Although it is used most prevalently in the United States, the software exists in several country-specific versions, in addition to which there is a customizable International Version that can theoretically be used anywhere. The software supports over 80 currencies, including the Albanian Lek, the St. Helena Pound, and the Swaziland Lilangeni.
For those who have moved on from fiat currency, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even Litecoin are supported as well.
QuickBooks is extremely powerful software that makes managing all aspects of a smaller business feasible with just one program. QuickBooks can handle your vendors, clients, employees, banking, payroll, and inventory. Because it can do so much, there’s a lot to learn to be able to take advantage of all its features. Although your business may not need to accept payments in the Lek, QuickBooks will be ready when that big Albanian account comes through. That is if you have (or are) a bookkeeper who knows how to turn on the Multiple Currencies function.
Because QuickBooks is both popular and versatile, there is always going to be a market for people who know how to use the software. Know the program intimately, and you’re well on your way to making a career as a bookkeeper, or to taking your business’ finances in hand and no longer needing to cross your fingers that that check to your footwear parts vendor in Tirana will clear the bank.
Before embarking on a QuickBooks journey, you’ll need to know that the software exists in two distinct versions. One (QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise) is a desktop program that keeps all your data where you can see it; the other (QuickBooks Online) is cloud-based software that puts your data where it can be reached from anywhere. The other differences between the two programs are substantial, so, if you’re a business owner, you should do your research before committing to one version or the other.
Note also that QuickBooks is now only available by subscription. A number of plans are available, but none of them come cheap. The most popular QuickBooks Online plan costs over $,000 a year, and that’s not including payroll. Adding a payroll of 10 employees to that is going to cost you more than $1800 a year, plus a further $96 annually for each additional employee. Given how much the software can do, and given its proven track record, that’s likely money well spent, but you should be aware that there are less expensive alternatives on the market.
Finally, a word about learning curves: QuickBooks can take time to learn. That applies especially to the desktop version, which does not have a reputation for user-friendliness. QuickBooks Online is considered less difficult to learn, a fact that you should bear in mind when deciding between versions.
#1: QuickBooks Training—Mastering QuickBooks Level 1 (live Online)
Real World Training, under the name QuickBooks Training, is the only school that is officially partnered with Intuit to teach QuickBooks. Two different types of classes are available: live online and on-demand, and both modalities exist for both versions (desktop and online) of the software.
Available in two versions to match the two versions of the software, the introductory live online course, Mastering QuickBooks Level 1, teaches students to set up a fictitious company and record its everyday transactions. Students then learn to set bills, vendor credits, and electronic payments to one side, and invoices, payments, and deposits to the other. They proceed to learn about inventory and sales tax; credits, refunds, and tips and tricks follow in turn. Next up on the syllabus are customizing forms and getting the software to memorize transactions. Reports (not just balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements) are also on the agenda, which wraps up with payroll and learning how to get QuickBooks to handle that most sensitive of accounting tasks.
Key Information
The live online class carries a price tag of $679.95, due upfront. Discounts of up to 25% are frequently to be had. If you send more than one student to the class, you can claim a $250 discount as well. The class takes place on two successive weekdays, from half-past nine in the morning to half-past five in the afternoon, Central Time.
There are no prerequisites for the course.
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Both class days include a question-and-answer session with the teacher. The latter can also stay after class to answer questions 1-on-1.
If you are interested in standing for the QuickBooks Certified User examination, this course will prepare you for it. You’ll even get a pair of vouchers for taking the exam, just in case you don’t pass it on your first try.
Student reviews include mention of some misgivings about taking an online class. The class seems to have convinced the writers that virtual learning worked for them. There was praise for the question-and-answer sessions, as well as for teachers who were “patient” and “funny” while also able to keep hold of the class’ attention. One student most helpfully suggested printing out the online training manual before the start of the course.
#2: ONLC Training Centers—QuickBooks Desktop Introduction & QuickBooks Online QuickStart (in-person and Live Online with Virtual Instructor)
In addition to having schools in more than 300 American cities, ONLC Training Centers offers its classes online to those who would rather attend from their homes or offices. The course listing features beginner-level classes in QuickBooks Pro as well as QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Desktop Introduction leads students through their first steps in the software, from setting up a company to the chart of accounts to inventory, invoicing, payments (giving and receiving), and using the bank account one-way sync to keep QuickBooks current.
QuickBooks Online Quick Start also shows students how to set up a company, then veers off into the different features of the cloud-based version of the software. Thus they will learn to use the Banking Center, the Sales Center, and the Expenses Center, as well as how to use a mobile device to track a business’ finances while on the go.
Follow-up classes are available from ONLC as well. Topics covered include reports and graphs, payroll, budgets, and sales tax.
Key Information
The desktop version classes (both beginner and intermediate) run on two consecutive weekdays, from 10:00 to 4:45 Eastern Time, and carry a price tag of $695, which is due prior to the start of the class. Companies that plan to spend more than $2500 on ONLC classes in the space of one year may pay it all at once and receive a 20% discount on the classes they choose for their team members. That discount rises to 35% for those who choose to invest $25,000 per annum.
The QuickBooks Online classes (both beginner and intermediate) run for a single weekday each, also from 10:00 to 4:45 Eastern Time. Tuition is $395 for each class; the above discount scheme is applicable to these classes as well.
The class assumes some acquaintance with basic accounting concepts. Those with no background in finance are referred to ONLC’s self-paced Accounting On-Demand: Business Accounting, Bookkeeping, and Payroll course. It includes over 21 hours of video tutorials and is priced at $495. Some five days are necessary to complete the course.
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ONLC’s in-person classes are taught in computer labs using a remote teacher. Students who themselves are taking the class virtually will not be significantly impacted by this arrangement.
The school seeks to cap enrollment at 12 students per class.
A retake option is included. It is valid for one year from the initial class date.
A.pdf Certificate of Completion is sent to students upon the completion of any ONLC class.
Completing both the QuickBooks Pro classes or both the QuickBooks Online classes will equip students with the knowledge to take the QuickBooks Certified User examination. Those interested are referred to Certiport, the third-party entity that administers the test.
