Yesterday, Insightful Accountant announced the opening of nominations for the "Top 100 ProAdvisors," "ProAdvisor of the Year" and related "Categorical Awards." The process, which comprises several significant steps, includes nominations, nomination screening for basic qualifications, applications from qualified nominees, the peer voting component, reviews based upon established standards, final scoring and the selections.
The entire process is based on how you, as a ProAdvisor, rank in comparison to the various standards for the categorical measures that have been established and correspond with our categorical awards.
Many people have the misconception that the "Top 100 ProAdvisor Awards" are simply one long list of 100 names culled from all the nominees submitted each year. But actually, the Top 100 consists of the Top 10 ProAdvisors within each of the categorical classifications we examine during this process. Therefore, it represents the best of each category we recognize, which means our "ProAdvisor of the Year" represents the "Best of the Best."
While the nomination process gets your foot in the door, the application process measures where you stand regarding the categorical standards. The formal application also serves as a classification tool designed to qualify candidates into one or more categories that correspond to those Categorical Awards.
This is possible because most of the questions within the formal application are focused on the various categories—additional questions within the application impact individual standings within each category. At the same time, not all questions in the application are related to all categories.
Let me give you a few examples of what I am talking about. If the application asks you to rate yourself in various business functions and you rank as a 5 in QuickBooks Online, 4 in Business Outsourcing, 3 in QuickBooks App Integration, 2 in Training and 1 in QuickBooks Desktop, that sounds fine. But when the application asks you about your clients, you answer that 80% are QuickBooks Desktop and only 20% are QuickBooks Online, do you see how there could be a conflict in the way an algorithm would rank you based on these two questions alone?
You're always striving to be the best you can be in the category that best describes "you" as a ProAdvisor. So, for example, you might be a great QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, but if 80% of the clients are in Desktop, you probably spend a lot more time in Desktop than QBO. The fact that you get certified in QuickBooks Online, as well as QuickBooks Desktop, bolsters your ProAdvisor stature overall even though each certification only impacts the applicable categories.
The same things apply to QuickBooks Online. Suppose 80% of your clients use QuickBooks Online. In that case, you should think of yourself as a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, therefore your application should reflect that when you answer the questions relating to your practice.
The key is to stay focused on your primary one or two areas of practice as a ProAdvisor.
But many of you have specialized practices. Some specialize in a specific sector or niche, some in apps or third-party software and others write/train/educate as their specialization. There are questions in the application that relate to all of these areas—and they should be your areas of focus.
Take time to interpret each question and respond adequately with the appropriate information.
Our readers from outside the US may think that none of what I have just written applies to them since they are considered for the International category. But that isn't true. First of all, Insightful Accountant sub-categorizes international applicants using this same mechanism. Since the vast majority of international applicants support QuickBooks Online, they have that much more work to do to reflect their standing within the QuickBooks Online standard.
That's why we do our best to customize questions designed for our international participants that help measure the training and certifications available to them. But we also rely on each of our international participants to tell us how they practice, about their own areas of emphasis, and the types of clients they support as well as how they support those clients.
Intuit provides us with guidance about training opportunities available to our international participants as QuickBooks Professionals based upon their country of origination when they sign up for QuickBooks and we match that data with their formal application.
While every applicant is scored and ranked within every applicable category, only the highest ranked within each categorical classification make up the Top 100. So, as little as a few 10ths of a point can make a difference in categorical rankings that put an individual into the Top 100 in any year. Similarly, the same slight difference can separate the highest and second place ranking within any category to determine the categorical award recipient or "ProAdvisor of the Year."
While we are still a long way from the formal application process, as nominations have just opened, I wanted you to think about these things as you prepare to complete this year's application. Now is the time to work on certifications you haven't yet completed, or take available training you need.
Holidays are not just for celebrating. I have always found they are a good time to prepare for the year ahead—and that means the "ProAdvisor of the Year" process.
I also want to remind you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with nominating yourself. That's why we allow you to do so. Each year, ProAdvisors send us requests after nominations close asking to be included, saying, "I thought someone was going to nominate me, but they forgot," or "The person nominating me lost track of time and didn't turn it in."
So, at the end of this year's nominations, don't be one of those people. You can nominate yourself.
You can find out more about nominations here.
Insightful Accountant wants to acknowledge the sponsors of the "2022 ProAdvisor of the Year Awards" program. If it were not for our sponsors, these awards would not be possible. This year’s sponsors include:
