A popular phrase overheard at the very popular Scaling New Heights QuickBooks consultants conference in New Orleans in June 2015: I am not a reseller, I am an accountant.
I heard this exact phrase before the conference even started. While one of my firm associates was picking up his conference badge and materials at one end of the registration counter, I was at the other end picking up the first conference “swag” – pins with the QuickBooks ProAdvisor logos. Depending on your QuickBooks ProAdvisor certifications and status, you were entitled to different logo pins. So the very helpful conference staff asked me which ProAdvisor logo pins I needed, I replied “Need them all. There is no certification that my team and I do not have.” So the conference attendant handed over to me pins for QuickBooks Advanced ProAdvisor, QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, Point of Sale ProAdvisor, and Enterprise ProAdvisor. Then she asked “Are you also an Intuit reseller?”, to which I answered “Yes, I am. In fact, I was Intuit’s first reseller when the reseller program started in June 2006.” At that moment, another conference attendee standing at the same counter to my right, also there to collect her ProAdvisor logo pins, made a remark that struck me. In an almost disillusioned tone she said, “I am not a reseller, I am an accountant…” That moment will live with me for a long time, if not forever.
That phrase has meaning beyond its words. Implied in that phrase is how accounting professionals are completely dedicated to the work performed and to the client. Whenever we get referral work from a colleague accounting professional – be it for consulting work or for getting the client into the right QuickBooks product – time and time again I hear my colleagues say, “I really don’t care about making any $$ on this deal. I just want you to take care of my client.”
It is both impressive and commendable how the focus of accounting professionals is on the client being taken care of. That is the one true concern in their mind and heart.
This said, there is nothing inherently wrong with being a reseller. As a value-added-reseller, we are able to deliver complete solutions, helping clients choose the right accounting and business management systems. Still, our background is accounting – What is it that they say? You can take the accountant out of the books, but you can’t take the books out of the accountant… (or something like that!) That is why in all our work, the underlying theme is consistent: Proper setup and use of an accounting information system ensures internal control and guarantees the integrity of reporting and management decisions.
And our philosophy as a value-added-reseller is about getting the right solutions appropriate for each clients’ individual situations. We enable client success through technology. An integral part of this philosophy is to add value to a software solution being sold. And yes, we sell software solutions. We are a reseller. We are proud and honored to admit it. I am not just an accountant, I am a reseller.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a value-added-reseller and increasing your bottom line at no cost to you, join us for our free webinar on September 15th!
You can also sign up to become a member of the fastest growing QuickBooks affiliate program: MyVirtualIRP
…MARIO