One ONLC QuickBooks student wrote positively in his review about the learning environment, the teachers, and the hands-on training. He also praised the balance struck between teaching accounting concepts and the use of the software.
#3: Noble Desktop—QuickBooks Online Level 1 (in-person/live Online)
Noble Desktop offers its wide range of IT classes both online and in-person in Midtown Manhattan. Its QuickBooks Online Level 1 teaches students to use the cloud-based version of the program, from setting up a company through the lists of vendors, customers, and inventory items that make the software function, and then on to those twins, invoicing, and payments. Fundamental accounting concepts are touched upon as well, so beginners with no finance background will be able to follow the class.
Noble Desktop does not offer a class in QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise.
Key Information
The class takes six hours and is taught on a single weekday. It is priced at $229, payable in full before the start of the class.
The class has no prerequisites except for the ability to use a computer.
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A free retake option is included and is good for a year after you take the class the first time. Noble Desktop also makes a recording of the class available to students for 30 days.
Class sizes are kept intentionally small to ensure that students receive a proper amount of attention from the instructor.
The school offers a “learn the skills” money-back guarantee: if the class fails to do what it set out to do, Noble Desktop will refund your tuition.
Students receive a digital Certificate of Completion at the end of the class. It is suitable, inter alia, for display on a LinkedIn profile.
Reviews from students singled out for praise both the teachers and the ease of asking questions. Students were also pleased with the small class size. Others noted that the class is packed with an enormous amount of information for six hours, and suggested that taking it a second time might be helpful.
#4: Certstaffix Training—QuickBooks Desktop Edition: Basic Course & QuickBooks Online Edition: Basic Course (live Online)
This pair of classes in QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Online is designed for those who are entirely new to the software. Both classes show students how to set up a company and work with the various lists (customers, vendors, employees, and inventory items) that let QuickBooks keep your business organized. Sales (invoices and payments), bills, and integrating bank accounts are also covered. The desktop class concludes by showing students how to use the built-in Easy Step Interview to set up a real company, while the class in the online version wraps up with a unit on the 12 most frequently made mistakes people make when using QuickBooks.
For students of the desktop version, an advanced class is available as well. It covers topics such as memorizing (automating) transactions, creating graphs and reports, sales tax, job costing, and letter-writing using the Letters and Envelopes Wizard. Be aware, however, that payroll is not treated in any of these courses.
Key Information
The courses are priced at $435 each, payable in advance, and take up a single daytime session. If you elect to book both of the classes in the desktop version of QuickBooks at the same time, Certstaffix offers a discount of $80 (for a total price of $790). Be apprised of the fact that registration closes two weeks prior to the start of the class.
The only prerequisite for the beginner classes is the ability to use a Windows computer. If you don’t possess that knowledge, you may wish to consider Certstaffix’s Windows for End Users (price: $335), which teaches all the necessary basics.
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The class requires that students set up their free trial of QuickBooks prior to the start of the course. You can bypass that requirement if you have a QuickBooks subscription to use.
The price of tuition includes printed student materials. A retake option (good for six months) is also included.
Those who complete a class with Certstaffix receive, in addition to a certificate, a Credly digital badge that can be displayed on digital resumes and LinkedIn profiles.
Macintosh users should be aware that none of these classes are suitable for the Macintosh editions of QuickBooks.
The two classes in the desktop version of QuickBooks prepare students for the QuickBooks Certified User examination. Further information is available directly from Certiport, which administers the exam.
One student reviewer on Indeed mentioned that he takes the class once a year to make sure that he’s up-to-date with the latest QuickBooks features. The consensus among students who rated the course is that they would recommend it to a friend.
#5: Computer Training Source—QuickBooks Desktop Part 1 & QuickBooks Online Part 1 (in-person/live Online)
QuickBooks Desktop Part 1 from Computer Training Source in Chicago is a class that stresses hands-on student participation. The curriculum follows the customary path leading from setting up a company and its attendant lists. Managing inventory, tabulating sales and invoices, processing payments, paying bills, and syncing bank accounts all follow in due course. Finally, students learn how to employ the Easy Step Interview to set up their own companies. There are two further classes in QuickBooks available from Computer Training Source: QuickBooks Desktop Level 2, which handles more advanced functionality of the software, and the practical Level 3, in which students use a mock company to apply nearly every feature built into the software.
In QuickBooks Online Part 1, the syllabus, while similar to that of the desktop class, takes into account the different capabilities of the cloud-based version of the software. Students are also introduced to the payroll function, which (along with a number of other advanced topics) is covered in greater depth in the Level 2 class. The Level 3 course is similar to the one described above, and puts students to work with the software and a mock company.
Key Information
The Level 1 classes both carry a price tag of $425 for six hours of hands-on instruction. The Level 2 and 3 classes have higher price tags of $499 and $545, respectively. The class in the desktop version meets on a single weekday. Students have the choice between that format and a two-weeknight one for the QuickBooks Online class.
There are no prerequisites for either Level 1 class.
Payment for classes is due in advance. A 20% discount may be had if you purchase all three levels of one of the QuickBooks courses simultaneously. Computer Training Source offers QuickBooks programs that may be eligible for grants from WIOA (the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and the TAA (Trade Adjustment Act). These can cover up to the full tuition for unemployed students seeking to become skilled bookkeepers. The school makes scholarships available to bridge any shortfall in a WIOA grant. Please contact Computer Training Source for further details.
The school also makes available a coupon scheme that provides discounts for companies that purchase multiple classes for their employees.
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Workbook manuals are included in tuition. Students may keep them for their future reference.
Computer Training Center has classrooms in downtown Chicago as well as satellite facilities in Naperville and Schaumburg.
The school offers free email and telephone support for the 30 days following your class.
A free retake option is available within six months of taking a class with the school.
Student reviews praise the instructors and their ability to keep the class on the same page. One reviewer also made positive mention of the teachers’ sense of humor.
