Thursday, October 23, 2014

Forbes: The Peter Thiel Approach To His Investment In Xero

Tom Tualli for Forbes writes: A must-read book for entrepreneurs is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Of course, he knows what it takes to create breakout companies, such as PayPal, Palantir Technologies, Yelp, LinkedIn and Facebook.


OK, so what is it like to get an investment from Peter? Well, Xero CEO Rod Drury certainly knows. “It’s always enriching to spend any time with him,” he said. “He is a thoughtful person with a contrarian bent.”
And yes, Xero has benefited. The company, which operates an accounting platform for small businesses, has over 370,000 customers globally and $100 million in annualized revenues. Currently listed on the stock exchanges in New Zealand and Australia, it looks like Xero will pull off an IPO in the US next year. [snip].   The article continues @ Forbes, click here to continue reading.....
Posted on 12:49 PM | Categories:

Taxpayers Can Invest up to $18,000 in 401(k) Plans in 2015

Michael Cohn for AccountingToday.com writes: The Internal Revenue Service posted the annual cost-of-living adjustments for pension plans and other retirement plans for 2015, allowing taxpayers to contribute up to $18,000 in their 401(k) plans in 2015.
Many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2015 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment, the IRS noted. However, other limitations will remain unchanged because the increase in the index did not meet the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment:
The elective deferral (contribution) limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan has increased from $17,500 to $18,000.
The catch-up contribution limit for employees aged 50 and over who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan is increased from $5,500 to $6,000.
The limit on annual contributions to an Individual Retirement Arrangement remains unchanged at $5,500.  The additional catch-up contribution limit for individuals aged 50 and over is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $1,000.
The deduction for taxpayers making contributions to a traditional IRA is phased out for singles and heads of household who are covered by a workplace retirement plan and have modified adjusted gross incomes (AGI) between $61,000 and $71,000, up from $60,000 and $70,000 in 2014. For married couples filing jointly, in which the spouse who makes the IRA contribution is covered by a workplace retirement plan, the income phase-out range is $98,000 to $118,000, up from $96,000 to $116,000. For an IRA contributor who is not covered by a workplace retirement plan and is married to someone who is covered, the deduction is phased out if the couple’s income is between $183,000 and $193,000, up from $181,000 and $191,000. For a married individual filing a separate return who is covered by a workplace retirement plan, the phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0 to $10,000.
The AGI phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is $183,000 to $193,000 for married couples filing jointly, up from $181,000 to $191,000 in 2014. For singles and heads of household, the income phase-out range is $116,000 to $131,000, up from $114,000 to $129,000. For a married individual filing a separate return, the phase-out range is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0 to $10,000.
The AGI limit for the saver’s credit (also known as the retirement savings contribution credit) for low- and moderate-income workers is $61,000 for married couples filing jointly, up from $60,000 in 2014; $45,750 for heads of household, up from $45,000; and $30,500 for married individuals filing separately and for singles, up from $30,000.
Below are details on both the adjusted and unchanged limitations.
Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans. Section 415(d) requires that the Secretary of the Treasury annually adjust these limits for cost of living increases. Other limitations applicable to deferred compensation plans are also affected by these adjustments under Section 415. Under Section 415(d), the adjustments are to be made under adjustment procedures similar to those used to adjust benefit amounts under Section 215(i)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act.
Effective Jan. 1, 2015, the limitation on the annual benefit under a defined benefit plan under Section 415(b)(1)(A) remains unchanged at $210,000. For a participant who separated from service before January 1, 2015, the limitation for defined benefit plans under Section 415(b)(1)(B) is computed by multiplying the participant's compensation limitation, as adjusted through 2014, by 1.0178.
The limitation for defined contribution plans under Section 415(c)(1)(A) is increased in 2015 from $52,000 to $53,000.
The Tax Code provides that various other dollar amounts are to be adjusted at the same time and in the same manner as the dollar limitation of Section 415(b)(1)(A).  After taking into account the applicable rounding rules, the amounts for 2015 are as follows:
The limitation under Section 402(g)(1) on the exclusion for elective deferrals described in Section 402(g)(3) is increased from $17,500 to $18,000.
The annual compensation limit under Sections 401(a)(17), 404(l), 408(k)(3)(C), and 408(k)(6)(D)(ii) is increased from $260,000 to $265,000.
