quickbooks certification

There are 2 certification paths. ProAdvisor for anyone to serve clients and QB Certified User as reference to employer. Which one do you need? 

I guess the former though since I'm just starting out either would do really. Would the latter just be to show my current employer? Are you able to tell me the path for both please?

We're excited you'll be part of our QuickBooks family. I'm here to provide the information you need about learning the certification, @Swordfish. 

You've mentioned that you want to bookkeep for external clients. It looks like you need the ProAdvisor Certification program. With this, there are more involved to help you pass the Desktop certification exam. We'll provide you with training courses that can take up to 12 hours to complete. Just log into your ProAdvisor account. Then, go to the ProAdvisor menu and choose the Training tab. If you haven't signed up yet, go to the ProAdvisor link and click Sign up for free. Complete the signup process so you can view the Training tab. 

Yes, the certification is free along with the webinars. Once you'll get the certification, there is no need to have a strong enough base to serve your external clients. It's because it will help you show off your expertise and use it for marketing materials on your website. This way, you'll get more clients moving forward. 

For your reference, please visit this website: ProAdvisor Certification Overview. Just go to the sections about QuickBooks Desktop certification. It also provides you answers about the frequently asked questions (FAQs) of this program, such as accessing your certification history. 

Additionally, you can join this elite community of QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program members through this link: ProAdvisor Society. You'll find more information about this society to help you unlock the next chapter of your success.

Since you want to learn more about the second path mentioned by Fiat Lux - Asia above, I'm here to share the details about it. Yes, you're correct. The QuickBooks Certified User is a reference you can show to your current employer. Also, it adds to your credentials in your resume if you'll apply to another employer. Here are the three easy steps to get QuickBooks certified: 

1. Find a certification class. 
2. Review the QuickBooks Certification Study Guide. 
3. Take the exam. 

To learn more about this process, check out this website: Supercharge Your Career With QuickBooks Certification. This link also contains more details about stabilizing your QuickBooks knowledge and skills to quickly get an employer. 

Just click the Reply button below if you need further assistance. I'm looking forward to the success of your certification, @Swordfish.

Thanks!

Your first step said to go to the Proadvisor menu. Where's that? I'm stuck on step 1 apparently.

I went to the link you mentioned. It said The recommended path is to complete QuickBooks Online Certification first. Where do I find the details on that? Why is this so complicated!!

Did you visit this link?

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accountants/proadvisor/

Hello there, Swordfish.

I'm here to confirm the details about the QuickBooks Certification and how you can successfully go through the process.

The article provided by my colleague has combined information for all QuickBooks products such as QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. You can check out  the ProAdvisor Certification program FAQ section for some frequently asked questions about the program.

Furthermore, you can view the Proadvisor menu once you sign up for the ProAdvisor Program as mentioned by @Fiat Lux - ASIA.

1. Visit the ProAdvisor Program page.
2. Select the Sign up for free button.
3. Enter your Email address, First name, Last name, Phone number, and Password.
4. Click Continue.

Once done, log out and log back in to your QuickBooks account to implement the update. You should now be seeing the ProAdvisor menu from the dashboard. Select the Training tab, then locate the QuickBooks Desktop Certification to start.

To learn more about the ProAdvisor certification, kindly visit this article: ProAdvisor certification information. It contains complete details such as its basic information, maintaining your certification, and steps on how to resolve issues you may encounter during the process.

Please let me know if you have other concerns. I'm just around to help.

ONLY the QBO Pro Advisor program is free and it starts with having a free QBOA accountant version to begin with. YOu cannot access it from a standard subscription.

As far as desktop certification , the test itself is free but you cannot take the test unless or until you pay teh $349 ANNUAL fee for desktop certification (it gives you a "free" edition of desktop accountant version)

The only exception to this cost I have found is in the UK. You can take the UK desktop test without paying anything.  It is high time that QB-US offered free certification for desktop, especially those of us that have been using it continuously since the last century (yep, over 20 years - 5 1/4 floppies to begin)

there's a separate certification for online vs desktop?

thanks!

the access i have to QB Online is actually through the company I'm doing bookkeeping for. I'm not an employee, just a contract relationship. They got me access on my email address. If I sign up for the Advisor on my email address (the same email I use to login to QBO) would that affect anything?

I did but unless I'm missing something it's not giving a succinct answer. It's asking us to sign up for this and that and shows how to market your self etc etc. The answer should be like 3 sentences long!

Please help me to get certified for a potential job that I may have.