Just how often do you look at the training page of your ProAdvisor benefits (opportunities)?
Today I looked there and I was shocked. It showed I had two missing certificates. "What the heck?" I suddenly needed to take two different certification courses and exams I had already taken.
I checked around and sure enough I had certificates for both. So I called QuickBooks ProAdvisor support, and after about one minute of grumbling at the automated attendant, I received a pleasant support tech by the name of Rolanda, who ask me to jump online with her.
She uploaded my certificates, and after some behind the scenes work, I logged out, and then logged back in. It was like magic. Everything was back to normal.
Was I glad I had kept the download PDFs of those training and exam certificates available.
It just goes to show that you never know when you're going to need to document your training hours. Like when I call you up and say we are having a hard time confirming your attendance at a training session you reported in your Top 100 Application. Then I ask if you send me a copy of your CPE Certificate so I can give you the 19.5 training points you might otherwise earn.
You see, while many ProAdvisors realize Certifications are important, they don't fully recognize the training time associated with those certifications, as well as many other courses, is equally important. You can earn a lot of hours in a year if you take all the hours of training available to you. Those hours can yield you some big points in our scoring process.
When I consider training and certification, I think of them like this: For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from wars enjoyed the honor of a mighty triumph, a tumultuous parade..." Certification is like that triumph or parade. It is the symbol of accomplishment.
Training is like the war that was won even if it lasted years. The parade occupied moments in time. "Its glory was fleeting..."
But while the war they won may have lasted years, its impact may have lasted for generations. Those Roman conquerors were not remembered for the parade; they were remembered for the war they had won.
Certifications reflect a ribbon of accomplishment; wherein the real credit lies in the underlying training.
So training is an area that yields one of the highest scoring factors for applicants within Insightful Accountant's Top 100 ProAdvisor and ProAdvisor of the Year awards program. And since the Intuit ecosystem is critical in our scoring criteria, the training it offers, sponsors or certifies always will carry some of the highest point potentials of any training we score.
While Intuit offers a variety of training opportunities, many are centered around product certification. Yes, certification is another critical area of the Top 100 and ProAdvisor of the Year awards scoring criteria. We will talk more specifically about certification in another one of these Getting Ready features later in this series.
But in this first article, I will focus on training opportunities on Intuit's current US ProAdvisor Benefits Page. Later in this series, I will speak about international participants and the importance of training for them as well.
QuickBooks Online
If you are a QuickBooks ProAdvisors with an emphasis in QBO, the most current certifications are now available:
- QuickBooks Online Certification (Newest) Preparation Training
- QuickBooks Online Advanced Certification (Newest) Preparation Training
Even if you completed this training/certification before or during last year's Top 100 Application process, you should get these newest training opportunities. That is, unless you have been recently certified, because you specifically will be asked as a part of our 2023 formal application(s) if you have received training in QBO since our 2022 Top 100 process ended in May, 2022.
Intuit also is offering courses in the following areas aimed explicitly at ProAdvisors with QuickBooks Online-based practices:
- Introduction to QuickBooks Online for Accountants — This training is your starting point if you're new to QuickBooks Online Accountants. Browse and complete it to get an overview of the main menu options in QuickBooks Online and discover how you can support clients in setting up their company files and managing their vendor- and customer-related workflows.
- QuickBooks Desktop Migration — This covers all the essential steps and considerations to help migrate your clients' QuickBooks Desktop company files to QuickBooks Online. Browse and complete the lessons to discover topics ranging from an overview of the conversion tool to converting company files with extra levels of complexity, such as payroll, sales tax or inventory.
- Latest Product Updates (QBO) — QuickBooks Online and its ecosystem continuously evolve to improve your experience, simplify workflows and provide the insights you need. This training bundle brings you the most recent updates to help you support your clients with the latest changes in QuickBooks Online.
- QuickBooks Online Advanced Specialty — Discover how QuickBooks Online Advanced can help you support clients with heavy transaction volume, complex reporting needs and unique user access requirements. Learn how smart reporting, workflow automation, robust data imports, and batch transactions will help your clients work more efficiently and free you up to offer more valuable advising support.
QuickBooks Payroll & Time
- QuickBooks Online Payroll – Introduces QBO Payroll, which makes calculating and processing payroll easier for clients. Browse and complete this training to find out about the various features and capabilities of QuickBooks Online Payroll. Discover how to run payroll, create payroll-related reports, and carry out end-of-period activities. In addition, explore a range of advanced processes, such as termination policies or setting up deductions and contributions.
