I recently began a new series to help you prepare for this year's Top 100 ProAdvisor process. The first article was an introduction to our Niche Practice Categorical Awards, with a look at several past award recipients.
In the second article, I am getting into a few more details about why the Niche Practice Category is the perfect way to introduce the underlying mechanism by which our process works.
Dawn Brolin
For more than two decades, Dawn Brolin has brought her unique blend of knowledge, vitality and humor to the ProAdvisor and accounting community with appearances at conferences, webinars, technology shows and news programs. She is not only a CPA, but also a Certified Fraud Examiner who has built practices revolving around each of these credentials.
In her fight against fraud, she and her team are dedicated to helping accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners identify, detect and reduce financial fraud. She developed an online fraud prevention platform and mentoring community based on the best practices she created over more than a decade of working in forensic accounting.
Her specialized approach to fraud prevention was one of the critical elements that elevated her to the recipient of Insightful Accountant's 2020 Niche Practice Categorical Award.
Dawn not only continues to expand her fraud-related practice, but several other niche specializations associated with Team Brolin. You will find her regularly in one of several podcasts she offers to the accounting community.
I thought Dawn would make an excellent final example of our discussion of niche practices before I turned my attention to the mechanism for the Top 100 Awards.
What Makes Up the Top 100?
The most common misconception is that the Top 100 ProAdvisor Awards are just one long list of 100 names culled from the nominees submitted each year. Actually, the Top 100 consists of the top ProAdvisors within each of the Categorical Award classifications.
Therefore, it represents the best of each category we recognize, which means our "ProAdvisor of the Year" is the "Best of the Best."
While I have eluded to this in the past—time and time again—I have never said it more plainly than I will right now. Our entire process mimics the process found in an American Kennel Club (AKC) Dog Show.
Now don't go howling at me.
Dog shows are rigidly standardized because there are specific standards for each breed of dog that can participate in the show. And those standards are the key to maintaining what the awards are all about—recognizing the best.
Let Me Explain…
Have you ever read an American Kennel Club Official Standard for any breed of dog? Each one begins with a general description of the breed. For example, the AKC Official Standard for the Afghan Hound begins with, "The Afghan Hound is an aristocrat, his whole appearance is one of dignity and aloofness with no trace of plainness or coarseness."
This general description ends with, "…giving the Afghan Hound the appearance of what he is, a king of dogs, that has held true to tradition throughout the ages."
I almost want to tear up when I read that standard, and I have never even owned an Afghan Hound.
The standard for the Afghan Hound was last approved by the AKC in 1948. Do you realize that the Afghan Hound standard has existed in its current form for 74 years?
In addition to the general description, the standard contains paragraphs of every characteristic of what sets the standard for the breed. It defines the perfect Afghan Hound.
When it comes time to judge Afghan Hounds in the arena, these dogs are not judged against each other; they are always evaluated against the standard of the perfect Afghan Hound.
Judges spend hours memorizing and coming to grips with the definition of that image of the perfect Afghan Hound.
When I sat down to write this article, I didn't seek out this particular breed; I just randomly chose this member of the Hound Group (Category) as what I thought would be an excellent example of what it means to be judged against the standard.
You see, it' is pretty easy to understand how a group of Afghan Hounds can be judged against the standard for their breed by a knowledgeable judge: One of them wins the award for the best Afghan Hound.
But how about when that Afghan Hound is placed in the arena with every other winner of their breeds from the entire Hound Group? For example, how does a judge evaluate an Afghan Hound against a Bloodhound, a Borzoi or an Irish Wolfhound?
The answer is easy: by virtue of the one that best represents their own standard. So while each of the winners appearing in the group competition has won their breed, they might have been the best representative of the breed standard. But that doesn't mean each is a perfect representation of their breed.
Among all the winners in the arena now, one hound will be a more perfect example of their breed in the eyes of the judge, then all the rest. So that hound will become the best in Group.
