QuickBooks Online Certification (2026 Updated) – Complete Study Guide &
Practice Exam
Client Needs Assessment Process - correct answer ✔✔Who, What, When, and How
Who? - correct answer ✔✔Get to know who your client is, what they stand for, what they're
aiming for and where they're coming from
What? - correct answer ✔✔Every business, large or small, has a variety of parts. You need to
find our what they are in order to best discuss QBO functionality and benefits with them,
When? - correct answer ✔✔How often do they run reports? What are their internal and
external deadlines? All of your clients will have compliance requirements for their business even
if they don't run payroll or collect sales tax.
How? - correct answer ✔✔How can you help? You can dive deeper using the client checklist,
follow the onboarding process, and begin to plan deliverables and tasks with your client.
New Client Checklist - correct answer ✔✔a handy resource for getting to know your new
clients, gathering the required info to get their account set up, and discovering what their
business needs are in order to best match them to a subscription level.
NCC: Client Profile - correct answer ✔✔the basic contact information fro your client and their
business.
NCC: Needs Assessment - correct answer ✔✔lists all the functionality your client may need
from QuickBooks Online, and encourages a better understanding of their business so that you
can best advise on the subscription level they will need.
,NCC: Features and Solutions - correct answer ✔✔dives deeper into the subscription solutions
that will best suit your client. The workflows you highlight as needs or requirements in the
Needs Assessment tab will be pulled through automatically and displayed in column A. This
enables you to see at a glance which subscription level is likely to be best for your client's
business.
NCC: Mileage - correct answer ✔✔If your client needs to track mileage, then collect their
vehicle profile information during the requirements gathering stage. You can do this for each
vehicle they need to track mileage for.
NCC: Onboarding Checklist - correct answer ✔✔Use the Onboarding Checklist to gather any
final additional requirements from your client. This will enable you to set up the appropriate
QuickBooks Online subscription quickly and accurately.
NCC: Self-Employed Profile - correct answer ✔✔If, after your consultation, it is clear the client
requires QuickBooks Self-Employed, the QBSE Profile tab has been designed to ensure you
acquire all the additional information you need from your client in order to set up their
subscription, including whether they have a healthcare plan or a vehicle to take into
consideration.
Sales and Accounts Receivable - correct answer ✔✔relates to the transactions relevant to their
customers. In this section, you'll get a better idea of their requirements for estimating, invoicing,
price levels, and sales-tax circumstances.
Expenses and Accounts Payable - correct answer ✔✔This part of the checklist covers their
payment preferences, outstanding loans, petty cash limits, and reimbursable expenses, among
others.
Employees and Payroll - correct answer ✔✔One of the key areas you'll need to discuss is
whether the company is run solely by the owner or whether your client has employees (and
therefore payroll requirements).
,Other expense tracking needs - correct answer ✔✔Your new client may also have to track other
expenses, such as mileage on a vehicle. They may also want to keep an eye on their income in
order to estimate their future income tax bill.
Ask your client what their current method for keeping track of their taxes is. If they are self-
employed, they may not know that estimating their taxes is a handy feature of QuickBooks
Online Self-Employed.
Other daily operations needs - correct answer ✔✔Does your client hold stock as part of the day-
to-day running of their business? How do they keep track of their inventory?
If your client has inventory, they may want to include inventory tracking. If this is a requirement,
you will be able to discuss with them how QuickBooks Online and/or third-party apps can help
with this.
Industry-specific needs - correct answer ✔✔Every client and every business is different,
depending on their industry. For example, your client may need QuickBooks Online with third-
party apps enabled to track their e-commerce or web-based sales, manage their logistics,
manufacturing, shipping, point of sale, or many other variables such as their personal billable
time.
Specialized application needs - correct answer ✔✔There is a range of apps compatible with
QuickBooks Online. Your client may benefit from a specialized app to handle an area of their
business. They may even already use one.
You will be able to use your knowledge of QuickBooks Online features to spot when a client has
a requirement QuickBooks Online can't cater for on its own. That's where integrated apps come
into the picture.
From cloud storage to time-tracking, there's an app for just about everything.
Reporting needs - correct answer ✔✔This section of the New Client Checklist helps you get a
clearer picture of how your client prefers to run their reports. Which reports work best for
them? How often do they run and analyze their reports?
As an additional feature, if the client has employees, they may wish to add users to their
accounts who have reports-only access. We'll look into that in more detail later in the course.
, Any other requirements - correct answer ✔✔Don't forget to ask your client whether there is
anything else they may need that you haven't yet covered or asked.
They may already have an accounting solution and wish to convert their existing account to
QuickBooks Online.
Transaction volume - correct answer ✔✔This section is important because it will reveal to
ProAdvisors the transactional volume and scope of the client's business. It may, for example,
indicate that the client might benefit from a QuickBooks Online Advanced subscription, if
transactions exceed a threshold of 43,000. This is because QuickBooks Online Advanced offers
accelerated data-entry features.
Industry trends - correct answer ✔✔While you need to take the time to understand each
client's specific requirements, there are some common themes and pain points based on which
industry they're in.
These are five common business industry types, and each comes with its own pain points:
- Professional services
- Contractor/field services
- Retail and e-commerce
- B2B wholesale business
- Nonprofits
IT: Professional services - correct answer ✔✔Managing cash flow is essential for these types of
businesses, because they often incur expenses up front, before they receive payment.
Time tracking and job costing are essential to ensure the profitability of any business. This holds
especially true for these clients, who must spread limited resources—including their time—
across various jobs.
