have to. I suppose other is SA, personal taxation,etc. but that is just a thought.

There is a little online test that helps you decide if should register (Follow the link)

http://www.ico.gov.uk/notify/self/question1.html

Question 4 has a caveat as follows

Data controllers who are unlikely to be exempt include accountants, barristers, consultants, dentists, doctors, employment agencies, financial advisers, schools and solicitors.

I suspect that although we don't call ourselves accounts, in some circumstances they will consider us a such. As Attila says if we do SA, does that make us accountants?

Bill

BackOfficeGroup wrote:

I also read that its no longer a straight £35 to register. Is this true?

P

There is a two-tiered notification fee. The two-tiered structure is based on an organisations size and turnover. A data controller will need to assess which tier they fall in and hence the fee they are required to pay. The fee for tier 1 is £35 and the fee for tier 2 is £500.

Here is another one :
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/forms/notification_exemptions_-_self-assessment_guide.pdf

If you do not process personal info on a computer no need for notification. Only personal info I do is copy ID for MLR and this is not on computer. Rest is business info. (my opinion)
You must notify ICO if you use credit reference agencies (like those above).

Attila

I agree, I do not retain any personal information on the computer with regard to information that can identify an individual, other than that needed to run the business.

Bill

I am sure Garry said at a recent seminar that we do need to be registered.

I have been registered for years and got my automatic renewal letter last week.

Money down the drain Julie, book-keepers do not need to be registered.

I've phoned a couple of times in the past to check and was told I didn't need to be registered.

BackOfficeGroup wrote:

well done you.

I lost a couple of points for not adding up correctly!! I did rush it though as was at work, but pleased anyway.

P

I've just done the mock and got 96%.

I think had it been paper based I might have got another two correct as it was also not adding things up correctly. I think I was in too much of a rush. Not because of the time - I just wanted the thing over with as quickly as possible.

I never bothered to check any answers in the time I had left - just went through to make sure I had actually put an answer to every question.

Having said I might have got another two correct had it been paper based I might have got another 7 or 8 wrong becuase I was just filling in the gaps.

Anyways - I think I'll just need to see if I can get my problem with the log-in sorted. Still a bit annoyed at the way the ICB washed their hands of the matter.

Well done Peasie - atleast you passed which is the main thing.

My log-in worked fine, no problems.....

P

Well done Peasie, have you booked your exam at Pearson Vue yet?

No.

And I have just this second fired off an angry email to the ICB.

The ICB told me the login problems (using the username and password they provided) is nothing to do with them and I have to phone Pearson Vue. I phoned Pearson Vue and the ICB is not one of the options given. Usually when none of the options apply you get to talk to a real person - not with Pearson Vue. You get get the options repeated again after listening to some music.

semsley wrote:
Money down the drain Julie, book-keepers do not need to be registered.

Hello,

2009 the ICB received a huge number of calls about this (larger than previous years) so the ICB set out to get a simple answer, as each time someone calls the ICO, they get a different answer.

The ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) have told the ICB that the deciding point is that if you offer advice, you must register.

Previously the ICO presumed bookkeepers only record information and do not give any advice. So if you call and say your a bookkeeper they assume all you do is type in receipts for an accountant.

What is advice?
Well it includes things like a client asking 'can I claim this as a business expense?'

The ICB went around the country in 2009 holding seminars and meetings to cover Data Protection, and they have produced a booklet on the subject.

If you are a practising member of the ICB call 0845 060 2345 to get a free booklet on Data Protection and registering with the ICO.

You can also speak to one of our advisors if you feel you fall outside the scope of the Data Protection Act.

Hi Peasie
Sorry didn't mean to skip your post, I belive our team has been in touch?

ICBUK wrote:

Hi Peasie
Sorry didn't mean to skip your post, I belive our team has been in touch?

I knew those posts would give away my identity. cry

I'm still waiting on Pearson Vue replying to my email. I don't want to book my exam over the phone. I want to be able to look and see what available slots there are and how they would fit into my day. Still annoyed that the momentum of doing the mock and then going on to do the real thing has been broken - and for how long I don't know as I don't know when I'll be able to book my "on demand" exam.

Peasie

I've found that its generally 2 weeks from booking to taking the test. But then you dont want to book the test until you've done the mock - catch 22!

P

Peasie wrote:
I knew those posts would give away my identity.

Hi,

Its fine, actually we have had very few problems, only about 4-5 peoples records didn't register properly, so it wasn't like I was snooping to find you as we have now fixed the others.

