I continued to study, diligently working my way through the course material and exams to eventually become an Associate member in January 2012. I then acquired my practice licence in the February.

The Training Link method gave me the freedom to study alongside my role as a single mum and also working part time as a personal assistant.

I would also like to give credit to my employer at the time, as he really encouraged me to pursue my career change, take up bookkeeping as a profession and make transition from employee to being self-employed.

I started with a couple of clients and grew my business from there.

Attending the ICB branch meetings really boosted my confidence. An added bonus to these branch meetings was that it enabled me to network with other local ICB bookkeepers, which provided me with some referrals to further boost my client list.

As the years progressed, I never missed an opportunity to attend my local ICB branch meeting. So much so, that I became branch chair, and have remained so for the past few years. Networking with other bookkeepers is always a pleasure as we learn so much from each other’s experiences.

I have been in practice now for over 7 years and have grown my business from sole trader to a limited company. I still have some of my original clients with others coming and going along the years. But we bookkeepers are never out of work! I am still growing my practice steadily and have learned a lot about running my own business over the years.

I still get great satisfaction getting a set of books in order that was once in chaos, thus allowing my clients to concentrate on running their business with the data that they need to hand.”