You might be doing the books for a couple of people already. This pathway pairs the bookkeeping with the business around it. Built for the jump from doing the books to owning the practice.
Bookkeeping is a trade you can run from a laptop. This pathway covers the ledger and the business around it.
You cover business types, structures and a written business plan. Then the optional marketing course on how people find you.
One-to-one mentoring with a business coach runs through it. Tutors are on the phone and email as well.
Small businesses everywhere need someone to keep the books straight, and most would rather hire it out than employ it. The work is easy to picture: a handful of clients, their ledgers kept current, GST filed on time. You choose how many you take on.
Your own client list, your own rates and hours.
Contract work across several small businesses.
Supporting the running of an accounting practice.
Looking after a set of client files day to day.
Coordinating the accounts work across a client base.
Bringing new work in and keeping clients close.
The steady internal work behind a finance team.
Helping owners read their own numbers.
Roles where these skills are useful, not promised outcomes. Every role is different, and some need more study or experience. Running your own practice also means tax, insurance and client agreements the course does not cover for you.
What this pathway adds that a bookkeeping course does not.
Structures, a business plan, pricing and marketing. Not a bolt-on chapter at the end of a course.
Six months of membership after you finish. Plus the Approved Advisory Group with Inland Revenue.
MYOB and Xero, then an optional marketing course built around AI tools.
Certificate of Achievement · The Career Academy
From the college, once both programs are done.
Access through the college's Xero Partner status.
Six months free, then a full year on completion.
Enquire and an advisor walks you through what setting up involves.
Weekly payments or one upfront amount, whichever suits.
The bookkeeping first, then build the business around it.
Finish, join NZQBA, and start taking work on your terms.
No. There are no entry requirements listed. It is built to be picked up by career changers and people new to the work.
Only $29 a week on a plan, with no deposit and no credit check. Pick weekly, fortnightly or monthly, or pay it upfront. Enquire for current pricing.
Around 220 hours of study, with 18 months of access. Self paced, so it stretches or shortens to suit your week.
That is what the second half is for. You work through business types and structures, write a plan, and cover how clients find you. The mentoring is there for the questions a course cannot answer.
Six months free membership after the course, then a full year. It brings tools, templates and a place in the Approved Advisory Group with Inland Revenue.
No. The hands-on side comes through the software, the e-books and the business plan you build as you go.
The Certificate of Achievement is accredited by ICOES and endorsed by the CPD Standards Office, which is accreditation for professional development. It is not NZQA accredited, so it is not a national qualification. Those are separate things. Clients hire a bookkeeper on whether their GST is filed and their books balance.
There is a 10-Day Money Back Guarantee, so you can look inside before you commit.
This pathway is delivered by The Career Academy, an online college based in Christchurch.
The college has run for over 15 years and works with more than 25,000 students a year. It is a Xero Partner and an MYOB Approved Education Partner, so the software content stays current. Unlimited tutor support runs by phone and email in business hours, with one-to-one business mentoring on this pathway.
Picture the morning your third client signs, and the work you do at the kitchen table finally has your name on the invoice.