Level III Certificate in Bookkeeping and Accounts
From April 2014
Course Code L3C
Level 3 Certificate in Bookkeeping & Accounts syllabus
Introduction
The Level III Certificate in Bookkeeping and Accounts covers the preparation of ledger balances, control accounts and reconciliations, adjustments and preparation of final accounts for non-incorporated businesses or organisations.
Occupational Role: Self Employed Bookkeeper/Employed Bookkeeper
On completion of this qualification candidates will be able to carry out the role of an employed or self-employed bookkeeper, be able to reconcile bank statements with the ledgers, produce a VAT return, control the sales and purchases ledgers, post year-end adjustments and produce the final accounts for a sole trader, partnership and not-for-profit organisation in both a manual and a computerised system.
Prior Knowledge
Before commencing the study at this level the candidate should have achieved ICB Level II Certificate in Bookkeeping or its equivalent with another awarding body.
Qualification aims
On completion of this level of study a candidate will be able to:
- Understand the following areas of underpinning knowledge:
- The importance of adhering to a set of ethical principles
- How and when to take action to cope with unethical behaviour
- The concepts of business entity, going concern, historical cost, consistency, prudence and accruals
- The legal requirements for forming a partnership
- Different ways of processing VAT for EU and non-EU transactions
- Alternative VAT systems e.g. VAT margin scheme
- Prepare a bank reconciliation statement
- Understand the purpose and use of control accounts as a checking mechanism
- Account for VAT and prepare a VAT return
- Prepare a ledger account to record the disposal of a fixed asset and to calculate the profit or loss on disposal
- Calculate adjustments to the accounts including:
- Opening and closing stock
- Depreciation of fixed assets
- Accruals and pre-payments
- Provision for doubtful debts
- Prepare the final accounts for a non-incorporated business including processing of adjustments for opening and closing stock, depreciation, accruals, prepayments, provision for doubtful debts in the following areas:
- Sole trader
- Partnership
- Not-for-Profit Organisation
Assessment and Grading
The testing of knowledge and skills for the qualification will comprise three online assessments, all of which are taken in the candidate’s home or place of work plus one assessment taken at an external ICB centre.
Paper BA4 – reconciliations and final accounts of a sole trader:
Home / place of work based assessment to include:
- Underpinning knowledge (5% weighting)
- Reconciliation and correction of errors (customer and supplier reconciliations, bank reconciliation, correction of errors) (15% weighting
- VAT Returns (15% weighting)
- Posting adjustments including disposal and acquisition of fixed assets (15% weighting)
- Final accounts of a sole trader (20% weighting)
- Production of final accounts of a sole trader with adjustments using a computerised package (30% weighting)
Paper BA5 – final accounts of a partnership
Home / place of work based assessment to include:
- Underpinning knowledge (10% weighting)
- Posting adjustments including disposal and acquisition of fixed assets (30% weighting)
- Final accounts of a partnership including the appropriation account and production of partners’ current accounts (30% weighting)
- Production of final accounts of a partnership with adjustments using a computerised package (30% weighting)
Paper BA6 – final accounts of a not-for-profit organisation
Home / place of work based assessment to include:
- Underpinning knowledge (10% weighting)
- Posting adjustments including the subscriptions account and disposal and acquisition of fixed assets (30% weighting)
- Final accounts of a not-for-profit organisation (30% weighting)
- Production of final accounts of a not-for-profit organisation with adjustments using a computerised package (30% weighting)
Paper BA7 - Level III External Assessment
A single assessment to be taken at an ICB examination centre will be a mixture of multi-choice and data entry questions which will cover all elements of the syllabus.
The full qualification will be graded at Distinction with Honours, Distinction, Merit or Pass
All tests and the examination must be successfully achieved to gain the full qualification.
Each assessment will generate a separate accreditation notification.
The home or work place based assessments will be graded as follows:
Distinction |
95 -100% |
Merit |
90 - 94% |
Pass |
85 - 89% |
Fail |
0 - 84% |
The assessment taken at an external ICB centre will be graded as follows:
Distinction |
90 -100% |
Merit |
80 - 89% |
Pass |
70 - 79% |
Fail |
0 - 69% |
Once all tests and the examination have been successfully completed a final certificate can be applied for which will be graded at Distinction with Honours, Distinction, Merit or Pass. Unit results will be aggregated. To achieve the relevant grade in the full qualification, the following aggregate marks must be achieved:
Distinction with Honours |
390 marks and above |
Distinction |
375 – 389 marks |
Merit |
350 – 374 marks |
Pass |
325 – 349 marks |
Level of Membership
Successful achievement at the full qualification will lead to the offer to upgrade to Associate Member of ICB. Associate Members are entitled to use the designatory letters AICB.
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