The dollar limitation under Section 416(i)(1)(A)(i) concerning the definition of key employee in a top-heavy plan remains unchanged at $170,000.
The dollar amount under Section 409(o)(1)(C)(ii) for determining the maximum account balance in an employee stock ownership plan subject to a 5 year distribution period is increased from $1,050,000 to $1,070,000, while the dollar amount used to determine the lengthening of the 5 year distribution period remains unchanged at $210,000.
The limitation used in the definition of highly compensated employee under Section 414(q)(1)(B) is increased from $115,000 to $120,000.
The dollar limitation under Section 414(v)(2)(B)(i) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan other than a plan described in Section 401(k)(11) or Section 408(p) for individuals aged 50 or over is increased from $5,500 to $6,000.  The dollar limitation under Section 414(v)(2)(B)(ii) for catch-up contributions to an applicable employer plan described in Section 401(k)(11) or Section 408(p) for individuals aged 50 or over is increased from $2,500 to $3,000.
The annual compensation limitation under Section 401(a)(17) for eligible participants in certain governmental plans that, under the plan as in effect on July 1, 1993, allowed cost of living adjustments to the compensation limitation under the plan under Section 401(a)(17) to be taken into account, is increased from $385,000 to $395,000.
The compensation amount under Section 408(k)(2)(C) regarding simplified employee pensions (SEPs) is increased from $550 to $600.
The limitation under Section 408(p)(2)(E) regarding SIMPLE retirement accounts is increased from $12,000 to $12,500.
The limitation on deferrals under Section 457(e)(15) concerning deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations is increased from $17,500 to $18,000.
The compensation amount under Section 1.61 21(f)(5)(i) of the Income Tax Regulations concerning the definition of “control employee” for fringe benefit valuation remains unchanged at $105,000.  The compensation amount under Section 1.61 21(f)(5)(iii) is increased from $210,000 to $215,000.
The Tax Code also provides that several retirement-related amounts are to be adjusted using the cost-of-living adjustment under Section 1(f)(3).  After taking the applicable rounding rules into account, the amounts for 2015 are as follows:
The adjusted gross income limitation under Section 25B(b)(1)(A) for determining the retirement savings contribution credit for married taxpayers filing a joint return is increased from $36,000 to $36,500; the limitation under Section 25B(b)(1)(B) is increased from $39,000 to $39,500; and the limitation under Sections 25B(b)(1)(C) and 25B(b)(1)(D) is increased from $60,000 to $61,000.
The adjusted gross income limitation under Section 25B(b)(1)(A) for determining the retirement savings contribution credit for taxpayers filing as head of household is increased from $27,000 to $27,375; the limitation under Section 25B(b)(1)(B) is increased from $29,250 to $29,625; and the limitation under Sections 25B(b)(1)(C) and 25B(b)(1)(D) is increased from $45,000 to $45,750.
The adjusted gross income limitation under Section 25B(b)(1)(A) for determining the retirement savings contribution credit for all other taxpayers is increased from $18,000 to $18,250; the limitation under Section 25B(b)(1)(B) is increased from $19,500 to $19,750; and the limitation under Sections 25B(b)(1)(C) and 25B(b)(1)(D) is increased from $30,000 to $30,500.
The deductible amount under Section 219(b)(5)(A) for an individual making qualified retirement contributions remains unchanged at $5,500.
The applicable dollar amount under Section 219(g)(3)(B)(i) for determining the deductible amount of an IRA contribution for taxpayers who are active participants filing a joint return or as a qualifying widow(er) is increased from $96,000 to $98,000.  The applicable dollar amount under Section 219(g)(3)(B)(ii) for all other taxpayers (other than married taxpayers filing separate returns) is increased from $60,000 to $61,000. The applicable dollar amount under Section 219(g)(3)(B)(iii) for a married individual filing a separate return is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0.  The applicable dollar amount under Section 219(g)(7)(A) for a taxpayer who is not an active participant but whose spouse is an active participant is increased from $181,000 to $183,000.
The adjusted gross income limitation under Section 408A(c)(3)(B)(ii)(I) for determining the maximum Roth IRA contribution for married taxpayers filing a joint return or for taxpayers filing as a qualifying widow(er) is increased from $181,000 to $183,000.  The adjusted gross income limitation under Section 408A(c)(3)(B)(ii)(II) for all other taxpayers (other than married taxpayers filing separate returns) is increased from $114,000 to $116,000. The applicable dollar amount under Section 408A(c)(3)(B)(ii)(III) for a married individual filing a separate return is not subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment and remains $0.
The dollar amount under Section 430(c)(7)(D)(i)(II) used to determine excess employee compensation with respect to a single-employer defined benefit pension plan for which the special election under Section 430(c)(2)(D) has been made has been increased from $1,084,000 to $1,101,000.
Posted on 10:32 AM | Categories:

