Making a Top 100 ProAdvisor - 'Certifications'

This article is the third in a 4-part Series developed cooperatively with ADP, one of the sponsors of Insightful Accountant's 2021 Top 100 and ProAdvisor of the Year Award Program. ADP will be hosting a webinar titled, Secrets to Becoming a Top 100 ProAdvisor on February 4th at 1:00 pm Eastern that serves as a companion to these articles. 

Certifications

Certifications are one of the areas that yield the highest potential scores for applicants within Insightful Accountant's Top 100 ProAdvisor and ProAdvisor of the Year Awards Program. As discussed in our first article within this series, Intuit ecosystem certification is a key factor in our scoring criteria. The most current certifications for QuickBooks Online, if your area of practice emphasis is QBO, are essential; and the most current certifications for QuickBooks Desktop are essential if your area of practice is Desktop. We consider ‘Recertification’ identical to ‘Certification’ from a point-perspective with regard to current certification status.

You may wonder how some of the other certifications (shown above) apply on a categorical basis? Other than the actual QBO basic/advanced, and QBD certifications, here’s are how certifications in this table earn credits. Intro to QBO for Accountants (QBO credit), Bookkeeping Principles (QBO & QBD credits), QBO-Advanced Specialty (QBO credit), QB Self-Employed (QBO Credit), Payroll-new (QBO credit), TSheets Pro (QBO & QBD credits), QBD-Enterprise (QBD credits), QB Point-of-sale (QBD Credits).  All International Certifications presently apply toward our International awards and QBO credits.

Non-QuickBooks Certifications

Of course, QuickBooks Certifications are not the only credentials we recognize. This is why we ask you about your Non-QuickBooks Credentials using a question like the one shown below:

Many of the credentials in this list may appear similar, but they are applicable to various geographical locations across the Globe. If you are unclear as to where you fit, then your best response is to use the ‘Other Applicable Certification’ option and then specify your unique Certification in the field provided below the list. When describing your option, do not include certification acronyms. While we realize there are important differences between credentials, as well as the time required to earn them, our scoring system takes such factors into account.

Formal Education Credentials

And speaking of credentials, we have also changed our ‘education’ question this year to make certain to favor formal education that is specific to accounting and business.  Past participants have told us they felt a Master's Degree in Accounting or Business should be valued higher than a Master's Degree in Social Work, for example... and we agree.

But we also believe that our ProAdvisor candidates learn a lot from the various software and apps with which they work, especially those that offer training and certification and that’s why we include certification credit as part of our ‘Tech Stack’ evaluation as I addressed in part during my 2nd article of this series.  A lot of major desktop software companies who developed products that work with QuickBooks Desktop learned early on that the success of their software focused in-part around incorporation of ProAdvisors as partners. They also learned that a great way to build these partnerships was to offer training and certification so that qualified ProAdvisors could be recognized.

Software/App Certifications

When QuickBooks Online came along, and App developers began to flourish, they soon learned the success of their apps followed much the same pattern. Of course, it took a lot more customers using a $12/month App connected to QBO than a $10,000 software application for QB-Desktop, in order for a developer to survive. This meant producing a training and certification program for ProAdvisors that could scale-up to have literally thousands of certified ProAdvisors supporting the App, not just 25 or 30 as with those bigger Desktop applications.

But many App developers didn’t want certified ProAdvisors, they simply wanted someone who ‘referred’ clients to the App on a “connect us and leave your client to us” philosophy. Yet, those Apps offering an on-going relationship with the ProAdvisor community, including training and certification, have been shown to have more success in the long-run in terms of marketing their App, and retaining their customers because ProAdvisors are serving to support both the client and the App. This is the very reason why we recognize and reward the extra value of Software and App ‘certifications’ as part of the Top 100 and ProAdvisor of the Year Award Program.

We understand the learning requirements for certification vary significantly based upon the specific software or App, that’s why we ask you to tell us how many hours of training/study or mentorship were required in order for you to obtain each of the five (5) valid certifications you report from Software/App developers in Software/Apps Section 4 of our formal application.

Now as I did in each of our prior articles, I want to give you a specific example of what I am talking about, and since ADP is sponsoring this ‘series’ as well as the related webinar, what better example can I give you then their RUN Powered by ADP Payroll for Partners Certification Program.

"When it comes to software/app certifications, this program sets 'a standard for excellence'." (Murph)

The RUN Powered by ADP Certification is provides each participant with the knowledge, skills and expertise needed to become proficient in the use and application of ADP’s payroll and HR solutions. ADP hasn’t developed a training and certification program that’s just going to see if participants have a cursory understanding of payroll and HR, they are going to be tested for an in-depth knowledge. This is why participants spend 8 hours or more working their way through a series of self-paced training modules covering topics like firm set-up & new client on-boarding, payroll processing, managing client employee data, RUN reporting, manual checks, voids & fringe benefits, quarter-end and year-end, working with ADP, and marketing & selling payroll & HR services.

But, spending time going through the training is just the first step, participants then review their knowledge with module-end reviews, and a comprehensive practice examination once they have finished all of their studies. All of this is intended just to prepare them to take the ‘certification examination’, a three-hour long credentialing test designed to measure and confirm their proficiency with an 80% minimum passing score required.

Now, if you took the RUN Powered by ADP Certification and passed the examination, you would expect to find that your new credential was worth a lot more points toward Insightful Accountant's Top 100 than a 30-minute webinar followed by a 10-question quiz you had 3 attempts to pass for an App that just started offering a partner program. This is why we tell you that we always ‘verify’ each award winner’s certification credentials prior to finalization of awards, and may ask you to produce a copy of your certificates if we are in doubt. We want to award each individual the credit they have truly earned whether that’s 15-hours, or 30-minutes when it concerns software/app certifications.

By the way, you will hear more about the 'RUN Powered by ADP Certification Program' from one of our featured panelists, just completing the program, at our upcoming webinar, Secrets to Becoming a Top 100 ProAdvisor on February 4th at 1:00 pm Eastern that ADP is hosting which serves as a companion to these articles.  

The Top 100 ProAdvisor of the Year awards program recognizes the 'best of the best' QuickBooks ProAdvisors from all over the world. Applicants for this prestigious program are ranked based on their performance across a variety of categories, measuring everything from QuickBooks knowledge to utilizing the best tools & partner apps within the QuickBooks ecosystem that contribute to strong practice growth. During this 1-hour webinar, our panel of ProAdvisors will cover:

  • Best practices and the steps to follow to become a Top 100 ProAdvisor
  • How to build your tech stack with leading partner apps in the QuickBooks ecosystem
  • Recommended software/app certification programs outside of the ProAdvisor certification
  • Tips to building a niche focus in your practice

Featuring:

Dawn Brolin, CPA, CFE, and CEO of Powerful Accounting, Dawn just happens to be Insightful Accountant's 2020 Top Niche Practice ProAdvisor for her specialization in Forensics.

Caleb L. Jenkins, EA, CQP, who is the Leader of Client Accounting Services at RLJ Financial Services. Caleb was Insightful Accountant's 2016 Top Up-N-Comer ProAdvisor.

Matt Fulton, Co-Founder, and CTO of Parkway Business Solutions, who joined the ranks of Insightful Accountant's Top 100 QuickBooks ProAdvisors for the first time in 2020.

Webinar Details:

February 4, 2021 | 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time |1 CPE Credit

Field of Study: Business Management & Organization

Level: Basic

Pre-Requisites: None

NASBA Approved - Sponsor Number: 103021

Register for the Webinar