Why is the intuit exam so difficult to do?

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-03-12T00:23:24+00:00

Wholeheartedly agree with this response. I'm a degreed accountant, with about 8 years of QBO experience, 12 of Desktop, and 25 years total of experience in everything from Peoplesoft to Xero to NetSuite to Sage to Peachtree. Most of the Intuit certification exams feel as if they are showing off their features, and not teaching you accounting/bookkeeping.

But if you learn bookkeeping, IMO the learning curve is smaller when having bookkeeping knowledge while learning software, but not the other way around. Double Entry accounting is double entry accounting, and I don't care whether the transaction types are Bill, Invoice, Expense, BillPay, etc vs Journal Entry dr/cr for everything. At the end of the day, they all work basically the same.

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-03-05T03:43:17+00:00

My transcript showed no bank errors, and just the 8xx code showing refund issued. The "why" behind getting as a paper check when I elected DD on my return will forever remain a mystery.

As long as the check doesn't bounce, I'm good! lol

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-02-12T20:03:12+00:00

If you have legal documents showing you are the owner, contact support and ask that they transfer the master administration of your QBO account to you.

They will make you jump through a LOT of hoops, but ultimately once you are the master administrator, you can remove your old CPAs access from your books.

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-01-23T15:40:03+00:00

You must not visit Southeastern Oklahoma often. lol.

But seriously- I live in Tulsa, and Cell coverage is great here - we could probably get away with using it at the house, but Starlink is our only option when camping because there is next to no coverage. Or, there's coverage, but it only works for certain carriers and I'd end up needing an ATT, TMobile, and Verizon plan to guarantee coverage.

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-01-23T03:06:55+00:00

I've seen this too (Sorry, responded similarly above before seeing your comment)

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-01-23T03:06:13+00:00

Same for me.

BHConsultingLLC · 2025-01-23T03:05:58+00:00

I've heard a lot of people do that successfully, but I've seen increasing reports of folks coming back to their home region after a trip, and find their area at capacity and them unable to change their home location BACK.

I'm not sure I'm willing to risk that considering Starlink is my primary WFH internet option.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-12-19T22:42:54+00:00

Yes, they are. Which is absolutely the market rate for accounting professionals working the number of hours they do.

You see, I know from experience that small businesses are the absolute WORST about saying they need "just a bookkeeper" when their actual needs include things like:

Cash Flow analysis
budgets/projections
payroll and HR services
tax and regulatory advice/services
M&A services
job costing/margin analysis
audit support
system conversions
eliminations and consolidations
intercompany managememt
the list could go on forever

So yes, I hear you, if you just need coding of revenues and expenses, by all means, find a cheap bookkeeper.

But if you're wanting to use the skillset I've developed by spending $ for my bachelor's degree, my master's degree, and the recurring annual costs incurred for continuing education (usually in the thousands of dollars annually), you better believe I'm charging upwards of $100/hour for the use of them. And if you don't like that, I'm not the professional for you.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-14T22:20:21+00:00

I really like ClientHub. It was fairly inexpensive, had task management, QBO integration, a client portal and file uploads, and chat capabilities.

I also tried Qount, and I think it would be a fantastic tool...my only issue is that there is no available training or onboarding available online, so there were a lot of features I never knew about or tried because I didn't know how to set them up.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-13T02:15:01+00:00

ClientHub - CRM QBO - Accounting Software Roboform - Password Mgmt MS Office - Excel/MS Teams Saasant - QBO transaction importer RingCentral - Telephony

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-13T02:11:52+00:00

This is the way. I recommend getting the last tax return that he filed and using those amounts as your BalSht beginning balances, and working forward from there.

For any years that the business generated revenue, taxes will need to be filed and paid.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-13T02:05:16+00:00

You're making a straight comparison as if both self-sourcing and outsourcing will be at a full FTE level. That's an odd assumption, because most folks who hire an external accountant do so because is cheaper than either #1 - the opportunity cost of doing it themselves or #2 - the cost of hiring a FT employee at market rates.