#6: Digital Workshop Center—QuickBooks Bookkeeper Certificate (in-person/live Online)
Located in Fort Collins, Colorado, Digital Workshop Center is a haven for non-traditional students (that includes those who are returning to school later in life) as well as anyone seeking to acquire new workplace skills. The school has a QuickBooks Certificate program that is designed to prepare students for bookkeeper roles (or managing the books of your own business). The program includes instruction in accounting fundamentals and payroll, as well as teaching students how to use QuickBooks. A class in Microsoft Excel is available as an add-on. All students in the program must complete a capstone project, working 1-on-1 with a mentor.
The components of the certificate program can also be taken à la carte. QuickBooks Online Beginners and QuickBooks Online Advanced are both available individually and take students down the QuickBooks path, from starting the software by using it to manage payroll.
The school does not offer classes in the desktop version of QuickBooks.
Key Information
The QuickBooks certificate program involves 67 hours of live online classes; most students are able to complete the program in under six months. Tuition for the program comes in at $5714, or $5514 if the full balance is paid before the start of class. Digital Workshop Center has a wide variety of financing plans available, with varying interest rates and payments. Those include a 0% interest plan that breaks the class fees into 12 payments of $345.
If you are unemployed, a veteran, or a woman seeking to begin a career in a tech field, Digital Workshop Center has a number of scholarship programs available. Its classes are also eligible for funding through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Furthermore, the school also collaborates with the Colorado Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to help Coloradans with disabilities to learn workplace-useful tech skills.
The individual QuickBooks classes take ten-and-a-half hours each to complete, and are scheduled on three non-consecutive weekday afternoons, Mountain Time. Tuition for each class is $1406; payment plans are not available for these classes when taken individually.
There are no prerequisites for either the certificate program or the beginner class.
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Working 1-on-1 with a mentor is part of the certificate program, both before and during the capstone project. The school also offers career support services to its certificate students, including a resume workshop, a workshop in job-seeking, and mock interviews.
Additionally, the school partners with Dewey-Parker to place students in certificate programs in paid “micro-internships.”
All classes include a one-year retake option. Also included are textbooks, class recordings (upon request), a certificate of completion, and 30 days of technical support.
Reviews by students on Google have nothing but praise for the school’s instructors and support staff. One student appreciated the absence of “fluff or filler classes, ” while another declared herself surprised by how much she was able to learn (and retain), given the brevity of the class. A third student declared that his choice of Digital Workshop Center was a “great life decision.”
#7: Technical Institute of America—QuickBooks Basic Training Class (in-person/live Online)
Based in New York City, a few blocks from Penn Station, Technical Institute of America has on offer a QuickBooks Basic Training Class for the desktop version of the software. The course teaches students to set up a company, create lists, manage inventory, track accounts payable and accounts receivable, calculate sales tax, run payroll, and create reports such as profit-and-loss statements and balance sheets. The syllabus also covers reconciling bank accounts, plus keyboard shortcuts and other tips and tricks. For those whose needs go beyond the foregoing, an advanced class is also to be had from the school.
Technical Institute of America only teaches the desktop version of the software. It does not offer instruction in QuickBooks Online.
Key Information
The class costs $169, due in advance. It runs for eight hours of live training, in-person or online. Government employees are eligible for special pricing. A package deal for the two QuickBooks classes together is priced at $289.
Further discounts are available on bundled classes. A Certificate in Bookkeeping program that includes a bookkeeping basics class, as well as two classes in Excel, is priced at $889. The bundle is also available without the introductory bookkeeping class for $519.
The introductory class has no prerequisites beyond basic computer literacy.
More Details
Classroom materials are included in the price of tuition. Online students receive them via mail or email prior to the start of the class.
The possibility of a free retake is available for one year (bundled classes) or six months (individual classes).
A certificate of completion is issued at the end of the class.
Student reviews singled out one teacher in particular for how much material he was able to teach in only eight hours. He was well-versed in general accounting practices as well as the software and created an “easy to use” classroom environment. Reviews also comment highly positively on the small class size.
#8: Logical Imagination—QuickBooks Online (live Online)
Intended for small business owners and their bookkeepers, this QuickBooks Online course takes students on an in-depth tour of what the software can do. The topics covered start off with getting QuickBooks set up for your business and proceed along to the chart of accounts (which lies at the heart of the software’s functionality), sub-accounts, and importing data for customers and vendors. Bank accounts and feeds are up next, after which comes showing participants how to manage sales (invoices, payments, sales tax) and their flip-side expenses (bills, payments, checks). Reports, budgeting, and payroll are also touched upon before a grand finale module devoted to the reconciliation of accounts.
Key Information
The class is priced at $750, payable upfront. It runs for two seven-hour weekday sessions, from ten o’clock in the morning to five o’clock in the afternoon. Eastern Time. The school offers small discounts if you book multiple classes for a single student or multiple students for a single class.
There are no prerequisites for the class.
Logical Imagination only teaches classes in QuickBooks Online.
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The tuition includes printed manuals, which are the students’ to keep for their future reference.
A highly liberal free retake option is available: students may retake their class as often as they desire. Logical Imagination also offers a money-back satisfaction guarantee.
One student reviewed the QuickBooks class in highly positive terms: “very informative” and a great way to learn the program. The review also comments on the accessibility of the teacher and the ease of asking questions to gain a deeper appreciation of the software’s capabilities.
#9: Discovery Center—QuickBooks (live In-person/live Online)
Located on Chicago’s North Side, halfway between Wrigley Field and Lincoln Park, the Discovery Center teaches a range of classes to further the education of adult Chicagoans. If you want to start a notary business, read tarot cards, make stained glass, or spice up your personal life (with Kink 101 and even Kink 201), the Discovery Center can help you. It can also assist you in gaining a foothold in the quagmire that can be QuickBooks. Its course is a brief introduction to QuickBooks Online, and it covers some of the basics of using the program, including how to process simple transactions and generate reports to see how your business is faring.
There is no matching class in QuickBooks’ desktop version available. Nor is there an advanced class.
Key Information
The class is priced at a reasonable $50, due at the time of registration. There is also a $15 materials fee, due when the class convenes. The course takes place on a single weekday evening, and lasts two-and-a-half hours.
There are no prerequisites.
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Class sizes are held to ten students per session.
