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 Accounting covers the preparation of ledger balances, control accounts and reconciliations, adjustments and basic preparation of financial statements for sole proprietors and partnerships.
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 sales tax return, control the sales and purchase ledgers, post year-end adjustments and produce the basic financial statements for a sole proprietor and a partnership in both a manual and a computerized system.
Prior Knowledge
Before commencing the study at this level, the candidate should have achieved ICBUSA 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 behavior
- The concepts of business entity, going concern, historical cost, consistency, sales tax, and accruals
- The legal requirements for forming a partnership, a limited liability company (LLC), and a corporation
- Different ways of processing sales tax (e.g. nexus-based vs. streamlined sales tax/SSTP)
- Prepare a bank reconciliation.
- Understand the purpose and use of control accounts as a checking mechanism.
- Account for sales tax and prepare a sales tax return.
- Prepare the general journal entries 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 inventory adjustments
- Depreciation of fixed assets
- Accruals, deposits, prepaid expenses, and deferred revenue
- Allowance for doubtful accounts receivable
- Prepare the final accounts for a non-incorporated business including processing of adjustments for opening and closing stock, depreciation, accruals, prepayments, and provision for doubtful debts in the following areas:
- Sole proprietor
- Partnership
Assessment and Grading
The testing of knowledge and skills for the qualification will be performed with three online assessments, all of which are taken in the candidate’s home or place of work, plus one assessment taken at an ICBUSA affiliated testing center. Note: the assessment may also test elements of the Level II Certificate in Bookkeeping.
Examination BA4 – reconciliations and financial statements of a sole proprietor:
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)
- Sales Tax Returns (15% weighting)
- Posting adjustments including disposal and acquisition of fixed assets (15% weighting)
- Final accounts of a sole proprietor or self-employed individual (20% weighting)
- Production of financial statements with adjustments for a sole proprietor or self-employed individual using a computerized package (30% weighting)
Examination BA5 – financial statements of a partnership
Home / place of work based covering knowledge and skills assessment to include:
- Underpinning knowledge (10% weighting)
- Posting adjustments including disposal and acquisition of fixed assets (30% weighting)
- Basic financial statements of a partnership including the separate partner capital accounts and a detailed analysis of the partner capital accounts, including beginning balance, additions/contributions, distributions, and ending balance. (60% weighting)
Examination BA6 - Level III External Assessment
A single assessment to be taken at a testing center affiliated with ICBUSA 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 Honors, 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 center 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 Honors, Distinction, Merit or Pass. Unit results will be aggregated. To achieve the relevant grade in the full qualification, the following aggregate points must be achieved:
Distinction with Honours 390 points and above
Distinction 375 – 389 points
Merit 350 – 374 points
Pass 325 – 349 points
Level of Membership
Successful achievement at the full qualification will lead to the offer to upgrade to Member of ICB and the award of the designatory letters MICB.
