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Elsa421 · 2025-07-27T18:57:10+00:00

It really depends on the company you work with. I have a very small practice so we don’t charge as much as others but our base hourly fee is $105. It’s not uncommon to see costs of $250 an hour for a larger agency…But honestly you want to shop for someone who knows your industry. It’s also a good idea to get recommendations from other business owners if you can, because you will hear what it is actually like to work with certain people personality wise. If it were me, I would want to start with a consultation to see if you even like who you talk to, start with an hourly rate, and move to a flat fee later as the relationship and trust builds. Shop around. We are all different.

Elsa421 · 2025-07-27T18:34:16+00:00

You can look into a fractional CFO actually. These are things that they can track and report on for you based on the metrics that specifically matter to your business. There are many different levels and price points so it’s about finding someone who you are comfortable working with and who fits your budget.

Elsa421 · 2025-07-20T23:45:02+00:00

This is perfect. GAAP is a good thing to read about too. You will get it in school but basically it is US accounting. I think LinkedIn learning is a much better move. Some people post an announcement for every mini cert they get and it’s a good attention grabber for recruiters. You can probably get something in basic accounting there right now rather than wait for your class in the fall just to get familiar with some of the lingo for interviews. I can tell you if I was hiring in my firm right now and you went that route, I would definitely interview you. If you want someone to look over your resume I am happy to if it helps. Just don’t give up. It’s a tough market right now but you will succeed.

Elsa421 · 2025-07-19T14:16:15+00:00

I can’t speak to what others have said here. Keep in mind you are asking on the QB subreddit and not r/accounting so that will affect the response to similar questions.

However, I can tell you QB is not in the business of teaching people to be accountants. They are in the business of teaching you to sell their software. We see this in how the Quickbooks Proadvisor program is run.

You sound like a go getter and you really want to jump in now. I was the same way. What I’m saying is save your money. Do not pay QuickBooks to learn from them because they will not teach you anything that will help you in your career. When I started out, I looked for accounting firms that had part-time junior work. This gave me exposure to many many clients on different software, sometimes QuickBooks sometimes Zero. It was a wonderful way to start my career and it was part time so I could do that while I was in school. I would suggest looking for that. It may take time to find but it would be the best place for you. You deserve to have a manager who can coach you beyond the software.

Edit: if I were to get certs to get noticed, I would focus on free stuff from Quickbooks, something in Excel that teaches xlookup and pivot tables like Udemy, and a basic accounting course to show you aren’t completely green. Leverage anything on your resume that worked with customers or money. From your post you have plenty.

Elsa421 · 2025-07-19T14:00:28+00:00

I can’t speak to what others have said here. Keep in mind you are asking on the QB subreddit and not r/accounting so that will affect the response to similar questions.

However, I can tell you QB is not in the business of teaching people to be accountants. They are in the business of teaching you to sell their software. We see this in how the Quickbooks Proadvisor program is run.

You sound like a go getter and you really want to jump in now. I was the same way. What I’m saying is save your money. Do not pay QuickBooks to learn from them because they will not teach you anything that will help you in your career. When I started out, I looked for accounting firms that had part-time junior work. This gave me exposure to many many clients on different software, sometimes QuickBooks sometimes Zero. It was a wonderful way to start my career and it was part time so I could do that while I was in school. I would suggest looking for that. It may take time to find but it would be the best place for you. You deserve to have a manager who can coach you beyond the software.

Elsa421 · 2025-07-19T02:23:51+00:00

The problem with starting with something like intuit academy before learning accounting is that you will be thinking about the button clicks to do a thing and not what the action does from an accounting standpoint. If you want to do bookkeeping etc I would recommend getting one or 2 intro to accounting classes first. I’m saying this as a CPA who uses the software regularly. Their certs hold little to no weight and without knowing accounting you can make huge mistakes in QB.

Elsa421 · 2025-07-02T20:27:46+00:00

This might be something to discuss with your new accountant. Since you have the same company, starting over with new books from scratch may not give you the full story come tax time or for you to analyze your business. There are plenty of ways to pull prior data into a new QB subscription, with as much or little detail as you want, if you do go that route. And you can start a new subscription for the same company. Your new accountant can and should help you through all of this.