Discovery Center fares well with student reviews for all its programs in general. A lone review of the QuickBooks class grants it a full five-out-of-five star rating.
#10: Business Computer Skills—QuickBooks Online Quick Start & QuickBooks Desktop Introduction (in-person and Online with Live Virtual Instructor)
Business Computer Skills teaches classes in QuickBooks Online as well as in the desktop version of the software. The QuickBooks Online Quick Start class shows students the main ropes of the more user-friendly cloud-based QuickBooks. It teaches how to set up a company, then how to manage banking, customers, and vendors. QuickBooks Desktop Introduction does the same for Intuit’s techier QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise. Students here learn how to set up the lists that are so important to the software’s operation, and then move along to how to use QuickBooks to keep track of inventory, process payments, integrate bank accounts, and pay your vendors on time. At the end of the course, students are taught to use the Easy Step interview as a means of setting up their own company files.
The school also teaches more advanced courses. The online version is QuickBooks Online Advanced, which covers inventory, purchase orders, budgets, and payroll. The desktop flip-side, QuickBooks Desktop Beyond the Basics, goes into memorizing transactions (not you but the software), generating graphs and reports, computing and paying sales tax, and payroll.
Key Information
Both classes in the online version of the software are taught in a single full weekday (10:00 a.m. To 4:45 p.m., Eastern Time), while the desktop version classes require two consecutive weekdays each to complete. The online version classes cost $395, while those for the desktop version of QuickBooks are priced higher at $695. The prices include a 10% discount. Payment in full is due prior to the class.
The introductory classes have no prerequisites.
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A training manual is included with the course.
Those taking the class live-in-person will receive instruction from a virtual instructor in a classroom provided by Business Computer Skills’ partner, ONLC, in one of nearly 300 American cities. There is a possibility that only one student may be present at any given location.
A free repeat option is on offer.
One student in the QuickBooks Online class commented on the way she was able to assimilate so much information “without getting overwhelmed.” Another participant praised the instructor for setting a good pace for the class and making sure that there were no stragglers when moving on to new topics.
#11: New Horizons—Get Started with QuickBooks Online 2021-2022 (live Online)
New Horizons describes itself on its website as the world’s leading provider of IT training, with locations in no fewer than 30 different countries. It specializes in both corporate training for team optimization and individual classes (generally online) for career advancement. It uses its online teaching modality for Get Started with QuickBooks Online 2021-22, a course that uses a fictitious company (cooked up for the occasion) to illustrate to students how QuickBooks Online can be used to tabulate, organize and manage a company’s finances. The class begins by discussing basic accounting principles before moving on to QuickBooks itself and such key components of the online version of the software as the chart of accounts, the Vendor Center, and the Sales Center. Managing bank and credit card accounts are up next, followed by paying contractors and creating financial reports. The course concludes with a project that allows students to put their new knowledge to practical use.
There is no corresponding course in the desktop version of QuickBooks.
Key Information
The price of the class is $870, due upfront. The course lasts for two eight-hour weekday sessions, and is suitable even for those who are new to the world of finance.
More Details
New Horizons makes a limited retake option available.
The Labs on Demand feature included with the class gives students access to online practice materials and the opportunity to practice what they’ve learned during the class.
There don’t seem to be any student reviews online of the QuickBooks course. Student reaction to New Horizons is positive in general, with Indeed affording the school a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5. Also worth noting is the fact that 86% of students who took a course with New Horizons (and responded to the survey) stated that they would recommend their class to a friend. Moreover, 61% of those who took a class with New Horizons felt that the course had a positive impact on their careers.
#12: Business Training Enterprises—QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise Class & QuickBooks Online Edition (live Online, Occasionally Available In-person)
Business Training Enterprises (BTE) has been teaching classes in QuickBooks since 2006. The school’s QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise Class introduces students to the software (navigation, setting up a company, lists, bank accounts) before moving on to receivables, payables, inventory, and reports, and thence to more advanced topics such as sales tax, payroll, job costing, and customization of the templates that are built into the software. In the QuickBooks Online Edition class, the pedagogical trajectory is somewhat different, with, for example, customization of invoices taught in the first unit and bank accounts reserved for the second day. It also introduces the functions that are unique to QuickBooks Online, including the Customer and Vendor Centers and the QuickCreate function. Payroll is an optional add-on for the second day.
Key Information
The class in QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise is spread across three four-and-a-half hour sessions from 9:00 to 1:00 Pacific Time. Pricing is a bit different from the usual, as it is possible to take one or two days of the training as well as all three. This allows those who are more experienced with the software to skip the basics taught on the first day. It also makes it possible for those who don’t require the advanced topics taught on the third day to take only the first two-thirds of the class. The price for the entire course is $449, any two days can be taken for $349, and any one day can be taken for $249. All tuition is payable in advance.
There are no prerequisites for the first day of the class; those interested in joining up on day two should double-check the syllabus on the BTE website to make sure that they are skipping material they can afford to skip.
The QuickBooks Online class lasts only for two weekday sessions (also from 9:00 to 1:00 Pacific Time) and is priced at $399, payable upfront. There is no option available to take only one day of the class. On the other hand, there is the option to take day one in one month and take day two in the following month.
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A training manual is emailed to participants two weeks prior to the class, along with the sign-on GoToMeeting codes and other relevant information.
A dummy company file is provided by the school, so there is no need to get involved in a QuickBooks free trial to learn how to use the software.
A “refresher” retake option is available. You can use it within six months of your first go at the material.
Among the positive things students had to say about the course was a great deal of praise for the instructor, who made the class enjoyable and absorbing and was always willing to help. A student even mentioned that the instructor took the time to say, “You’re welcome, ” when someone thanked her. Another student, who was experienced in using QuickBooks, commented on how much she learned – and how much she learned that she didn’t know she didn’t know.
