Recertification Season

There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Alicia Katz Pollock: In this week's edition of the unofficial QuickBooks accountants podcast, I'm joined by Margie Remmers Davis of Acadian Accounting Education, and we are going to talk about QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification. How are you doing, Margie?

Margie Remmers-Davis: I'm doing great. Are we talking about certification or recertification?

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yes, we're talking about it. [00:00:30] All right. For Margie and I, the topic is recertification. Because once you pass the certification one time, all you have to do is recertify. But we should probably back up a little bit and give more context about certification in general. So certification is basically the the testing center for ProAdvisor Academy, which is available to you inside your QuickBooks online for accountants portal that when you log [00:01:00] into qbo and you look on the left hand side, you see a ProAdvisor section. And then when you go into ProAdvisor, there's benefits and there's training. And in the training is all kinds of free educational resources that Intuit provides. And you can take those trainings and earn CPE credit, and you can go one step further and take a certification test. And when you get certified, you get all kinds of benefits. Margie, what happens when you get certified? [00:01:30] What do you get? So.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Alicia, you mentioned that in order to get to the training, there's this there's two dropdowns. One is benefits and one is the training. So you go to the training to actually get the certification, and then you go to the benefits. And then there is a listing of all of the things that you get as a ProAdvisor. And there's different levels of, uh, levels for your listing. And that's based on [00:02:00] points. Um, so there are silver. Gold? I don't even know what they all are. Silver, gold, platinum elite, whatever. And they're all a certain number of points. The gold, the gold standard. The gold level, uh, requires 500 points. And the way that you can get 500 points is first you have to, um, first you have to be certified as a ProAdvisor level one. And [00:02:30] then that gives you 100 points. And then to get the remaining 400 points, there's a number of things that you can do. There's a little drop down. You have to click it. So it says earn points and it'll tell you how to get points. But one of the easiest way to get get points is, um, to get your level two certification, which is 200 points, and your payroll certification, which is also 200 points. So once you have 500 points, It's the thing that is [00:03:00] that most people are really aiming for.

Margie Remmers-Davis: On that list of benefits is a listing in the ProAdvisor directory. So the ProAdvisor directory is a place where if you qualify and you have to meet certain standards that Intuit sets, and they'll tell you what those are. But if you qualify, then you can be listed in the ProAdvisor directory for anybody just who wants to to find [00:03:30] you online. Uh, who is looking for a qbo ProAdvisor so they can Google Qbo ProAdvisor and find a ProAdvisor that way. Or, uh, Intuit will direct them in certain places. There's links, uh, or the customer service. If somebody's helping, uh, helping a client, then they will direct, you know. Oh, maybe you need a ProAdvisor in your area. The cool thing about the ProAdvisor direct what I love about the ProAdvisor directory is [00:04:00] not only can you, uh, not only can you be listed there and be found, but it's a it's a place for you to collect reviews. So if you are just brand new starting out, you can collect reviews, you can collect leads, and it really can function like your website, like you don't even have to have your own website because everything you need, you know, the contact me form and about me and the reviews are all listed right [00:04:30] there. So, um, yeah. So that's what the ProAdvisor directory is.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah. I get I get a lot of requests off of the ProAdvisor, uh, page. Um, but a lot of the time it's people kicking tires and just going with the default text that shows up there. And but yeah, I have picked up a lot of clients through it, for sure.

Margie Remmers-Davis: I was also going to mention, I don't know if you want to include this, that people have gotten a little sour on the directory because there's so much spam [00:05:00] that comes through it now. Um.

Alicia Katz Pollock: That was that was the next thing that I was going to say. There was recently, if you get if you hear from somebody who is producing a movie and they want the actor to get qbo training. Yeah, it's not real. Don't fall for it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So, um, then continuing on with talking about the about certification. Now, I did a full episode back in November 2024 about the [00:05:30] entire ProAdvisor Academy itself. That was episode number 66. And the link is in the show notes. Or you can go to Uqb 66 to hear about the whole entire ProAdvisor Academy. Um, what I want to focus on specifically right now is certifications, because it is recertification season. And what that basically means is that once you pass your certification one [00:06:00] time, then you don't have to take the main certification test again. You can take a shorter recertification. Now let me back up. One extra step right there is that there are three different certification tests. There's a bookkeepers certification. And then there's the ProAdvisor certification. The bookkeeper certification is about how to do bookkeeping. And I'm actually going to set that whole certification aside. We're only going to focus today on ProAdvisor certifications, [00:06:30] which is demonstrating that you know how to use QuickBooks online. And there's two levels. There's a what they used to call core and advanced is now called level one and level two. And level one is like I know the basics of using QuickBooks online. I know what buttons to push to do a specific workflow, whereas level two goes into Less frequently used features. New features [00:07:00] and more complex and creative workflows. Now, personally, if I'm going to hire somebody, having a regular certification isn't enough. I want to see them have the level two certification, because I know that that's somebody who actually has critical thinking skills and can get creative and figure things out about the software.

