ICB Courses

ICB Courses: Are They Worthwhile?

Yes, ICB courses are most definitely worthwhile. One of the reasons for this is because of the fact that not only are these courses of incredibly high quality, but they are also internationally recognised. The courses are specially designed and give you high-quality skills that you can immediately use in the financial or business world. Each course level also gives you an internationally recognised designation that you can add to your business cards. 

Who is the ICB?

The ICB is the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. This organisation was founded in 1931 in the United Kingdom. They are an independent external examination body which offers high-quality training in various business-related fields. 

What ICB Courses are Available?

The ICB offers five different learning streams namely, Financial Accounting Courses, Entrepreneurship Courses, Office Administration Courses, Business Management Courses, and Public Sector Accounting Courses. Each of these streams is broken down into several courses. All the streams are broken into three courses except for Financial Accounting which is broken down into four courses.

ICB Financial Accounting Courses

This is the only stream that consists of four ICB courses. The courses are as follows:

Financial accounting is a specialised accounting field. Financial accounting uses standardised guidelines to record, summarise, and present transaction data as a financial report or a financial statement.

Companies regularly issue financial statements which are given to people who are outside of the company. These are people such as owners, stockholders, and lenders. If a company publicly trades its stock on the stock market then these reports are visible to the general public too.

ICB Entrepreneurship Courses

There are three different ICB courses in this stream namely:

In today’s world, more and more people are deciding to start their own businesses and business ventures. This means taking some risks to develop your own business. While every entrepreneur is different, there are some skills which any entrepreneur needs and that is the focus of this stream. This is why the courses cover such varied topics.

ICB Office Administration Courses

The three ICB courses in this stream are:

The purpose of Office Administration is to keep an office running as smoothly as possible. Office Administration is the management of the day-to-day tasks and things that need to happen in an office. These could be things like ordering supplies for the office, arranging and setting up meetings, record keeping, bookkeeping, and even managing certain employees. 

ICB Business Management Courses

This stream contains the following three ICB courses:

Business Management affects all areas of business and it focuses on getting people to work together to achieve the companies goals. Some of the things that a Business Manager needs to do include monitoring the activities of employees, hiring and training new employees, creating and monitoring budgets, and preparing reports for senior management. They also need to ensure that staff have the resources to complete their work and motivate staff through things like incentive programmes and by offering positive feedback.

ICB Public Sector Accounting Courses

The last of the five streams is Public Sector Accounting which also consists of three ICB courses, namely:

  • National Certificate: Public Sector Accounting
  • Diploma: Public Sector Accounting
  • National Diploma: Public Sector Accounting

Public Sector Accounting is a field of accounting that specifically happens in local, provincial, or national government. This includes things like the military, police, public roads, bridges, tunnels, and water supply. A Public Sector Accountant helps to make sure that government runs smoothly and legally. This is why they do things like doing tax audits and fraud investigations. 

Can I get a Degree From the ICB?

You cannot earn a degree through the ICB. The ICB qualifications are all recognised certificates and diplomas in their fields. After completing the ICB’s National Diploma: Financial Accounting NQF 6 qualification, however, you can study further through one of the institutions that have partnered with the ICB to earn a full degree. This option is only available to the Financial Accounting stream, however.

What are the Benefits of an ICB Qualification?

One of the biggest benefits is that qualifications from the ICB are internationally recognised. This means that wherever you go in the world, your qualifications carry the same weight. 

Another advantage is that each course gives you a qualification. This means that you don’t need to complete all the courses before you get any kind of certification. 

Where can I Study an ICB Course?

The ICB has partnered with many different companies, colleges, and universities to offer their courses. There are even several distance learning companies such as Skills Academy that offer these courses. Skills Academy has been accredited by the ICB to offer all five of their study streams. This means you can study all 16 courses through distance learning. 

Why Study With Skills Academy?

Skills Academy has taken a completely unique approach to distance learning and how it is offered. They have done this by changing the ways in which you pay your studies, how you pay for your studies and more. First an foremost is the fact that you don’t pay a huge one-off payment for your studies. Skills Academy let’s you pay your fees monthly. This is just one of the ways in which they make it easier to study. 

EasyPay

This innovation by Skills Academy makes paying for your studies easier than it has ever been before. By partnering with EasyPay, you have so many options for paying your fees. The first of these options is to pay your fees using the EasyPay website.

Skills Academy also understands that not everyone has a bank account or can do internet banking. Thanks to the EasyPay system this is not a problem. You can also pay your fees at the following shops:

  • Pick ‘n Pay Supermarkets, Hypermarkets, Family Stores and selected Mini Markets nationwide,
  • Shoprite, 
  • Checkers and Checkers Hyper stores,
  • Lewis Stores, 
  • Lifestyle Living, and
  • Best Electric.

In the Western Cape you can also pay your fees at the following stores:

  • Foodworld stores,
  • Saveworld stores,
  • Elite Cash ‘n Carry stores,
  • Selected Score stores, Boxer Superstores, and Spar outlets

If you live in Bellville in the Western Cape then you can also choose to pay your fees at the 24-hour M-KEM in Durban Road.

Money Back Guarantee

Skills Academy is committed to giving you the best possible experience. This is why if you are not entirely happy with their service within the first 30 days after you register, you can cancel your registration at any time and get a full refund. Not only will you get your money back, but you won’t need to explain why or answer any questions. That’s right, your money back and no questions asked. 

Put Your Studies on Hold

Skills Academy understands that it can sometimes be difficult to get to your studies. This is why Skills Academy gives it’s students the option to put their studies on hold for up to two months.            What that means is that you won’t need to study for the time that you are not studying.

Work Hard, Finish Faster, Save Money

Another way in which Skills Academy lets you save money by allowing you to finish faster. How this works is that Skills Academy sends you all your study materials once you have registered for your course. You can then work in your own time. If you manage to finish your course faster than the time that is generally taken then you don’t have to pay further. So for example, if you finish a 12-month course in eight months, you only pay for eight months. In this way, you can save up to 50% of your fees. 

ICB Partnerships

The ICB has also partnered with other institutions which offer you various benefits. These include the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers & Accountants (ICBA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)

ICBA

The ICBA is a sister organisation to the ICB. In 2012 the ICB split into two parts, the ICB which is the training body, and the ICBA which is the professional body. What this means is that the ICB offers the courses and training, while the ICBA offers you a professional membership. 

Based on the qualifications you have received and the amount of work experience you have, the ICBA will offer you a professional level. This means that you will receive a designation that you can put behind your name at each specific level.

CIMA

CIMA offers further studies in the field of Management Accounting. The partnership with the ICB allows you to study further with CIMA by recognising the subjects and courses you have completed through the ICB. Depending on which ICB qualification you have, you can apply for exemptions on certain subjects. This makes it even easier to study a CIMA course and receive a Management Accounting qualification. 

Interested in Registering?

If any of the ICB courses sound like the course for you, don’t hesitate to contact Skills Academy today. You can call them toll-free on 0800 39 00 27 and speak to one of their consultants. The consultants can answer any questions that you might have and even help you to register for a course.