#13: College of Southern Idaho Workforce Development and Training—Introduction to QuickBooks Online (live Online or On-demand)
CSI offers live online and on-demand training in a wide variety of fields for professional development. You can learn to become a cybersecurity professional, a grant writer, or a veterinary assistant, thanks to courses the school teaches. Those include an Introduction to QuickBooks Online that begins a little bit before the beginning with accounting basics, including the theory of double-entry bookkeeping and how to read a financial statement. Having thus armed the class’ participants, the course wades into QuickBooks waters by tackling the chart of accounts, the various Centers, and the lists that allow the software to keep track of your business. Bank accounts, expenses, bills, income, estimates, and invoices ensue, with the course winding up with sales tax and the creation of reports.
For those with a thirst for further knowledge from the QuickBooks spring, Intermediate QuickBooks Online is available. This class teaches students about inventory, service items, banking, multiple currencies, payroll, and, finally, how to review the books you’ve so painstakingly created.
CSI only teaches QuickBooks Online classes, although on-demand versions of both classes described above are available.
Key Information
The price for the Introduction to QuickBooks Online class is $139, payable upfront. The class comprises 24 hours of instruction, spread across six weeks. The Intermediate course is also $139, and also comprises 24 classroom hours. A bundle is available: the QuickBooks Online Series. It gives you both classes together for the discounted price of $250. The on-demand courses have the same price tag as the live online ones.
The introductory class has no prerequisites. As it covers basic accounting concepts as well as hands-on instruction in how to use QuickBooks, it is particularly well-suited to beginners.
More Details
Instructional materials for the class are included in the tuition. They are made available to students online.
The class also includes a final exam.
Although reviews for CSI’s not-for-credit professional development classes are impossible to find online, it is worth noting that the instructor-led class was voted the best option among similar college classes by Fit Small Business, a website devoted to the needs of small business owners. The site, in an article about the Seven Best QuickBooks Training Courses for 2025, found the CSI instructor to be both highly qualified and, given the parameters of an online class, highly accessible.
#14: Intelquest Computer Training—Intuit QuickBooks Class (in-person and Live Online)
Located in Beverly Hills-adjacent Los Angeles (Beverly Hills is confusingly on the other side of the street from the school’s premises), Intelquest teaches Intuit QuickBooks classes in both versions of the software. Topics covered run the gamut from setting up a company to entering transactions (as well as finding them, voiding them, and having the software memorize them) to transfers, reconciliation, and profit-and-loss statements. An intermediate class covers such topics as payables and receivables, customers and vendors, and invoices and purchase orders. The school even has an advanced QuickBooks class, in which students learn about payroll, W2s, 1099s, transferring files to Excel, preparing the books for the accountant, and further financial reports and statements.
Key Information
Each of the three courses consists of eight classroom (or online) hours, which may be taken in a full day or as two half-days. Scheduling is available daytime, evening, and weekends; contact the school for further details. While you’re contacting them, you can also ask about their pricing, which they fail to reveal on their website. The school does disclose that discounts are available if you purchase multiple classes.
The beginning class has no prerequisites.
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The live-in-Los-Angeles class can also be taken online. The school is also capable of arranging 1-to-1 online instruction.
Students receive a certificate upon the completion of each level.
The class price includes a workbook/manual. Students may retain it for future reference.
The school attempts to keep its student-to-instructor ratio to 5:1. Seven students are the absolute maximum for a live class.
A satisfaction guarantee is provided. Students receive a full refund if they do not “LOVE” (capitals theirs) the class after an hour but before an hour–and–a–half of class time.
Students at Intelquest Computer Training have commented that the class outlines are easy to follow and understand. There is quite a bit of praise for the exercise activities as a means of making sure you’ve learned what you’re supposed to have learned. Past students also praised the instructors as knowledgeable, friendly, and thorough.
#15: LaGuardia Community College Division of Continuing Education—QuickBooks Certificate Program (in-person)
Part of the City University of New York (CUNY) and one of the top-ranked community colleges in the country, LaGuardia Community College offers programs for adults seeking to acquire workplace-ready skills, particularly in the areas of healthcare, information technology, and accounting/bookkeeping. One of the programs in the last-named field is a QuickBooks Certificate Program. The program breaks down into two courses, Accounting with QuickBooks and Advanced QuickBooks for Accounting. The material covered ranges from fundamental accounting principles and setting up a fictional company through reporting transactions, invoicing customers, and creating reports. The follow-up class goes into setting up inventory, using the depreciation formula, reconciling bank accounts, and recording loans. Graduates of the certificate program may add to their QuickBooks education by taking a third course, Payroll with QuickBooks. It goes into the mechanics of running payroll for a small company.
The certificate program is in the desktop version of QuickBooks. The school doesn’t offer instruction in QuickBooks Online.
Key Information
The two certificate classes are offered on similar schedules, either six-hour Saturday sessions (9:00 to 2:00) or ten three-hour sessions on weekday evenings (6:00 to 9:00). Either way, the classes require 30 hours to complete. Both classes are priced at $550. The additional payroll class is offered on a similar schedule and price. Note that not all components of the certificate program are offered every quarter.
LaGuardia Community College offers a Career Success Scholarship program for those seeking the skills to enable them to enter high-demand fields. Payment plans may be available as well. In addition, the New York State Educational Incentive Program offers vouchers to registered child-care providers. The Adult Career and Continuing Educational Services—Vocational Rehab may also offer tuition assistance to students with disabilities. The school also accepts vouchers through the GI Bill and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This list of programs that can help defray the cost of tuition is not exhaustive. And finally, students over age 65 are welcome to a 30% discount on all classes at LGCC.
There are no prerequisites for the introductory class. The latter is, in turn, a prerequisite for the advanced class, and the completed certificate program is a prerequisite for the additional payroll class.
All students must also have access to a Windows computer off campus.
More Details
For those who are unsure about pursuing QuickBooks training, LaGuardia Community College offers a complimentary online webinar designed to demonstrate the advantages of learning to use the software.
Students who complete the first two QuickBooks classes receive a certificate of completion.
The school provides extensive career services assistance, including an online Career Coach program that is designed to match students to careers they will enjoy.
LaGuardia Community College is located in Long Island City on Thomson Avenue between Van Dam Street and Skillman Avenue. (Subway: Queensboro Plaza/Queens Plaza).. Beginning in the fall of 2025, it will be offering some of its accounting classes at Civic Hall in Manhattan, on East 14th Street, just east of Park Avenue South.