Margie Remmers-Davis: So I just wanted to loop back. You said there were three types of certifications. The first one is the bookkeeper certification, the [00:07:30] second is the ProAdvisor certification. And then what were you thinking of was the third one?

Alicia Katz Pollock: Well, the third one was the level two of the ProAdvisor. So it's it's bookkeeping certification, QuickBooks Online certification level one and QuickBooks Online certification level two.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Okay. They also inside your inside the ProAdvisor Academy. They also have specialty courses. So that's where you're going to find the Qbo payroll certification and the desktop certification. [00:08:00]

Alicia Katz Pollock: There's also a desktop enterprise certification as an enterprise. So those are all still available. But circling back we're going to focus really specifically on QuickBooks online certifications levels one and two. Once you pass level one level two becomes available. Once you've passed level two, you don't ever have to deal with level one. And once you've passed level two, you don't have to take it again. You just take the recertification test every single year. And if you don't take level two, you [00:08:30] just take level one. Then same deal. You don't have to take the full test again. You just take the recertification. Recertification is always in the spring. It just opened up on April 28th. So we're in the first week or so of certification, and you have until June 30th of this year in order to finish your your recertification test. If you don't pass the recertification test in that April to June window, then [00:09:00] you have to actually go back and retake your whole certification test again. And so it's a really good opportunity to just come in and just take the shorter, more focused test.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Yes, we should we should mention the timeline because people get confused because it's seasonal. It's not calendar year. So, um, the Intuit season is typically the certification [00:09:30] season is typically November 1st through October 31st. This past year they opened up the new season early. So it was actually October 18th was when they released the new ProAdvisor Academy, the whole new system. So if you got certified before the new ProAdvisor Academy stuff. So if you got certified October 17th of 2024 or earlier. Then you have to recertify by June 30th. [00:10:00] But if you have if you've gotten your certification within, uh, you know, since then, since October, 18th, November, December of last year, then you don't have to recertify until 2026. That's very that gets very people get very confused about that. The other thing is that once you, uh, do level two, um, as Alicia mentioned, then you don't have [00:10:30] to do level one. So let's say you got level one certification last year under the old system, but you got your level two certification this year under the new system you don't like. Alicia said. You don't have to worry about that level one, even though it was in last year. It's the most recent one that they care about. So if you got your level two this year, then you don't have to recertify until 2026.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Now the recertification tests themselves. I [00:11:00] actually love the recertification tests because they focus on what's new or what's been just released or underutilized features that they want to call your attention to. So I love recertification because when you kind of you get in your groove and you know how to use qbo for your clients, but you get so focused on the work that you're doing day to day that you might not notice new things that have shown up under some of the menus. So when I take the recertification prep [00:11:30] trainings, it gives me, I find new things like like this past year, they made a new option that if you want to, you can you can open up an invoice and create a credit memo off of the invoice. And I didn't know that I was still making credit memos manually. So I love the recertification test to call my attention to what's new.

Margie Remmers-Davis: That actually, that's a really good point. And that actually [00:12:00] is the number one reason I think people should get certified in the first place and keep it up because, um, you know, a lot of people will say, and I'm sure you've heard this from bookkeepers too, like, why do I need a certification? I don't need this certification to do bookkeeping. No employer unless it's Alicia.

Alicia Katz Pollock: You know.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Unless it's, you know, another bookkeeper or accounting. You know, they they may care, but, like, a client doesn't care whether you're worth whether you're certified or not. So [00:12:30] it's not actually, like, a necessary thing that you have to have in order to be successful. However, I the the beautiful thing about both the certification and the recertification is that it exposes you to everything. If you're just out in the wild doing bookkeeping on your own. You're only going to be exposed to features that your client uses. And so you might not know that there [00:13:00] is a thing called projects that you know that that oh my gosh, I could implement this for my, uh, for my client. And it would make their life so much easier. So that's I just think that's what I think the beautiful thing about this certification is, is that it forces you to be exposed to everything. And then then you know that it's then you know that it's out there. Maybe you don't know all the details of how to use it and implement it and stuff, but [00:13:30] you know that it's there. So then when you talk, you're talking to somebody in your mind. You're like, oh yeah, there's a feature that does that. Let me go research it more. Um, this year, for the first time. This is so mind blowing. This is so wonderful. This year, for the first time, there is a download and there is a document download in the ProAdvisor Academy that lists every single change to and new feature to QuickBooks online. [00:14:00] It's wonderful. It's amazing. Alicia's going to go look it up right now.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Not even though you missed it.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah yeah, yeah. No, I missed that. See what happens when you don't click around and look at everything.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so it's so good. Um, but it's, uh. But the great thing, the great thing is, though, that if you listen to this podcast and you listen to me and Alicia talk about like, uh, look what I found, or look what we [00:14:30] found, right? So many of those things were on that list.

