What Can You Do With a QuickBooks Certification?

A QuickBooks certification helps accountants and financial experts show prospective clients their proficiency with QuickBooks, a business accounting software. Earning this certification also gives you a free listing on the company's Find-A-ProAdvisor directory and offers access to certification badges that could help you attract new clients. Learn more about QuickBooks certification and how it might benefit your financial or accounting career.

Read more: Your Guide to Small Business Accounting

What is QuickBooks certification?

QuickBooks certification helps you learn how to navigate the QuickBooks software and use its features to your or your client's advantage. QuickBooks is a popular small business accounting software. It's commonly used to manage income and expenses and can help companies manage payroll, pay bills, and file taxes. Certification shows clients and employers you have the expertise needed to use QuickBooks for their accounting needs.

Read more: What Does a Certified Bookkeeper Do, and Do You Need One?

What can you do with QuickBooks certification?

QuickBooks certification can give you a competitive edge when applying for accounting or bookkeeping jobs. Certification training shows you how to input information, keep it organized, and pull reports from the data. Some of the key tasks you'll be able to complete when you have mastered QuickBooks include the following: 

Invoicing

You can create invoices and send them directly to clients. The software will keep records of each invoice sent and when it's paid and can provide reports to calculate income generated by a specific client over time. With QuickBooks, you can personalize each invoice by adding a company logo and customizing fields to ensure each invoice is professional and on-brand.

Paying bills

You can pay bills through QuickBooks by connecting a company's bank accounts or credit cards. Doing so allows you to keep a running tab on bills and records of amounts and time paid. An accounts payable report provides all of the bills at a glance. 

Tracking expenses

You can also track and itemize expenses in QuickBooks. During tax time, you can easily pull reports to identify business expenses, which can ease the burden of filing.  

Monitoring financial health

QuickBooks allows you to help small business owners monitor their financial health. Dozens of templated reports exist in the software, like invoices, sales receipts, estimates, purchase orders, and bill payment stubs. You can also access industry-specific templates, including construction, contractor, freelance, sales, consulting, and more. Customized reports are possible, too, like comparing income generated by clients. 

Managing payroll

QuickBooks has all the tools necessary to manage payroll, including time-tracking tools, direct deposit, calculators to crunch taxes and withholding, and features to pay payroll taxes electronically. For advanced payroll services, you may need to upgrade your QuickBooks membership. 

Read more: A Guide to Bookkeeping: Skills, Salaries, and Careers

How do you earn QuickBooks certification?

You must pass a competency test to earn a QuickBooks certification. While you can simply sign up for the test and take it immediately, consider taking a training course first to prepare. To obtain a QuickBooks certification, follow these steps:

1. Sign up for an account and pick a course.

To complete training or register for an exam, you must sign up for QuickBooks Online Accountant and access the ProAdvisor tab. You can sign up for free. 

You can then choose from the following QuickBooks courses:

• QuickBooks Online

• QuickBooks Advanced Online

• QuickBooks Desktop

• QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

• QuickBooks Online Payroll

2. Utilize the training courses and study guides.

Earning a certification requires you to take and pass a test given by QuickBooks. Before you take it, you can access training videos, study guides, webinars, and practice exams through the QuickBooks Online Accountant dashboard. 

Start your journey at the Certification Hub, where you can find introductory information about the certification and the exam. Training modules can help you learn about the software, its features, and how to use them, all of which prepare you for the exam. The resources are all self-paced and accessible on your schedule. 

3. Take the QuickBooks certification exam and get your scores.

From your account, select "QuickBooks Online Certification" and "Take Exam." 

The exam consists of seven multiple-choice sections. Once you complete all of the sections and review your exam, you'll submit it for a score. You need 80 percent to pass each section [1]. You can retake sections if needed.   

4. Get the certification and create your ProAdvisor profile.

When you pass all five sections, you'll get an electronic copy of your certification and gain access to the ProAdvisor directory, where small businesses look for QuickBooks experts.

Which jobs utilize a QuickBooks certification?

A QuickBooks certification is helpful for anyone who works with small business finances. A tax consultant, for example, could earn a QuickBooks certification to help QuickBooks users file their business taxes. Additional jobs that utilize this type of certification might include:

• Accountant

• Bookkeeper

• Tax preparer

• Financial consultant

• Business accounting specialist

• Accounting clerk

• Accounting assistant

• Accounts payable clerk

• Accounts receivable clerk

What kind of salary can you earn with QuickBooks certification?

According to Payscale, the average annual US pay for a person with a QuickBooks certification is $20.79 per hour or $56,000 per year [2]. A QuickBooks certification can help you demonstrate your QuickBooks skills and may help you attract new customers who are looking for an expert in this particular software. Certifications tend to open more professional opportunities, which can translate to higher income.

However, salary isn't necessarily tied to a certification alone. A certification usually complements existing skills and experience in the field. An accountant, for example, might get a bonus or pay raise for completing the QuickBooks certification.

Getting started with QuickBooks on Coursera

QuickBooks certification helps to demonstrate to potential employers that you have the skills and expertise needed to use QuickBooks in a financial or accounting role successfully. If you'd like to supplement your education in the accounting field, consider additional online courses on Coursera, such as Intuit Academy Bookkeeping Professional Certificate or Bookkeeping Basics. Intuit, the owner of QuickBooks, provides instruction for both courses, which serve beginners and offer a flexible schedule.