Remember as you finalize your Applications to think about the fact that you are completing an application 'about yourself' and not 'your firm.' When we ask you about 'your clients' that is exactly what we mean, 'your' clients... those are the clients you actually work with even if you are part of a 'big firm' and are not a 'solo' practitioner. We are evaluating you as an individual ProAdvisor, nor your firm. This is not the 'Firm of the Future' competition, you are being judged on your own merits.
A vast majority of the questions we ask, in both our 'short form' for those who have been in the Top 100 either of the last 2 years, or the 'long form' if you are new to this process (or you choose to complete the long form even if you have been in Top 100 before), are geared toward our categorical classifications (QuickBooks Desktop ProAdvisor, QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, Trainer/Writer ProAdvisor, our new QuickBooks Desktop Integration Specialist, and our new QuickBooks Online Appologist, as well as our other categories. (I will address our International Categories a little later in this article.) As you progress your way through the various questions, you can almost see how questions about 'certification' and 'training' and 'credentialing' tie into the various categories. You can also see how 'training hours' and specific activities about which we inquire are associated with the categories, although some may be associated with more than one category.
You should also be able to identify how many of the questions we ask about your practice and clients tie to the same 'categories.' Obviously, if we are asking you about "what percentage of your clients are QuickBooks Desktop in contrast to QuickBooks Online" you should be able to understand how important that is to relate that critical information, so that you receive the highest possible score for the most appropriate category. If you tell us that all of your certifications and training are in QuickBooks Online, but then you mistakenly tell us that 100% of your clients are using QuickBooks Desktop, something 'very odd' is going to happen when it comes down to your final score (I can promise). This is why it is very, very important for you to take time to check each and every answer to your formal application.
I will also say that we completely changed the way that we evaluate 3rd-party software/Apps, allowing you to tell us which software/Apps you 'associate with' rather than pick-n-choose from our list of software/Apps, all we ask is that you 'spell correctly' the name of your software/Apps (don't expect me to know that you mean 'TSheets' if you spell it 'Steets')!
Now a little to our 'International Participants.' We had a very significant number of international ProAdvisors get nominated this year, the vast majority for the very first time and they came to us from all over the globe. We here at Insightful Accountant are very excited about that. Hopefully, that level of interest expressed by the number of nominees is in keeping with the fact that we 'split' our International ProAdvisor Category Award this year for the first time into two awards.
We also made some major changes to our 'application form' to provide greater opportunities for our international nominees to provide more information specific to their country-by-country education, training, certifications, seminar/conference participation and related information. There should be no reason why international participants should not be able to convey the information we need to evaluate their standing in regard to their fellow nominees from the same country.
So now is not the time to 'drop the ball,' now is the time to step up to the plate and get your formal application completed. Remember, March 25 is the deadline for applications.