- Payroll Specialist Fundamentals — A course providing insight into the services a payroll specialist performs for small businesses. Topics covered include managing employee records, time and attendance; deciding on compensation and benefits packages; distributing employee payments; payroll reporting and compliance; and more. This training is ideal for accounting professionals new to payroll services, but are interested in supporting clients with their payroll needs.
- QuickBooks Time Fundamentals – Equips ProAdvisors in helping their clients track and manage employees' working hours and run reports using QuickBooks Time. This course will help you determine how you and your clients can benefit from using QuickBooks Time. ProAdvisors learn how to correctly set up subscription levels and use the many features of QuickBooks Time; it will take time-related tasks off their clients' shoulders.
Bookkeeping Fundamentals
Intuit also offers Bookkeeping Principles, a course geared at providing a better understanding of what the role of bookkeeper entails, why it is essential, and critical concepts on transaction entry and financial statements. This course also will equip you with best-practice skills for working with clients, partners and systems.
Advisory Services Series
For those ProAdvisors ready to march full speed ahead into the arena of advisory services, Intuit offers a four-part series of courses:
- Advisory Part 1: Framing Advisory Work – Three modules layout how to best frame your advisory work: what advising is and how it differs from bookkeeping, consulting and general accounting; how to ensure your advisory work is genuinely proactive and adds additional value your clients will want to pay for; and how to select a target audience and industry. You'll leave this series ready to define your advisory services in a compelling, inspiring manner that will help you find and connect with the clients you want to work with.
- Advisory Part 2: Core of the Work – Provides a deep dive into some of the products your clients will want: the chart of accounts, KPIs, forecasts and cash flow forecasting. After completing the four modules, you will be able to set up or revise a chart of accounts, choose core financial ratios and use them to advise clients on their business's performance, guide clients through the forecasting and budgeting processes; and provide detailed cash flow forecasts. This work is at the heart of successful advising.
- Advisory Park 3: Optimize Your Work – Designed to help you take your advising to the next level by tailoring your work to meet each client's particular situation. You will start by looking at how to choose the most useful KPIs for each client and over-viewing the most insightful KPIs for a wide range of industries. Next, you will see how to work with clients on determining what actions to take to improve the KPIs you are tracking — and how to provide your clients accountability toward taking these actions. Finally, you'll consider adjusting your meeting and communication style based on your client's preferences. After completing this collection, you will be well placed to go beyond simply providing standard advising services: You will be ready to optimize these services to your client's specific needs, preferences and habits.
- Advisory Part 4: App Demonstrations / New Content — In this collection of videos, you will learn about the apps that can most help you take your advisory services to the next level. Using apps means fewer errors, better reliability and incredible time savings. Depending on your knowledge and needs, you can choose one of the three paths available: basic, intermediate or advanced. Each path covers five to six apps, and gives you an introduction, analysis and demonstration. Several of the apps support the needs across all three levels. After completing this training, you will be ready to choose and use the apps that add the most value to your advisory practice. [Because there is new content, you can take it again for more training hours, even if you have taken it before.]
QuickBooks Desktop
Looking for Intuit training opportunities related explicitly to QuickBooks Desktop? The most current certification preparation training for QuickBooks Desktop is essential if your area of practice is Desktop. Insightful Accountant scores Desktop Recertification identical to Certification from a point-perspective with regard to current certification status, but not from a training perspective.
What I mean is if you want the full maximum credit available for Desktop training, you must take the complete Desktop training courses and earn the hours. On the other hand, if you are willing to place your standing on taking the 1.5-hour recertification course and the recertification exam, and score those points while someone else takes the 19.5 hours of training and the certification exam to earn their points, that's up to you.
Training hours are training hours, and now that you know, you make the choice. Do you want credit for 19.5 hours or 1.5 hours of training?
That's exactly why we ask if you completed:
- QuickBooks Desktop 2022 Certification Preparation Training
- What's New in QuickBooks Desktop 2022 – Recertification
There is an 18 hour difference in training hours. That makes a big difference in training points earned, even if you end up with the exact same certification.
Desktop ProAdvisors also have opportunities to take training for:
- QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise (v 19) Certification Preparation Training
- QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 19.0 Certification Preparation Training
While I've heard rumors there may be new versions of each of these two courses later this year, as well as the QuickBooks Desktop 2023 course, I have no way of knowing if any of these will be available prior to the start of our 2023 Top 100 application process. That's still a few months off.
Still, it does warrant that you keep a close eye out on your training opportunities page in your ProAdvisor benefits. (Who knows, you might even find a glitch in your records like I did.)
By the way, thanks to Rolanda and the QuickBooks Support Team for getting my problem resolved today.
In the next part of this series, I will examine some of the opportunities that are not directly associated with the QuickBooks ProAdvisor website.
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