Practice Exam
Client Needs Assessment Process - correct answer ✔✔Who, What, When, and How
Who? - correct answer ✔✔Get to know who your client is, what they stand for, what they're
aiming for and where they're coming from
What? - correct answer ✔✔Every business, large or small, has a variety of parts. You need to
find our what they are in order to best discuss QBO functionality and benefits with them,
When? - correct answer ✔✔How often do they run reports? What are their internal and
external deadlines? All of your clients will have compliance requirements for their business even
if they don't run payroll or collect sales tax.
How? - correct answer ✔✔How can you help? You can dive deeper using the client checklist,
follow the onboarding process, and begin to plan deliverables and tasks with your client.
New Client Checklist - correct answer ✔✔a handy resource for getting to know your new
clients, gathering the required info to get their account set up, and discovering what their
business needs are in order to best match them to a subscription level.
NCC: Client Profile - correct answer ✔✔the basic contact information fro your client and their
business.
NCC: Needs Assessment - correct answer ✔✔lists all the functionality your client may need
from QuickBooks Online, and encourages a better understanding of their business so that you
can best advise on the subscription level they will need.
,NCC: Features and Solutions - correct answer ✔✔dives deeper into the subscription solutions
that will best suit your client. The workflows you highlight as needs or requirements in the
Needs Assessment tab will be pulled through automatically and displayed in column A. This
enables you to see at a glance which subscription level is likely to be best for your client's
business.
NCC: Mileage - correct answer ✔✔If your client needs to track mileage, then collect their
vehicle profile information during the requirements gathering stage. You can do this for each
vehicle they need to track mileage for.
NCC: Onboarding Checklist - correct answer ✔✔Use the Onboarding Checklist to gather any
final additional requirements from your client. This will enable you to set up the appropriate
QuickBooks Online subscription quickly and accurately.
NCC: Self-Employed Profile - correct answer ✔✔If, after your consultation, it is clear the client
requires QuickBooks Self-Employed, the QBSE Profile tab has been designed to ensure you
acquire all the additional information you need from your client in order to set up their
subscription, including whether they have a healthcare plan or a vehicle to take into
consideration.
Sales and Accounts Receivable - correct answer ✔✔relates to the transactions relevant to their
customers. In this section, you'll get a better idea of their requirements for estimating, invoicing,
price levels, and sales-tax circumstances.
Expenses and Accounts Payable - correct answer ✔✔This part of the checklist covers their
payment preferences, outstanding loans, petty cash limits, and reimbursable expenses, among
others.
Employees and Payroll - correct answer ✔✔One of the key areas you'll need to discuss is
whether the company is run solely by the owner or whether your client has employees (and
therefore payroll requirements).
,Other expense tracking needs - correct answer ✔✔Your new client may also have to track other
expenses, such as mileage on a vehicle. They may also want to keep an eye on their income in
order to estimate their future income tax bill.
Ask your client what their current method for keeping track of their taxes is. If they are self-
employed, they may not know that estimating their taxes is a handy feature of QuickBooks
Online Self-Employed.
Other daily operations needs - correct answer ✔✔Does your client hold stock as part of the day-
to-day running of their business? How do they keep track of their inventory?
If your client has inventory, they may want to include inventory tracking. If this is a requirement,
you will be able to discuss with them how QuickBooks Online and/or third-party apps can help
with this.
Industry-specific needs - correct answer ✔✔Every client and every business is different,
depending on their industry. For example, your client may need QuickBooks Online with third-
party apps enabled to track their e-commerce or web-based sales, manage their logistics,
manufacturing, shipping, point of sale, or many other variables such as their personal billable
time.
Specialized application needs - correct answer ✔✔There is a range of apps compatible with
QuickBooks Online. Your client may benefit from a specialized app to handle an area of their
business. They may even already use one.
You will be able to use your knowledge of QuickBooks Online features to spot when a client has
a requirement QuickBooks Online can't cater for on its own. That's where integrated apps come
into the picture.
From cloud storage to time-tracking, there's an app for just about everything.
Reporting needs - correct answer ✔✔This section of the New Client Checklist helps you get a
clearer picture of how your client prefers to run their reports. Which reports work best for
them? How often do they run and analyze their reports?
As an additional feature, if the client has employees, they may wish to add users to their
accounts who have reports-only access. We'll look into that in more detail later in the course.
, Any other requirements - correct answer ✔✔Don't forget to ask your client whether there is
anything else they may need that you haven't yet covered or asked.
They may already have an accounting solution and wish to convert their existing account to
QuickBooks Online.
Transaction volume - correct answer ✔✔This section is important because it will reveal to
ProAdvisors the transactional volume and scope of the client's business. It may, for example,
indicate that the client might benefit from a QuickBooks Online Advanced subscription, if
transactions exceed a threshold of 43,000. This is because QuickBooks Online Advanced offers
accelerated data-entry features.
Industry trends - correct answer ✔✔While you need to take the time to understand each
client's specific requirements, there are some common themes and pain points based on which
industry they're in.
These are five common business industry types, and each comes with its own pain points:
- Professional services
- Contractor/field services
- Retail and e-commerce
- B2B wholesale business
- Nonprofits
IT: Professional services - correct answer ✔✔Managing cash flow is essential for these types of
businesses, because they often incur expenses up front, before they receive payment.
Time tracking and job costing are essential to ensure the profitability of any business. This holds
especially true for these clients, who must spread limited resources—including their time—
across various jobs.
