A QuickBooks Proadvisor is an expert in all the features and functionality of the QuickBooks product line. He/she has to join the Proadvisor training program, take an exam, and crack through it to get certified as a QuickBooks Proadvisor.
Getting a bit deeper, there are different levels of training and certifications. In the primary deck, there are four certifications – QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop Pro / Premier, QuickBooks POS, and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.
It does not cost you a dime to become a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Want to know the best part? All the training materials, self-guided modules, webinars, and other course resources are free to access. You just need to attend training and pass the examination to get certified. It is as simple as that.
When you get qualified in the exam and earn the QuickBooks Proadvisor badge, that shows people that you have superior knowledge of the features and functionality of the software.
With this credibility, you can expand your financial consulting client base and you will have the access to introduce yourself to a wide spectrum of clients via the QuickBooks Pro Advisor portal.
Follow these steps to become a QuickBooks ProAdvisor to grow your practice more efficiently and increase the success of your practice.
Step 1 – Create a QuickBooks Online Accountant account
The first step towards becoming a QuickBooks Pro Advisor is to sign up for QuickBooks Online Accountant. You can use this subscription to move around and get along with the application. When you want to teach your clients how to optimize using QuickBooks, you have to know thoroughly about it. So, sign up and learn the ropes.
Moreover, you can use this subscription to manage your firm’s books and your client’s books. You will access your Proadvisor account, materials, and certificates only through this QuickBooks Online Accountant account.
Signing up for QuickBooks Online Accountant is very simple. You just need to type in your email address, first and last name, and phone number for verification.
In case, if you are already using any of Intuit’s products like QuickBooks, or TurboTax with this email address, you will have to use the same password for this account. If not, you just need to create a new password. You need not submit your credit card details or any other sensitive information while signing up for QuickBooks Online Accountant.
Step 2 – Get ready for the QuickBooks Proadvisor Certification Exam
When you sign up for the QuickBooks Online Accountant account, you can access all the study material, and live, and on-demand webinars for free. You don’t even have to pay to sit for the certification exam. Take up the exam seriously and prepare well to crack the examination.
To start your training for the certification, go to your QuickBooks Online Accountant account and click the Pro Advisor link from the left menu bar. And click on the Training tab. You can find a whole lot of courses, every training material for all QuickBooks products as your study material for the exams.
If you are new to QuickBooks, you can start off with the basics with the Introduction to QuickBooks Online for Accountants course.
However, it is not that any layman could crack this examination. You need to have primary knowledge of general accounting principles and have a good grasp of how QuickBooks Online Accountant works. The training materials are prepared to equip you with these two things.
But the training materials are not mandatory. If you are already an established accountant and familiar with QuickBooks Online Accountant, you don’t have to watch through these webinars, you can directly sit for the exam and clear the examination. However, these preparation materials can also earn you CPE credits, which adds value to your CPA license.
Also, it is not that you have to sit and finish all the modules in one stretch. You can continue from where you left off earlier. These courses are not mandatory to sit for the exam but can teach you the nook and corner of QuickBooks and how to get the most out of QuickBooks, which can be very useful to deal with your QuickBooks clients. Step 3 – Sit for the QuickBooks Proadvisor Exam
You can take up the certification exam anytime when you are ready. All you have to do is just click the ‘Take Exam’ button on the corner of the screen. You don’t have to pay to attend the exam. Once you are inside the examination portal, you will have six sections with a total of 81 questions. It usually takes three and a half hours to answer all the 81 questions.
When you are taking the exam, you are free to review your answers for each section before you submit your answers for that section. You will have to complete the examination in one sitting. You must answer at least 80 percent of the questions in each section to earn your certification.
No worries if you have failed in the first attempt. You can sit for the exam three times to crack it. But if you fail in all three attempts, you cannot retake the exam for the next 60 days. The best part? This is an open-book exam. So you can keep your study materials beside and QuickBooks open to check anything when necessary.
Step 4 – Complete filling up your Proadvisor profile
After you have passed the certification exam, complete your profile as the earliest possible. You can include your certification badges here. You will be asked to fill in the ‘about me’ section, years of experience, services offered, industries served, languages known, your social active sites, your certificates and credentials, software expertise, and even your client reviews. Try to fill up all the columns to earn more credibility and value for your profile.
Step 5 – Enjoy the perks of being a QuickBooks Proadvisor
Earning a QuickBooks Proadvisor badge bestows you with a lot of benefits. You can avail of discounts on QuickBooks products and services. Also, you are free to access call and chat support anytime you want. The main advantage of earning a certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor badge is that you will be added to the ‘Find a Proadvisor’ online directory.
Listed here, all the QuickBooks users will be able to browse through your profile. Plus, you have the credibility of being a QuickBooks expert and so you are completely reliable from the client’s end when you are listed as a QuickBooks Proadvisor.
The listing in the ‘Find a Proadvisor’ directly is based on ranking. You will climb up the ladder when you earn more points. Not just that, when you have greater points and higher rank, you can take advantage of yet more additional features and discounts, product support, and training opportunities.
Here are what you can expect as you go higher in rank.
You can publish your QuickBooks Proadvisor badge on all your online and offline business presence including business cards, websites, social profiles, and emails. This would be an additive star to your identity as an accountant. This certification hugely adds value to your credibility and profile ranking.
You will stand out from other accountants who have not taken up this certification. You are free to get anytime voice and chat support from QuickBooks support executives. Not to mention, you will have bountiful free and discounted products and supplies from QuickBooks, which you can use for your firm as well as for your client’s companies.
For QuickBooks Desktop
So far, we have been discussing the exam and benefits of QuickBooks Online Proadvisor. But you can also opt to become a certified QuickBooks Desktop Proadvisor when you have a strong customer base that uses the QuickBooks Desktop version. When you opt for this, you will have additional benefits, along with the aforementioned benefits. But you will have to add QuickBooks Desktop to your membership for $449 a year.
You can avail of QuickBooks Desktop software that is $5,000 worth. Also, you will get a 30% discount on QuickBooks software, which you can use for your client’s company. Along with this, you will get expert US-based voice and chat support, training materials for QuickBooks Desktop products, and certification as usual.
And if you are using QuickBooks Online or Desktop versions, you will have to manually enter each transaction into QuickBooks to get your accounting done. Alternatively, you can try integration tools like SaasAnt Transactions (Online / Desktop) to bulk import, export, and delete hundreds of transactions in QuickBooks with just a click of a button. This makes your bookkeeping 90% faster than the primitive manual methods, also you get to have clean and decluttered books for a hassle-free reconciliation.