Alicia Katz Pollock: So one of the things that I actually talked about extensively in episode 66, and again, go back and listen to the whole thing, is that you do have the option of taking all the trainings and then taking the test or going straight to the test out. So if you consider yourself an expert and think that you have are reasonably up to date, you know you've been listening to this show, so you know about all of these changes. You can just go straight to the test and not [00:15:00] go through all of the trainings. But if you want CPE, you don't get CPE for taking the test. It's just for doing the trainings themselves. Personally, I try to take the test first and see how I do without taking the trainings. And then if I need it, I go back and I take the trainings. But that's just me. Kind of like testing my own, testing my own skills. The trainings are different than they were in past years, so if you've been a ProAdvisor for a long time, both [00:15:30] the content and the testing have a very different approach.

Alicia Katz Pollock: It's no longer gotcha test questions where they're trying to trick you. It's really straightforward material, and it is also open book. Both the ProAdvisor level one and level two You can actually have the test open in one window, and then maybe in an incognito window you have qbo open, or in another browser you have open the test materials, and when [00:16:00] they ask you a question, you are absolutely welcome to go in and look up the answers and then go answer the questions. And that will save you a lot of time. Taking it from memory is hard even for me. So definitely take it open book. Now, just as an aside, the bookkeeping test, which we're not talking about today, but the bookkeeping test is not open book. It's proctored. They actually have a camera on you watching your eyeballs. But the ProAdvisor test. I highly encourage you to research every question and use it as a [00:16:30] learning opportunity that if there's something that you don't know now, you can actually do the research and really make the information your own.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Yeah. So just a couple other things about the test out option. You do have three tries to pass. Passing is an 80%. So if you don't pass after those three tries, then you get locked out for a period of time. They call it a cooling off period. And before you can try again, if [00:17:00] you do the in-course option, which Alicia said is the only one where you get CPE available where the CPE is available, you have to pass knowledge checks. So you're going as you're going through the material, there will be a knowledge check, and you have to complete all of the knowledge checks in order to unlock the exam. Once you unlock the exam, then you have unlimited tries for the in course option. So it's a again, it's a very [00:17:30] different feel and experience than what we have done in past years.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah. And I want to give a shout out and a thank you to Jacqueline Anku, who took over the training program, uh, about a year ago, a year and a half ago now, and has absolutely transformed the the training and the certification experience. I mean, it's getting better. Yeah, it's it's always been really good. Now it's just not as stressful and it's [00:18:00] a little more accessible to people. So if in the past the certification test made your blood boil, this is a whole new a whole new deal. And also, I want to give a shout out to you, Margie at Acadian, because you have a specific certification training program. So if you are not, if you're somebody who has test phobia and you're just not good at taking tests and you need that extra little boost, Margie's program can give you that reassurance that you need.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Thank [00:18:30] you.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Absolutely. All right. Now, all the testing aside, let's one of the questions that people have is, well, like, why should I bother? Why is it worth taking the time to get my certification. And you know, we already mentioned that it helps you with your, you know, it's a credential that you can give a potential employer to demonstrate your expertise. Um, and that it forces [00:19:00] you to learn all there is to know about Qbo, or at least all that's important in those particular years. There's that listing in the ProAdvisor directory. So you actually are searchable by QuickBooks users in your area to find so that they can find you and you can gain new clients. But there's also now something also new. You get badges with Credly and, uh, Margie, do you have a yes?