We registered just over 7,600 UK people on the 1st July, and it turns out it might have been too much for their system so any little formatting errors got kicked out instead of being sorted on the import.

Your record should be fine now.

BackOfficeGroup wrote:

Peasie

I've found that its generally 2 weeks from booking to taking the test. But then you dont want to book the test until you've done the mock - catch 22!

It should be within 2 weeks. Most centres have 1 late night a week and 2 weekend dates per month available.

I have just checked and our nearest centre could fit me in on Friday (today is Tuesday 2:20pm) but it does depend on how busy your local centre is.

The online mock is ready instantly so you could book mock, do it, get your results, then book your centre exam.

I have been watching the booking date to exam date for stats, but people are booking in advance as much as November so makes it hard to get real figures :)

I'm booked in now for next Friday (30th July) at 2pm.

Should be fun. I'm absolutely hopeless at driving in towns (I don't know) and parking. Passed my driving test two years ago and have managed to avoid reverse parking ever since. Wasn't required in the test so I never learned. All I was taught was reverse parking behind a car - not in between two cars. I got lost on the way to the exam centre when doing my driving theory test. I've even been on google street view trying to find the place. Think I'd better set off today to try and find the place that is only about 15 miles away.

I get the impression apart from the weekends mentioned above the only dates at my centre were Tuesdays and Fridays. Still, it's better than three exams a year.

Don't know what's going on with this website lately....I have to refresh the page every time I click on a particular question otherwise it doesn't show the latest posts. I just lost a complete post as well ! Is it just me? (Probably)

Well done Peasie on your 96% and booking your exam. I did the mock online today and also got 96%. I agree with someone who said they thought one of the questions was worded peculiarly, I did too as I got that one wrong! I also managed to miss an answer in one box altogether, don't know how that happened as I did spend time checking it all!

I must admit I did find it easier than I'd expected, but maybe I was just better prepared than I thought I was! lol I have booked my exam proper for next Tuesday 27th, so fingers crossed....and fingers crossed for you Peasie as well. Good luck!

Pauline

Good luck to you as well Pauline (and congratulations on the mock).

I think the question on VAT had me puzzled. Not so much the question - but the headings for the various day books. I don't want to write too much about the exam for obvious reasons but I hope they look at it. I also got one mark wrong because I put the answer in the wrong box. This was due to the actual VAT100 form being on a different page and being tiny anyway. This won't make any sense to anyone still to sit the mock but may make sense to those that already have.

Stardoe

Which question are you referring to, as I did not understand a question relating to accruals and prepayments.....was that the one, without giving the game away.

P

Hi Philip,

Yes that was the one!

Peasie, you could have zoomed in on the VAT100 form to make it bigger.

Pauline

Stardoe wrote:
Peasie, you could have zoomed in on the VAT100 form to make it bigger.

Usually in Internet Explorer if a picture iss to large for the page the mouse cursor will change to a magnifying glass with a plus on it and clicking on that will enlarge the picture to its full size. This didn't work with the VAT100. Its no big deal - it was only 1 mark.

I just checked - I wasn't aware you could enlarge pictures using the "View" button. I thought a picture would only enlarge to its original size. You learn something new every day.

I've queried that with ICB but await any reply.....

P

Well I did my exam this morning and it was all very user friendly, straight forward, comfortable and generally a very civilised way of doing it.

The only thing I would have liked to do was annotate the 'question paper' - on paper, I would have crossed through some of the wrong answers on multiple choice questions with several similar answers, and also I would have ticked off each item on the trial balance as I put it into the appropriate place in the end of year accounts - but these were hardly big issues.

It was nice to get my results straight away (94%, I'm guessing I made some daft errors as I didn't bother to check through my answers at the end).

I'm off to book level 3.

Congratulations Ruth.

Well done Ruth, good effort.

P

Well done Ruth excellent result

-- Edited by Chris G on Thursday 22nd of July 2010 04:21:32 PM

Yes, well done Ruth! You sound so matter of fact about a great result...lol

I've just checked my free report and my mark has changed, now I've got 99%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was an extra answer box at the bottom of a balance sheet and I didn't know what to do with it, my guess is this error had wrongly affected my mark, and that is what has increased my percentage. Either way, I'm not complaining!!

Blimey Ruth! Well done!

Pauline

Yeay!! Did my Level 2 yesterday, and as Ruth said it was all very civilised and straightforward. I even got a room to myself!

