1.1 Exam Logistics, ProAdvisor Academy & Certification Standards

Exam Logistics, ProAdvisor Academy & Certification Standards

The QuickBooks Online Certification Level 1 is Intuit's foundational ProAdvisor credential for accounting professionals, bookkeepers, and business consultants. It is administered inside ProAdvisor Academy, reached from QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA), and it verifies competency in client onboarding, subscription configuration, everyday money-in and money-out workflows, banking feeds, period-end reconciliations, and reporting.

[!IMPORTANT] Naming changed with ProAdvisor Academy. What older study material calls the "Core" certification is now QuickBooks Online Certification Level 1, and "Advanced Certification" is now QuickBooks Online Certification Level 2. Intuit's own help content uses "Level 1 (previously QuickBooks Online)" and "Level 2 (previously QuickBooks Online Advanced)". Expect the Level 1 / Level 2 wording everywhere in the Academy interface.

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ProAdvisor Academy Structure & Navigation

ProAdvisor Academy is Intuit's centralized training and certification portal. It is included at no charge with a QuickBooks Online Accountant firm account.

Accessing the Academy

To reach the training courses and certification exams:

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA).
2. Go to All Apps, then ProAdvisor, then ProAdvisor training.
3. Select Start learning to open ProAdvisor Academy.
4. Use Learn for the alphabetical course library, Programs for certification tracks, and My History for completed certifications and CPE certificates.

Route to the exam:
QBOA ──> [All Apps] ──> ProAdvisor ──> ProAdvisor training ──> [Start learning]
                                                                    │
                                            ┌───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┐
                                        [Learn]                 [Programs]              [My History]
                                    Course library         Certification tracks     Certificates & CPE

Each course combines interactive reading, product walkthroughs, software simulations, and downloadable reference guides. Intuit also runs live webinars and virtual conferences on the same curriculum, and all of that training is optional — Intuit explicitly states you can go straight to the certification exam if you choose.

Certification Pathways

Within ProAdvisor Academy the credentials are grouped into Foundation and Specialty categories:

• QuickBooks Online Certification Level 1 (Foundation): everyday software management, client setup, money-in and money-out workflows, banking, and period-end close.
• QuickBooks Online Certification Level 2 (Foundation): deeper product knowledge and advisory skills, including a Custom Reporting course that Level 1 does not have. Intuit advises passing Level 1 first and waiting at least 90 days before taking Level 2.
• QuickBooks Workforce (payroll) Certification (Specialty): payroll setup, tax filings, contractor payments, and benefits administration.
• QuickBooks Desktop and Desktop Enterprise Certifications (Specialty): the desktop product line, updated on their own release cycles.
• Intuit Bookkeeping Certification: a free, self-paced entry-level program covering bookkeeping basics, tracking assets and sales, tracking expenses/liabilities/equity, and reconciling accounts.

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Exam Architecture & Logistics

The Level 1 exam tests real-world operational proficiency rather than rote memorization. You must know where tools live, how data flows between registers, and how a setting changes the general ledger.

The Five Level 1 Courses (and Exam Sections)

Level 1 is built from five courses, and each course has its own section of the exam. Courses can be completed in any order, and each one carries CPE credit:

1. Getting Started — the QuickBooks lineup and subscription fit, QBOA and firm setup, adding clients, company settings, chart of accounts, and lists.
2. Sales and Customers — estimates, invoices, sales receipts, receiving payments, deposits, credit memos, and sales tax.
3. Expenses and Vendors — expenses, checks, bills and bill payments, vendor credits, purchase orders, and contractors.
4. Banking — connecting feeds, reviewing and categorizing bank transactions, bank rules, and reconciliation.
5. Period End — reports, month-end review, accountant tools, and closing the books.

The chapters of this guide map onto those five courses: Chapters 1–3 sit under Getting Started, Chapter 4 under Sales and Customers, Chapter 5 under Expenses and Vendors, Chapter 6 under Banking, and Chapters 7–8 under Period End.

Two Ways Through: Regular Track vs. Test Out

Intuit offers two routes to the same credential:

• Regular track: work through the course modules, answer the knowledge checks, and sit the exam at the end of each stage. These course-level exams have an unlimited number of attempts.
• Test out: skip the modules and go straight to the exam. This route is capped at three attempts before a lockout.

Experienced ProAdvisors who already work in QuickBooks daily typically test out; candidates newer to the platform work the courses, both because the content is the syllabus and because the unlimited-attempt course exams remove the lockout risk entirely.

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Passing Benchmark, Retake Rules & Lockout Policies

The 80% Overall Threshold

Intuit scores the exam on an overall basis. Its published rule is blunt: "If your overall score is below 80%, you need to retake the entire exam (even if you already passed 2 out of the 3 sections)." ProAdvisor Academy states the same thing from the other direction: if you fail one or more sections of the exam, you must retake the entire exam.

