Advanced Certification Exam Online

I'm having the same problem. Ditto with problem #18.

I have problems with some of the other questions too. I feel like I am having to guess what assumptions Intuit made when coming up with their answers. Important things like Cash vs Accrual based company or whether the company wants a full trial balance sheet when setting up the company.

I also found potential errors in the files provided. I don't know if this was intentional but it impacts how we answer the question. I don't know if we need to correct for these errors especially when the errors really don't have anything to do with the question being asked.

Anyone got an e-mail address for someone in charge of this exam that we can contact? I have left feedback on the course locker. Hopefully they will contact me soon.

Please email me to discuss other poorly prepared questions on this exam.

john@handsonacctng.com

I am having similar issues with multiple questions. I will post when/if they respond to the feedback submitted and let you know what the outcome/explanation was.

Q21 The spreadsheet has changed since my first attempt and I asked if all files have changed so I would know if I need to download and re-do every question (very time consuming).

Q17 The QB file is calculating the OT rate based on time and a half as set up in the PR item but when you calculate it manually it is a different rate.

Q24 One of the options for the fields is not available based on the information at the qodbc.com/schema site which is what we are told to look at in the training.

Please let me know what kind of feedback you get.

I looked at the contents of the zip file containing all of the files and only file that has changed since the release of the exam in early January was the excel file for question 21. It was changed at the end of January. So if you started the exam before that then you need to get the corrected copy. All that changed is the Retained Earnings amount. You should have detected a problem with the Trial balance in the original file since it did not foot properly.

I am not sure what you are seeing with Q17. The OT rate in my file was correct and the GROSS $OT calculated to what I expected.

I am having the same problems with the Certification Exam online. I sent feedback to Intuit saying that there feedback is terrible. I want to know the exact problems that I am getting wrong so I can "study" more.

I have watched each webinar and read each course materials. I should be able to pass this - I believe I have answered every question correctly, but I can't seem to reach 85%.

My other question to them was I am wondering how they are being graded. If we get one number wrong on a 5 point question, do we lose 5 points or just one point?

I've spent so much time on this, I only have one try left, and I don't want to wait a YEAR to be able to take this exam again!!

Based on my exam score I suspect it is an "all or nothing" type of grading. I doubt that they are giving any partial credit.

My personal feeling is that this type of exam can not be fairly graded by a computer. It's like when you were in school. You might not have gotten the answer correct but you got credit for correct methodology. Not the case in this exam.

Thanks Laura

I was aware that the trial balance did not add up in Q21 but figured they did that on purpose. I answered the question before the change but submitted the test after the change. They should have sent out a notification.

I have yet to get any response to the feedback I submitted.

I do also agree that this is not an exam that should be graded by a computer. I also believe that all the advanced certified 2007 people should be subjected to this exam.

HAS ANYONE PASSED THIS TEST OR KNOW ANYONE THAT HAS PASSED? I have searched the referral database for advanced certified people covering 5 surrounding states (117 people) and there is not one person advanced certified in 2008.

Count me in among those who are questioning elements of this exam. Hopefully, we'll get some clarification from Intuit soon.

Melissa

I also recognized the problems that were mentioned in the posts so far, in addition to other problem questions. My questions submitted through the course locker feedback,last week remain unanswered.

Without some response from Intuit I see no point in attempting to answer questions that the correct answer cannot be determined by reading the question.

There are about 1000 ProAdvisors within 200 miles of my home in Portland ME and during the past few weeks I believe only one person passed this exam (probably the ProAdvisor who wrote a lot of the questions).

Can you double check that person's certifications? The ones I have found so far in the New England area have all been "as of 2007".

Sorry, I do not know which person was added.

When I first checked I did a search on people that had Advanced Certification and I got 91 within 200 miles of Portland. The next time I got a listing of 92. However, I did not print out the details of either list.

I think it was just a system glitch that you got 91 and then 92 the next time. I checked those within 200 miles of 04103 and those that were certified in 2008 all had the "since 2007" advanced certification message.

I still am not convinced that anyone has passed this exam yet.

If a person was Advanced Certified in 2007 and then passed the certification exam for 2008, I think that it would still say "since 2007",

It is my understanding that those that got their Advanced Cert in 2007 are not eligible to take this exam this year. Their cert is for 2 years.

Passing the regular 2008 Pro Advisor cert does not change that status.

I just spoke to someone at Intuit regarding the test. They are responding to the feedback (as quickly as possible).

She listened my complaints regarding each unclear question and which questions are not covered in the training materials provided. She also asked for some opinions.

Other than the questions in question, I stated that I would like to know which questions fall into which topic areas so that I know where I need improvement and also won't have to spend the time re-doing topic areas that were all correct. I also stated that I would like to see everyone set back to their 5 attempts after they have cleared up the issues (I have only used 1 but think that is a fair request considering). I got the feeling that I am not the only one asking for those two things.

If you haven't yet been contacted and submitted feedback you should hear from someone soon.

I received an email from someone at Intuit requesting a phone call discussion with me regarding my feedback on the test. I replied that I would be happy to discuss and am available any time. Will keep you posted on how that goes.

Thank you for calling Intuit on this issue. It sounds like they are moving on it. I will definitely request to have our attempts restored. I just kept thinking "I can't be that far off, I'll keep trying." Well, I'm down to one attempt remaining!

I'm wondering if the advisors who are advanced certified in 2007 were only the people who attended seminars in person and took a "live" test. The online version has only been open to me since January 2008. I agree: I don't think anyone has passed the online exam.

There are a few people that have been contacted by Intuit so we are making progress. I have e-mailed my comments to the person in charge but have not spoken to her yet. I will send her an e-mail today requesting a phone call.

As for the 2007 folks, they did NOT take any sort of exam. They were only required to attend a live seminar plus view 4 webinars. Many complained that attending a seminar did not demonstrate that they were qualified Pro Advisors. That's why they came up with the exam.

Like I have told Intuit, I have no problem with the exam. I have a problem with the lack of direction we are being given and the obvious errors in the exam.

Yes, Laura is correct. No exam was required in the 2007 Adv course. 2007 was the first year for the Advanced, and was accurately labeled a pilot program (i.e. changes would be made after it was all over). I, for one, discussed the lack of exam with the program manager during the live seminar. IMHO, the lack of an in-depth exam makes the Adv Cert too easy to obtain, and must have a requirement to justify the person is in fact Adv Cert. That being said, having comprehensible questions and correct solutions to them is also needed!  Not sure about whether I am ?allowed? to take the Adv Cert exam (I won?t have time until May). My understanding is a person?s Adv Cert designation states the first year received, i.e. ?Since 2007?, and not each year as the QB Cert uses.

Good luck on the exam! I?ll be trying it soon, too.

Chris D Johnson, CPA
Certified QuickBooks Retail Solution Provider
Certified QuickBooks Point of Sale ProAdvisor
Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor

Chris,

When you have a chance, would you check your course locker for us to see if the 2008 Advanced exam is available? I think I read somewhere that it is not even available to those that completed the 2007 program.

thanks,
Laura

In beginning to prepare for Advanced Certification, I participated in today's Advanced "Live" Webinar on Integrated Applications, significant time was spent on ODBC and QuickBooks, but the examples all used QuickBooks Enterprise since only Enterprise comes with ODBC (w/o having to buy it).

Since the Advanced Exam obvviously has some ODBC questions on it, as evidenced by comments within this forum, I would simply let everyone who HAS NOT watched the recorded Webinar for the QB-Enterprise Certification titled "ODBC and Crystal Reporting" may find the much more detailed information about ODBC within that Enterprise Course helpful to prepare for the Advanced Exam.