There are a variety of QuickBooks courses and the best one for you will depend upon what you want to learn, how you want to use QuickBooks, and how much time, effort, and money you are willing to put into learning QuickBooks. As you determine which QuickBooks course to enroll in, consider factors such as training format, mode of instruction, course length and cost, and how you learn best. Read on to learn more about some of the best QuickBooks courses.
Do You Have Basic Knowledge of Accounting?
While there are no formal prerequisites to taking most QuickBooks courses, it is important to have a basic understanding of common accounting terms and concepts. This includes knowing about things like income, assets, depreciation, liability, cash vs. accrual accounting, and cash inflow vs. outflow. It is also important for someone using QuickBooks to know how to read financial statements and reports, as these are essential aspects of using the software.
It will be much harder to learn QuickBooks with no knowledge of accounting. To make learning QuickBooks easier, consider taking a short bookkeeping or accounting class before learning QuickBooks. Or, consider looking for a QuickBooks class that promises to incorporate instruction in accounting along with how to use QuickBooks software. These classes can be more difficult to find, but they are available online and in person.
Best Courses for Beginners
Beginners should look for in-person, live online, and on-demand introductory courses to learn about QuickBooks software and how to use it. Introductory courses aim to walk learners through how to navigate and operate QuickBooks as well as cover some of the basic features like linking accounts, recording transactions, creating customer invoices, and reconciling accounts. While one will often need intermediate or advanced training to become truly proficient in using QuickBooks, an introductory course can get you started tracking and managing your business’s finances.
Beginners can also turn to free resources to learn QuickBooks fundamentals. Many learners use free YouTube tutorials that provide walkthroughs and overviews of the software as well as show learners how to use some of the most important basic features of QuickBooks. These tutorials allow learners to watch someone else using QuickBooks and simultaneously follow along using their own account. Video tutorials can be a great way to familiarize oneself with the software and start setting up your company’s profile in QuickBooks.
Best Advanced and Industry-Specific Courses
For most small business owners and individuals, the best way to learn advanced features of QuickBooks will be to enroll in a comprehensive QuickBooks bootcamp or to take an intermediate and then an advanced QuickBooks course following completion of an introductory course. These courses, which one can find live online, in person, or on-demand, should provide learners with more training on features such as managing inventory, creating customized reports based on class, department, or location, tracking projects, automating workflows, and setting up customized user roles. An in-person or live online class is the most likely to provide detailed, accurate, hands-on training for more advanced and customizable QuickBooks features.
One can also consider taking an industry-specific course, which is a great option if one needs to know how to use specialized features in QuickBooks for industries such as manufacturing, construction, retail, or legal services. On-demand courses from providers like Udemy and LinkedIn Learning and free YouTube tutorials are the most likely to offer this industry-specific training, though one will need to put some extra effort into finding the right training course for one’s own needs. Intuit also provides industry-specific training, though Intuit’s training will cost more than these alternatives and be best suited to complex businesses already using a customized version of QuickBooks.
Best Courses for Aspiring Bookkeepers, Accountants, or Other Finance Professionals
Those seeking to work in accounting or finance professionally will often also need to be familiar with QuickBooks. Rather than using it for one’s own finances, however, Bookkeepers, Accountants, Financial Analysts, Financial Managers, and Financial Advisors will be using QuickBooks to help track and manage finances for their clients, likely, individuals and owners of small and medium-sized businesses. When pursuing these careers, the type of QuickBooks classes you choose might look different from someone who only needs to learn QuickBooks for their own business.
Someone pursuing a career in accounting or finance should consider taking a certificate program. Certificate programs are career-oriented courses of study that will teach learners all of the knowledge and skills they need to be proficient in a specific career. Bookkeeping and accounting certificate programs will often include modules on QuickBooks, making this type of class especially useful for these aspiring professionals.
If you are already working in accounting and finance and only need to upskill by learning QuickBooks, a good option for you will be a QuickBooks bootcamp. This style of class will allow you to learn QuickBooks quickly and comprehensively so that you can start using it immediately. Additionally, Intuit offers access to QuickBooks Online Accountant for free to accounting professionals and this version of QuickBooks includes free self-teaching tutorials and training that those in accounting and finance can use to learn how to navigate QuickBooks.
Quickest Courses
Training format and course content can determine the speed of a QuickBooks course. QuickBooks bootcamps are one of the quickest ways to learn how to use this software. A bootcamp is an accelerated course and most live online or in-person QuickBooks bootcamps are four to six hours long over one or two days. Taking a QuickBooks bootcamp that promises to teach students both basic and more intermediate or advanced QuickBooks skills should set learners up to start using QuickBooks on their own as fast as possible.