Accounting students at LaGuardia College write positively in their Indeed reviews of the school’s various programs. One student praised a “great learning environment” and commented on how that made it possible to excel. Another student singled out the administrators and staff for kudos and said that the school provided an abundance of opportunities to students.
#16: TrainUp.com—QuickBooks for Business: Accounting Made Easy and QuickBooks Introduction Training (live Online)
TrainUp.com offers students a choice between a class that takes them through the essentials of QuickBooks Online and a more in-depth class that goes into the matter of the desktop version of QuickBooks in greater depth. The former class, QuickBooks for Business: Accounting Made Easy, starts off by showing you how to navigate QuickBooks, then shows you how to set up a company and customize your chart of accounts. Lists of vendors, customers, employees, and items follow after a break for lunch, along with creating invoices, inputting payments, and depositing the money in the bank. Students should be conversant with the more obvious capabilities of QuickBooks by the end of the day.
Matters are a great deal more in-depth with QuickBooks Introduction Training and its follow-up QuickBooks Advanced Training. The classes last four times as long as the Online class and are set up to teach students the basics and beyond of QuickBooks Pro/Premier/Enterprise using QuickBooks 2021 software. The advanced class goes into such topics as payroll, sales tax, customizing forms, and generating reports and graphs.
Key Information
The online class lasts one weekday and is priced at $199. The desktop classes last two days each, and are priced at $795 apiece. Occasional discounts may be available.
There are no prerequisites for either of the basic classes. Those who aren’t comfortable with accounting theory and terminology might, however, want to take TrainUp.com’s classes in Accounting Skills (one day; $399) or Basic Bookkeeping (one day; $499).
More Details
TrainUp.com also has a selection of self-paced classes on numerous QuickBooks subjects. Some of these can serve as a helpful complement to the live online courses mentioned above.
The lone online review of TrainUp.com praises the company for the punctuality with which it provided the reviewer’s training and the school’s support when it came to exams. He concluded by saying that he would (and has) recommended the school to friends.
#17: Pryor Learning—How to Use QuickBooks (in-person, Live Online)
Helping professionals excel since the 1970s, Pryor Learning (originally Fred Pryor Seminars) offers an information-packed in-person How to Use QuickBooks Training that, in the space of a day, will have you up and running with QuickBooks Online. The course covers setting up the chart of accounts, inventory management, payables and receivables, and taxes and customizing reports. Students also learn about shortcuts, creating and printing invoices, and exporting reports to Excel. Rather than a hands-on workshop, this training is “computer-less, ” the idea being that such a format makes it possible to impart a maximum of information to students in a minimum amount of time.
The training is also available online several times per month.
Pryor Learning also offers a series of one-hour webinars, both live and available by digital download, in advanced QuickBooks topics. These include Advanced Training for QuickBooks Online, which functions as the follow-up to the live class, along with QuickBooks Inventory Management and QuickBooks Payroll Training.
The one thing Pryor Training doesn’t cover is the desktop version of QuickBooks.
Key Information
The length of the training is seven hours in a single day. The in-person seminar is held in select cities at various points of the year. You are more likely to find the online training easier to accommodate in your calendar. As an added convenience, the online classes have staggered starting times so that, if you live on the West Coast, you won’t be obliged to be up at 6 a.m. To take a QuickBooks class (nor will you have to wait until noon to take a class if you live in the Eastern Time Zone).
The training is priced at $299 (in-person) and $149 (live online), due upon registration. Discounts are available for groups of 3 (in-person; $279) or 5 (live online; $139). The webinars are priced at $199 to be present at the event, $199 for the digital download, or $248 for the two together.
There are no prerequisites for the live seminar or its online equivalent.
More Details
Students receive a certificate of completion (upon request).
The Pryor Learning classes offer CEU credit (0.6 credits for the live or online class) for those who require evidence of continuing professional education. CPE, PCU, HRCI, and SHRM credits are also available.
All Pryor Learning products come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
The digital downloads of the webinars remain accessible to purchasers indefinitely.
Certain Pryor Learning content is available with closed captions.
Student reviews praised Fred Pryor Training in general, and the QuickBooks training in particular, for being “very informative” and presented in such a way as to maintain the seminar participants’ attention. The instructors came in for praise as well. One student opined that the class was “excellent” for students at all levels, commenting that one can always add to one’s “bag of tricks.”
#18: LeapFox Learning Boise (aka New Horizons Boise)—QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Online (in-person; Live Online)
LeapFox Learning began life in a back room of a Boise computer shop. Today, it offers hundreds of courses in all manner of IT subjects, live in Boise, live online, and somewhat less live in a variety of self-paced modalities. The school offers introductory instruction in both versions of QuickBooks. The QuickBooks Pro (desktop) class begins with explaining the software’s navigation and a quick dose of accounting basics. Lists, bills, bank accounts, inventory, payroll, job costing, and estimating follow in due course. The class then goes on to cover more advanced topics such as memorizing transactions, sales tax, customizing forms, the Letters and Envelopes Wizard, and the variety of forms and graphs that the desktop version of the software can prepare for you. The QuickBooks Online training is designed both for average users and professional accountants. The syllabus covers signing up for QuickBooks Online, setting up a company, using add-on apps, handling inflow and outflow of money, connecting QuickBooks to your bank, reconciling accounts, and creating and printing reports.
For those seeking something more in-depth and longer-term, LeapFox teaches an entire QuickBooks certification program that consists of training in QuickBooks Pro, Excel, a choice of elective, a “mentor lab, ” and even a learning lab devoted to making skilled touch-typists out of graduates.
Key Information
Both the desktop and online QuickBooks courses are priced at $649, payable before the class starts. The classes last two days each. Promotional discounts are available on occasion.
The certificate program requires 90 hours to complete over the course of two months. It is priced at $3825, and the curriculum may be customized to suit an individual student’s needs. The program is WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) funding-eligible.
The classes have no prerequisites, although you are expected to know how to use a computer.
