The 4 Best Bookkeeping Courses & Qualifications in 2024

Without solid bookkeeping, a business would cease to operate. It might not be as flashy a field as accountancy, but it’s just as, if not, even more, important.

If you’re looking to get into bookkeeping, or you’re thinking about developing your career, it can often be a challenge identifying bookkeeping-specific qualifications and courses.

To help you in your career development quest, we’ve picked four of our favourite bookkeeping courses and qualifications in 2023 for you to grow your skills with.

Why Choose Bookkeeping?

So, why choose bookkeeping in the first place to build a career?

Well, for starters it’s an essential craft that keeps the cogs of a business and organisation whirring.

Bookkeeping is also a profession that generally rewards hard-work and graft. A lot of people get it confused with accountancy but it’s a separate and respected specialism that can often be very fulfilling for a lot of people. It’s less glitzy than accountancy, and more concerned with the nitty-gritty details of gathering financial information, making it well suited to people who like practical, attention-to-detail focused tasks.

Basically, bookkeeping and accountancy form two different ends of the accountancy process. Bookkeeping is the first step of the accountancy process, focused on recording and organising financial data about a business. Accountancy concentrates on interpreting and presenting that data.

There are also a wide variety of roles to choose from, and a lot of progression available, making it a lucrative area to get involved in.

Online or physical study?

Of course, if you’re wanting to study a bookkeeping course or qualification, you’ll have to work out what format you’d like to study it through.

Learning a professional qualification during the COVID-19 pandemic has mostly been through the medium of online study, using the internet – rather than the physical, classroom-based study that a lot of courses were delivered through.

Online study had already been steadily growing in popularity in the years before the pandemic, but COVID-19 and the widespread movement of office-based workers and students to remote arrangements has seen its popularity explode. That combined with the fact that digital technology has expanded the capabilities of digital courses means that more and more people are choosing to study a professional qualification online.

For the moment then, it’s likely that you’ll study a bookkeeping course or qualification online – but you may find a few learning providers who are offering classroom-based study again.

The Best Bookkeeping Courses & Qualifications

Here are our top choices when it comes to the best bookkeeping courses and qualifications.

1.    AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping

Perfect for: People making their first moves in bookkeeping

Everyone has to start somewhere when it comes to building a career. For most people, that means starting at the bottom and working your way up to the role where you want to be. If you’re aiming to get started in bookkeeping, the AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping is an essential qualification to have.

It’s an entry-level qualification designed for people who are new to bookkeeping and need to get to grips with the essential knowledge involved in the profession. In the AAT Level 2 Foundation Certificate, you’ll cover the two most basic pieces of knowledge needed in a bookkeeping career – bookkeeping transactions and controls, giving you a great base of knowledge to build on. 

Possible Progression Routes

• Clerical Assistant
• Trainee Bookkeeper
• Accounts Clerk
• Finance Assistant
• Accounts Administrator

Cost

Around £699

2.    AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping

Perfect for: Bookkeepers with a bit of knowledge experience already under their belts, looking to progress to more intermediate positions.

The AAT Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping is made up of three units that cover knowledge which is essential to more sophisticated forms of bookkeeping practice: Advanced Bookkeeping, Final Accounts Preparation and Indirect Tax.

Many employers look for this qualification when it comes to recruiting bookkeepers for roles, making it a formidable bookkeeping qualification to hold.  As one of the most respected accountancy and bookkeeping professional bodies in the UK, the AAT name also carries significant weight when recruiters are whittling down candidate lists.

Completing an AAT Level 3 Advanced Certificate is also one step along the road of becoming a professional AAT bookkeeping member, giving you the right to use the professional title AATQB after your name. That can be a formidable accreditation to have when it comes to impressing employers.

Possible Progression Routes

• Professional Bookkeeper
• Senior Bookkeeper
• Accounts Manager
• Ledger Manager

Cost

Around £679

3.    AAT Level 2 & 3 Combined Course in Bookkeeping

Perfect for: People who want to progress fast in the bookkeeping industry.

This qualification, offered by AAT, is designed to get you qualified to work in bookkeeping as fast as possible. It’s a combined qualification, made up of the AAT Level 2 Foundation Certificate in Bookkeeping and the AAT Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Bookkeeping and you’ll study one after the other.

In principle, this means that you could become a fully qualified bookkeeper within a year – the AAT Level 2 Foundation Certificate takes around 3 months to complete and the AAT Level 3 Advanced Certificate takes around 6 months to complete. After that, you’ll be an attractive candidate for a range of employers and you’ll even have all of the bookkeeping skills to set up your own self-employed bookkeeping business too!

Possible Progression Routes

• Professional Bookkeeper
• Senior Bookkeeper
• Accounts Manager
• Ledger Manager
• Accounts Clerk
• Finance Assistant
• Accounts Administrator

Cost

Around £869

4.    IAB Level 4 Certificate in International Accounting Standards and IFRS

Offered by the IAB, the International Association of Bookkeepers, the IAB Level 4 Certificate in International Accounting Standards and IFRS is an advanced qualification for bookkeepers who want to progress to more specialised, senior positions.

Over the course, which takes about 10 weeks to complete, you’ll learn about company capital structures, preparing different types of financial statements for internal and external use, regulatory and conceptual frameworks, and ratio analysis.

To study this course, you’ll need the IAB Level 3 Bookkeeping and Accounting qualification, or an equivalent qualification, like the AAT Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Bookkeeping.

Regulated by CCEA, Ofqual and QiW, IAB qualifications are trusted by employers across the UK and wider world for their quality, making them a good asset for bookkeepers who are looking to progress their career.

Similar to AAT, the CCEA has a clear progression route for its qualifications, allowing you to develop professionally with the body. Completing this qualification will also make you eligible to study for Chartered Bookkeeper Status with the IAB too –  prestigious accreditation.

Possible Progression Routes

• Senior Bookkeeper
• Senior Accounts Manager
• Senior Ledger Manager

Cost

Around £600

The best way to decide which bookkeeping course or qualification is for you is to examine your dream career, identify the key skills that you need to do that role and then find a course or qualification that allows you to progress those skills and get closer to where you want to be, career-wise. We hope this blog has given you some ideas about the options that are out there for you. Happy searching!

Develop your bookkeeping careering with an AAT professional qualification. Get your free AAT course guide and start your journey to a new career today.