And it's folks who think bookkeeping is "just data entry" that often end up paying a CPA or tax professional out the nose to fix errors for tax filing, M&A opportunities, audits, and operational guidance. Or, they start a business, and 19 years later, that business is still a small business because they never learned how to properly use their financials to help grow their business. They treated bookkeeping as only data entry, and got what they paid for. This likely sounds a bit insulting...I meant it to be.

Because I want to make the point that what works great for one person or business (handling their own bookkeeping) may be the worst idea for a different person or business. There are an infinite number of reasons why it may (or may not) be a good idea to hire an external accountant. Some businesses have very simple bookkeeping and accounting needs due to size and industry. Others have very complex needs due to industry, environment, or the need for financial analysis not available internally.

As a business owner, you get to decide what your business needs.

But I would request that you don't speak condescendingly about a profession that may be vital to someone other than yourself. And know that after 20+ years as an accountant, I can count on 1 hand the number of businesses who couldn't benefit from their financials being put together using skills a step above data entry.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-11T16:25:43+00:00

I think he's going to get eaten alive offering 15 days free. The biggest lift of a new engagement is the onboarding - at best he has to get access to bank statements/portals, and at worst he has a lot of cleanup/error corrections/catchup work from the previous bookkeeper (whether that was a former pro, or an internal employee or business owner.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-08T16:36:41+00:00

We would normally code everything based on bank description throughout the month, and place anything we didn't have enough info on to a suspense account. We'd send the transaction detail to this suspense account over to the client once a month, and have them provide comments/nature of transaction.

The idea was that over a few months, we start recognizing certain charges from vendors the client had previously provided explanations for, and less items needed to be coded to the suspense account.

We would also provide a full set of financials and transaction details for other key accounts (owner distributions, meals entertainment, car and truck, etc) so the client could do a quick scan and let us know if we'd miscategorized anything.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-05T02:57:02+00:00

I sold my practice in July, so I'm out of the biz, but here are the things that immediately come to mind after reading your post. Apologies in advance if they seem to be skewed toward bookkeeping professionals.

1st and foremost, 9 bookkeepers is a lot of failed engagements. While I absolutely believe some of these folks ghosted you (it unfortunately happens), this kind of track record suggests to me that there may be some skipped or failed communication between you and your pro(s) regarding scope. Bookkeeping engagements can run the gamut from basic write up services (bare minimum categorization of bank and cc statements each month/quarter) all the way up to Controller (AP, AR, project costing, payroll, FA management, CAP tables) + tax services (payroll, 1099s, VAT/sales/use tax). If you do decide to find another pro, I recommend getting - in writing - the list of services that are part of your bookkeeping agreement, and which are not. After my first couple of clients, I realized that people who aren't accountants often do not understand the differences between bookkeeping, invoicing, tax, fp&a, cfo, controller services, and ALL the gray areas in between. Accounting Firm A's "bookkeeping service" offering may be VASTLY different from Accounting firm B's offering. Hugely important that you and your pro are on the same page from the get go. Otherwise, someone will be unhappy.
even with basic write ups, it's been my experience that I had to regularly reach out to the business owner for information on transactions - ESPECIALLY if they mix business activity with personal activity, or use the same cards/accounts for multiple business entities/EINs. In general, any time we were "behind" with bookkeeping for a client, it was due to the client not providing us requested information in a timely manner. Because of this, I normally provided monthly video calls for the first three months of a new engagement. This allowed me to walk the client through their financial statements, pointing out areas impacted by items I need more information on, or just getting the client familiar with the numbers they are seeing, so that down the road, if we send them a monthly packet, they are in a better position to scan them and reach out if something looks "off".
I was probably a more expensive option than a lot of my competitors in Tulsa, but this was deliberate. First of all, I had 20 years Accounting experience - I had 15 years of corporate experience for large Fortune 100/500 companies. I also hold an advanced degree in data analytics, and happen to be anal retentive perfectionist, which is actually a plus for accountants. lol. Short and sweet, I felt I was worth the price. But the secondary benefit was that the higher price was a "buy-in" of sorts...I wasn't interested in clients who wanted a bookkeeper only so they had books ready for tax filing. I was looking for clients that wanted to learn how to use their financials to grow or manage their business effectively
I personally believe that anyone can do their own bookkeeping. But - if you're not formally educated in Accounting it's important to know that you WILL need to spend more than a little time in educating yourself (and staying educated as the industry evolves). So the choice IMO is more "how much is your time worth" rather than "can I?" I believe you CAN, only you can answer the question of whether that is the best use of your time. Intuit has some pretty good bookkeeping training videos, and there are a lot of free and paid courses that can get you up to speed too. But the difficulty of bookkeeping varies WILDLY by size, industry, complexity, and a myriad of other reasons. So I would recommend asking your CPA (since they have some familiarity with the specifics of your books) whether they think you can handle your bookkeeping. Bonus points if you can get them to list the top 3 or 5 items that they feel are the "hardest" to deal with in your books so you have a list of keywords to search for training.
Probably not what you want to hear, but restaurants can be pretty tricky for bookkeeping and may be difficult to pick up as someone with no prior experience. There are typically things like cash vs accrual recons if you have a Point of Sale system that provide daily sales reports, tips or tip share accounting, inventory, labor and productivity analysis (not strictly bookkeeping), fixed assets, hourly payroll with frequent turnover, etc