More Details
Through the Bounce Back Pass offer, students may retake a class as many times as they wish within six months (online live) or one year (in-person live). LeapFox also makes recordings of live classes available for six months following the event.
Mentor Lab sessions are included as part of the certification program. These give the student a chance to work closely with a mentor, who assesses the student’s progress, administers practice exams, and proposes assignments to reinforce what students have learned in class. These sessions take place in-person and involve no more than four participants. Students can expect to attend two such sessions in the course of a week.
Hands-on labs are part of the curriculum and give students ample time to put into practice what they learned during their classes. Students are able to work at their own pace, and have up to six months to complete the labs that accompany their course.
Students receive a certificate of completion at the end of every course.
The certification course prepares students for the QuickBooks Certified User Examination. You may contact Certiport for further information about the test.
LeapFox attaches a satisfaction guarantee to its classes.
A QuickBooks student at LeapFox Learning noted that the instructor would walk around the room and keep an eye on students’ monitors to make sure they were all on the same page. Another student was highly impressed by the ability to ask specific questions and receive answers that were tailored to the student’s particular line of endeavor. A third student found that even intermediate users can profit from these ostensibly beginner classes.
#19: CSS Learning Academy—Get Going with QuickBooks 2021 (live Online)
CSS Learning Academy, the teaching arm of parent company CSS Global Tech, a technology services company with global reach and offices in five countries (Canada, the United Kingdom, India, and Costa Rica as well as the United States), teaches classes in a whole gamut of IT subjects, including QuickBooks. Get Going with QuickBooks 2021 for Windows is its instructor-led introduction to Intuit’s bookkeeping behemoth. The class starts at the absolute beginning (the course is well-suited to complete beginners as a result) with starting up the software and setting up a company. The class then sallies forth to cover lists, inventory, sales, invoicing, payments, bank accounts, and bills. The curriculum continues to cover memorizing transactions, reports and graphs, sales tax, and payroll. By way of an after-dinner coffee, the class wraps up with an explanation of how to use the EasyStep interview to set up a real company.
The school also offers a more extended QuickBooks class, Get Smart with QuickBooks 2021. It has under its purview online banking, managing company files, estimating and job costing, and writing letters. That constitutes the school’s most complete venture into QuickBooks instruction. There is, however, a third class, Keep Going with QuickBooks 2021, intermediate in level, that overlaps some of the Get Going with QuickBooks 2021 class and runs to the end of the Get Smart with QuickBooks 2021 curriculum.
CSS only teaches classes in the Windows desktop version of QuickBooks.
Key Information
The price for Get Going with QuickBooks 2021 and Keep Going with QuickBooks 2021 is the same: $795, due upon registration. The Get Smart with QuickBooks 2021 is priced at $1195. Discounts are occasionally available. The first two classes last for two days; please get in touch with the provider for the duration of the more extended class.
There are no prerequisites for any of the QuickBooks classes.
More Details
Students receive a student handbook that they may keep for their future reference.
The classes (with the exception of Get Going with QuickBooks) prepare students for the QuickBooks Certified User Exam. The school can assist students with setting up their exam dates.
Job placement assistance is available for one year following the completion of the course. This can include access to the CSS Global Tech network. Moreover, CSS Learning Academy has a Learn and Earn Program, which entitles students to a tuition refund of up to 50% if they are placed in a job via CSS Global Tech’s Placement Division. Please get in touch with the provider for further details.
One business owner who took a QuickBooks class with CSS Learning Academy stated that she enjoyed the training. She singled out the fact that the instructor was “engaging” and “to the point.” “Very informative” and again “to the point” were the words of another business owner, who added that the training demonstrations and examples were “very helpful in making sure we understood the topic.”
#20: Wyzant—1-to-1 QuickBooks Tutoring (in-person, Live Online)
If you want to learn QuickBooks from a human being, but no live class can be found that fits your schedule, you might want to consider engaging a private tutor to teach you how to use the software. A division of IXL Learning (the people who brought you Rosetta Stone language-learning software and vocabulary.com), Wyzant is one of several platforms available that pairs students with tutors in a vast variety of subjects that go far, far beyond AP History. Private tutors have much to recommend them: you get to benefit from the tutor’s full attention, you can tailor the curriculum to your exact needs, and you have the ability to study at a time and in a place that is convenient for you. Most people learn more quickly in a 1-to-1 teaching situation, and if you pick things up slowly, you’ll probably pick them up slowly more quickly with a tutor.
Wyzant’s platform is really quite simple to grasp: type in the subject you want to learn, and the site will provide you with a list of possible tutors, giving their educational backgrounds, their areas of expertise, and such important statistics as how many hours they’ve tutored for Wyzant, and how many of those hours were spent tutoring the topic you wish to learn. You even get a photo of each potential teacher, along with no shortage of ratings and reviews from past students. You get to choose your tutor from the field of possibilities, or if you’d rather be less proactive in your search for a tutor, you can also post your requirements on the platform, and applicants will approach you.
Reasonable care is taken to ensure students’ safety. Background checks can be requested, and all personal information is kept by Wyzant, including payment details, home addresses, and even email addresses. You communicate entirely through the platform (which not coincidentally allows Wyzant to make sure that you’re not making deals with their tutors outside of school hours). If you should elect a local tutor who can teach you in-person, Wyzant makes it clear that these meetings should take place in public settings.
As for curriculum, you can have a private tutor start anywhere and end anywhere. You can start out at the absolute beginning with how to turn on the software, or you can pick up at whichever point you stop understanding what you’re doing. You can even bring your hopelessly tangled and semi-botched company files to the tutor for detangling and thus being set on the proper path to keeping your own books.
Key Information
Tutors are able to set their own rates on Wyzant. Most QuickBooks tutors charge between $40 and $65 an hour, although there are outliers galore. Far from being exorbitant, these rates are actually competitive with some of the live online and live in-person classes discussed elsewhere in this article.
More Details
Wyzant guarantees a good fit between tutor and tutee. If, in your first hour together, you don’t find that you’re clicking with your tutor, you won’t be charged for the session, and you can either leave it at that or have the platform help choose another tutor for you.