Etsy Introduces Credit Card Reader to Go Beyond the Web / Etsy Moves Further Into The Offline World With Launch Of Card Reader For In-Person Payments

Jason Del Ray for The Needs writes: Online marketplace Etsy will start offering free credit card readers to some of its U.S. sellers as part of an effort to extend its reach beyond the internet.
The dongles, which can be plugged into a smartphone or tablet, will be used in conjunction with an Etsy app to allow sellers to accept credit card and debit card purchases while hawking their wares at craft fairs and in other retail settings. Etsy says more than a third of the people who sell goods on its online marketplace who are based in the U.S. also sell their products at craft fairs.
With the launch, Etsy will for the first time start earning a cut of transactions that happen away from its digital platform. Sellers using the credit card reader will pay Etsy 2.75 percent of each transaction. The readers are only available to sellers who use Etsy’s own payments platform, called Direct Checkout, to accept credit and debit card purchases on Etsy.com and on the Etsy app. Etsy declined to provide information that would be helpful in figuring out how many of its current sellers would qualify to receive the free reader.
The new product will pit Etsy against other reader providers such as Square, PayPal and Amazon. Square charges the same 2.75 percent fee as Etsy while PayPal charges 2.7 percent. Amazon is taking just a 1.75 percent cut on purchases through the end of 2015, but will raise the fee to 2.5 percent after that. [snip].  The article continues @ The Needs, click here to continue reading...
 Etsy Moves Further Into The Offline World With Launch Of Card Reader For In-Person Payments
Sarah Perez for TechCrunch writes: Crafts marketplace Etsy this morning announced a further expansion into the offline world with the launch of an Etsy card reader product designed for sellers who want to take credit and debit card payments in person. The move is centered around Etsy’s larger goal to become a one-stop shop for creative business owners who are often marketing their goods in the real world, at craft fairs, farmer’s markets, flea markets, and elsewhere, as well as through their own local outreach efforts.

The new product launch also follows Etsy’s recent launch of Etsy Wholesale, a service that connects sellers with Etsy sellers with retailers around the U.S. and beyond, who can help sellers who are looking to expand and scale their businesses to a larger consumer base. Etsy this morning says that the card reader is next step in its “multi-channel strategy” to power commerce both online and off.
“…90% of all retail purchases are still made offline. We know that many of our sellers sell in channels other than their online Etsy shop,” explains the company in an announcement posted to its blog this morning. “In fact, 35% of Etsy sellers sell at craft fairs.” [snip] The article continues @ TechCrunch.com, click here to continue reading...
Posted on 10:03 AM | Categories:

U.K. / KashFlow, Cloud Accounting App that integrates with a number of other applications including PayPal, MailChimp, Dropbox, Tradeshift and other apps...

Kashflow is the perfect accounting solution for every start up and small business. It provides easy to use, intuitive bookkeeping and reporting for your business handling all of your purchasing, invoicing and cash needs.
Hosted online the software is available 24/7, whenever and wherever you need it so gone are the days of sitting at a desk and plugging in invoicing. Now you can manage your business when it suits you and respond to client needs from your computer, phone or tablet.
The benefits of using Kashflow are numerous, but here are a few that our clients have enjoyed:
  • Web based - No download, no software, no issues when your computer goes 'pop'!
  • Easy to use - You don't need to be an accountant to use it
  • Subscription based - Start using it today, right now, just sign up and off you go
  • Transfer from other systems - easily! (Upload data from Quickbooks, Sage or Excel simply)
  • On the go - A handy app can be used on mobiles or tablets to issue quotes or invoices
  • Better accounting - Working with Evans Weir we can 'drop in' to the system and see how you are doing
  • Really easy reporting with reports, charts and graphs - All the ones you must have and all the ones you need!
  • Bank links -  For rapid reconciliation and up to date bank position
As accountants Kashflow has even changed the way we work. With our clients now using Kashflow we have gone from providing the traditional once a year accountancy service to delivering a more proactive function, helping our clients plan during the year and keeping an eye out for issues. Gone are the days of managing your business accounts 8 months and 27 days after the year end in a rush - with Kashflow we can drop into the system and provide you with advice and guidance at any time, shortening month and year end routines and making your business reporting more accurate.

