The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) is an examining body and a Quality Assurance Partner (QAP) of the Quality Council for Trades & Occupations (QCTO). The ICB qualifications are certificated by the Financial and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (FASSET) Skills Education and Training Authority (SETA).

The ICB has been around since 1931. Its role is to improve and maintain the quality, credibility and reputation of bookkeeping, accounting, office administration and financial management training and qualifications in Southern Africa.

ICB graduates are recognised worldwide by the International Association of Bookkeepers, the Southern African Institute of Business Accountants, the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

The ICB has five study programmes for students to study. Each programme comprises a series of levels or learning programmes which is then made up of short courses.

ICB assessements can be written at assessment centres around South Africa.

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Click here for ICB Financial Accounting Programme learning outcomes .

Click here for ICB Business Management Programme learning outcomes .

Click here for ICB Administration Programme learning outcomes .

Click here for ICB Public Sector Accounting Programme learning outcomes .

Click here for ICB Entrepreneurship Programme learning outcomes .

Directly from the ICB “We are a Professional Institute involved in the external examination of NQF Registered Bookkeeping, Accounting and Business Qualifications, in over 500 tuition sites in Southern Africa.”

If you graduate through the ICB’s Accounting Certification Programme (ACP) you can study further to become a chartered certified accountant, through the ACCA or become a management accountant through the CIMA. ICB graduates are recognised worldwide by the International Association of Bookkeepers, the Southern African Institute of Business Accountants, the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Main ICB Subjects Include:

ICB Bookkeeping to Trial Balance
Students will be able to prepare the books of account from source documents to the subsidiary journals to the general and subsidiary ledgers, trial balance, and the bank and creditors reconciliations.

ICB Business Law
Both communication and mathematics learning outcomes are covered at the same time. Effective business communication and numeracy is essential for any business practitioner. This course focuses on written and spoken communication as well as numeracy business tools such as fractions, decimal numbers, percentages, ratios, proportions, equations, interest rates and graphs.

ICB Computerised Bookkeeping
Students will be introduced to the computer, windows, email and internet as well as a study of Microsoft Office as an accounting tool. They will be taught how to keep the books of a business on a computerised accounting software package which is essential for any bookkeeper. The course also includes an in depth study of dedicated computerised accounting using industry leading software packages.

ICB Payroll and Monthly SARS Returns
It builds on a basic knowledge of bookkeeping the student will know more about VAT, basic conditions of employment, RSA statutory registrations, RSA payroll calculations and accounting, SARS efiling and a study of the ethics of a tax practitioner in South Africa.

ICB Cost and Management Accounting
It will enable a student to perform in a manufacturing environment, be able to complete basic management accounts, have a working knowledge of cost accounting, breakeven analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis, advanced costing, budgeting and standard costing, financial management and business ethics. An understanding of cost and management accounting is essential for any bookkeeper, accountant or office manager.

ICB Financial Statements
The outcomes of this ICB course is that a student will have a good understanding of year-end procedures via the trading-and profit and loss accounts; the interpretation of basic financial statements through a series of ratios; calculation and recording of depreciation; the disposal of depreciable assets in the journals and general ledger; disclosing the movements of non-current assets in the notes to the financial statements; the application of accounting concepts such as of accrual, matching prudence, cost and consistency to a set of financial records; preparing of the income statement and balance sheet (with notes) for a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a Close Corporation and a limited company; as well as the preparation of the statement of cash flow and applicable notes thereto for a limited company.

ICB Business Law and Accounting Control
The student will have a basic understanding of economics, personal finance, business law, accounting control and liquidation and executors’ accounts.

ICB Income Tax Returns
It is a comprehensive study of Income Tax, Capital Gains, Value-Added Tax, Turnover Tax, Estate Duty and Donations Tax. As a tax practitioner you require a working knowledge of all the components of Tax and will register as a member of the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners (SAIT) and be permitted to complete monthly and annual SARS returns on behalf of prospective clients.

ICB Corporate Strategy
It aims at redefining corporate strategy to rely less on objectives and competition but rather seeing an organisations big picture that is customer focused, sustainable and successful in the long – term. This course is an in-depth study of strategic management. It shows the impact of corporate strategy on a company’s ability to accelerate its sales, gain market leadership, and power up its revenue growth.

ICB Financial Reporting and Regulatory Frameworks and Research Theory and Practice
The purpose of this ICB course is to set out the principles and conceptual issues of IFRS, including their use in group statements. IFRS signifies a new era of financial reporting that will eventually touch thousands of companies across the globe. The broader a company’s international activities, the greater the effect of IFRS.

ICB Management Accounting Control Systems
The purpose of this ICB course is to develop in students a knowledge and understanding of the application of management accounting control and decision making techniques which will enable them to communicate effectively as accountants and managers. The evolution in the field of cost and management accounting has created a need for contemporary courses that help learners make the connection between basic accounting methods and serving the overall needs of the company.