Show Notes | May 3, 2021 | Episode 102

What does laser tag have in common with landing a remote bookkeeping job?

In this episode we’ll hear from Sara Core whose experience opening a family fun center made her a small business owner AND a remote employee at a Fortune 500 Best Places to Work company.

In this installment of Certs That Get You #Hired we’re exploring two certifications in Finance that can make you more marketable, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned since digging into the remote work space - it is very Finance friendly.

We have two military veterans who are telling us how the Enrolled Agent license and QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification helped their careers. They’ll cover:

How did you get your cert?Why did you pursue it?Where did it lead you?Why is it so effective in maintaining your remote career?

These certifications are requirements to landing a role with VirtForce hiring partner Intuit, who offers some amazing professional development opportunities as well as fully remote, salary W-2 careers.

Intuit actually pays for you to study for the courses you need to obtain these two certs, if you qualify for the position. That was the case for Sara when she pursued the ProAdvisor cert with Intuit.

Sara was in the Army Reserves as a heavy equipment operator while going to school to become a brain surgeon. After she got married and had a family, she decided to pivot her career goals and find a job that would be better for a mom who wanted to spend more time with her kids.

Sara and her sister decided to go into business together and open a family entertainment center with laser tag and bumper cars. To run the books for their business Sara learned QuickBooks, an accounting software package developed and marketed by Intuit.

After getting the family fun center up and running, Sara wanted a job she could do from home so she could also homeschool her children, so she investigated becoming a ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Live.

ProAdvisors offer live bookkeeping services to small and medium-sized business so business owners can spend more time focusing on running their own companies.

Those who are interested in obtaining this free certification can use Intuit’s online learning modules and take the exam up to three times.  

At first Sara wasn’t sure if she had enough bookkeeping exposure, but she soon realized by balancing the books for her own business she had a lot more experience than she thought.

On a day-to-day basis, Sara has appointments with clients who have questions about QuickBooks, or issues with their books.

In the middle of her career she moved from California to Florida and kept her job through it all, so this is a great option for military spouses who often PCS.

For anyone sitting on the fence about becoming a QuickBooks Live Bookkeeper, Sara says go for it!

She is now part of a team and has bonuses and incentives through Intuit while getting exposure to different clients and companies.

Tune in to also hear the story of Vikki Crawford, an Air Force veteran who after obtaining her Enrolled Agent license – the highest award bestowed by the IRS – landed a role as a remote full-service tax expert with Intuit AND runs her own tax and accounting business.   

Intuit did not hold Vikki back or lock her into a position where she couldn’t be an entrepreneur.

Intuit offers a way for employees hired in the non-credentialed tax associate role to get their EA license through Fast Forward Academy. Even if you have just one tax season of experience Intuit will hire you and accept you into the program.

There is no cost for the training and Intuit pairs you with a mentor who has balanced working while studying to get their EA license. Once you pass the exam you move into the credentialed tax expert role.

Although Intuit’s roles are remote and virtual there is a strong sense of camaraderie amongst team members. Employees have a lot of resources at their disposal and...