While it may be hard for some ProAdvisors to swallow, this process serves as the basis for Insightful Accountant's mechanism, whereby the Top 100 ProAdvisors are annually selected. And it can be seen most closely in the niche practice category, which is why I frequently choose to talk about what makes each ProAdvisor 'special.'
Remember how that general description of the Afghan Hound ends, "that has held true to tradition throughout the ages."
That's what being ProAdvisor of the Year, being a Categorical Award recipient and being a member of the Top 100 ProAdvisors is all about. It is about being part of a tradition that will hold true throughout the ages because it is genuinely standard based.
In Part 1 of this series (and earlier in this article), I presented some past recipients of our Niche Practice Categorical Awards1. Each recipient is as unique as his or her niche practice.
If you equate the Niche Practice Category to the AKC Hound Group, you can quickly see how a niche, like Construction, can have a standard—just like an Afghan Hound. But that standard is different from a niche like Point-of-Sale, just as a Borzoi is different from an Afghan.
And Real Estate is different, just like a Wolfhound has a different breed standard than any other hound. And, of course, Forensics has a standard. What else would I reference it to but the Bloodhound?
While some of the characteristics of the standards from one niche (breed) to the next are similar, they also are unique. That's why the information applicants provide in the form of the questions they answer in their applications serves as the basis for Insightful Accountant's automated judging based on the criteria long since established (but updated with applicable information for each submission period).
You may think that all of this sounds fine regarding niche practices, but you are a Generalist and you support either QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop. So you don't see how the dog breed example has anything to do with your practice.
Well, if you have ever filled out one of our comprehensive application forms, you know we ask numerous questions aimed at getting you to describe the characteristics of your practice.
For example, how much of your work is spent on installs and setups, training, troubleshooting, payroll, third-party software/app integrations, etc. In addition, we want to know things about how much time you spend in bookkeeping, reconciliations, compilations, reporting, analytics and compliance.
Just as the various AKC breed standards contain criteria concerning everything from head, neck and shoulders to height, weight, gait and temperament, we are examining through our formal application questions each ProAdvisor against criteria that fit into the various standards for Insightful Accountant's defined Categorical Awards.
We intend to always judge each applicant within the category for which they obtain the highest ranking against the established standard by first evaluating them against every category for which they may qualify.
So now you know, when it comes to the Top 100, we are using every tool at our disposal to root out the best in each category we award, and from there, the best of the best who becomes the ProAdvisor of the Year.
Now is the time for you to focus on preparing for Insightful Accountant's 2023 Top 100 and ProAdvisor of the Year Awards process because we will begin earlier this year than ever before.
To help you prepare, QuickBooks Connect is being held in December, which means there will be plenty of opportunities for training and certifications. Between now and then, Intuit is hosting numerous training courses at Accountant University. You also will find ProAdvisor Certification training courses and testing in your ProAdvisor Training tab of QuickBooks Online Accountant.
Be on the look-out for more of these 'Getting Ready for Top 100' features in the weeks to come.
Footnotes and Disclosures
1 - The Niche (Specialized Practice) ProAdvisor Category is based upon various scoring criteria relative to the category including training, certifications, years of experience, client reviews and peer evaluation (as evidenced by the contributory vote). Niche Award Recipients must demonstrate the skills, knowledge and abilities needed to master one or more QuickBooks products for the purpose of providing highly specialized (niche) ProAdvisor services on behalf of their clients in an area of specialization and related areas. The highest ranked applicant based upon the standard established by Insightful Accountant for the Niche (Specialized Practice) category shall be the recipient of the Categorical Award.
As used herein, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Point-of-sale and other QuickBooks products refer to one or more registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.; a NASDAQ publicly traded "INTU" corporation, headquartered in Mountain View, California (USA).
Any or all other trade names used herein, including any other vendor (app/software) products discussed within this article, may be registered, trademarked, or otherwise held by their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. They are referenced for informational and educational purposes only.
This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. None of the vendors within this article have paid Insightful Accountant or the Author any form of remuneration to be included within this feature. This article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.
The publication of this article does not represent any form of endorsement by either the Author or Insightful Accountant.
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