[!WARNING] The most common myth about this exam is that passed sections are banked and only the failed section is retaken. That is how the exam behaved in older cycles and it is still repeated across third-party sites, but it is not the current rule. Plan to sit the whole thing again if your overall score lands under 80%.

• Pass scenario: your combined performance across the sections is 80% or better, so the credential is awarded and the badge is issued.
• Fail scenario: you were strong on Banking and Period End but weak on Sales and Customers, and the overall result lands at 76%. The entire exam must be retaken — the strong sections do not carry forward.

Attempt Limits and Mandatory Lockout

• Test-out exam: three attempts. Intuit's certification FAQ states that if you don't pass after the third attempt, you're locked out for 30 days, and you then take the full exam again.
• Course-level exams: unlimited attempts. This is Intuit's own stated escape hatch — during a lockout you can still study the course and certify through the embedded course exams.
• Recertification test-out: three attempts, followed by a shorter 10 calendar day cool-down before the exam unlocks.

Because the two tracks carry different attempt rules, know which exam you launched before you start clicking.

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Testing Environment & Practical Resources

The certification exams are open book. Intuit recognizes that professional accountants reference documentation and the software itself during real engagements.

Allowable Resources During the Exam

• ProAdvisor Academy course material, downloadable study guides, and your own notes.
• Intuit Help Center articles, QuickBooks Community threads, and official product documentation.
• A live QuickBooks Online test drive (sample company) running in a separate browser tab or second monitor.

[!TIP] Dual-monitor strategy: Keep the QuickBooks Online test drive (the fictional Craig's Design and Landscaping Services) open beside the exam. For any question about where a preference lives in Account and Settings, how a report filter behaves, or how a bank rule fires, click the real path before you answer. Open book is only an advantage if the second window is already open when the timer-free clock starts.

Note the one workflow constraint: for the test-out exam Intuit recommends taking it in one sitting. The regular track is where you spread work across days, because you finish one course at a time.

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Professional Recognition: Badges & CPE Credits

Digital Credentials via Credly

Intuit issues verifiable digital badges through Credly:

• Sign in to Credly using the same email address you used in ProAdvisor Academy to accept the badge.
• The badge should be available on the My History tab within about 60 minutes of passing.
• Badges can go in email signatures, on your website, and on LinkedIn, and prospects can click through to verify your standing.
• Certificates and CPE certificates download from the same My History page.
• You may not display a badge for a certification you don't hold or one that has expired.

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credits

• Intuit is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors; its NASBA sponsor number is 103311.
• The number and type of credits vary by training, and each Level 1 course carries its own CPE credit.
• State boards of accountancy hold final authority on whether they accept ProAdvisor training for CPE, and some states do not allow CPE credit for QuickBooks ProAdvisor training — check your own board before you count the hours.

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Annual Recertification

QuickBooks Online ships changes continuously, so Intuit re-tests ProAdvisors on the current product every year rather than treating a pass as permanent.

The Spring Recertification Window

• When: recertification is available annually in May and June — in 2026 the window opened April 28 and closed June 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Access it from ProAdvisor Academy; if you're required to recertify, you're enrolled automatically and the program only appears when you actually need it.
• How long: Intuit recommends setting aside about 30 minutes for the Level 1 recertification exam and 45 minutes for Level 2.
• Two routes: take the self-paced course, answer all knowledge checks, and pass the course exam at 80% or higher; or use the test-out option in one sitting, with three attempts before a 10-day cool-down.
• 2026 content themes: the launch of Intuit Accountant Suite, the refreshed interface and Intuit AI, sales and customers workflows including Payments AI and the Customer Hub, expenses and vendors workflows including Bill Pay basic now bundled into QuickBooks subscriptions, and AI-assisted bank transactions and accounting workflows.

Who Has to Recertify, and When

Certification is not a flat twelve months — the cycle depends on when you certified:

So a ProAdvisor certified in October 2024 recertified in May–June 2025, while one certified in November 2024 was not due until May–June 2026. Level 2 takes priority over Level 1: passing the Level 2 recertification also recertifies Level 1, and once you hold Level 2 there is no way to recertify Level 1 alone.

Consequences of Non-Completion

If you miss the June 30 deadline:

1. Decertification: the credential goes inactive. If you held Level 2 and skipped its recertification, you are decertified in both levels.
2. Profile unpublished: your public ProAdvisor profile is unpublished, ending inbound directory leads.
3. ProAdvisor points reduced: the points tied to that certification come off the firm's balance, which can drop the firm's program tier.
4. Back to the full exam: once the window closes, the shorter recertification exam is gone and the full certification exam is the only route back.