At Intuit, we recognize that the talent pipeline shortage remains a hurdle for the accounting industry. To help firms attract and retain valuable employees, we're updating the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program with the launch of the ProAdvisor Academy, a new training and certification experience designed to help grow the accounting industry as a whole and provide ProAdvisors and their teams with a deeper focus on education and resources to grow in their roles.
In addition to the new program updates, we're excited to announce that Ted Callahan has expanded his role a Intuit QuickBooks. He is now the new leader of the ProAdvisor Program. As the new ProAdvisor Program leader, Ted will continue to steer the team's focus toward supporting the accounting community through impactful educational programs and access to resources that drive professional growth.
New ProAdvisor Academy for Career-Spanning Professional Development
Launched this week, the new ProAdvisor Academy is an education platform that gives accounting firms access to professional development for employees at any stage of their careers. Accountants can onboard new employees and grow their teams with engaging learning curricula to help them meet their business goals.
The Academy has distinctive certification programs:
- A newly introduced Intuit Bookkeeping Certification, a free self-paced program that teaches fundamental accounting principles to help new talent start their career with confidence, and
- Reimagined QuickBooks Online certifications, featuring engaging, hands-on training that empowers accountants to use the platform in service of their workflows. Certifications for QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop and Desktop Enterprise also remain available.
Reimagined QuickBooks Online Certifications
The reimagined QuickBooks Level I and II certifications teach the user the why, what, and how of delivering end-to-end accounting workflows in QuickBooks Online while helping identify light-touch advisory moments throughout. The new QuickBooks Online certifications are divided into two levels:
- The Level 1 program - formerly referred to as 'Core' - is ideal for new hires who need to get up to speed on QuickBooks so that they can start delivering client work. The flow of Level 1 now has a straightforward learning journey and is streamlined only to take 7.5 hours to complete, instead of the previous certification that took 16 hours.
- The Level 2 program - formerly 'Advanced' - dives into more sophisticated workflows and features to help accountants deliver more complex accounting and advisory services to clients. Like Level 1, Level 2 was also streamlined, so it now takes 6.5 hours to complete instead of the previous 16 hours.
Users can take each course in order, from beginning to end, or a la carte, picking and choosing the sections they want to focus on and when. ProAdvisors must first have the Level 1 certification to access Level II.
Newly introduced Intuit Bookkeeping Certification
The Intuit Bookkeeping Certification is a newly introduced certification that is included as part of the ProAdvisor Academy. It's designed to help new talent start and grow their careers, teaching fundamental accounting principles. We know that non-traditional talent needs more than just product training. With this robust, 30-hour self-paced course, new employees can receive a deeper dive into financial accounting with hands-on exercises and scenarios. It's free for ProAdvisors and their teams, with courses that include bookkeeping basics, tracking sales and expenses, monitoring assets, reconciling accounts, examining financial statements, and more.
New ProAdvisor Badges
In addition to new certifications, we have updated our ProAdvisor certification badges to reflect a 'One Intuit' approach, enabling you to showcase your expertise better on the entire QuickBooks platform. A copy of the new badge can be obtained by visiting ProAdvisor Academy and then navigating to My History. For questions, reach out to accountant_training@intuit.com. (Note: Insightful Accountant believes this to be the 'correct' email; the original Intuit content had a misspelling, which we tested and found kicked back, so we corrected and the address pinged an Intuit email.)
What's Next for the ProAdvisor Program
For over two decades, the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program has supported accounting professionals by giving them exclusive discounts, tools, training, and events to help retain talent and expand their businesses. As we look ahead, we'll continue to focus on providing learning experiences that meet the needs of growing firms and accounting professionals entering the field.
More information about the new ProAdvisor Academy is here.
Note: This article was adapted by Insightful Accountant from an official Intuit Press Release issued by Accesstheagency.com; Insightful Accountant's adaptations were driven by Grammarly_AI.