The text below was written in 2019. The ProAdvisor Exam has changed some.
The main thing that you need to read on this article is TIP #5. Prove every wrong answer wrong in addition to finding the correct answer.
Beyond that, I highly recommend the resources from Margie Remmers-Davis and her Fast and Easy QBO program. I have used her training material to pass my annual recertification in June.
- Everything you wanted to know about the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor Certification* (free eBook)
- QuickBooks Online Basic Course* (finish cert in about 4 hours)
- QuickBooks Online Advanced Course* (finish cert in about 8 hours)
Use code “Hustle” (capital H, no quotes) for a discount on her resources.
Interview with tips about passing your QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certs with Margie Remmers-Davis recorded Jan 2021.
How To Pass The QuickBooks ProAdvisor Exams
I first passed my QuickBooks ProAdvisor Exam in 2017. I also passed my QuickBooks ADVANCED ProAdvisor exam in 2019. I can’t recall for certain if I passed all sections of the Core Certification on the first try, but I am pretty sure I did. I do remember that I passed all 10 sections of the Advanced Certification on the first try. The reason I remember was that I almost fell out of my chair when I got my results. I thought I’d have to retake at least a section or two. I was pretty excited about that feat.
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So, I guess that means that I know a thing or two about passing these exams, and I want to share my own tips with y’all about how to successfully pass the certification. These tips apply to both the Core and Advanced Certs.
If you have gotten this far into your bookkeeping journey, you’ve already created your QuickBooks Online ACCOUNTANT account. That is a necessary first step in this journey. If you haven’t done that yet, you can follow the steps in this article.
Some things to note about these exams (as of spring 2020):
- You have to pass all the modules with a score of above 80%.
- You only have three chances for each module.
- Modules can be taken in any order.
- All the modules are independent of each other, but if you fail any one module three times, that means you fail the entire test.
- If you do not pass the test in three tries (even just one module), you must wait 60 days to attempt the exam again and will have to pass ALL modules (it doesn’t matter if you passed 9 modules on the first try and only failed one section 3 times).
So here are my tips. I hope they help some folks.
Tip 1: Watch the online trainings for each module.
You might think you can skip this part because you have been using QBO for a long time. I still think forcing yourself to watch the training is a valuable use of time if your goal is to get the cert. It will be especially valuable if you have to waste time retaking a module because you dove in too early. And REALLY especially valuable if you fail the allotted 3 chances and get locked out of the test for 60 days. Also, by signing up for the trainings, you get access to notes once the training is finished. These PDFs are very valuable because the test is open book. Having access to these PDFs is CRITICAL to your success at passing the exams.
Tip 2: Take the exam for a module as soon as possible after you have studied for that module.
When I took the Advanced Exam this, the online training was spread over three days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I believe). I watched the training, did any additional studying I wanted to do, and then took the exam for those sections before worrying about the next sections. Those were some longer work days. For this task I had to coordinate schedules with my husband and was out of the house for the entire afternoon for all three of those days.
The point of this tip is to emphasize NOT to do all your studying and then all your test taking. Take the test for a section right after you study for that section. You can jump around the test order if you need/want to.
Tip 3: You MUST get the PDF supplements to each module
So, didn’t I just tell you in Tip 1 that you need your PDFs? Yes. But here is the deal. Intuit is ALWAYS changing (improving?…yes, mostly) things. Sometimes they change the PROCESS. Sometimes they change the SOFTWARE/WEB ENVIRONMENT. Since I have taken my exams, I cannot keep up with all their changes. My point is that there are extremely detailed PDFs that accompany each module. YOU MUST GET THEM. You’ll have to figure out where they are. When I took Advanced exams, they were right HERE. Inside this empty, scribbled red circle.
Why are they not there? I don’t know. Maybe they will come back. I’d check there, if I were you. You might have to sign up for some other webinar to get them? You could chat with QBO Support and ask. Be a problem-solver. Because this is not something you can skip.
You have to find out where they are.
Ask inside the Bookkeeping Side Hustle Group if you can’t find them. Someone will have recently taken the exams.
Tip 4: Tech Tips
- Take the exam in an INCOGNITO CHROME browser. You must do that.
- To open an incognito Chrome browser, press CTRL+Shift+n. (in Mac, it is your Command+Shift+n). If you’ve never “gone incognito”, don’t be scared by the sketchy little dude who looks like a spy and the unnerving black screen.
