Tips for the Quickbooks Online ProAdvisor Test
I love the FREE QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certification program for bookkeepers. If you’re looking to build rapport and credibility with your clients, the certification can help you do that.
But what does it take to become certified as a ProAdvisor? How much time do I need to invest? Is the test difficult? Is it worth it?
That’s exactly what we’re talking about today! I’m going to give you the scoop on what it takes to complete this exam and my best tips to pass the first time.
You can watch the video here, or keep reading.
Basic Structure and Rules of Test
The ProAdvisor certification is essentially fast and free for you to build your credibility and knowledge as a bookkeeper. The ProAdvisor exam has eight sections and 75 questions. You’ll see in your training that there are eight modules, and each of those modules directly corresponds to a section of the test.
I recommend that you take the training on one module, and while it’s fresh in your mind, take the test on that section.
In the exam you can see each of the eight modules, and it tells you how many questions there are as well as the approximate amount of time they believe it will take you to complete. The test will take you about three hours to complete if you take it in one sitting.
It’s convenient that this test is broken up into these different sections because each section essentially stands alone. You can begin a section, go through the whole thing, go back and review it if you want. Then, once you have a good grasp on the material, you can immediately take that portion of the exam and submit that section.
There isn’t a time limit for completing each section or for the full exam, so you have the ability to spend as much time on the exam as you need to.
To pass the exam, you need to get an 80% or higher. I passed my exam on my first try, but it did not tell me my score. I don’t know which questions I got right, which I got wrong, or what percentage I finished with. It will just tell you if you passed or failed.
If you do receive a score lower than 80%, you will be able to only retake the sections that you failed, so that is also really nice. You don’t have to complete the full exam a second time around. It will prompt you to go back to the section or sections that you need to retake, tell you to review them, and retake when you’re ready.
You have three chances to pass the exam. If for some reason, you don’t pass on your third attempt, you need to wait 60 days before you can take the exam again.
My impression of the test is that it was appropriately difficult, but it wasn’t so hard that you couldn’t pass it with the training provided. In order to pass, you do need to have a definite knowledge of QuickBooks and do the required training in the course.
Related QuickBooks Resources:
What Types of Questions are on the Exam?
Personally, I had been a bookkeeper for about six years before taking the certification. What held me back was the time it would take me to complete the training and the exam. However, it had been on my to-do list for a while, so one day I just decided to jump in and take the exam to see how I would do. It was definitely harder not going through all the training prior. I didn’t know all the answers to the questions. Some of them I had to look up. I thought it would be helpful to let you in on what types of questions are asked on the ProAdvisor exam.
Where items are located in QBO
A good chunk of the questions have to do with finding things within QuickBooks Online. Because of this, one thing I found handy was having a separate browser open with QuickBooks so I could use it as a reference during the exam.
General knowledge of bookkeeping
These questions were ones I already knew and were easiest for me to answer within the test. Here’s an example:
Q: “Why would something need to be excluded from bank feeds?”
A: It would need to be excluded because maybe it fed twice from the bank so you wouldn’t actually need to approve it and put it into QBO, or maybe you already recorded it manually in QBO.
So this is the type of general knowledge questions that you can expect to see on the exam. If you’ve been bookkeeping for a while, you probably already have a good understanding of these questions.
Teach or educate you about a function in QBO
I learned something new when I made it to these types of questions because they were geared toward teaching or educating you on a particular and specific function within QuickBooks that you may not already be familiar with.
Here’s an example: “Your client cannot make a journal entry.”
I didn’t realize that clients can’t do this function until I took this test because I don’t always necessarily know what I can do versus what my clients can do. The Accountant QB view is different from the clients’.
Some other things I learned while taking the test:
You can set an invoice to see when the person or company has viewed it.
You can set a rule so that QBO will automatically add classes into your bank feeds.
What I found intriguing by taking the exam is that I was learning more about the program itself. When I had to go look a question up, sometimes I found a new function that I didn’t know existed. I gained some great tips about what QBO online can do to help me in my bookkeeping practice.
Promote QBO functions
Some of the questions were promoting different QuickBooks Online functions that I didn’t necessarily care to learn. There’s a whole ‘projects’ section on QBO that you can use that I haven’t tried myself because it’s similar to a project management tool, and I have my own system outside of QuickBooks that I prefer.
An example of this was the question: “Is a note automatically pinned?” I have never even created a note in QBO, so I had to search around to figure out if and how you could pin a note.
Here’s another example: They asked the question, “What are the benefits of invoicing?” Some of the answers you could choose were things like, “It’s easy for the client,” or, “All your finances are in one place.”
Questions like that made it seem like they were more so promoting how awesome their online program is. These questions stuck out to me because they were ones I didn’t really know, but they didn’t seem relevant to bookkeeping itself. Rather, it was just about the QuickBooks program itself and the functions it boasts.
How are the Questions Formatted?
All of the questions were multiple choice, but written slightly differently. Some were formatted to choose three of the five answers, and some didn’t even tell you how many you had to choose. For those you had to pick all the answers that are correct, and those are always trickier, in my opinion because you really can second guess yourself. The questions I liked were the fill-in-the-blank because they were a step-by-step type of question that they were leading you on how to do the process.
Final Impressions and Tips
Overall, I thought the ProAdvisor certification was a great experience because it was appropriately hard, I learned a few new things, and it was definitely worth the three hours they approximate the exam taking.
What worked for me was to dedicate a full morning to finishing the exam. I worked through a section, took a little break, worked through another section, took a little break, and continued this schedule until I completed the test. I powered through and got it done!
If you’ve been putting it off for a while, I definitely recommend taking the certification. If you have a good chunk of bookkeeping experience already, you can try doing it like I did and move right to the exam rather than taking the seven hours to complete the self-paced modules of training first. Focus on it and get it done!
OTHER RESOURCES:
Sign up for QuickBooks Online Accountant: ProAdvisor Account
Margie's QBO Test Prep (code "finepoints" for $30 off) : Fast and Easy QBO (basic)
Margie's QBO Test Prep (code "finepoints" for $100 off) : Fast and Easy QBO (advanced)
Have you taken the certification already? What did you think about the test? If you haven’t taken the training yet, are you planning to? Do you have any other specific questions about the exam?