Take a tour of Kashflow here:

Posted on 9:46 AM | Categories:

Intuit Makes Accounting Seem Invisible for Small Businesses with New QuickBooks Online

Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) is delivering on the promise of the cloud with QuickBooks Online, an ecosystem of products and services that makes it easy for small businesses to tackle complex business management tasks so they can focus on their customers and what they love about their business.

"Our mission is to make accounting seem invisible for small businesses by leveraging the power of the cloud so that the time-intensive work of keeping the books organized happens automatically every time an invoice is sent, a customer makes a payment, or an employee gets paid," said Dan Wernikoff, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's Small Business Group. "QuickBooks Online provides a simple, integrated view of how money flows in and out of a business. Instead of spending time trying to reconcile old bills, small business owners can focus on the things that made them passionate about being their own boss in the first place."

Intuit unveiled a hundred new product enhancements at QuickBooks Connect, a first-of-its-kind conference that brought together small business, entrepreneurs, accountants and developers. Key enhancements for small businesses include:

A New Mobile Experience
The new QuickBooks Online mobile experience makes it possible to run a business from the palm of your hand. Significant enhancements include:
  • Bank and credit card transactions are automatically synced with the app, allowing small businesses to stay productive on the go because they always have access to a full picture of their finances (currently iOS only).
  • Key reports - such as P&L and Balance Sheet - can be easily generated, giving small businesses real-time visibility into the health and performance of their business.
  • Getting paid faster - small businesses can enable the payments feature from within the mobile app, and start accepting credit cards - either swipe or key entered - in less than a minute.

Mobile apps are included free with a QuickBooks Online subscription so that small businesses can access their data from a tablet or smartphone. The new experience builds on existing capabilities, such as viewing and editing customer information, and creating and sending invoices.

A New Apps.com Store
The new QuickBooks Online apps store delivers the world's best selection of small business apps, making it easy for small business to find apps specifically designed for their type of business. These apps work seamlessly with QuickBooks Online through deep data integrations that provide small businesses with a unified view of their finances. To date, 400+ apps have been integrated on the QuickBooks Online platform, including a new integration with PayPal and other leading small business solutions, such as Square and Method:CRM.

A New Full-service Payroll Solution
A new full-service payroll solution eliminates the complexities of payroll taxes right inside QuickBooks Online - no more file import or double entry. Small business owners simply enter employee work hours and then choose the option to print checks or use free direct deposit - Federal, state, local tax forms and payments filings are taken care of by Intuit's payroll experts, with 100% accuracy guarantee.
This advanced functionality, which will be available within QuickBooks Online in December, includes:
  • Payroll setup and tax filings handled by Intuit
  • Guaranteed accurate paychecks & payroll taxes
  • Free live US-based support from payroll experts
  • Free direct deposit & year-end W-2s

A New Simplified Payments Offering
A new simplified payments offering means small businesses can get paid faster. With a single account, small businesses can accept mobile payments, credit cards and ACH bank transfers, and take advantage of built-in eInvoicing.
This comprehensive payment solution includes:
  • Invoicing: small businesses can email invoices right from QuickBooks Online with a Pay Now link, letting customers pay instantly online or from their mobile device.
  • Accepting payments: small businesses canaccept ACH bank transfers and all major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.
  • Automatically updated books:QuickBooks Online updates your books automatically as soon as your invoice is paid. We auto-deposit, too.

A New QuickBooks Self-Employed Product
A brand new product built from the ground up, QuickBooks Self-Employed makes it easy for freelancers, contractors, and home-based businesses to organize their personal and business finances so that it is easy to claim expenses and comply with tax requirements. The new product helps entrepreneurs stay on top of their finances by:
  • Connecting accounts: an entrepreneur imports bank and credit card transactions to easily track income and expenses. There's no data entry.
  • Clicking to categorize: with the click of a button, or a swipe on mobile app, an entrepreneur can mark a transaction as Business, so that it's instantly categorized as an IRS Schedule C deduction.
  • Stacking up savings: the product works to help save entrepreneurs time and money by helping them track deductions with confidence all year round.
  • Simplifying taxes: QuickBooks Self-Employed calculates estimated quarterly and year-end taxes so there are no surprises in April.

