To achieve her goals, Joanne studied the following options:
The ICB Career Path
Level 4 Certificate - Advanced CPD options

Plenty of bookkeepers harbour a childhood ambition to be an accountant, or a fondness for numbers that never really leaves them. Almost all of the students joining our courses to qualify as members of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) say that life initially took them down a different path, and they came back to it later on.

But, for Joanne Osborne it was the siren song of the four-legged that took her from the path of numbers. She was distracted by “Playing with horses for a few decades” as she modestly describes a 31-year career as an equestrienne, a teacher of riding and movement therapy.

When she was pregnant with her daughter, she wanted a profession that would allow her to stay at home, and have the flexibility to raise her daughter as well as care for her three horses, and the ICB seemed a natural choice.

Finding Ideal Schools online, she started the journey to membership of the ICB, whose final module she will complete shortly. She has been in practice working for herself for 6 years, with accountancy businesses in Northampton and Redhill.

Joanne said: “I’d really been playing with horses for several decades, and let the idea of accountancy slip away from me. When I was studying with Ideal Schools, we ended up moving three or four times in five years, trailing a child and three horses around the country, so I needed studying I could pick up and put down easily.

“I’ve stayed with Ideal Schools all the way to ICB level 4, because they were simply fantastic. The college is incredibly supportive, and there’s always a friendly voice to answer questions and their course materials is comprehensive and well put together.”

After running her business in Northampton for nearly six years, Joanne was ready to re-start after the move near to Redhill, setting up Brilliant Numbers, and embrace new technology. She is presently looking to expand the business, and connect with new clients.

She said: “I am a huge fan of new software, such as Xero and FUTRLI. I’ve been learning how to use visual management reporting programmes, and help my clients embrace real-time information. I want to collaborate with business owners in a way that’s meaningful to them.

“I’m trying to offer my clients a complete  service. I want to provide more than just accounting, and to do it with style, with passion and with optimism.”