ProZ.com Translation Forums

NRPSI membership: is it worth it? | Nothing 'odd' there

Daryo — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:57:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: NRPSI membership: is it worth it?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Nothing 'odd' there

[quote]Samuel Murray wrote:

CIOL's registry of interpreters shows 1519 interpreters interpreting between English and another language. You cannot search for a language direction, e.g. English to Spanish. You can only search for a language pair, e.g. English and Spanish. The odd thing is that the search results do not tell you which languages the interpreters interpret from or into -- you have to visit each interpreter's profile page individually to find that information. So the registry is very cumbersome to search, which reduces the odds that a client will find you.
...

[Edited at 2026-05-10 12:30 GMT] [/quote]

You can only search for a language pair, e.g. English and Spanish. The odd thing is that the search results do not tell you which languages the interpreters interpret from or into

There is nothing 'odd' in that - more often than not interpreters have to work both ways (say FR to EN and EN to FR), never mind nice theories about having 2 interpreters each working in only one direction.

That happens even with 'common pairs' while with language pairs where there is a heavy imbalance in 'availability' it's practically unavoidable: you can find very few English speakers who can interpret from Serbian but far far more Serbian speakers who can interpret into English.

I can't remember a single meeting where I was interpreting ONLY one way.

The 'problems' with this 'chartered institute' are elsewhere ...

Specialising in business/ legal translation in the UK | Certified translations in the UK

Samuel Murray — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:33:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Specialising in business/ legal translation in the UK
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: Certified translations in the UK

[quote]Ana Ferreira wrote:
To make certified translations that have a legal value, you need to have qualifications plus being a member of an association, such as CIOL. That is the criteria of UK Gov. [/quote]
That's not what the UK government's own website says:

[url removed]
[i]If you need to certify a translation of a document that’s not written in English or Welsh, ask the translator to confirm in writing on the translation:
- that it’s a ‘true and accurate translation of the original document’
- the date of the translation
- their full name and contact details[/i]

NRPSI membership: is it worth it? | CIOL's interpreters directory

Samuel Murray — Sun, 10 May 2026 12:29:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: NRPSI membership: is it worth it?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: CIOL's interpreters directory

CIOL's registry of interpreters shows 1519 interpreters interpreting between English and another language. You cannot search for a language direction, e.g. English to Spanish. You can only search for a language pair, e.g. English and Spanish. The odd thing is that the search results do not tell you which languages the interpreters interpret from or into -- you have to visit each interpreter's profile page individually to find that information. So the registry is very cumbersome to search, which reduces the odds that a client will find you.

The list includes both accredited and non-accredited interpreters. Broadly speaking, accredited interpreters are shown first in the list, but not always. My guess is that they have around 400 accredited interpreters interpreting between English and another language. It took me a while to figure out how to search for types of interpreters or subject fields (you have to click the small "+" sign). I'm not sure why these fields are not visible by default -- perhaps as a nod to mobile users? Some of the fields can't be reset if you accidentally selected the wrong option -- you have to reload the page.

Razvan interpreted in English and Romanian. 48 interpreters listed. Ana does English, French and European Portuguese. 32 English/Portuguese, 151 English/French, zero French/Portuguese. So, Ana, you'd be the only French/Portuguese interpreter on their list.

[Edited at 2026-05-10 12:30 GMT]

Specialising in business/ legal translation in the UK | CIOL exam

anamferreiram — Sat, 09 May 2026 12:49:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Specialising in business/ legal translation in the UK
Poster: anamferreiram
Post title: CIOL exam

I translate legal papers for UK Gov. There is an exam part of CIOL Dip Trans, and you need to make tests to work with a company. To make certified translations that have a legal value, you need to have qualifications plus being a member of an association, such as CIOL. That is the criteria of UK Gov.

NRPSI membership: is it worth it? | What about CIOL

anamferreiram — Sat, 09 May 2026 12:42:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: NRPSI membership: is it worth it?
Poster: anamferreiram
Post title: What about CIOL

What about CIOL? Do you get jobs through CIOL? I used to be a member, but when I got the certifications [Dip Trans] I quit, because the membership was very expensive, and I thought that no one would go to their website to look for a translator. Am I right? Or should I join them? I am already a member of the Society of Authors in my country, for many years, and published books. So, I thought that the title itself was useless for me....Many thanks

Accountant Recommendations for Year-End Accounting & Payroll- UK | I can recommend.

David Lin — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 10:43:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant Recommendations for Year-End Accounting & Payroll- UK
Poster: David Lin
Post title: I can recommend.

Hi, I'll private message you the contact of the accountant in the UK.

Good luck!