I passed too with 99% !! Marching on to Level 3 now!

Pauline

Congratulations!!

Just completed the Level II Manual Bookkeeping exam. Nice format, but I was expecting a little more. The exam took me 61 minutes, including the review. I thought the format was good.

My advice to anyone is, don't be afraid to use the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons while you are doing the exam. You'll probably need to do that when you get the P&L and Balance Sheet questions. But, before you click on the 'Previous' button, make sure you've at least scrolled to the bottom of the screen, otherwise you'll get a warning that you haven't looked at the whole screen - and you don't need to worry if you've only completed part of the question; so long as you've scrolled to the bottom, you'll be able to move from screen to screen with no data loss.

There are three options for reviewing your answers when you've finished.

I'd love to know how large the question bank is - and I don't mean the thirty nine questions you have to answer - I mean the bank that those thirty nine are drawn from.

I got 94%. So I'm quite happy with that. I know where I lost those six marks, so am not too worried. I'll be booking the Level III manual exam as soon as ICB have got the results for this one.

I'm trying to rattle through the ICB membership exams as quickly as I can. I started taking the exams seven weeks ago and have so far done the Level I Basic (97%), Level II Computerised (96%), Level III Computerised (89% - didn't spend long enough on the non-computer questions in this paper), today's Level II Manual Bookkeeping (94%). So, long as the Level III manual comes in the same zone as the rest I'll be happy. Once the Level III is under my belt, I'll be swatting up for the Level III Payroll Management and the Self Assessment Tax Returns (I love taxation). So, all in all, hope to be finished by the end of October.

I think the ICB is a good qualification, but its the same with any professional qualification - the qualification is just the start of any on-going professional development.

I think the ICB have done a reasonable job with the move to online assessment. That said, I found the ACCA Certified Accounting Technician exams to be much harder - particularly the cost accounting and they were offering online assessments seven years ago.

Anyway, I wouldn't waste my time on practice exams. If you've learned your stuff well enough, you are going to pass. That knowledge needs to be sufficiently ingrained - not just for the exams, but for your career as a bookkeeper.

Hope these views are a worthwhile contribution.

39 questions - blimey. There were only 13 in the mock. Well, 13 tasks.

I'm sitting mine tomorrow. Probably the first exam I've ever looked forward to. Also first exam I won't be spending any time revising. If it hasn't sunk in by now I'm not ready to go out into the scary world of bookkeeping. If I fail I can always sit it again in a few weeks. Granted, it will cost another £55. This new format of "on-demand" exams has changed my attitude towards exams. They are no longer a thing to dread like before as it would mean another wait of four or five months.

I won't be going out into the scary world of bookkeeping anyway until I've done the payroll course and self-assessment. Plus level II computerised and level III manual.

All the best for tomorrow.

Remember: Top Right of the screen is your countdown timer, telling you how long you've got left. You can easily go back and review questions (and change your answers if necessary).

Be prepared to go through the first 25 questions very quickly.

Let us know how you've got on.

Hi Ruth,

What 'free' report are you referring to? Is this the printed paper centre gave to you at the end of the exam, or something else?

Like your initial score, I got 94% yesterday, but that's the result that was on the certificate I got from the centre - so just curious to know what this 'free report' is?

I know the balance sheet question you are referring to! I had to look at the last two boxes twice, I also thought there was one box too many. I don't think I lost my marks there, but I do know where I did lose them and I'll just check that today for my own self-satisfaction.

Like you, I just want to get the LIII booked now.

PS: Nice website by-the-way.

GrahamG

-- Edited by GrahamG on Friday 30th of July 2010 07:47:32 AM

-- Edited by GrahamG on Friday 30th of July 2010 10:17:51 AM

GrahamG wrote:

Hi Ruth,

What 'free' report are you referring to? Is this the printed paper centre gave to you at the end of the exam, or something else?

Maybe there is some confusion over whether people have taken the mock exam or the real thing. There is a free report with the mock exam.

-- Edited by Chris G on Friday 30th of July 2010 10:02:09 AM

-- Edited by Chris G on Friday 30th of July 2010 02:51:34 PM

-- Edited by Chris G on Friday 30th of July 2010 02:52:15 PM

I think he means the mock isn't "exactly" the same as the real thing.

There were 13 tasks in the mock but a lot more than just 13 questions. The first 25 in the real thing must be easy questions and the next 14 (?) made up of more marks.

Hi Peasie

Thanks for that, good luck with your exam, I am also taking mine today.