Margie Remmers-Davis: Yes. If you [00:19:30] do not know what Credly is, um, this is like a really amazing thing that has popped up over the last couple of years because somebody brilliant and I actually met the owner. I actually met the guy that, um, that created Credly. Um, it's now owned by Pearson, which is, if you know, it's a big education company. And, um, the he recognized that a badge was just an image. Right. And anybody could go on Google, go to [00:20:00] Google Images and just download an image and put it on their stuff and claim that they were, uh, ProAdvisor or, you know, whatever. And so what Credly does is that turns that badge into like an actual, um, uh, an actual digital accreditation. So if you click on the bat, like, what you should do is you have Credly provides you a link and you put that link on your website and anybody can click that link, [00:20:30] go to the page on credly that describes what this certification is and what you had to do to get it. So, so much better than just having a picture, you know, just having a picture.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah, that's great because it really does reduce that fraud and build that trust that anybody can download an image. But actually having it have a backbone is is really important. Yes it was. It was actually kind of funny to me because when Intuit started using Credly back in early [00:21:00] 2020, I believe is when they when they started using Credly, I had additional badges that I almost had forgotten about that before I was a QuickBooks whiz, I was a Microsoft office whiz and wrote a book about word and did the QuickBooks PowerPoint and access trainings for Lynda.com, which is now LinkedIn.com. And so I have Microsoft badges. I have badges from syllable. [00:21:30] I actually have 14 different badges, ten more in addition to the ones besides my Intuit badges. And being able to send somebody to a landing page at Credly adds my credibility. And it's a you know, I actually have that link listed on my website.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Awesome.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Another thing about getting your ProAdvisor certification is you literally get the title ProAdvisor, [00:22:00] which is into its term for a bookkeeping or financial professional who has QuickBooks skills. So anybody who is a ProAdvisor is recognized by Intuit as somebody who is authorized, so to speak, for, uh, for providing services. Now, technically, joining the ProAdvisor program is free and anybody can do it. Um, we'll actually put the link to joining the ProAdvisor program in the show notes. [00:22:30] And when you become a ProAdvisor, basically you're creating an accountant's portal called QuickBooks online for accountants, and that gives you a management portal for all of your different clients. And you have extra abilities when you're working in QuickBooks that a regular user doesn't have, like the ability to undo reconciliations. But most importantly, that's where you can also access all of these certifications. So technically, [00:23:00] as soon as you join the program, you're technically called a ProAdvisor. But until you pass any of the certification tests, you don't get any badges or recognition or benefit from it.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Yeah, you become a certified Qbo ProAdvisor. And what I love about that term, what I teach my students, is that if you tell people that you are a bookkeeper, then people are only going to turn to you when [00:23:30] they need a bookkeeper, right? But if you tell people you're a QuickBooks online ProAdvisor, then anybody who has QuickBooks online will, you know, want to have a conversation with you at a at a at a cocktail party, at a cocktail party. And, um, and you can develop relationships advising, uh, training if you have, you know, consultations and all that because you because you said I'm a QuickBooks online ProAdvisor. [00:24:00] In fact, I know somebody who that's how she got her very first client. She got her very first client because she went to a speed networking event and she didn't know. She she didn't know how to introduce herself or and she had just gotten her Qbo ProAdvisor certification. And so that's on the speed networking. That's what she said, which is like, I'm a QuickBooks online ProAdvisor. And um, and that's how and that's how she landed her first client, somebody that was at that [00:24:30] event. Oh, I need that. So yeah, I love being able to say and I just think, yeah, I think everybody should be at least a level one. Um, so that you can say I am a QuickBooks online ProAdvisor.

Alicia Katz Pollock: And I think you should be level two so that you can say that you really, truly know how to use QuickBooks.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Oh yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

Alicia Katz Pollock: All right. So one last piece about it. They have an incentive so that all of you don't wait until [00:25:00] the last minute. Again, certification is open. Recertification is open until June 30th. So so that you don't miss that deadline. Definitely take it early because also if you don't pass the test three times after your third try and you get locked out, there's a ten day waiting period before you can take it again. So make sure you give yourself, um, until mid June to at least start. But they are doing a [00:25:30] drawing of everybody who passes the test, and I can't remember what the award was. I think it was a $250.

Margie Remmers-Davis: $250, and supposedly they're doing a drawing every week.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yes, exactly.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Which is yeah, that's different than what they the incentives they've had in the past. So that's kind of cool.

Alicia Katz Pollock: So considering it's still the first week, I guess by the time you listen to this, we'll now be in the second week. But there's going to be a lot more people procrastinating and taking it later on. So if you want a better chance [00:26:00] at winning that $250 certificate, then gift certificate, then take your certification now. As soon as you're done listening to this podcast, go ahead over to your portal and get started.

Margie Remmers-Davis: That's right. Alicia and I have already gotten recertified, so we're in competition right now for this week's drawing.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Well, I definitely hope I win. I'm actually really proud of myself. I passed my the level two recertification test was two sections. One [00:26:30] of them had ten questions and one of them had 15 questions in them. I believe the questions vary. They're pulled from a question bank. So every time you take it, you're not going to get exactly the same test. But I sat down and I took it, and I finished it in 13.5 minutes. So if you know your stuff, it's not really going to be a big lift. Any last words about certs and recertification?