David

Accountant Recommendations for Year-End Accounting & Payroll- UK

Ata Arif — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:26:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant Recommendations for Year-End Accounting & Payroll- UK
Poster: Ata Arif

Dear Colleagues,

I’m looking for recommendations for a reliable accountant in the UK to assist with year-end accounting and payroll. I currently handle VAT returns, self-assessment, and confirmation statements myself, so I’m mainly seeking support with the remaining aspects.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Translator meetups? (Nottingham)

Peter Cartwright — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 15:40:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Translator meetups? (Nottingham)
Poster: Peter Cartwright

I was interested in joining/organising an in-person get-together for translators based around Nottingham, but I see that there hasn't been a "PowWow" organised in the area on here since 2020, and there don't seem to have been any posts in this sub-forum yet this year.

So it doesn't seem like this is the happening place for setting these things up any longer.

Does anyone know where is these days?

Or maybe we could plan something here after all if there are enough lurkers on here ...

NRPSI membership: is it worth it? | Some can ...

Daryo — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:30:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: NRPSI membership: is it worth it?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Some can ...

[quote]Christine Andersen wrote:

The majority of users on this site cannot help you, because they don´t live in the UK, or don´t interpret, so they don´t know enough about it.

Are you a member of the CIoL (Chartered Institute of Linguists), and do you know about the TransNet and InterpNet networks? I would ask there for advice. Whether NRPSI membership is worth it probably depends on a number of individual factors, and you would get several answers to compare with your own situation.

I am not a member of ITI, but they might be able to advise you as well.

Best of luck! [/quote]

Some can help.

I have been living long enough in UK, and I've done a very thorough research when I considered myself joining this CIoL (Chartered Institute of Linguists). What I found was hardly an inducement to join, to put it in a polite way.

Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested | Thanks for the tip.

Daryo — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:09:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Thanks for the tip.

Missed it, will watch it later.

Let me make an educated guess: at no point in time there wasn't even a hint about the big elephant in the room, i.e. the wisdom of giving a total monopoly on language services for ALL courts to just one company?

With the predictable - and intended - result of the monopolist abusing its monopol and only bored housewives, students & Co having any interested in working for peanuts. If they considered THAT perfectly normal for years, watch out for the next "improvement" ...

Would love to be proved wrong, but it’s not likely.

Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested | Well...

Gjorgji Apostolovski — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 14:36:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested
Poster: Gjorgji Apostolovski
Post title: Well...

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

[quote]Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:

in the american tv show Jinx in the second season, there was an AI equipment in the court.
I'm guessing that the Brits are trying to do the same thing. While one is speaking, the voice recognition is in action and speech to text is shown on screen. And I'm guessing that this text can be easily translated with AI immediately.

There are plenty countries who are already implementing AI services, for example Greece
[url removed] [/quote]

1. Interesting, but if you (hopefully never) find yourself on trial for murder in a court in the (e.g.) the UK would you have complete confidence that the AI interpreting is complete and accurate - and if there is no human interpreter present to verify?

2. Don't be fooled by the low-key polite understated tone of this meeting. This is war! The people answering the questions are trying desperately to defend their protected position, and the committee members are giving them a hard time. Hanging over the whole proceeding is the prior decision, of the committee, to suspend the bidding process for the new contract and this has the three visitors shìtting themselves although in true British fashion, they do their best to hide it.

[Edited at 2024-12-18 13:51 GMT] [/quote]

Well, I can't do anything about implementing AI in court, that's for sure. That's UK committee's decision. All I was saying was that AI equipment was already used in court, but not for translating, more like Stephen Hawking's, but in reverse. And also translating is possible, and about the accuracy, well...

I watched couple of minutes of your stream, and they were all nervous.

[Edited at 2024-12-18 14:37 GMT]

Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested | But....

Tom in London — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 13:50:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: But....

[quote]Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:

in the american tv show Jinx in the second season, there was an AI equipment in the court.
I'm guessing that the Brits are trying to do the same thing. While one is speaking, the voice recognition is in action and speech to text is shown on screen. And I'm guessing that this text can be easily translated with AI immediately.

There are plenty countries who are already implementing AI services, for example Greece
[url removed] [/quote]

1. Interesting, but if you (hopefully never) find yourself on trial for murder in a court in the (e.g.) the UK would you have complete confidence that the AI interpreting is complete and accurate - and if there is no human interpreter present to verify?

2. Don't be fooled by the low-key polite understated tone of this meeting. This is war! The people answering the questions are trying desperately to defend their protected position, and the committee members are giving them a hard time. Hanging over the whole proceeding is the prior decision, of the committee, to suspend the bidding process for the new contract and this has the three visitors shìtting themselves although in true British fashion, they do their best to hide it.