- The reason you need to be in incognito is because sometimes the testing center has some unexplainable computer gremlins inside and can malfunction for no explainable reason. Then you’ll want to cry because it didn’t record your test submission and you’ll chat with the Intuit help desk and they’ll tell you to “clear your cache” or some other computer wizardry. But you’ll still be required to go take that exam again. Incognito gives you the cleanest, freshest starting point. Like you are taking it from a brand new computer.
- Change your settings in your QBO Accountant account to not log you out after 1 hour. Set it for 3 hours. Ask me how I know this.
- Have two computer screens, if possible. Even two unconnected laptops will work.
Tip 5: Verify WRONG ANSWERS, not just look for the right answer.
Ding! Ding! Ding! You’ve arrived at the golden nugget. This tip is where I bring my secret sauce, I believe. Stay with me. To follow my strategy, you need the following programs open on your computer.
- Incognito browser that is only for taking your exam.
- Additional browser where you are logged AGAIN to your QBOA account and have opened up the account for the demo company called Craig’s Landscape.
- PDF documents related to each exam module that your received from your certification training that you recently took. (Remember, those PDF that might take some effort to get, but you followed Step 3 and made sure you had them.)
- Snipping Tool – It is literally just called Snipping Tool and should already be installed on your computer.
- Word Document
You go to your QBOA training portal and open the EXAM module for in your incognito chrome browser and start taking your exam.
When you get to your first question, immediately use the Snipping Tool to take a screen shoot of the question and all answers. That IMAGE is what you are going to want to work off of as you try to find the answer that question. Utilize the QBO demo company in your regular browser, and the PDF modules to start answering that question. Use the writing tool in the Snipping Tool to put an X on the answers that you confirm are wrong and a CHECK on the answer(s) that are correct. I change my “pen” to red and thick so it stands out to my eyes.
Use the Search Function (CTRL+F) in your PDF to help you navigate to the relevant parts of the exam. And also use the demo company to actually walk through the steps the question is asking about.
Don’t move on until every option has an X or a CHECK. Sometimes I put a scribbled “?” on one if I am not sure so I know to come back to it after I confidently eliminate more options. By the time you are finished with an exam question, the little image will look like a child scribbled all over it.
I can’t put a screen shot of my actual images because that would be enabling cheating, but I created a little example here. Don’t move on until your Snipped Image looks something like this.
Going through all the answer options IN THE PDFS and IN THE DEMO COMPANY is a really important step. Do not just use your memory to recall what you heard in the training videos or what you recall from your years using QBO. This test is tricky. As in, sometimes there is an answer that looks deceptively correct. Sometimes a single word can be wrong (even thought it might be a synonym for the correct answer). So as you force yourself to go through each option, you realize, “Oh, this option looks right, too. So why is my original guess wrong? I better go pick that one apart. Ah…those tricksters! I see on page XX of the study guides how this answer is wrong. Ha! Can’t fool me!”.
Then, when you have put an X on every wrong answer and a CHECK on the correct answer, you copy the image (CTRL+C) and go paste it (CTRL+V) in your Word Document for that exam module. Then type a few comments explaining any of your thought process. The reason you save your answers is that I think it would be helpful if you do have to retake your exam. You won’t necessarily get the same questions and you aren’t going to know what you missed anyway, but I think having those questions as a resource for further study could be another tool in your study kit.
After you are finished with your exam, save your word document in a folder and label it with the name of that module.
Tip 6: Go slow
This is my other best idea.
So, I may be a loud and fast talker, but I’m slower at any new thing related to bookkeeping. But hey, I passed my QBO Advanced exam in one try. By going slow, did my time working on this certification pretty much even out compared to if I had gone fast and had to retake a module or two? I’d say so.
I think the folks who have worked in QBO the longest are at greatest risk of thinking that they can blow through it. I’ve seen it quite a few times in different accounting Facebook groups. Unfortunately, it is often the “old dogs” that can’t get that Advanced Cert even though they are much better bookkeepers. Yes, you are probably a better bookkeeper than me, but I’ve got the badge. Why? Because I my lack of knowledge made me know I had to go slow, but I didn’t get tricked by the test’s tricks. You might decide you don’t need the badge. That is totally fine. I’m not claiming it is some magic thing. But if you WANT IT, go slow and follow all my other steps, too.
Tip 7: Screenshot a record of your passed exams
Like I said earlier, as with everything that is out there in the internet, there sometimes can be gremlins inside the Intuit servers. Well, not really, but I don’t know how else to explain it. I just know that I have heard people say that they have not gotten credit for passing because of strange computer glitches. And I’ve personally had to retake modules because of who-knows-why. So if you do get that passing score, get some proof in case you get into any battles with the servers (not even sure that is the right computer word) and want to try to plead your case to Intuit to credit you.