One student, whose bookkeeping business was showing signs of floundering, turned to Wyzant and proclaimed her tutor a “lifesaver.” Another said that his tutor was amazing and helped him to “clean up his books” and “got everything to reconcile.” Another student, who took 29 sessions with his tutor, wrote that she was “all business, ” “extremely intelligent, ” and “worth every penny.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Choose a QuickBooks Class?
Off-price menswear mogul Sy Syms’ famous dictum that “an educated consumer is our best customer” applies across a wide range of financial endeavors, even to learning QuickBooks. Although you don’t have to learn QuickBooks in depth to know what class to choose, you will be better off making your selection if you know how the software is structured, what it can do, and in what length of time you can reasonably expect to learn what you need to learn about it. That will give you the knowledge you need to vet online syllabi and choose a class that will conform to both your needs and your expectations. A free video on YouTube isn’t a bad way to garner this kind of knowledge.
In addition, you should peruse student reviews of not only the various classes but also of the various schools, which are easier to locate and can tell you a lot about what the educational experience at a given institution is like. Also worth some time and effort is reading through the various schools’ websites, not only for an overall idea of their services, but for details like poor grammar and spelling and evidence that the site was last updated in 2019, all of which indicate that there might be better options on the market.
Is It Better to Attend a QuickBooks Class In-person or Online?
That depends on a combination of you and geographical circumstance. Some people learn better the way they were taught to learn starting from kindergarten: in the same room as a live teacher. They’re better at keeping alert when someone has an eye on them, and they benefit from being in a class with other people who are going through the same experience and who may be willing to ask questions you’re afraid will make you sound stupid.
You do get some of that from a live online class, but you don’t get quite the same immediacy of interaction you get in an in-person class. On the other hand, you don’t have to commute to an online class and can study from the comfort of your own home (or the relative comfort of your office). In-person classes may also not exist in your locality, which may leave you with no choice but to take an online course.
There is always the option of the on-demand class, which can’t be beaten for its flexibility: you can study whenever and not just wherever you want, and you can rewind the lesson as often as you need. You can also fast-forward the lesson past the bits you know already. It gives you all the freedom learning from a book does (and don’t forget to consider that most simple of options), but it also gives you a talking human head from which to learn, something that many people in this visually-oriented age may prefer to just words on a page. The drawback of the self-paced class is that it allows for no interchange with the teacher: if you’re really stuck on something, there’s no one to ask, which can obviously be a problem. You’re also going to need some application to get through one of the longer self-paced classes, which are very easy to keep putting off until you forget about them altogether.
What Will I Need for a QuickBooks Class?
If you’re going to take an online class, the most important thing you’re going to need is a computer and a good internet connection. Many providers recommend a cable rather than a wireless connection as they’re less prone to lagging, but you should be able to manage with a wifi connection with sufficient bandwidth. Always check the provider’s system requirements before signing up for a class.
Although there are online classes that come with access to the QuickBooks software, most of them do not, meaning that you’ll have to make your own arrangements to get QuickBooks on your computer. If you or your company already have a subscription, you’re set. If not, you’ll have to take advantage of the 30-day free trial Intuit offers for both versions of QuickBooks.
You don’t need a credit card to activate the trial, and if you’re going to study QuickBooks Online, there’s nothing to download, either. If your plan is to learn the desktop version of QuickBooks, you’re going to need to download the software from Intuit. Remember that you only have thirty days to use your QuickBooks Online free trial or your desktop QuickBooks free trial, so maximize that time by signing up only once you’re ready to begin your class.
Intuit actually offers a pair of introductory offers: the 30-day free trial and a 50% off deal for your first three months of service. If you crunch the numbers, the latter is the better bargain, but, of course, only if you’re sure that you’re going to need a year’s subscription to QuickBooks. And, no, Intuit doesn’t give a chance at both offers: taking them up on the 30-day free trial cancels out your eligibility for the 50% off offer.
If you’re taking an in-person class, a computer and software are almost always provided by the school. You will, however, probably want to have access to a computer and software to practice when you’re away from the classroom (some in-person classes make this a requirement).
Can I Learn QuickBooks Online for Free?
Yes, but there are a lot of ifs that go with that answer. You’ll first and foremost have to hit upon a free online tutorial that is up-to-date, reasonably complete, and well enough produced to make it something you can stand watching. Of these requirements, the up-to-date one may be the most elusive: there are videos on YouTube for QuickBooks 2015 in a world in which Intuit has already discontinued support for QuickBooks 2020.
All those warnings notwithstanding, you can definitely learn something about QuickBooks through free tutorials. There are, in fact, some very good onNYIM offers financial training courses for a wide range of topics, including financial statement analysis, core financial principles, and Excel techniques used in finance. These finance courses are perfect for those working in or seeking employment in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, wealth management, and real estate.es out there from which to partake. On the other hand, if your needs from QuickBooks are serious (although not many people choose to learn QuickBooks for the fun of it), you will most probably need to take a paid class (of one of the three available types) to develop a firm grasp on what the software can do.
Note also that you only get 30 free days of QuickBooks trial from Intuit. To continue your work with QuickBooks, you’re (sooner rather than later) going to have to pony up the big bucks for a paid subscription.
Is It Better to Learn QuickBooks in a Live or Self-paced Class?
As some perceptive Ancient Roman once said, de gustibus non est disputandum—there’s no arguing with taste. And taste is precisely that to which the choice between a live or a self-paced class comes down. Some people learn better in a classroom setting: they like the authority figure of the teacher, they respond well to the discipline of having to be in a classroom at a particular time and place, they like being to ask questions when they don’t understand something, and they like not having to be responsible for their own learning schedule. Others are of a more independent cast of mind and prefer to hold the reins of their own education. Yes, the price of that is that you don’t get to ask a teacher questions in real time, and that is a very significant drawback, but, for some, it’s a tradeoff worth making. You probably know which type of person you are as a result of having lived with yourself for a whole lifetime. If you’re not sure, bear one more thing in mind: the self-paced course requires a lot more self-discipline to complete, and you’d do well to be sure you possess that kind of discipline before trying to learn QuickBooks from a video tutorial (or, for that matter, from a book).