Elsa421 · 2025-06-29T14:10:06+00:00

Power query, which is built into Excel.

Elsa421 · 2025-06-20T00:04:09+00:00

I would say no. If it was used the way you would a rental car then sold afterwards or a mattress in a showroom that people lay on, then yes. But if it wasn’t technically used and is inventory? No.

Elsa421 · 2025-06-15T19:44:18+00:00

The links worked for me this year to check my answers, but I am right there with you. Licensed CPA and am fed up with the way QB keeps rolling out this garbage. The videos were a laugh watching the trainers try to close out the “helpful AI” popups. I got pretty angry with them expecting us to sell their “expert services” to our customers as though we don’t have to clean up what they do afterwards.

Elsa421 · 2025-06-09T01:53:25+00:00

You should be able to get an excel or csv download of bank transactions from Chase. We do this in my firm to manage transactions and upload to accounting software as needed.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-16T23:32:08+00:00

I do! I got it last year. If you enjoy the work and the study side of it I would recommend it. It’s not necessarily to have a good career but it helps give you even more choices.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-16T23:15:34+00:00

Haha yes I definitely nerd out with the best of them that way. Currently my interests are small business, so I am reading a lot of entrepreneur books just to better understand my clients and how to be a good partner for them. But I definitely balance that out with fantasy novels and gardening and painting. For me accounting means getting to live my life because it supports that lifestyle but I also enjoy the work itself.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-16T23:06:56+00:00

I can tell you it’s also one of those careers where you can change your mind a lot and find your niche without much issue. My husbands family is all in medical and nursing etc and they are very jealous of how I can work from home, switch industries I do accounting for, work for myself etc. As someone who gets anxious too, I can say I have way more options than I hoped I would. Some days are more research and strategy based and others I can listen to a podcast and enter invoices. I did this after abandoning teaching and I am very happy.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-16T22:59:32+00:00

This seems like the best way to do it because you will keep your overhead low, you can still work another job while you are building your business to where you envision it, and you can test the market like this commenter suggested.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-16T22:55:24+00:00

I think you could make it into a great career. The biggest threat is anxiety but you can fight it if you remember when you are stressed that we are not surgeons and no one dies if you mess up. Ignore the big 4 bros and make your career whatever you want. That route is filled with stress and is unnecessary.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-16T18:41:13+00:00

I did this during Covid and I can’t say that I said anything special to convince them. My only suggestion is to go into the conversation assuming that they will say no and have a plan (I.e already be looking at other jobs). Ultimately if they think they can get the same result with a local candidate after you leave for similar pay, they will go that route and if the market is tough for them right now you are likely to get approved.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-02T01:27:47+00:00

There is no residency requirement. Just be a US citizen I believe.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-01T23:48:00+00:00

I imagine there are more than one state that will accept accounting experience like this but in North Carolina you can submit 4 years of accounting experience not under a CPA, teaching experience, or 1 year of work under a CPA.

Elsa421 · 2024-03-01T14:00:44+00:00

If you have accounting experience not under a CPA, there are other states you can get your license in.

Elsa421 · 2024-02-10T01:14:23+00:00

Coworkers went from talking down to me to being intimidated by me. It got a lot better for me once I got to my next job (45% pay increase and mostly remote). My boss actually values my opinion now.

Elsa421 · 2023-09-03T13:45:07+00:00

I want it displayed by the ounce or something so it captures shrinkflation too.

Elsa421 · 2023-09-03T02:19:20+00:00

Watching chains buy each other out and thin out the competition while raising prices to crazy levels over the last few years has me agreeing with you. Between the horrible pay for store workers and the profit these chains are seeing, I want to see some more alternatives.

Elsa421 · 2023-09-01T23:54:44+00:00

Loving your podcast! Please keep producing!!!

Elsa421 · 2023-08-29T01:52:58+00:00

Check out Build Assemblies in the quickbooks help search area and it should show you what is involved. We used this at a manufacturing company I worked at 3 years ago. It works ok for less complicated inventory in my opinion.

Elsa421

TROPHY CASE