QuickBooks Self-Employed is available at: selfemployed.intuit.com.
New QuickBooks Offerings for Accountants and Developers
The new QuickBooks enhancements help make the busy work of accounting seem invisible to small businesses. Intuit is also dramatically improving the way accountants work with their small business clients, making accountants more visible and important than ever in helping their clients succeed. To complement the new small business products and services, Intuit is:
  • Revolutionizing the way accounting professionals work with their small business clients so that the books are always up-to-date and the accountant-small business relationship can focus on offering business advice and insights. Click here for more details about the new QuickBooks Online Accountant product.
  • Launching a new developer experience and app store so developers can create next generation business management solutions with best-in-class developer tools and access a global market of cloud-based small businesses. Click here for more details about the new developer experience.
About Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. creates business and financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals.
Its flagship products and services include QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, which make it easier to manage small businesses and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. Mint.com provides a fresh, easy and intelligent way for people to manage their money, while Demandforce® offers marketing and communication tools for small businesses. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.5 billion in its fiscal year 2014. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.
Posted on 9:39 AM | Categories:

Tax Issues for American Citizens Living in Canada: FATCA

Shlomi Steve Levy for Altro Levy writes: Altro Levy has been closely following the implementation of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act(“FATCA”) in Canada. In February, I blogged about the intergovernmental agreement (the “IGA”) between the Canadian and American governments; under the IGA, Canadian financial institutions share information on bank accounts held by U.S. persons that are worth $50,000 USD or more with the Canada Revenue Agency rather than directly with the IRS, which would have violated Canadian privacy laws. (For more information on the details of the IGA, which was signed on February 5, 2014, read our blog on the pros and cons of the IGA here.) FATCA continues to be prominently featured in the news as American citizens living in Canada rail against FATCA and the IGA.

While some Americans living abroad would rather renounce their U.S. citizenship than be subject to FATCA, others are taking a different approach. Virginia Hillis and Gwen Deegan are U.S. persons living in Canada who have filed a lawsuit against the Canadian Attorney General. Hillis and Deegan, who were both born in the U.S. but left when they were five years old, claim that the IGA is unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, including the fact that it violates certain rights protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, such as the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. The pair claim that the IGA also discriminates against U.S. persons solely due to their national origin and country of citizenship. They argue that the IGA allows overly broad U.S. tax laws to reach Canadian citizens and that sharing personal bank account information is a violation of privacy.

FATCA’s primary goal was to find offshore bank accounts sheltering U.S. resident money, but the legislation casts a wide net that ensnares U.S. persons living abroad, forcing foreign governments to provide information on U.S. citizens, some of whom may be “accidental Americans” like Hillis and Deegan, who have never filed U.S. income tax returns and are therefore not compliant with the U.S.’s citizenship-based taxation regime.

Whether Hillis and Deegan’s lawsuit will be successful remains to be seen; it is likely that it will take years of litigation before the suit comes to a close in the courts. Until then, U.S. persons should become aware of the rules of the U.S. citizenship-based taxation regime.

While renunciation of U.S. citizenship might be a strategy for some, the U.S. recently raised the fee for renunciation from $450 to $2350, and, in order to renounce citizenship, U.S. persons must generally be tax-compliant for up to five years prior to renouncing.

Information-sharing between Canada and the U.S. will begin in 2015. U.S. persons living in Canada should contact their team of cross-border advisors as soon as possible to ensure that they are compliant with U.S. law and to find the most advantageous tax planning solution to deal with FATCA based on their own specific facts.
Posted on 9:37 AM | Categories:

Intuit - From Scott Cook's Kitchen Table to Cloud Kingdom / The Story of Intuit to data

William Bill Murphy for the Intuitive Accountant writes: As the story goes, one day Scott Cook and his wife were sitting around the kitchen table asking the age old question, “how do we balance this checkbook”? In their mind there had to be a better way. Scott, based upon his experiences at Proctor & Gamble, when coupled with his awareness of the emergence of personal computers thought there might be a market for software that would help people keep their checkbooks balanced as they paid their bills.

