How to Get Experience in QuickBooks

Gaining proficiency in accounting software like QuickBooks is no longer a bonus—it's a baseline requirement for almost any role in finance and bookkeeping. The classic challenge, however, is that you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. This guide breaks down that barrier, providing a clear roadmap for building hands-on QuickBooks skills, even if you’re starting with zero real-world practice.

Start with a Solid Foundation: Formal Training and Certification

Before you can practice effectively, you need to understand the underlying principles and workflows of the software. Jumping directly into a live company file without any training is like trying to build a house without looking at the blueprints. Intuit offers excellent, free resources designed specifically for aspiring accounting and bookkeeping professionals.

Your first and most important stop should be QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA). This is a special version of QuickBooks Online designed for professionals who manage multiple client accounts. Here’s why it’s your key starting point:

• It's Free: There is no cost to sign up for a QBOA account. You get access to a powerful platform, training materials, and your own free QuickBooks Online Plus account for managing your own (future) firm's books.
• Access to the ProAdvisor Program: Signing up for QBOA automatically enrolls you in the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program. This program is a treasure trove of structured learning paths, from foundational concepts to advanced topics.
• Certification: The ProAdvisor training culminates in a certification exam. Becoming a “QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor” is a valuable credential you can add to your resume and LinkedIn profile. It clearly demonstrates to potential employers or clients that you have a verified level of competence.

Your Action Plan for Certification:

1. Create Your Account: Sign up for a free QuickBooks Online Accountant account.
2. Access the Training: Once logged in, navigate to the “ProAdvisor” tab. Here you'll find comprehensive self-paced training modules and recorded webinars covering everything from setting up a new company to handling payroll and preparing year-end reports.
3. Study a Little Each Day: Don’t try to cram. Spend 30-60 minutes daily working through the modules. Take notes on key workflows, such as the Undeposited Funds account, bank feeds, and the difference between entering a bill and creating an expense.
4. Take the Exam: Once you feel confident, take the certification test. You can retake sections if you don't pass on the first try, so there’s no pressure.

While QuickBooks Online is the industry's direction, many businesses still run on QuickBooks Desktop (Pro, Premier, or Enterprise). Certification for Desktop versions often comes through paid courses at community colleges or through authorized third-party trainers, but the foundational knowledge you gain from the free QBOA certification is highly transferable.

Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice in a Sandbox Environment

Certification teaches you the "how," but hands-on practice teaches you the "why." You need a safe space to apply your new knowledge, make mistakes, and correct them without any real-world consequences. This is where sample companies come in.

Create and Run a Fictional Company

One of the best ways to get experience is to invent a business and run its books for a few months. This turns abstract concepts into concrete actions. You’re not just learning about invoicing; you’re deciding what services your fictional company offered, how much to charge, and then creating the actual invoice.

Your Action Plan for T-Shirt Titan, LLC (Your Fictional Business):

1. Sign in to QBOA: Use the free QuickBooks Online Plus subscription that comes with your QBOA account.
2. Choose a Simple Business: Let's say you're a freelance graphic designer who designs custom t-shirts. Your business name is "T-Shirt Titan, LLC."
3. Set Up the Company: Go through the setup wizard. Create a basic Chart of Accounts with accounts for things like “Checking Account,” “Software Subscriptions,” “Office Supplies,” and “Design Income.”
4. Simulate Transactions: Manually create a month’s worth of activity.
   • Invoice a "client": Create an invoice for "Startup City" for five t-shirt designs at $200 each.
   • Receive a payment: Record the receipt of a $1,000 payment from "Startup City." Deposit the funds.
   • Enter and pay a bill: You get a $75 monthly bill from your design software provider. Enter the bill and then schedule a payment.
   • Record an expense: You buy $50 worth of art supplies with the company debit card. Instead of entering a bill, create an expense for this transaction.
   • Connect Your (Practice) Bank Account: Get a feel for the bank feed by downloading a sample transaction file (in .qbo or .csv format) from your personal credit card or bank account—make sure to change any personal data—and upload it into your sample company to practice bank rules and matching.

By simulating these events, you will internalize the workflows much faster than just reading about them.

Use Intuit's Sample Company File

QuickBooks Online also includes a pre-populated sample company called "Craig's Design and Landscaping Services." This is an invaluable testing ground populated with years of data. You can access it directly from the QBOA dashboard. It lets you experiment with more advanced features without fear. Want to see how the inventory module works? Go ahead and sell some virtual fountains. Need to test a complex journal entry? This is the place to do it. You can run any report, reconcile accounts, and undo anything you mess up. The data resets every time you sign out.

Gain Practical Experience with Real-World Projects

Once you’re comfortable in a sandbox environment, it’s time to find real data to work with. This step is what truly cements your skills and builds your confidence.

Volunteer Your Skills for a Small Non-Profit

Many small non-profits, community clubs, school parent-teacher organizations, or youth sports leagues operate on a shoestring budget and are desperate for help with their finances. Their bookkeeping needs are often simple: tracking donations, paying for supplies, and preparing basic reports for their board. This is a perfect low-risk environment to apply your learning.

Approach them with a humble and clear offer: "I have recently become a QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor and I'm looking to build my practical experience. I would be happy to volunteer a few hours a month to help manage your bookkeeping and provide you with clear financial reports." You’ll get real-world practice, a great entry on your resume, and likely a glowing reference.

Offer Discounted Services to Extremely Small Businesses

Do you have a friend who runs an Etsy shop? A family member who does handyman work on the weekends? They probably manage their money in a spreadsheet or a shoebox. This is another prime opportunity.

Offer to take on their bookkeeping at a deeply discounted "portfolio-building" rate. Be transparent about your experience level. Your job will likely be a "clean-up" project—organizing months of past transactions—followed by simple monthly maintenance. This kind of work is invaluable because messy books are the norm in the real world.

Develop In-Demand Advanced Skills

To stand out, you need to move beyond creating invoices and categorizing expenses. Focus on the core skills that employers and clients value most.

Master Bank Reconciliations

The bank reconciliation is the heart of accurate bookkeeping. It's the process of matching the transactions in the company's books to the transactions on the bank statement to ensure everything is accounted for correctly. Getting this process to work smoothly is a non-negotiable skill. Use your fictional company and the sample company file to practice reconciling accounts until you can do it flawlessly.

Explore a Key Ecosystem: Payroll

Payroll is a specialized and highly sought-after skill. You can get exposure to it within QuickBooks itself. Even if your fictional company only has one employee (you!), practice running simulated payroll using a tool like QuickBooks Online Payroll. Understand the basic workflow for entering employee hours, processing payments, and seeing how payroll taxes are calculated and debited.

Understand Reports

The entire point of bookkeeping is to produce clear, actionable financial reports. Spend time in the sample company learning the difference between a Profit & Loss Statement, a Balance Sheet, and a Statement of Cash Flows. Learn how to customize reports, filter by date, and use the "drill-down" feature to see the underlying transactions that make up a total. An accountant who can't explain the P&L isn't just a bookkeeper—they’re a problem-solver.

Final Thoughts

Gaining real QuickBooks experience is a systematic journey—not an instant event. By starting with formal certification, creating a sandbox to practice, and then seeking out low-risk, real-world projects, you build a foundation of skills that opens the door to professional opportunities.

As you move beyond data entry and become a strategic advisor, your questions evolve from "where do I click?" to "what are the tax implications of this transaction?" Answering complex regulatory questions can mean hours of manual research. To help you dedicate more time to value-driven advice, we built Feather AI to give you accurate, citation-backed answers to your toughest tax questions in seconds. You can focus on guiding your clients, confident that the underlying research is solid.