Hopefully, you are aware I have been writing a series called "Getting Ready for Top 100," which outlines what it takes to be in the next Top 10 ProAdvisors. I’ve already had a two-part series on niches and a three part on training.
Be sure to check out the five related article links below this article.
Now it’s time to talk about certifications and credentials. In the articles defining this series, we will examine certification requirements, how certifications impact Top 100 scoring, various certifications that recognize you as an expert in your chosen area of practice and the supporting credentials you may hold.
ProAdvisor Status is a Requirement
QuickBooks Certification is the starting place for this series. The reason is simple: It’s a requirement of the Top 100 Program, including:
- Nominees from the US must hold one or more current Intuit US ProAdvisor (Online or Desktop) certifications to be considered for these awards.
- International participants, regardless of which country they practice, must hold Intuit QuickBooks ProAdvisor status or the equivalent for their country, a country within their Intuit Global Region or hold a formal ProAdvisor Certification from any of the countries where Intuit issues formal QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification. [Country equivalency is based upon the offerings Intuit makes available for accountants, bookkeepers and business advisors within each country and/or Intuit Region. For example, in a country like South Africa, even though accountants can sign-up to become ProAdvisors to access QBO-Accountant, it doesn’t offer (at the time this disclosure was written) QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certification, but does offer QuickBooks Online Accountant Certification and various supporting courses. Insightful Accountant actively monitors such available offerings during the nomination and application process to determine candidate qualification and equivalency and will always coordinate with Intuit officials and the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program should questions arise regarding the same.]
Certification Doesn’t Last a Lifetime
Concerning certification, Intuit says, “QuickBooks Certification isn’t just an exam. It’s a whole new level of training and expertise that sets you up to thrive—year after year.”
Despite the last portion of that statement, the ProAdvisor Program abandoned the reference to "Since year" (meaning the first year the ProAdvisor was certified in a specific certification) when it came to the ProAdvisor Certifications appearing on a ProAdvisor’s Find-a-ProAdvisor Directory listing several years ago.
At the time, I was told those dates weren’t applicable because the directory listed the years an individual had been in business.
Those two things are totally different.
So, even though we inquire about business experience (length of business), we also measure time in certification.
That’s why the Top 100 process scores certifications based on the total number of years applicants have held their various ProAdvisors certifications.
We weigh certifications on a total number of years, and that’s why we ask a variety of questions (in different ways) designed to ascertain, “When you first earn your QuickBooks Online (Core) Certification?” in addition to “What is your most recent QuickBooks Online Certification?” And if you have held intervening years of certification?
We ask similar questions regarding QuickBooks Desktop certification, “What versions of QuickBooks Desktop have you been certified in?”
Whether scoring QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop, our algorithm assigns a certification year point factor for the first year you report certification and an identical certification year point factor for the current year’s certificate.
After that, intervening years are assigned a recertification point factor, unless we have your historical record from past applications clearly showing you took the entire certification course rather than the recertification course to earn recertification.
Standing On Your Own Certification Merits within Top 100 Categories
I want to point out that the QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop categorical awards "stand on their own merits" concerning certifications (and training related to those certifications) without any cross-certification considerations.
What I mean is:
- For purposes of the QuickBooks Online Categorical Award, scoring in this category focuses on QuickBooks Online (and related) certifications, as well as the training related to those certifications. Therefore, it gives no weight to any QuickBooks Desktop (and related) Certifications.
- For purposes of the QuickBooks Desktop Categorical Award, scoring in this category focuses on QuickBooks Desktop (and related) Certifications, as well as the training related to those certifications. Therefore, it gives no weight to any QuickBooks Online (and related) Certifications.
These provisions, implemented in 1988 for awards year 1989, were designed to “level the playing ground” so that a QBO Certified ProAdvisor doesn't need to have any QuickBooks Desktop certification to have the potential of earning stature within the QuickBooks Online Categorical rankings.
For additional information regarding this provision, including FAQs, please read the related Insightful Accountant article HERE.
I'd also point out that the related QuickBooks Desktop integrations and QuickBooks Online app-ology Categorical awards work with the same characteristics embedded into the scoring criteria regarding the training, certification and experience factors for the relative QuickBooks products incorporated into the algorithms associated with those two awards.
Another word about International Nominees/Applicants and their Certifications
Applicants are routinely scored according to their country of origin, while certification requirements are based on those criteria, as explained earlier in this article. But we recognize that some ProAdvisors have spent considerable time and effort obtaining acceptable duplicate country (or even regional) certification(s).
Therefore, cross-certification is accepted when a person demonstrates that they conduct significant business with clients in a non-resident country in which they hold a certification. In such cases, an applicant will be scored in both (or all countries) of certification and will receive the higher of such scores for the applicable categories to which they attain ranking(s).
Certification Opportunities
Many of you may have just participated within Intuit's virtual QuickBooks Certification boot-camp and earned the newest QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Online-Advanced or QuickBooks Payroll certifications.
If so, we congratulate you.
Make sure to keep those records of both training time and certifications ready when it comes time to complete your new application for Top 100 in a few months, following completion of the nomination process that will begin very shortly for 2023.
For those who haven't had the opportunity to earn new certifications, don't worry. There is plenty of time to go through the online training and take your certifications exams prior to the deadlines we will be announcing for 2023.
In our next installment, we'll examine many of the specific certifications impacting Top 100 standings.
Like what you're reading?
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and we'll deliver content like this directly to your inbox.