A short time later, Scott Cook, began looking for a computer programmer and found Tom Prolux, with whom he formed Intuit in 1983.  The first version of Quicken was coded in Microsoft Basic for the IBM PC and Pascal for the Apple II; by 1984 they were beginning the first testing of Quicken. Not only was Quicken innovative in its functionality from a personal finance standpoint but it quickly made computer software history by becoming the fastest installing program which permitted users to print a check. By 1985 Intuit was also doing something no other software vendor had done, ‘shrink wrapping software and manuals’, within a few years every other major software vendor followed suite. [snip].  The article continues @ The Intuitive Accountant, click here to continue reading....
Posted on 9:34 AM | Categories:

The all new QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program

Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) announced yesterday the launch of the all new QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program to benefit the more than 100,000 ProAdvisor members around the world. The reimagined QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program will make it even easier for accounting professionals to grow their business and meet the needs of the more than 705,000 QuickBooks Online users around the world. The new program, built into the new QuickBooks Online Accountant, taps into the largest set of benefits ever available: it allows ProAdvisors to unlock additional benefits by passing certification exams or working with QuickBooks Online clients; includes the newly-launched QuickBooks Online Advanced Certification and free access to a Bill.com corporate account.

One Global Program with More Benefits
Beginning in December 2014, the current QuickBooks ProAdvisor and Cloud ProAdvisor programs will combine to become one new QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program. In addition, the new QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program will also help ProAdvisors and their firms reap more online benefits than ever before, including free online products, training, certifications, support and discounts - everything accounting professionals need to support the clients that rely on them. One new benefit, exclusively for ProAdvisors, provides free access to a Bill.com corporate account with up to three users - a $1,700 annual value. ProAdvisors will also be able to earn points by using Bill.com and making referrals to their clients, points they can redeem for cash, gift cards or charitable donations from Intuit.
"The online benefits of the reimagined QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program are massive for accounting professionals," said Luis Sanchez, director of the Worldwide QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program at Intuit. "We listened to member feedback and looked at accounting industry trends globally. The result is the creation of a program that provides benefits most requested by members while also fulfilling the mission of the program itself: to help ProAdvisors grow their practices and meet the needs of their clients."

Two Ways to Unlock Benefits: Certifications and Clients
The new QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program has the same three membership levels that exist today, Silver, Gold and Diamond, but members now have new ways to enjoy greater benefits by graduating to higher membership levels. In addition to ProAdvisors being able to move up member levels by passing QuickBooks certification exams, they can now also do so based on the number of QuickBooks Online clients their firm serves. Only Certified ProAdvisors, however, can be listed on the Find-a-ProAdvisor website, an online directory that receives more than 600,000 visits a year by small businesses looking for help from a QuickBooks expert.
The qualifying criteria for the member levels are:







Levels

Silver

Gold

Diamond
Certifications

Not Certified

Any QuickBooks
Certification

Any Advanced
QuickBooks
Certification
OR






Number of
QuickBooks
Online Clients

0 to 4

5 to 19

20+
New QuickBooks Online Advanced Certification and New Badges
Education continues to be at the core of the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program. In Fiscal Year 2014, QuickBooks Online certifications grew by 250 percent worldwide. As a result, the ProAdvisor Program now offers QuickBooks Online Advanced Certification, a brand new certification that helps accounting professionals further distinguish themselves from their peers and attract new QuickBooks Online clients. For the first time ever, ProAdvisors interested in serving their growing number of online clients can reach the Diamond membership level and enjoy all its benefits, including premium technical support. The new QuickBooks Online Advanced Certification will help ProAdvisors better serve online clients and gain access to more program benefits.

Additionally, a new set of ProAdvisor certification badges will be available for Certified ProAdvisors to use in marketing materials, including business cards, websites and brochures starting in early December.

Built Into the New QuickBooks Online Accountant
Starting in December 2014, the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program can be accessed directly from the new QuickBooks Online Accountant, doing away with the need for a different username and password to access ProAdvisor member information and benefits. Key elements of the ProAdvisor Program experience within the new QuickBooks Online Accountant include:

  • ProAdvisor Dashboard: View ProAdvisor information including member level, number of QuickBooks Online Clients and certification status to quickly understand necessary actions to move to the next level.
  • Training and Certification: Improve expertise through a comprehensive QuickBooks training program. ProAdvisors are able to choose from more than 70 optional QuickBooks training courses to expand their knowledge and to prepare and take certification exams.
  • Online Directory Profile: Sign up for, view, edit and publish their Find-a-ProAdvisor directory profile.
  • Resources: Leverage marketing documents, templates and other resources to help accountants grow their practice.

Pricing and Availability
The new QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program is free for all accounting professionals to join starting in December 2014. For accounting professionals serving QuickBooks desktop clients, they will be able to purchase QuickBooks desktop software, desktop certifications and desktop support for an additional fee of $549.
Resources

About Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. creates business and financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals.
Posted on 9:31 AM | Categories: