Intuit is a 'big' corporation, and it seems that many times one side of the house either doesn't know what's going on with the other side of the house, or perhaps they are just protecting their own 'little kingdom.' At Insightful Accountant we think that knowledge is a powerful thing, and anywhere you can find it... 'especially for free' the better off you are knowing that it is available.
Recently we explored new courses available at the 'Intuit Academy' which isn't the same thing as the ProAdvisor Academy.
I'm venturing a guess that many of you weren't even aware that the 'Intuit Academy' even existed! Murph
While the ProAdvisor Academy is aimed at 'QuickBooks' ProAdvisor certifications, the Intuit Academy is focused on 'educating novices' to become tax preparers, bookkeepers and QuickBooks Sales Representatives. The site specifies "No experience needed", you don't need any prior experience or knowledge to enroll in an Intuit Academy program.
Intuit Academy courses and exams are self-paced, but "when you pass a course you earn an Intuit Academy badge which makes you a more competitive job applicant."
As I mentioned above, there are three (3) Areas of training:
Tax
There are presently seven (7) tax related certification courses available.
Tax Level 1 (course): Federal Individual Tax Returns - in this 18-hour (self-paced) course you will learn how to:
- Identify and understand all boxes on a W-2 form and a 1099
- Correctly input data from taxpayer documents into the appropriate forms
- Analyze a taxpayer's situation to determine the most common deductions and credits
- Determine if taxes are owed or a refund is due
This course will help qualify you for a TurboTax Live role. A 3-hour online exam follows completion of the course to earn the Tax Level 1 Badge.
Tax Level 2 (course): Rental owners, self-employed, and Investors.
This is a 20-hour (self-paced) course with a 1-1/2 hour certification examination at the end of the course. This course provides instruction in how to:
- Work with more complex income situations, such as multiple states, foreign income, and ESPPs
- Determine business income and correctly report it in Schedule C
- Analyze and determine correct reporting for complex tax situations, including investments, interest, rental income, and more
- Analyze a taxpayer's situation to determine less common deductions and credits
By the way, are you seeing any similarity here: Tax Level 1, Tax Level 2... QuickBooks Level 1, QuickBooks Level 2?
Tax Preparation (course): 15+ self-paced hours covering Federal returns using scenarios and tax forms. In this course you’ll learn how to
- Practice preparing basic federal returns using scenarios and federal tax form.
- Work through 13 practice tax returns
There is a 2-hour certification examination at the end of this course.
Note: If you successfully complete this program and earn the Intuit Academy Tax Level 1 badge, you’ll receive a waiver for the 2-years paid tax experience requirement needed to apply for a role with TurboTax Live.
Business Tax (course): Taxation of Partnerships and S Corporations
This is roughly a 6-1/2 hour self-paced course, with a 1-1/2 hour certification examination at the end. In this course you will learn how to:
- Analyze and calculate the tax consequences of operating and liquidating distributions
- Calculate Partner and Shareholder Tax Basis
- Determine the appropriate accounting methods and periods
- Categorize QBI and Unqualified Business Income
Cryptocurrency Tax (course): Taxation of Digital Assets
This is a 4-hour self-paced specialty tax course in which you will learn how to:
- How to report cryptocurrency as income
- Which tax forms to issue when the cryptocurrency has been earned, sold, or disposed
- How to deal with missing information when you’re reporting a sale
A 1-1/2 hour online certification examination follows completion of this course.
Equity Compensation Tax (course): Taxation of Equity Compensation
This 2-1/2 hour specialty tax course will teach you:
- How to report RSUs and ESPP
- Which tax forms to issue when equity compensation has been earned, or sold
- How to deal, when reporting a sale on tax return (such as cost basis and holding period)
A 1-1/2 hour online certification examination follows completion of this course.
Tax Planning Strategies Level 1 (course): Tax strategies for business owners, investors and taxpayers.
In this 4-hour self-paced course you will learn how to:
- Evaluate and select the most suitable legal entity for a business venture.
- Implement effective tax reduction strategies such as depreciation, bonus depreciation, the QBI deduction, and SEP IRAs.
- Explore advantageous options like installment sales and like-kind exchanges when selling property.
- Understand and articulate the benefits of Backdoor Roth IRAs, and Qualified Charitable Distributions.
A 1-1/2 hour online certification examination follows completion of this course.
Bookkeeping
At present there is only a single course offering for Bookkeeping. This course appears to be different (and longer) than the Basic Bookkeeping course now offered in the new ProAdvisor Academy.
Intuit Bookkeeping Certification (course): Accounting concepts and financial statements
This 30-hour self-paced course is designed to provide instruction that will allow you to:
- Manage the accounting cycle and work with key financial statements
- Track assets and produce statements for complex business situations
- Understand different types of liability and learn to account for changes in equity
- Interpret and analyze statements to inform business decisions
A fifty (50) minute online certification examination follows completion of this course.
Sales
There are presently two (2) sales courses related to the QuickBooks Ecosystem of Solutions.
QuickBooks Products (course): In this five (5) hour self-paced course you will learn how to:
- Differentiate between the different QuickBooks ecosystem offerings and their solutions
- Demonstrate the benefits and functionalities of different product versions
- Explain how third-party apps integrate with core products
- Identify customer needs and suggest appropriate solutions
A two (2) hour online certification examination follows completion of this course.
QuickBooks Sales (course): In this four-and-one-half (4-1/2) hour course you will learn how to:
- Use questioning techniques to identify and solve workflow inefficiencies
- Illustrate how QuickBooks Online features can improve business workflows
- Demonstrate the ROI of implementing QuickBooks Online
- Recommend a QuickBooks solution based on customer needs
- Address customer objections and concerns
A two (2) hour online certification examination follows completion of this course.
There you have it... a whole wealth of knowledge and instruction you may have had no idea existed. All free from the people who
They just forget to tell us some things, some times.