6 Reasons for Accounting Professionals to Get FreshBooks Certified

Is it time to add a new skill to your toolkit? When you support clients with accounting software, taking the time to level up your skills goes a long way in helping you work more efficiently and reach new customers.

As a firm or business owner, you want to be where your clients are. FreshBooks has an entire training program to help accounting professionals who work with small businesses learn the ins and outs of the platform.

Don’t just take our word for it! We asked Accounting Partners to let us know what they thought of the FreshBooks certification.

“Being FreshBooks-certified has changed the entire course of my business,” said Kate Josephine Johnson, owner of Heritage Business Services. Read on to get the full story and learn why it might be time to add another certification to your skillset.

What Is the FreshBooks Certification in the Accounting Partner Program?

The FreshBooks Collaborative Accounting™ Certification is an online, self-paced training program designed to give accountants and bookkeepers the tools they need to work better with their clients in FreshBooks.

It walks you through everything you need to know about FreshBooks to serve your small business clients, from setting up your accountant access to running reports and managing your clients’ chart of accounts. It also covers the FreshBooks Collaborative Accounting™ framework, a process that can transform the way you and your clients work together.

(👋 Already a FreshBooks Accounting Partner? You can access the certification through the FreshBooks Academy learning management system.)

What Is Collaborative Accounting?

FreshBooks Collaborative Accounting is a technology-enabled accounting model anchored in a shared workflow between accounting professionals and their clients. Business owners focus on completing front-end tasks in an easy-to-use software platform, and their accountants pick up where they leave off, providing in-depth financial insights and advisory work that has increased value for clients. When you and your clients each take on parts of the financial workflow, you’re both more confident and better informed.

Your client has more agency over their own business and a deeper understanding of their financials. And you have time to do more astute analysis that can help them make those big-picture business decisions.

This model and workflow are designed for future-focused accounting professionals who want to add more value to their firm and give clients a deeper level of service. It’s ideal if you have service-based business clients looking for guidance and more agency over their financial future.

“Collaborative Accounting not only gives the clients transparency into our tasks but it gives us transparency into the client’s workflow and how they’re going to earn money. And so, that can now help us to advise them on how to get paid,” says Kristen Keats, CPA, of Breakaway Bookkeeping & Advising.

What Are the Benefits of Collaborative Accounting?

Collaborative Accounting makes it possible for accountants to offer higher-value services to clients. When you’re locked into advisory or niche accounting work that has real value for your clients, you can build your expertise and reputation, bringing in more revenue with less administrative burden.

You can expect to:

Deliver value at scale. By freeing your team of time-consuming compliance tasks and focusing on advisory services, you can expand those services without having to grow your team.

Attract forward-thinking talent. Firms that focus on advisory services vs. strictly bookkeeping tasks will naturally bring in the best and the brightest team members who have a growth mindset for their clients and their company.

Streamline processes and improve overall efficiency. A shared workflow in a single system is more efficient overall. It removes the friction of following up on missing information and managing day-to-day bookkeeping tasks from your client interactions.

Draw in and retain the right long-term clients. Your practice can differentiate itself by building a depth of experience and advisory knowledge in an area aligned with your ideal clients. Distilling your expertise into a higher-level tier will attract clients who match.

Enjoy a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Service-based business owners looking to grow their companies are hungry for accounting solutions that empower them to understand their financial operations better. FreshBooks is the only software that offers Collaborative Accounting, where clients and accountants work together.

Deliver an enhanced client experience. Collaborative Accounting simplifies client interactions by letting you and your clients work together in a single system, so you both have the insights and information you need (and when you need it).

Elevate client relationships. As an advisor, you can minimize the time spent fine-tuning client financials and maximize the time guiding your clients as they grow. This builds strong, lasting relationships. You’ll meet regularly to discuss the financial insights you’re observing that they can use to optimize their business and prepare for sustainable growth.

FreshBooks Accounting Partner Program: Why Get FreshBooks Certified?

Okay, you now understand what Collaborative Accounting is, and why it’s important for your clients. But that doesn’t answer the million-dollar question: Why should my team get certified?

Glad you asked! Let’s dig into it.

