What is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor?

Intuit provides three different levels of ProAdvisor:

• QuickBooks ProAdvisor
• QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor
• QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor

So what’s the difference?

QuickBooks ProAdvisors – ProAdvisors pay a membership fee to Intuit every year. Members receive free software, and access to a special hotline for technical support. They also have the option of participating in certification programs, but are not required to be certified to be called a ProAdvisor.

QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor – A certified ProAdvisor has gone through certification training, and has passed a certification test. Certification is specific to the year of the product’s release. A certified ProAdvisor must certify on each new release to maintain their Certified status.

QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor – Once a ProAdvisor has certified three years in a row, they become eligible to participate in the QuickBooks Advanced Certification Course, which is designed to deepen the expertise of ProAdvisors, and distinguish them as highly proficient in this field. It requires a deep understanding of accounting principles, expert knowledge of QuickBooks and the ability to troubleshoot client data files. Advanced Certified ProAdvisors are required to complete an annual certification exam and complete continuing education courses to maintain their Advanced Certified status.

So as you can see, not all ProAdvisors are created equal! Brian received his first QuickBooks certification in 2006, and has been a QuickBooks Advanced Certified ProAdvisor since 2010.