For people who qualify to take or retake the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Advanced Certification
Dawn Brolin
Exam, there will be a 5-part preparation class at QuickBooks Connect called “QuickBooks ProAdvisor Advanced Certification Exam Preparation (1–5)” on Monday. These classes will be taught by Advanced Certified ProAdvisor, Dawn Brolin.
Named as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” and as one of the “Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting” by CPA Practice Advisor Magazine, Dawn co-hosts “The QB Show " (formerly Radio Free QuickBooks); is a CPA; an MSA; and the Managing Member of her own accounting, tax, and QuickBooks Consulting firm Powerful Accounting LLC. Here she works with small to medium-sized businesses and provides them with accounting, write-up, reporting, office CFO resources, and tax return preparation and audit support services. When asked about her current work, she said, “We primarily work with clients on IRS issues where they are getting notices and are being audited. We are the audit rescue team. We come in and help the clients work through the audits. We get them out of the trouble they’re in and work hard to show them what to do so they don’t get in trouble again. So my company is all about ‘leaving people better than we found them.’”
When asked how she got into QuickBooks, Dawn said that it really started off as a coincidence. She said, “My first ever client in 1999 was a contractor and he asked me to do his books, and so I went to Staples and I saw the green box, and I said ‘I'm gonna use QuickBooks,’ and it's been an amazing ride ever since. I love the desktop and always will, and I learned everything about it on my own until the training became available, and then I learned even more from that.”
Dawn is excited to prepare attendees for the upcoming QuickBooks ProAdvisor Advanced Certification Exam and said that “whether you’ve had difficulty passing the exam or this will be your first time taking it, you’ll strongly benefit by going to these classes. She said, “It’s a one-day investment in a certification course and you should absolutely make that investment if you haven't already. There’s a lot of material that you’ll need to learn for the exam, and you’ll be able to learn all of that in one day and still be able to enjoy the rest of the conference.”
While the content of these classes will be from the preparation material available online, people who attend these classes will benefit because they’ll be able to get certain things out it that they won’t be able to get online, such as:
- really good motivation to pass the exam
- tips and tricks from other attendees and from Dawn to help you during the exam
- indications on what parts are important to pay attention to and what specific things will be expected from you during the exam
For the latter point, Dawn explained, “The test is written with purpose and intent to pay attention to detail and the exam requires you to not only know the software, but also understand the accounting behind the software and it will challenge you in those areas. So when we’re in class, I'll mention parts that are really important, and that they’ll need to understand for the exam. If there are things they’ll need to do in QuickBooks as part of the exam then I’ll demonstrate those things in-product, and allow people to try it for themselves.”
Therefore, the main learning objectives for these classes are:
- to learn the material that's required to pass the exam and to cover that material well enough that you’re able to sit down and take it
The main takeaways for these classes will then be:
- a focus you never had on the exam before and a focus to pass the exam
- an understanding of what you need to know
- all the tools you need to pass the exam
These classes will also be enjoyable for attendees because of Dawn’s entertaining teaching style. She said, “I'm going to throw 110% of myself into this thing. It's going to be a fun class and they will not be bored.” When asked how she would make the class fun, she said “It's going to be a very interactive session. I always make my classes fun and I always include attendees. I don't just stand up there and talk about the material. We interact, we discuss, and we work through it. So the class isn’t about me presenting the material, but about everyone understanding it better. So just like with my company, I want to leave them better than I found them. I want them to leave that day better than when they got there."
She also plans to make the class fun through her use of humor. She said, “I've always been a joking person and I love to put humor into things because I think that makes things interesting, and accounting can be pretty boring if you don't put humor into it. And people gravitate to that. They like that I know what I'm doing, but that I’m using humor. So one way I use humor is by picking on the clients a lot. So during the class, I’ll say ' I'm the client’ and ‘oh wait a minute let me just go and do this here real quick, and ignore all the warning signs QuickBooks pops up,’ and it's kind of funny so it makes what I’m teaching them more memorable."
Dawn will be available after the conference and said that you will be able to call her or email her if you have any other questions before taking the exam. She also has a Facebook group that you can join to continue to get support from her and other people taking the exam. Dawn’s classes aren’t guaranteed to make you pass the exam, but they’ll give you much higher chance than you’d have on your own, and they’ll put you on the right track for studying exactly what you need to.
So you still have not registered for QuickBooks Connect? Click here to do so.