How quickly one completes a course can also depend on you, the learner. For those enrolled in an on-demand class, for example, how long it takes someone to complete the course will be dependent on how much time and effort they put into working through the material. Learners may be provided with four or even 24 hours of content, but some people will move through that material quickly and others will take longer due to the time constraints of their schedules or because they need additional time to practice or rewatch a tutorial. Knowing how much time you can devote to QuickBooks training can help you figure out how long an on-demand QuickBooks course will take.
One can also think of the speed or pace of a course when comparing different training methods. Though most QuickBooks bootcamps can be completed over one or two days, someone who is very determined can complete a longer on-demand course in a similar time frame. A certificate program will take less time than a full one-to-four-year degree program but a certificate program will also take weeks or months longer to complete than something like a bootcamp or a short QuickBooks course. Consider first what you need in terms of course content and then look for a class that you can commit to taking over a certain time frame.
Best Low-Cost Courses
QuickBooks training does not have to be expensive and there are plenty of low-cost options for beginners and those who want more advanced or specialized training. On-demand QuickBooks classes range in cost from less than $25 from providers like Udemy and Skillshare to upwards of $600 from some professional training centers and Intuit. Check to make sure the class you are interested in provides training in the features you need and is coming from a reputable instructor or service.
For lower-cost in-person and live online options, look to professional training centers and local community colleges. These providers are the most likely to have cost-effective options for taking a bootcamp or other QuickBooks classes. These instructor-led classes will allow one to learn QuickBooks from an expert who can guide learners in the best strategies and methods for using the software.
Those looking for the lowest cost QuickBooks training should consider using free video tutorials like those on YouTube or seeing what their local public library offers. Many libraries will provide digital access to LinkedIn Learning for library card holders. LinkedIn Learning is an online on-demand learning platform that has QuickBooks courses. Free resources are most beneficial for learning foundational QuickBooks skills or supplementing one’s education after receiving more structured training.
Consider How You Learn Best
When looking for the best course, you should consider your own preferred learning style and needs. You might ask yourself, for instance, whether you learn best in person, in a classroom, or whether you would prefer to learn online, at home. Some people find online learning to be too distracting and disengaging, but others have learned how to focus their attention while engaging with a live online class session or doing on-demand video tutorials.
Consider, as well, how much guidance you need to learn a new, complex skill. Most people will benefit from some kind of direct, structured instruction, whether it comes from a video tutorial or hands-on training in an instructor-led class. For those who learn quickly after seeing only one or two examples, taking an on-demand QuickBooks class or learning from free resources are great options. On-demand classes and free resources will present more challenges for someone who values asking an instructor follow-up questions or who needs individualized feedback to know how to improve. These groups of people should consider looking for in-person or live online classes.
Learn QuickBooks Skills with Noble Desktop
Noble Desktop offers expert in-person and live online training for those interested in learning QuickBooks. Every Noble Desktop class comes with expert, hands-on guidance, small class sizes, and free retake options and many classes offer both part-time and full-time options so that one can find the QuickBooks or finance class that works best for their schedule. For fast and comprehensive training in QuickBooks, consider enrolling in Noble Deskop’s QuickBooks Bootcamp which teaches students everything they need to know about how to use QuickBooks to track and manage a business’s finances. This bootcamp uses interactive training to teach students the basics of QuickBooks like configuring a company profile, working with customer, vendor, and inventory lists, and invoicing and processing payments as well as the more advanced management and customization features. Noble Desktop offers this bootcamp live online from any location and it can be taken in person at Noble Desktop’s training facility in New York City.
Noble Desktop also has accounting classes and bootcamps which are a great option for anyone interested in developing their skills or learning more about finance and accounting. The Intro to Financial Accounting & Financial Statements class uses hands-on exercises to teach students the fundamentals of analyzing financial statements and reports. After completing this introductory class, students can progress to the Intermediate Financial Accounting class which teaches more complex topics like earnings per share and deferred taxes. For those who want a comprehensive, accelerated class that tackles both beginner and intermediate topics of accounting, consider the Financial Accounting Bootcamp which teaches everything students need to know in two class sessions.
Noble’s finance and accounting classes are great for those who want to grow their financial literacy beyond learning about QuickBooks. These classes are also useful for those interested in becoming a Bookkeeper or Accountant. If this is something that interests you, you can learn more about the career path of an Accountant by reading Noble Desktop’s comprehensive guide to accounting, a free resource that covers essential information about accounting and how to learn the skills necessary to make this one’s career. Learning principles of accounting or receiving QuickBooks training can be the first step on the path to becoming a Financial Manager or Financial Analyst. For those who want to work in finance, Noble Desktop’s guide to finance is a useful way to read about different career options and how to receive training for careers in finance.