[Edited at 2024-12-18 13:51 GMT]

Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested | .

Gjorgji Apostolovski — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 12:13:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested
Poster: Gjorgji Apostolovski
Post title: .

in the american tv show Jinx in the second season, there was an AI equipment in the court.
I'm guessing that the Brits are trying to do the same thing. While one is speaking, the voice recognition is in action and speech to text is shown on screen. And I'm guessing that this text can be easily translated with AI immediately.

There are plenty countries who are already implementing AI services, for example Greece
[url removed]

Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested

Tom in London — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 10:33:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Parliamentary committee today 18.12.2024 - watch online if interested
Poster: Tom in London

Subject: Interpreting and translation services in the courts

Witness(es): Sarah Sackman MP, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice; Daniel Flury, Operations Director, HM Courts and Tribunals Service; Nick Goodwin, Chief Executive, HM Courts and Tribunals Service

[url removed]

Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others | Thank you, Tom

Anne Maclennan — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 12:08:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others
Poster: Anne Maclennan
Post title: Thank you, Tom

Very interesting discussion. Thank you for the link.

Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others | Much ado

Oksana Weiss — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 09:48:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others
Poster: Oksana Weiss
Post title: Much ado

In essence:
- Can AI replace interpreters in courts?
- No.
- Case closed!

Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others | Hate

Tom in London — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:09:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Hate

[quote]Diana Edmond wrote:

Thanks for sharing this, Tom! It was interesting to watch.
I wonder why they only invited salespeople to the table, leaving out the more important stakeholders who actually know their job - you know, the hands-on interpreters, the ITI, and the academics in this field, who could have offered a more balanced perspective.
“We can do all languages, all dialects, and in five years’ time we’ll be able to do even more dialects!” Honestly, I wonder why they didn’t use AI at this point - it would have been better spoken than this lot. [/quote]

I enjoyed the "I want to kill you" looks directed by the translating agency woman at the DeepL woman, who took the opportunity to do a big sales pitch for what DeepL is going to do next.

[Edited at 2024-11-13 15:10 GMT]

Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others | Deep insights from sales people

Diana Edmond — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:07:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others
Poster: Diana Edmond
Post title: Deep insights from sales people

Thanks for sharing this, Tom! It was interesting to watch.
I wonder why they only invited salespeople to the table, leaving out the more important stakeholders who actually know their job - you know, the hands-on interpreters, the ITI, and the academics in this field, who could have offered a more balanced perspective.
“We can do all languages, all dialects, and in five years’ time we’ll be able to do even more dialects!” Honestly, I wonder why they didn’t use AI at this point - it would have been better spoken than this lot.

Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others | So much for Brexit

Baran Keki — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 13:24:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others
Poster: Baran Keki
Post title: So much for Brexit

Chișinău agencies (erroneously known as 'London agencies') are allowed to speak in the UK parliament, sitting in the seats reserved for the Lords of the Realm... Isn't that a travesty of Brexit? What would Farage say?

Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others

Tom in London — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 12:36:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Evidence session at the UK House of Lords, featuring DeepL and others
Poster: Tom in London

Evidence from a big translation agency, a speech-to-text agency, and the CEO (for the UK) of DeepL

11:02:46
Subject: Interpreting and translation services in the courts

Witness(es): Larysa Booth, Head of Sales, LingvoHouse Translation Services; Reggie Mitchell, Strategic Partnerships, Speechmatics; Frankie Williams, Chief Legal Officer, DeepL

[url removed]

[Edited at 2024-11-13 13:02 GMT]

NRPSI membership: is it worth it? | You are probably asking in the wrong forum

Christine Andersen — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 10:12:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: NRPSI membership: is it worth it?
Poster: Christine Andersen
Post title: You are probably asking in the wrong forum

The majority of users on this site cannot help you, because they don´t live in the UK, or don´t interpret, so they don´t know enough about it.

Are you a member of the CIoL (Chartered Institute of Linguists), and do you know about the TransNet and InterpNet networks? I would ask there for advice. Whether NRPSI membership is worth it probably depends on a number of individual factors, and you would get several answers to compare with your own situation.

I am not a member of ITI, but they might be able to advise you as well.

Best of luck!

NRPSI membership: is it worth it? | I was wondering the same

Elena and David Dickens — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:48:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: NRPSI membership: is it worth it?
Poster: Elena and David Dickens
Post title: I was wondering the same

The website doesn't seem to work properly (the Contact Us form is not where it should be) and when I tried to contact them directly with a question a few months ago, I didn't receive a clear answer.

Any members who could share their experience?

Thank you!

Accountant recommendation - VAT | Do you need an accountant?

