Introduction

Recent Ideal Schools student Emma MacPherson has had quite the professional and training journey over her time with Ideal Schools. In this article, we share her experiences and demonstrate how her relationship with Ideal Schools has aided her career development at crucial transition phases over the years.

Discovering the Right Training Partner

Emma explains how she ended up contacting Ideal Schools in the first place:

“In 2019 I was managing a small sheltered housing charity where the bookkeeper was coming up to retirement.” She states that the trustees wanted to transform the record keeping from a well-worn ledger book to Sage50, and offered her funding for a bookkeeping qualification to support the transition.

“Through ICB I found Ideal Schools, who were so helpful when I got in contact that I signed up straight away for the AICB – ICB Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping (Sage 50 Accounts or XERO).” Emma received her course materials and started studying.

Determination and Support

Emma reveals that it took longer than (originally) planned to finish the course, owing to her workload during the pandemic.

“But Ideal Schools were so supportive, and helped me with a course extension, until I passed my exam with Distinction.”

Redundancy and Embarking on a New Path

Quite soon after that Emma found out that her housing job was being made redundant so she started planning a career move into bookkeeping.  She turned once again to Ideal Schools and started the ICB L3 Diploma in Payroll Management (Sage 50 or BrightPay) in May 2022.  A few months later she landed a job with a small bookkeeping practice working in the charity sector.

Overcoming Challenges and Achieving Success

Emma explains, “I really enjoyed the course, but found it quite challenging as I had little experience of working in payroll.  My tutor, Nicky, was a constant source of help and encouragement and she supported me through four mock exams (two of which I failed!) before I finally took the ICB paper in September 2023.  Two weeks later I was astonished to hear that I had passed with 100%!”

Future plans

Emma goes onto say that she is now taking on more payroll responsibilities in her job, and that she hopes to make this her main area of work going forward.

Ideal Schools: A Steadfast Support Network

Ideal Schools’ distance learning programme has not only benefited Emma but countless other students looking to further their education and careers in bookkeeping and payroll.  She is pleased that she chose Ideal Schools as her training partner.

“Ideal Schools have been so much a part of my success – from the calm and super friendly admin staff at the end of the phone, to the dedicated tutors whose in-depth knowledge and enthusiasm is so inspiring, Ideal Schools has been a wonderful training provider.”

Emma’s story stands as a strong testament to what Ideal Schools can do for you.

Why not get in touch with us here at Ideal Schools and take that first step on your own journey to success?