Julie Austen has been bookkeeping for over 30 years. Julie holds a level III certificate in computerised bookkeeping under the ICB. She is competent in both manual and computerised bookkeeping so whether you are a small company with the need of a simple spreadsheet system or a larger company requiring a fully computerised system Julie and her team can help.
As a member of the ICB Julie is required to meet their high standards. She also holds a Diploma in Payroll Management under the ICB. In addition to these she is a member of the very highly regarded Sage Accountants’ Club. Membership of this gives BiB the use of their very latest Sage accountancy programs along with their invaluable award winning Sage customer support. More recently Bookkeepers in Buckingham have also teamed up with QuickBooks and though they currently have Bronze partnerships status we are hoping to very quickly achieve Gold membership status.
Throughout her bookkeeping career Julie has worked within many different fields giving her an invaluable understanding of the requirements of many different types of businesses. Her clients have included those from Porsche Repairs and Service, Plant Sales and repairs/service, Nursery (pre-school) providers, Engineering companies, several high profile companies based up at Silverstone Innovation Centre, The Legal profession, Marketing and many more from within the Building and associated trades.
After many years of working alone as a sole trader, Julie decided to take on her son, Laurie Austen as an apprentice, and within a short time it was apparent that they made a dynamic team and Julie ventured forward to set up Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd. From that point Julie very quickly recognised that there was a huge gap in the bookkeeping profession; it was in need of young and fresh blood. Julie also set about finding ways of encouraging youngsters to take on the roles of bookkeepers within an environment that would provide a stable environment to learn, but also provide the stability of a family type of environment.
Laurie Austen, 19, has injected a fresh approach to the centuries old art of bookkeeping at Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd (BiB). His enthusiasm for financial management in SMEs and start-ups has helped turn around struggling businesses and reaped its rewards on a personal level. After leaving school, Laurie held a few jobs before changing direction and deciding to become a bookkeeper.
He successfully secured a job at Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd, and split his time between working and studying for the ICB Level I qualification in manual bookkeeping. Laurie said: “It took me about a year to complete the Level I because I was working at the same time. I realised that the best way to learn was through experience; I didn’t want to rush the qualification, and I ended up getting a great result.” Seeing the numbers add up and balance out was really rewarding, and I realised that bookkeeping was a really strong career choice for me.” Laurie’s success saw him promoted to a company director, with a 5% equity share in the business and a company car.
“I am involved with a number of clients from different industries. I work with construction companies, plant hire businesses and local hairdressers. My work is really varied and each day is different. I have great relationships with my clients; the guys from the construction company give great banter! “I obviously have plans in the pipeline that don’t just revolve around bookkeeping; I’d love to go travelling with friends in the near future. However, I’m developing a really exciting and rewarding career that I can come back to at any point, whatever I decide to do whenever I decide to do it.” Laurie is a member of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) and is qualified to ICB Level II in computerised bookkeeping.
Welcome to Bookkeepers in Buckingham
Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd is a family run business covering Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire Oxfordshire and the Milton Keynes areas. Julie Austen, the founding Director has been working within the bookkeeping field for over 30 years.
The company, Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd, (Known locally & affectionately as BiB) was primarily set up as a bookkeeping provider offering companies the opportunity to outsource their bookkeeping and payroll requirements, thereby ensuring that they only pay for the time needed to complete their bookkeeping work and without the added implications of employing their own bookkeeper under their own PAYE scheme.
Bookkeepers in Buckingham is registered under the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB), and holds a Practice Licence under that organisation.
By November 2015 the team had expanded, and at the 2015 LUCA Awards, team BiB walked away with ‘two’ of the coveted awards. That evening was our highlight to date. Laurie Austen collected the award for Employee of the year and Julie Austen collected the award for Employer of the year; It was a momentous occasion. In 2016 BiB were again shortlisted for employee of the year, and Rahana Iqbal-Raffell walked away with this amazing award in 2016, making that 2 yrs running for the same award, and also making that our 4 th LUCA award to date! In 2017 we were shortlisted for 3 LUCA’s, but perhaps it was just time to let the others in with a chance…
Having said that we are currently waiting to see how our latest nomination goes. We have been nominated for the Accounting, Audit & Tax Awards 2018!
So, whether you need just a few hours a month or several days on a weekly or monthly basis we can tailor our services to suit your business’s needs. By outsourcing your bookkeeping requirements, you can save yourself the time and effort spent on your paperwork and put your time to the more important tasks of selling and managing your business. Furthermore, by producing clear and concise records for your month/year end you can help to reduce your costs to your accountant at the end of your financial year.
In addition to this due to demand from clients we also now provide cover for all aspects of office administration and training including use of various Sage accounts programs and payroll.