1. It’s Made for Modern Accounting Professionals

Are you ready to shake up the accounting industry just a little (or a lot)? The traditional way of working with clients can be transactional and impersonal. It leaves accounting professionals frustrated with chasing data and spending too many hours on basic bookkeeping work. Meanwhile, clients feel removed from their business financials and aren’t getting the insights they need to grow.

“Now, with Collaborative Accounting, we’re able to spend much more time nurturing the client relationship, providing advisory and not just on the financial level but also the personal level,” says Nicole Davis, CPA.

If you’re excited to try a new, collaborative way of working with clients that’s focused on relationship-building and showcasing your value as an accounting professional, this is the certification for you.

2. Become a FreshBooks Product Expert

Your clients’ businesses aren’t static, and yours shouldn’t be, either. Getting your FreshBooks certification is an easy, free way to level up your skill set and keep your firm up-to-date on accounting software platforms.

“Being FreshBooks-certified gives my clients (and prospects) peace of mind that I am not devoted entirely to only 1 company’s software,” said Susie Fergus, FreshBooks Accounting Partner. “Instead, I am customer-focused—recommending what is best for their unique business. This software is well-supported, user-friendly, and ever-evolving to meet the needs of business owners.”

In the certification, you’ll explore the FreshBooks platform and features, learn how to onboard clients, and gain a deep understanding of how to use the Collaborative Accounting framework with your clients; thus, benefits both of you.

This allows you to optimize workflows for your clients and get the most out of the technology.

“The best part of the certification is the insight into how the software thinks and acts,” said Megan Justice, owner of Crayon Advisory. “We’re trained to think one way by other software, and it’s not always the best, most efficient, or most business owner-centered way of thinking.”

3. Get Practical Hands-On Resources

At the heart of the FreshBooks certification are actionable tactics and resources you can use immediately to expand your advisory practice, without adding more staff.

The modules walk you through the platform and give you training and practical tips on product features and advisory-centric workflows via:

• videos
• downloadable templates and checklists
• peer reviews
• interactive case studies you can use with your clients
• onboarding documents to guide your clients

4. Access Dedicated Accounting Support

FreshBooks-Certified Partners get dedicated support from our Accounting Specialists, who have accounting backgrounds and know the ins and outs of the FreshBooks platform.

But even if you haven’t completed your certification yet, the FreshBooks team is here to support you! As an Accounting Partner, you’ll be connected with your Partner Consultant, who will become your go-to person at FreshBooks.

5. It’s Simple to Get Certified

You’ve got enough on your plate, so we totally understand that any product certification has to work around your schedule. The entire FreshBooks certification process takes under 4 hours, but you learn at your own pace. You can always pause and pick it back up if you need a break.

The training comprises of modules with video lessons, so you can see how to do pretty much everything in FreshBooks. You’ll get step-by-step instructions on tasks like adding journal entries, creating an invoice, using time tracking, and doing bank reconciliation.

You’re not a robot, so no one’s expecting you to remember every tiny detail from the certification. You can always go back to review lessons if you need a refresher.

“The certification modules are like a library for me,” said Kate. “I know that I can’t remember everything that’s taught in each module after only one listen. But, I have a strong grasp of the overall platform, and I know I can search through the module titles when I need to be reminded of how a specific feature works or how to do a specific task.”

“The certification is easy for me to go back and re-watch the thing I need to know or have a question about,” said Megan.

6. Get a New Badge (And Other Free Stuff)

One of the best reasons to get FreshBooks Certified is to demonstrate to your clients that you have the skills to support them across various accounting platforms. When you complete the training, you’ll get a badge signifying your expertise as a Collaborative Accountant to on your website or social media platforms.

“Being FreshBooks Certified gives me one more way to show my clients I’m competent at what I do and with the products I use,” said Megan.

Plus, as a certified partner, you’ll get:

• 3 CPE credits
• exclusive discounts for you and your clients
• dedicated, accountant-specific support
• data migration support
• inclusion in the FreshBooks Certified-Partner directory

Your First Step to Becoming a FreshBooks Certified Accounting Partner…

Ready to get started on your training? Great! The first step to getting FreshBooks certified is to become an Accounting Partner.

From there, our team will be in touch to find out your goals and get you on your way to getting certified. I can’t wait for you to join us!

This post was updated in September 2024.