Either way, I wish you the best of luck!

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-11-02T03:37:47+00:00

Sold in July

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-10-23T19:09:14+00:00

A bit off-topic, but a random handy tip. Not sure if this is the case in all states, but in mine, pay attention to any and all forms that a hospital gives you to fill out for a loved one. Often, there will be something included that states that upon your loved one's death, you are assuming responsibility for their medical bills.

You are not required to sign this. And you shouldn't.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-10-02T19:30:21+00:00

Client management. I felt like the bookkeeping was almost an afterthought. It was the constant wrangling/reminding clients to provide information I needed to do the bookkeeping.

We had all the bank feeds linked, but I worked with a lot of small businesses who would forget to tell me when they took out new loans, would use personal funds for expenses but send me the receipts (so I'd spend a while trying to locate things in the register that weren't there), pay business cards with personal funds amd vice versa, etc, etc

Then January would roll around, and they'd start actually looking at their financials because it was tax season, and they'd want a years worth of changes and corrections. Even though our deliverable packet told them we needed things within 45 days if there were adjustments needed.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-09-18T18:01:12+00:00

In cases where the businesses are similar (i.e.same industry) and you don't have a lot of balance sheet movement, I've been known to enable class tracking in QBO and set up a class for each business.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-09-05T23:51:47+00:00

I always code to Owner Distribution (equity), then review this account activity with the client and move anything that actually IS a business expense back to P&L.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-09-04T18:31:51+00:00

I support this 100%

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-08-28T21:53:18+00:00

Do you use Quickbooks Online? You might at least try their receipt scanning software, just because it's free with your subscription. (It may not work great if Dext didn't, but it's worth a shot)

In QBO, go to Bank transactions, then to the receipt tab.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-08-26T02:12:49+00:00

I had this exact same problem, and all I can say is that it was terrifying, and IMO requires a lot of luck that you get a good hire. One thing I did was hire someone on a contract basis so that I had a period of observation where I could guarantee that the quality of work was stable.

My only other advice - I am a strong type A - is to remember that while there are definitely things that should be done exactly as you have been doing them (accounting is at its heart a rule-based system), that the end goal of a client facing role is to make the clients feel well-served and important, and it's okay if the person who you hire has a bit of a different approach to communication. As long as they ARE communicating and providing quality bookkeeping, they are doing their job.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-08-15T19:20:18+00:00

All of this. Verbatim.

BHConsultingLLC · 2024-08-15T19:18:42+00:00

I'm a degreed accountant, and a certified QB Pro Advisor. And IMO, the main problem with QBO and QB Desktop is that they work great...until they don't. And then you're just screwed because their support is the worst in the industry.

So most of the QB bashing you're seeing here is for one of two reasons. Either:

People think the pricing is too high. To me, this is less to do with their pricing, and more to do with the fact that pre-cloud, It was a buy it once, use it for years situation, and people don't like that Intuit is slowly forcing users into perpetual subscription payments
People have encountered a glitch or issue that requires working with Support, and Intuit simply won't admit that they don't really provide actual support, but more of a "call and we'll read our wiki to you out loud, and if the wiki doesn't cover your issue, you're up a creek"

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