As soon as tax season wraps up and business owners finish preparing their year-end books, something important typically occurs:
- They start noticing the financial gaps.
- Maybe the bookkeeping took too long to complete this time.
- Maybe the numbers were confusing and took you longer to track.
- Maybe the system wasn’t set up properly, causing tedious workarounds.
- Or maybe the year-end process revealed that it’s time for an up-level in your skills, implementation of stronger systems, and more confidence with QuickBooks.
This is the moment many entrepreneurs, contractors, and even small business owners ask themselves:
“Should I invest in 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training or just buy a pre-recorded course?”
It’s a smart question – especially now, when the fresh financial year is just at its beginning and better systems can take shape over the next 12 months.
So, before you make a decision, below is an honest, clear comparison to help you understand your options, choose what supports your business the best, and know when investing in personalized training is the best move.
The Era of Reassessment | Why Business Owners Need to Uplevel Their Skills After Tax Season
Every year, after the year-end documents are finalized, the same pattern appears:
- Owners notice areas where their books feel messy or confusing
- Missing transactions or classification errors caused delays
- Bookkeeping took longer than it should
- Reports did not reflect the true financial health of the business
- QuickBooks wasn’t customized to the way the business actually operates
This is why the months following tax preparation are the perfect time to strengthen your
bookkeeping skills so that when next tax prep season comes around, you’ll be all set to handle it like a champ!
Many business owners turn to 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training during this season – it helps them maintain momentum in the fiscal year to come.
Pre-Recorded QuickBooks Courses | What They Offer (and What They Can’t Do)
Pre-recorded trainings are great and have many positive attributes – especially for those who do best with visual learning and who like progressing at their own pace.
What Pre-Recorded Courses Provide
- A general overview of QuickBooks features
- Reusable videos you can watch when needed
- A predictable, one-size-fits-all structure
- Basic learning for beginners
These courses can be a good starting point for:
- Very small businesses with minimal transactions
- Freelancers with simple bookkeeping
- People who prefer self-guided learning
- Those who just need surface-level instruction
But here’s the biggest limitation: Pre-recorded courses cannot see your actual books, your systems, or your mistakes if they are made.
They can’t answer:
- Are you categorizing transactions correctly?
- Is your Chart of Accounts set up properly?
- Are you using features that match your business model?
- Are your reports telling the full story?
- Is something missing, duplicated, or misclassified?
- Are you using the right QuickBooks plan?
You’re left trying to figure out where you fit into the tutorial – instead of the training fitting your business.
Hands-On Guidance | Why Business Owners Prefer 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training
This is where 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training is a completely different experience!
With Sal’s guidance and the support of the Accounting by Sal team, personalized training goes far beyond simply “learning QuickBooks.” It becomes a hands-on, customized, confidence-building experience designed around your unique business.
Here is what makes 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training not only valuable, but enjoyable:
1. Training That Is Tailored to Your Specific Business
A construction contractor shouldn’t learn the same QuickBooks workflows as an online retailer, just like a consultant shouldn’t follow the same setup as a salon owner, or look the same as a startup’s system as they grow and scale.
Personalized training means:
- Your setup matches your specific business model and needs.
- Your accounts are relevant and up-to-date.
- Your automations save you time so you can focus on what you do best.
- You learn only what applies to your books and leave out all the fluff.
This instantly eliminates the overwhelm that pre-recorded courses often create.
2. Live Support When You Have Questions
QuickBooks really is your trusty sidekick. But questions can still come up that need guidance and clarification, which pre-recorded video trainings can’t answer.
During 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training, business owners can stop and ask:
- “Why is this happening?”
- “Am I doing this right?”
- “How should I record this transaction?”
- “I just made an error. What do I do?”
- “What’s the right workflow for my specific business?”
- “Can you check if I’m doing this correctly?”
Getting answers in real-time is one of the main reasons business owners prefer live training. Not only is it more tailored to your specific needs and business, but it’s a more in-depth way for you to integrate all you’ve learned.
3. Real World Application & Practical Learning
In personalized training, you’re not just watching someone else’s screen and following along – you’re learning from your own books.
This includes:
- Handling complex transactions with real-time guidance
- Cleaning up areas of confusion
- Learning real bookkeeping workflows
- Understanding your reports and financial health
- Automating tasks based on your habits
- Fixing mistakes before they become bigger problems
This kind of hands-on learning simply cannot be replicated in pre-recorded content.
4. Confidence You Can Actually Feel
QuickBooks becomes much easier when someone guides you through:
- Bank reconciliations
- Invoicing
- Payments
- Payroll
- Sales tax
- Journal entries
- Month-end processes
- Profit tracking
- Cash flow reporting
When you understand what you’re doing – not just how – you gain confidence that impacts every part of your business.
5. Personalized Tips, Tricks, and Time-Saving Automation
With Accounting By Sal’s guidance, clients learn:
- Which features save the most time
- Which shortcuts work best for their business
- How to automate recurring tasks
- How to structure QuickBooks so it works for them
This level of personalization is not possible in a video.
6. A Supportive Environment Where You’re Never Alone
Business owners often say the same thing about Accounting by Sal training:
That is the power of personalized learning.
You’re supported.
You’re encouraged.
You’re never made to feel like you’re falling behind.
And you always have a team at your side that genuinely wants to see your business succeed!
Post-Tax Season | The Best Time to Start Training
Once tax prep is complete, you gain a clear understanding of:
- What slowed you down
- What confused you
- What needs improvement
- Where your system isn’t efficient
- What you want done differently next year
This is the moment when training has the biggest impact – because your books are fresh on your mind, and the upcoming year is still ahead of you.
Investing in proper skills now maximizes clarity for the next 12 months until next tax season.
Choosing Support | Move Your Business Forward with the Right Guidance
Pre-recorded courses definitely have their place and are supported for many entrepreneurs, business owners or accounting professionals looking to upgrade their skills. But when a business wants deep clarity, precise accuracy, and honest peace of mind, the personalized training route is the way to go.
With Accounting By Sal’s compassionate guidance, 1-on-1 QuickBooks Training becomes:
- A confidence-boosting journey to financial literacy and system curation.
- A time-saving investment to ensure you don’t waste more valuable time on “band-aid solutions”.
- A way to eliminate confusion so you feel sure and equipped to handle your business’s finances
- A step toward stronger financial systems that are easier to navigate and track .
- A personalized path to becoming more organized and empowered when it comes to your financial management.
Choosing personalized training means choosing long-term clarity over short-term convenience.
Ready to Up-Level Your Skills & Confidence, & Finally Understand QuickBooks?
If you want a supportive, personalized way to learn QuickBooks – one that’s warm, clear, and tailored to your unique business – our team at Accounting by Sal would love to help you.
Book your QuickBooks training with Accounting By Sal today! Choose your schedule, learn at your pace, and get live support every step of the way!