Joe France — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 10:32:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Joe France
Post title: Do you need an accountant?

I had an accountant for the first 6 or 7 years of freelancing. However, when their fees increased to an intolerable point – essentially doubling during that period – I decided to let them go. For the time it takes to sit and put together self-assessment and VAT declarations in the UK, I just couldn't justify the expense as a one-man outfit. You've used "we" in your posts so assume you're not a solo outfit, but I still think it's worth exploring your DIY options.

Whether you use an accountant for your business is obviously your call. However, I would imagine that many translators in the UK with English as a working language will work with clients in the EU and US, so that is perhaps not so unusual. As I found, once you learn the processes involved in accounting and submitting tax returns, all it requires is some concentration and diligence. It might take some time out of your week – but I would imagine that the potential savings of cutting out an accountant might be worth it. Or you might prefer the peace of mind (and greater legal certainty?) that comes with engaging a financial professional. Up to you.

My recommendation would be Anna ( [url removed] ). It's a fairly modular system that lets you do a range of things. I started to use Anna to meet the MTD requirements. I think, at the top end, you can set up business accounts with them. However, I just use Anna to submit my annual self-assessment and quarterly VAT returns at around £3.50 a pop. It provides all the templates you need and links with HMRC. I've never had any issues. Taking an hour each quarter to fill in VAT returns, a couple of hours each month to update my finance sheet and a day a year to finalise my annual accounts seems more reasonable to me than the hefty sum my previous accountant (and two other "small-business specialists") quoted me.

Accountant recommendation - VAT | Don't shoot

Tom in London — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:47:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Don't shoot

[quote]Dan Lucas wrote:

Shoot her an email [/quote]

Just email her. Don't shoot.

Accountant recommendation - VAT | Recommendation

Dan Lucas — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:43:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: Recommendation

I have found My accountant online good for tax returns, general inquiries, and so on.

[url removed]

However, I'm basically a one-man business.
Shoot her an email; she is very responsive.
Might help to tell her I sent you.

Regards,
Dan

Accountant recommendation - VAT | still looking for an accountant

Ali YANDIK — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:37:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Ali YANDIK
Post title: still looking for an accountant

Thank you all Michael, Chris and Dan.

The accounting company was taken over by another one and they turned out to be incompetent. We would rather do everything ourselves but we had to use a chartered accountant for our business visa.

I believe they have only dealt with customers doing business in the UK only even though they claim to be managed by a chartered accountant. I pointed out a few of their mistakes, which they did not accept in the beginning and it turned out they are not as competent as they should be.

We are not a big-company but working with 3 currencies, doing business with US, European companies and being registered for VAT on a cash basis and bookkeeping on an accural basis makes it (look like) we need to work with a big accounting company. Having a small business, we want to work with only one accountant instead of dealing with multiple departments :(

Sorry any recommendations are welcome. Thank you.

Accountant recommendation - VAT | VAT reporting is something you can easily do yourself

Dan Lucas — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:40:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: VAT reporting is something you can easily do yourself

I use an accountant to do my taxes and so on, but I do the quarterly VAT returns myself.

These days all serious accounting software will be compliant with Making Tax Digital (MTD), so provided that you have entered your transactions into whatever software you use - which will be unavoidable for a VAT-registered business - making a VAT return should not take more than five minutes, and typically involves just a few button presses.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use an accountant in general (quite the contrary), but it is not worth it for VAT alone. Of course, if you want an accountant to do your bookkeeping, that's a different issue.

Regards,
Dan

Accountant recommendation - VAT | Consider your accounting software

Chris Spurgin — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:19:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Chris Spurgin
Post title: Consider your accounting software

Many accountants use one accounting software or another. Consider software preferences when making your choice.

You may find that a local provider is just as good as an online one, so do shop around.

Accountant recommendation - VAT | my recommendation

Michael Beijer — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 23:37:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Michael Beijer
Post title: my recommendation

[quote]Ali YANDIK wrote:

We are looking for an accountant in the UK for our VAT returns.

Can you please recommend an accountant who can understand the needs of a translation business with clients all over the world?

Thank you [/quote]

I've been very happy with Gregg @ [url removed] for many years now. I'm registered as a sole trader here in the UK. I don't have a VAT number as I haven't needed to register yet, but might have to soon as I am creeping ever closer to the annual VAT exemption threshold.

Accountant recommendation - VAT

Ali YANDIK — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 23:32:00 +0000

Forum: Translation in the UK
Topic: Accountant recommendation - VAT
Poster: Ali YANDIK

We are looking for an accountant in the UK for our VAT returns.

Can you please recommend an accountant who can understand the needs of a translation business with clients all over the world?

Thank you