Margie Remmers-Davis: Uh, no. [00:27:00] I think we've covered everything. Uh, the biggest questions I get are, do I have to recertify? Oh, that's another thing is, you know, if you could just go into just go into your ProAdvisor Academy and it will tell you like there will be a banner that says, oh, recertification is here. Take it before June 30th. But you can also, in the ProAdvisor Academy, look up your certification history and know your dates and all of that stuff.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Um, all right. So [00:27:30] I think we've pretty much covered it. Good luck to everybody on your recertification tests. And, Margie, what's going on in your world?

Margie Remmers-Davis: Um, well, thank you for mentioning our certification programs. We do have a that I should have mentioned this earlier. We publish a free e-book called Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the QuickBooks online ProAdvisor Academy and Certification. It's a long title, but it's a free e-book [00:28:00] that talks about everything that we have mentioned here. Um, as well as, uh, you know, what's covered in the, in the that that show, episode 66 that, that Alicia mentioned. But we actually go in and there are screenshots and it shows you how to sign up for your Qbo account. Um, what makes the Qbo account different than an account that the, um, that the business owners use, how it connects all of that? [00:28:30] Um, it talks about how to load the ProAdvisor Academy, how to navigate the ProAdvisor Academy, which can be a little tricky. Um, for example, if you're in full screen mode, there's no way to exit. So you have to, like, get out of full screen mode in order to be able to actually go back to where you were doing. So all of those little tips and tricks, and we talk in detail about the difference between testing out and doing the in course test and the knowledge checks and, and all of that stuff. [00:29:00]

Margie Remmers-Davis: And, and also some tips and tricks, like for example, um, in the, in the, in course version of the test, you can't go back and review your answers before you submit. You used to be able to do that. Um, always like and you can in the test out version, but you can't inside. So once you submit a question like that's it. So you just need to know that. And then once you're at the very last one it will submit the entire test. And so if you just like [00:29:30] even in the test out version, if you go and submit that last question, you don't have a chance to review. So you have to keep an eye on which question you're on if you want to go back and review your question. So all sorts of like tips and tricks and all of that kind of stuff is in our book. And I put that link in the show notes.

Alicia Katz Pollock: I'm really glad that you go into that depth about certification. And that's one difference between Margie and I with our approaches. Whereas she's got this specific training [00:30:00] and materials to help you with certification. With my trainings, you learn a lot about so much about QuickBooks that you will be able to pass the test. But I don't map directly to the test. Um, and so that's one of the differences between between her and I. What I map to actually is Certiport certification. Certiport is a Pearson company, and they have a certification test that actually predates the ProAdvisor certification. So I was originally QuickBooks certified through them. [00:30:30] And so all of my training materials are mapped for colleges and universities who send their students not to the ProAdvisor test, but to the Certiport test.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Right, which we should point out is a paid test. Unlike the ProAdvisor test, which is free. It's free materials free, you know, free training free, uh, test. Whereas the Certiport is a paid, uh, paid test. And, you know, there are other people that have paid training for that. [00:31:00] So, um, yeah, sometimes people come to me and say, why is this charge? You said it was free. Why is this costing me money? And, uh, it's because it's a different. It's a different test for a different audience.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah, exactly.

Margie Remmers-Davis: All right, so, Alicia, what's going on in your world?

Alicia Katz Pollock: Well, for me, I'm doing something a little bit different next week. Um, on May 13th is my mobile app class. But we're actually trying a different model this time for the very first time, [00:31:30] where we're going to make the class free to everybody. But if you want CPE for it, or you want the recording for it. Then you can buy the class and the class is $37. And up until now, we've always just all of our classes were paid. But we decided that we wanted to open this topic up to a lot of people, because a lot of people don't know that there's a mobile app, or they don't know that they can do QuickBooks on their phones. So on May 13th at 9 a.m., Pacific Time [00:32:00] is going to be our free webinar for QuickBooks mobile app. And then if you do want CPE or you want the recording, you can go in and make that purchase.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Awesome. What day of the week is that?

Alicia Katz Pollock: That is Tuesday.

Margie Remmers-Davis: Tuesday. Okay.

Alicia Katz Pollock: Yeah. So hopefully I will see a lot of you in that class. So this is Alicia Pollock from Royal Wise Calm.

Margie Remmers-Davis: And Margie Davis from Acadia in Accounting Education.

Alicia Katz Pollock: And we will see you in the next one. [00:32:30]