Why Bookkeeping is an Important Skill
New and aspiring business owners may experience financial stress, imposter syndrome, and burnout at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journeys. They may stress over paying off small business loans, wrestle with their new entrepreneurial identities, and may experience burnout from having to wear so many hats and tackle countless unfamiliar challenges, such as business finance management. This holds especially true for those who do not have an educational background in accounting.
Small business owners can alleviate some of this financially-charged stress by educating themselves on basic accounting principles and learning how to keep track of their business’ books. New and aspiring business owners and young business professionals can benefit from learning basic accounting principles and bookkeeping skills, as bookkeeping is essential to understanding and maintaining the financial health of a business. In addition, it is a valuable skill to have in any field of business. For example, HR professionals and advertisers benefit from having accounting knowledge because they must understand and work with specific budgets.
What is Bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping is creating and maintaining the financial records of a business. It involves recording financial transactions, conducting bank reconciliations, preparing financial statements, and working with tax experts and accountants to ensure compliance. Thorough bookkeeping helps the shareholders and owners stay up-to-date on their financial status. In addition, it assists accountants with the tax preparation process. When books are appropriately kept, accountants can file the business’ taxes.
How to Learn Bookkeeping Basics
There are many ways to learn accounting fundamentals and bookkeeping skills. Many colleges and universities offer professional bookkeeping certification courses, although they can be expensive and are often heavily involved, which is not ideal for busy new business owners. Some bookkeepers are self-taught, having used online resources, textbooks, and software guides to jumpstart their bookkeeping careers. Although this is a sufficient and inexpensive alternative to taking a course, it has drawbacks. Learning even the very basics of bookkeeping and accounting is comparable to learning a new language—it can be challenging to comprehend without immersion or the guidance of a seasoned professional.
An excellent alternative to college courses and self-study is to learn how to use bookkeeping or accounting software, such as QuickBooks Online.
What is QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping software package developed by Intuit. This global technology company sells various financial, accounting, and tax preparation software to businesses, individuals, and accounting professionals. It is popular among small to medium-sized businesses due to its ease of use and compatibility with TurboTax, a tax preparation software developed by the same company.
Many features within the QuickBooks Online software make it appealing to small business owners and individuals, including income and expense tracking, receipt capture and organization, mileage tracking, cash flow management, invoicing, payment tracking, and more. Additionally, QuickBooks Online offers live bookkeeping services for an additional cost. This live bookkeeping feature is popular among business owners because it allows them to focus on business development rather than bookkeeping, which can be tedious and time-consuming when done thoroughly and consistently.
QuickBooks Online Accountant
As previously mentioned, QuickBooks Online also markets its software to accounting professionals. QuickBooks Online Accountant is a QuickBooks Online software explicitly designed for accountants, bookkeepers, and businesses. The software has bookkeeping and accounting business management features, allowing professionals to grow their practice and manage their clients’ books from a central place, under one account. QuickBooks Online Accountant grants accounting professionals the ability to perform all necessary accounting tasks for their practice and clients’ businesses, such as editing transactions, making adjustments, reviewing books, etc. In addition, it is entirely free and offers a variety of benefits, including access to the QuickBooks ProAdvisor training program.
QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program
Individuals who sign-up for QuickBooks Online Accountant receive access to the ProAdvisor program. This free, self-paced, and beginner-friendly training system teaches both new and experienced accounting professionals the ins and outs of the QuickBooks Online accounting software.
The QuickBooks ProAdvisor program offers a variety of QuickBooks Online training courses, certification preparation modules, and specialty courses. In addition, the program offers three separate certifications: QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Online Advanced, and QuickBooks Payroll.
QuickBooks’ ProAdvisor program is excellent for beginners because it is easy to understand, self-paced, and offers webinars and videos for those who prefer visual or auditory learning. The training touches on both the software itself and the basics of bookkeeping. It focuses on what goes on “behind the scenes” of the software, making the concepts more digestible to those without accounting experience.
Although QuickBooks Online Accountant is intended for accounting professionals, it benefits business owners across industries. Entrepreneurs can use the QuickBooks ProAdvisor program to learn accounting basics and develop bookkeeping skills. In addition, young business professionals should consider the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program. A QuickBooks Online certification is valuable because it showcases an individual’s proficiency in bookkeeping and basic accounting.
Benefits of Becoming QuickBooks Certified Through the ProAdvisor Program
Free Advertising on QuickBooks’ Find a ProAdvisor Directory
Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors can publish their profile on the QuickBooks Find-A-ProAdvisor Directory. This feature is especially beneficial to new bookkeeping and accounting business owners. It allows these individuals to grow their businesses and build a steady client base in their area.
When an individual completes the training program and passes the certification exam, a digital badge is earned and listed on their QuickBooks ProAdvisor profile. This notifies potential clients of a professional’s proficiency in a specific QuickBooks Online software. Those who take part in QuickBooks ProAdvisor have the opportunity to achieve all three of the certifications offered through the program.
Intuit Marketing Hub
In addition to free advertising on the QuickBooks Find-A-ProAdvisor Directory, individuals who complete the QuickBooks Online certification will be able to access Intuit’s Marketing Hub, which contains a variety of resources for individuals to grow and market their business, such as tactical guides, email templates, and more. This resource is helpful to all new and aspiring business owners and young professionals. It provides them with valuable information to assist them in marketing their new business or idea.
Online Optimism Can Help You Market Your Bookkeeping Business
If you have a bookkeeping or accounting business and need assistance with marketing, Online Optimism can help. We offer a wide range of digital marketing services, such as social media management, SEO management, content marketing, web design, and more. Contact us if you would like additional information on how we can help grow your bookkeeping or accounting business.