2027 Top U.S. Advisor Awards Minimum Requirements

Murph summarizes the Active Client and Current Certification requirements for the 2027 Top U.S. Advisor Awards; International will be covered next Tuesday.

The Top Advisor Awards, which many people call the Top ProAdvisor Awards, have always had two basic qualifying requirements for participation. Those requirements are a ‘Active client’ requirement and a ‘Current certification’ requirement.

For 2027, neither of these requirements have changed with the exception of the ‘date’ driven aspects of the requirements. Let’s first look at the Active Client Practice Requirement

Active Client Practice Requirements

As with 2026, we continue to focus on an ‘Active Client Practice Requirement’ that meets corresponds with the various practice patterns we see within the Intuit-centric Advisory community. Therefore, for 2027, the U.S. Top Advisor Awards will require applicants to document one of five (5) options for 'Active Client Practice’' patterns.

Option 1

• • To be considered for these awards you must be an active QuickBooks ProAdvisor (or Intuit ProPartner 'Partner' or higher-tier member) who is a resident within the United States, AND

  • Your 'active QuickBooks practice' must involve one (1) or more clients using QuickBooks (Online or Desktop) or using Intuit Enterprise Suite at any time during 2026 (from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026).

Option 2

• • To be considered for these awards you must be an active QuickBooks ProAdvisor (or Intuit ProPartner 'Partner' or higher-tier member), resident within the United States, who is working as a member of an accounting, bookkeeping, or consulting practice, AND

  • You must be responsible for maintaining the accounting records of one (1) or more clients of your firm using QuickBooks Ledger (or other Intuit Accounting Product) at any time during 2026 (from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026).

Option 3

• • To be considered for these awards you must be an active QuickBooks ProAdvisor (or Intuit ProPartner 'Partner' or higher-tier member), resident within the United States, who is working as a "QuickBooks Live" Advisor for Intuit (part-time, full-time, independent contractor or employee), AND

  • You must have assisted 12 or more QuickBooks Live Clients at any time during 2026 (from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026).

Option 4

• • To be considered for these awards you must be an active Tax Advisor, resident within the United States, and your active 'Tax Practice' must have assisted one (1) or more personal or business tax clients, including preparation of tax estimates, tax returns or tax planning strategies during at any time during 2026 (from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026) even if said assistance was related to a prior 'tax year,' AND

  • You used any Intuit Tax Product, including, but not limited to TurboTax, TurboTax Online, Intuit ProSeries Tax, Intuit Lacerte Tax, Intuit ProConnect Tax, or Intuit Tax Advisor (tax planner) in assisting your personal or business tax clients. 

Option 5

• • To be considered for these awards you must be an active Tax Advisor, resident within the United States, and

  • You are an agent working for an Intuit Tax Live Service including but not limited to TurboTax Live, (on a part-time, full-time, independent contractor or employee basis) who has assisted 12 or more Live Tax Clients at any time during 2026 (from January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2026) even if said assistance was related to a prior 'tax year.'

Applicants who do not meet these ‘active client practice’ requirements will be unable to complete the required formal application form until such time as they furnish proof of such requirements.

QuickBooks ProAdvisors with an active tax practice and one or more Intuit Tax credentials (see Tax Advisor Awards below) are not required to select either Option 4 or Option 5 (above) at the time of completing their formal application’s “Active Client Practice” selection so long as they have selected Option 1, Option 2 or Option 3.

Current Advisory Certification Requirements

We have not changed our ‘Advisory Certification’ focus for 2027 from the requirements specified for the 2026 Awards.

ProAdvisors Awards

• Resident U.S. applicants must be currently certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors in either QuickBooks Level 1, QuickBooks Level 2, or QuickBooks Desktop* offered through the Intuit QuickBooks Academy.

Tax Advisors Awards

• Resident U.S. applicants for the Tax Advisor Awards must hold a current Intuit Academy Tax Level 1 certification, or must be

• QuickBooks ProAdvisors with an active tax practice and holding one or more Intuit Tax credentials offered through either the Intuit QuickBooks Academy or the Intuit Tax Academy within their formal application.

The term ‘current’ means, for purposes of these certifications, an original or recertification credential issues not prior to 11/1/2025, nor later than 12/31/2026.

Applicants will be required, as part of the formal application process, to upload a copy of their current qualifying QuickBooks ProAdvisor certification or their current Intuit Academy Tax Level 1 certification.

Applicants who do not meet these ‘minimum certification’ requirements will be unable to complete the required formal application form until such time as they furnish proof of said requirements.

* - While Intuit has announced the 'sunset' of both the QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise certifications as of October 23, 2026, both credentials issued prior to such date will continue to be recognized for purposes of (1) QuickBooks Desktop certification meeting the minimum certification requirement for the ProAdvisor Awards, and (2) providing 'additional certification' credit for scoring purposes with regard to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Certification. 

Note: If prior to the application closing date (sometime in March 2027) for these awards, Intuit should implement a ‘nomenclature,’ 'rebranding,' or 'rebadging' change for the related certifications by substituting the term ‘ProPartner’ for the term ‘ProAdvisor’; Insightful Accountant will officially recognize such change(s) as an equivalent level of certification for the related product credentials. Applicants having already submitted certification documentation will NOT be required to resubmit such certification(s) with the new nomenclature, rebranding or rebadging for the 2027 Awards process. Such changes by Intuit may impact the terminology Insightful Accountant uses in future Top Award periods. 

Thanks to our 2027 Top Advisor Awards Sponsors

 Disclosures:

Some feature content has been adapted from Intuit sources including the Intuit ProAdvisor Academy and the Intuit Tax Academy, along with other Intuit ProAdvisor/ProPartner content. Insightful Accountant is not responsible for any original Intuit content.