Lisa prepared for life as a bookkeeper with our ICB Career Path course package

Motherhood starts some women down the path to training as bookkeepers since the desire of new parents to be able to work from home, or to work at their own pace, is highly appealing. Most, however, don’t try to train as a bookkeeper while pregnant and in the middle of multiple house moves.

This though was the case with Lisa MacLeod of Morayshire. Having both secured an HND in accounting and worked as an accounts assistant for a firm of Chartered Accountants, she decided to opt for keeping day to day books for a succession of construction firms.

With many of these companies having bespoke software, Lisa often had to learn one system, only to see the next company having a completely different system.

“This made me want to started broadening my knowledge and making it more universally applicable. Even then, in the back of my mind, I had the idea of going into business for myself. I was looking at the website of a local bookkeeper when I noticed the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) crest, and that led me straight to Ideal Schools.

 “I started off on my learning journey with Ideal Schools and shortly afterwards, I became pregnant. We then had a couple of house moves at the same time, so it was a pretty hectic time for us.

“Ideal Schools was fantastic for my situation. It was really simple to pick up and put down the work, and I didn’t feel I was being pushed, or having to operate to someone else’s schedule. I started my business last year, and I’ve been growing it slowly, with a view to moving up a gear when my daughter goes to school.”

Lisa waved her daughter off to school this month, and will now be devoting more time to keeping the books of Morayshire sole traders and small businesses. She wants to be a trusted partner, rather than simply a herald of the tax season to local business people.



She said: “I want to build slowly so that I’m able to provide the personal touch and always at a human level. I am a firm believer in good relationships with clients, so I know what they want for their businesses.

“For anyone wondering if bookkeeping is for them, I would say ‘take the plunge.’ There’s nothing to lose from learning something new, and Ideal Schools is a great resource. I’d recommend them to anyone.”