Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/555302
32 August 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com THE PROADVISOR SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED CONTENT "A g o o d p a r t n e r d o e s t h r e e t h i n g s: g i v e s y o u g o o d a d v i c e ; introduces you to new friends in the form of mentors, clients and other business partners; and supports you. As we prepared to roll out the next version of our ProAdvisor certifca- tions, we had to ask ourselves, 'W hat are we doing to support these three things and how can we continue to do it i n t he f ut u re? ' Helpi ng ou r P ro A d v i s or s s u c c e e d a l l c ome s down to us being a good partner," s a i d L u i s S a n c h e z , D i r e c t o r o f I nt u it 's Qu ick Book s ProAdv isor program. Intuit believes the purpose of its role as a partner is to help accoun- tants become trusted ProAdvisors. T h i s w i l l he lp t he m g row t he i r practice by geting more clients, and a l so del iver i ng bet ter ser v ice to existing clients. For accountants to truly move into the trusted advisor role, they have to embrace current and future technology. "Ou r CEO Brad Sm it h a lway s says, 'Change can happen to you or through you. It's your choice.' We want change to happen through our ProAdvisors and us, not to us," said Sanchez. Giving Good Advice Intuit is commited to ensuring its ProAdv isors stay up-to-date w ith the latest training and certifcations. A s such, it has released three new Quick Books ProAdvisor certifca- t ion s a nd upd ated it s A dv a nced Certifed ProAdvisor Online certi- fcation. Te three new certifcations are Certifed ProAdvisor Enterprise, Certifed ProAdvisor Point of Sale and Advanced Certifed ProAdvisor Desktop. A ll four certifcations were announced at Scaling New Heights. I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e n e w a n d updated certifcations, Intuit is also partnering with Ron Baker, founder of VeraSage Institute, to ofer guid- ance to professionals on switching to a value pricing model. Much like cloud-based accounting, the future of t he profession l ies w it h va lue- based pricing. Many professionals have a l ready stopped bi l l i ng for t i me, but for t hose t hat haven't , I nt u it is com m itted to prov id ing guidance and resources. Introducing New Friends Intuit has built up its Quick Books ecos y stem over t he yea r s a nd i s cont i nuously lau nch i ng pa r t ner- sh ips w it h new apps t hat its c us- tomers ca n benef it f rom . R ecent p a r t n e r s h i p s i n c l u d e B i l l . c o m , TSheets and Receipt Bank. As part of its partnerships with TSheets and R ec eipt B a n k , I nt u it c u s tomer s received lifetime accounts. Other benef it s of t he pa r t nersh ip w it h Receipt Bank include a 50 percent discount for multi-user clients and dedicated support, as well as access to training and certifcation In addition to its partnerships and apps, Intuit is commited to helping its ProAdvisors fnd new clients. Te company built its "Find A ProAd- v isor" director y into Quick Books Sma l l Busi ness to con nec t sma l l business owners with trusted Pro- Advisors. A n updated version will soon be released that w ill include more detai led infor mation about each ProAdvisor, and make it easier for business owners and ProAdvi- sors to connect. Supporting Partners I nt u it bel ieves i n l isten i ng to its c u stomers a nd respond i ng to feedback . Te best way to do this is to ensure that they have the best cus- tomer service agents in place when customers reach out, which is why I nt u it is com m itted to cross-training its support a g e n t s w i t h a c c o u n t i n g knowledge. In order for t h e m t o e f f e c t i v e l y s o l v e c u s t o m e r s ' p r o b l e m s , a g e n t s must have an under- standing of why an issue is a problem. I nt u i t a l s o p e r - forms regular tests on its apps and solutions to ensure they are efec- tively solv ing customers' pain points. New apps undergo v igorou s te s t i ng before t he y a re released to the QB ecosystem. Afer- wards, the company continues to test the apps as well as provide on-demand support for its solutions. Tis is espe- cially important as Cloud solutions are regularly updated. W hile Intuit f ully supports the Cloud, it also continues to invest in its Desktop solutions. "Our customers that continue to use our Desktop solutions, or have clients that do so, want to know that we are continuing to invest in them. A nd we w ill. We w ill continue to invest in them and make enhance- ments ever y yea r as long as t hey continue to use our products. 'No desktop is lef behind' is our moto," said Sanchez. With 130,000 ProAdvisors in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, India and France, and 1 million Quick- B o ok s O n l i ne pa id s u b s c r i b e r s globally, it's safe to say Intuit knows a t h i n g o r t w o a b o u t g r o w t h , work ing in the Cloud and being a good partner. A successful business is made up of multiple successful part- nerships. Sometimes it's the partnership between owners; other times it's the partnership between the business and its vendors. But what makes a good partner? Financial sofware provider Intuit not only knows the answer to this, but it wants to be a good partner to the thousands of ProAdvisors worldwide. Intuit Wants to Be Your Perfect Partner with New ProAdvisor Programs INTRODUCING NEW FRIENDS SUPPORTING PARTNERS GIVING GOOD A DVICE