You probably had the same initial reaction as I did when you first saw the announcement about Intuit moving from ProAdvisor to Intuit ProPartner Accountants: “Okay… so they changed the name.”
(Big companies have a talent for rebranding and repackaging the same old thing in a way they promise will be groundbreaking, but in fact is just a thin coat of glossy paint.)
But as you know, I’m a QBO nerd and love to keep up on the shifts in the ecosystem, so I read and digested all the stuff I found and it turns out, the deeper I went, the more I realized this might be a much bigger shift than branding. (And I don’t mean, “wow, primer plus two coats of paint, but instead, maybe an architect’s remodel.)
What caught my attention about the new ProPartner direction is that it seems built around the realities we know we’re dealing with in the trenches, instead of pretending they don’t exist (or being so clueless as to not even realize they do; I feel like it’s usually one or the other).
Fact is, accounting and bookkeeping practices are under pressure from every direction right now. AI is changing workflows faster than many firms can adapt – and by many, I mean “definitely ours” (but it’s probably yours, too; admit it). Clients expect more insight and guidance than they used to, which in theory is great… but we’re not yet set up to deliver these services at every level. At the same time, firms like ours are struggling to hire and retain people while trying to figure out how to grow, and doing it all without burning everyone out in the process. (Or burning everything down, a closely-related and occasionally tempting concept.)
For years, the ProAdvisor program centered heavily on software proficiency. That made sense for the era. Firms needed to learn cloud accounting tools and help clients transition into a new way of working. (And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, keep in mind that I’ve run The Dancing Accountant for 25 years now. I’ve been around a while.)
But the conversation in accounting has changed. Big-time.
Today, many firms are trying to answer questions like:
- How do we develop our staff into advisors instead of task-doers?
- How do we scale without everything depending on the owner?
- How do we create better systems while maintaining strong client relationships?
- How do we stop feeling like we’re building our firms in isolation?
So, that’s the part of the ProPartner announcement that resonated with me most.
Personally, I’m particularly interested in the focus on training and advisory development. The addition of Client Advisory Services education, AI training, and the Training Manager inside Intuit Accountant Suite is much more aligned with where the profession is headed, rather than simply rewarding firms for product knowledge alone. (I know, I know, it was like that for a long time. It was annoying. It’s better now. I promise.)
My take is that the firms that truly thrive over the next decade probably won’t be the ones using AI to crank out work faster just for the sake of speed. They’ll be the firms that use the time created by automation and insight available through AI to deepen relationships, improve communication, and help clients make better decisions. (Btw, this was the theme of my talk at Intuit Connect last year and I had a standing-room-only crowd of 500+ attendees; it was so exciting!)
Point being: that requires a different kind of team.
Which means, it also requires investing in people differently.
One of the biggest challenges I hear from bookkeepers in my ‘Ask a CPA’ community and firm owners at conferences is that they want to move into more advisory work, but aren’t sure how to get there… and definitely don’t know how to bring their staff into this new space with them. Technical accounting skills matter, of course. But modern firms also need people who can explain financial information clearly, build trust with clients, and think critically about what the numbers mean.
And in case you were wondering… that development doesn’t happen accidentally. Ask me how I know. (Actually, don’t.)
Another thing I found encouraging was the focus on accountant-specific support. If you’ve ever spent twenty minutes explaining a bookkeeping workflow to someone who clearly doesn’t understand bookkeeping, you know exactly why this matters. Intuit says ProPartner support will be staffed by people trained in accounting workflows, with increasing specialization at higher tiers. Whether the execution lives up to the promise remains to be seen, but it certainly addresses a frustration I’ve heard from accountants (and dealt with myself) for years.
The community side of this announcement also stood out to me for similar reasons. Y’all know how big I am into making people feel less alone through building community – that “spider web of interconnectedness,” as my friend Tori McKee says. (P.S. If you’re going to be at Bridging the Gap, come check out our panel with Shirley Koss and Randy Crabtree called, “Connecting, not Collecting” on exactly this topic.)
One of the themes I keep seeing across the profession is how isolated people feel while trying to grow their firms. So many accountants and bookkeepers are trying to solve every operational, staffing, pricing, and workflow challenge entirely on their own.
That’s part of why communities like Ask a CPA, podcasts like She Counts, and conferences like Bridging the Gap – and the peer conversations that are inspired by them – matter so much. Most of us do better work when we have people we can bounce ideas off of, honestly and with vulnerability. (Another P.S. If you’re going to be at Scaling New Heights, come see my panel with Randy Crabtree, Tony Proctor, and Brittany Brown called, “Vulnerability as a Strength”. In case you needed tighter proof that this is my jam.)
The “Better Together” events and peer networking focus in the ProPartner Accountants program rollout feel like an acknowledgment of this reality that their partner base feels like we’re flailing in the dark, and our sense of isolation. So doe s the Career Pipeline initiative. The profession needs new people entering it, but we also need better pathways for helping them grow into modern accounting roles that extend beyond data entry and compliance jobs. People crave meaningful work – it truly makes everyone’s lives better.
I was also glad to see the emphasis on recognizing firms that are innovating, mentoring, and contributing to the profession. Visibility matters more than many people realize. Ask me how I know. And this time, I mean it: honestly, the number of people who referred to me as an “overnight success” when I “burst onto the scene” four years ago? I was like… “oh yeah, you mean that 21-year overnight success? That one?” Anyway, point is, that when firms see peers building modern practices in thoughtful, sustainable ways, it expands what feels possible. I believe this to the bottom of my soul.
While it wasn’t the feature that grabbed me most, extending revenue sharing from one year to three years gives growing firms a little more room to reinvest in people, training, and new services.
And yes, there are obviously details we haven’t seen yet. I’m interested to learn more about how tiers, points, and benefits will work as additional information rolls out later this year. They say it will be better than it used to be and no one’s getting anything taken away, but as always, I’ll believe that when I see it.
Overall, what makes this announcement interesting to me is that it seems to recognize something important about where accounting is headed.
Technology matters. Efficient workflows matter. Automation matters.
But the firms that stand out in the future will probably be the ones that combine those strengths with deeply human relationships, well-developed teams, trusted communities, and the ability to help clients think through difficult decisions.
Obviously, that’s a very different conversation than software proficiency alone.
If you want to prepare for the transition to Intuit ProPartner Accountants, and I’m right alongside you in this process myself, Intuit recommends three foundational steps now:
- Activate Intuit Accountant Suite
- Ensure at least one team member is certified
- Consolidate your consoles so your full book of business is recognized
You can learn more about Intuit ProPartner Accountants on their web page and also in their Future of the Firm blog post.
Note! As my readers know, I’m downright fanatical about transparency and full disclosure (often to my detriment, as you may have noticed that I have a wildly popular award-winning blog that is non-monetized). Though this particular post is a paid partnership with Intuit, I want you to know that a) I wanted to write about the new ProPartner Program anyway, but couldn’t find the time; getting paid allowed me the break from client work I needed to make it happen; and b) they didn’t edit a single thing when I presented it. In fact, they were totally cool with all my candid takes… which impressed me quite a bit, to be honest.
