I started thinking back to my first accounting job as an intern for a CPA firm. In those days (some 16 years ago) most small businesses operated solely from their paper check registers. These clients would deliver these check registers along with bank statements to their CPA's on a monthly basis and all accounting information would be accumulated by the CPA in their bookkeeping software and reports and financial statements would be returned to the client. It was simply too expensive for many small business clients to afford the cost of maintaining the accounting software on their own.
Then along came softwares such as QuickBooks that offered clients the ability to bring the entire accounting process in-house with a fully integrated software at a reasonable price. Small business could now operate check registers, run payroll, process accounts payables and receivables, and generate up-to-date financial statements from their own offices. This was a wonderful opportunity for clients to have financial information at their fingertips. Remember before this innovation, clients were at best 30 days behind in knowing their exact financial position at any given time.
But, the work for the CPA's didn't suddenly decrease at this point. Since the introduction of QuickBooks, CPA's have been intimately involved in the operation and support of these accounting softwares with their clients. I can't begin to count the number of installations and training sessions I have done with clients over the years. And who better for this task. The CPA knows his/her clients. We have been working with them closely and have come to understand where the areas of concern are in each client and their abilities in operating and understanding any software. I have thoroughly enjoyed the years of working with clients on their various accounting systems. That involvement really assists the CPA in fully grasping the important issues for each client.
As I stated, I have been offering support and training on QuickBooks for many years. However, only recently I took the step to formalize my credentials in this area. I have now completed the certification process to become a certified QuickBooks 2008 Pro Advisor.
The Pro Advisor program consists of extensive training and testing of CPA's and other professionals to ensure that they have a broad and complete understanding of the QuickBooks software. This certification serves notice to current and potential clients that a CPA has taken the necessary steps to become competent in the operation and installation of the software. The program requires that an accounting professional exhibit competence by completing exams in various areas dealing with installation, operation, and reporting of the QuickBooks software and achieving grades of at least 85% on all exams. I have to admit, I am very proud to have been able to complete the process. It was definitely not simply a lesson in going through the motions to obtain some sort of certification that really didn't challenge me. The testing was difficult and the information was absolutely pertinent to the day-to-day operations of my clients.
But, most importantly, this certification must be fully renewed each year. Clients can feel comfortable that a QuickBooks Pro Advisor has kept up-to-date on their training and understanding of the Software.
I look forward to making QuickBooks an important part of my CPA practice.
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