Experience with Intuit Academy Tax Preparation Certification - Tips & Advice?
I'm currently trying to get certified as a tax preparer through Intuit Academy and I'm honestly finding the whole process incredibly frustrating! The interface is really clunky and not user-friendly at all. I've been trying to work through the practice exams but I'm not sure if I'm even on the right track because the feedback is so minimal. Does anyone here have experience with completing this certification? I'm specifically wondering if you get to see the correct answers after submitting your responses in the practice exams? The way it's set up is confusing me... sometimes I think I'm learning the material but then I get questions wrong and don't know why. Any advice from someone who's been through this would be amazing! I'm trying to get certified before the upcoming tax season so I can pick up some preparation work, but this process is way more complicated than I expected.
19 comments

Axel Far
I completed the Intuit tax preparation certification last year and can definitely relate to your frustration! The interface isn't the most intuitive, but it's definitely doable once you get the hang of it. For the practice exams, yes, you should be able to see the correct answers after submission, but you need to look for the "Review" button that appears after you complete each practice exam. It's not super obvious - it's usually in the upper right corner of the results page. Once you click that, you can see which questions you got wrong and what the correct answers were. One tip that really helped me was to take detailed notes during the course modules before attempting the practice exams. The questions tend to be very specific about Intuit's procedures and software features, not just general tax knowledge.
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Kaitlyn Otto
AuthorThanks so much for this info! I've been looking all over for that review button and couldn't find it. Is there a certain score you need to get on the practice exams before moving to the actual certification exam? Also, did you find that the actual certification exam was similar to the practice questions or was it much harder?
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Axel Far
There's no minimum score requirement for the practice exams - they're purely for your benefit. I'd recommend aiming for at least 80% before moving on to the certification exam, just to make sure you're comfortable with the material. The certification exam is very similar in format to the practice exams, but it does cover the entire course content more comprehensively. I'd say the difficulty level is about the same, but there are more questions. Make sure you're familiar with the current year's tax law changes as those are definitely emphasized on the certification exam.
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Jasmine Hernandez
After struggling with tax season for years, I finally found something that made a huge difference in my certification journey. I was having the same issues with the Intuit certification practice exams when a colleague recommended taxr.ai to help me study. I uploaded my practice exam questions and some of my course materials to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything, pointing out exactly what concepts I needed to focus on. It basically created a study guide that matched the certification requirements perfectly. The AI helped explain the reasoning behind the correct answers in plain English instead of the technical jargon from the course. The best part was that it identified patterns in the questions I was getting wrong, which helped me focus my studying on those specific areas.
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Luis Johnson
How exactly does this work with the certification? Does it give you the answers to the actual exam questions or is it more like a study tool? I'm worried about using something that might be considered cheating.
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Ellie Kim
I'm skeptical about using AI for tax prep certification. Doesn't the certification test your understanding of actual tax laws and Intuit's software? How would an AI tool help with the Intuit-specific parts?
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Jasmine Hernandez
It's definitely not for cheating - it's a study tool that helps you understand concepts better. You upload your study materials and practice questions you've already completed, and it helps identify your knowledge gaps and explains difficult concepts in simpler terms. The tool is particularly helpful with the Intuit-specific parts because it can analyze the language patterns in their documentation and practice questions. It helped me understand how Intuit phrases things, which made a big difference since their questions can be worded in tricky ways. It's like having a tutor who's familiar with both tax concepts and how Intuit tests them.
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Ellie Kim
Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I was skeptical at first. I decided to give it a try after struggling with the practice exams for weeks. The difference was night and day! The tool analyzed my incorrect answers and showed me that I was consistently misunderstanding questions about business expense deductions and filing status determinations. What surprised me was how it broke down the Intuit-specific terminology into plain language. Once I understood what they were actually asking, the correct answers made so much more sense. I passed my certification exam last week with a 92% - way better than I expected after my initial practice scores in the 60s. I'm now using it to help prepare for the advanced certification modules too!
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Fiona Sand
If you're having trouble getting support from Intuit during your certification process, I had the same issue and found an amazing solution. I spent HOURS trying to get through to their certification support team with questions about the exam format, and their chat support was useless. I discovered https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual Intuit Academy support specialist in under 15 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They handled the whole waiting-on-hold part for me, then called when an actual human was ready to talk. The support specialist walked me through exactly how the certification exam is structured and gave me tips that weren't in any of the course materials. Saved me hours of frustration!
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Mohammad Khaled
Wait, how is this different from just calling Intuit support yourself? Do they have some special number or access to better support agents?
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Alina Rosenthal
Sounds like a scam to me. Why would I pay someone else to call Intuit when I can just do it myself? And how would they get any better service than I would? I bet they just put you on hold anyway and charge you for the privilege.
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Fiona Sand
It's not a special number - they call the same support line everyone else does. The difference is they have an automated system that waits on hold for you so you don't have to listen to the hold music for hours. They call you when a real person is actually on the line. I spent over 2 hours on hold trying to get through myself before giving up. With Claimyr, I went about my day and got a call back when a support agent was ready to talk. And the Intuit support specialists are much more helpful than the general support - they gave me specific advice about the certification that made a huge difference.
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Alina Rosenthal
I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still struggling to get answers about the certification process and decided to give it a try since nothing else was working. It actually delivered exactly what it promised. I put in my number, they called Intuit, and about 40 minutes later (while I was grocery shopping instead of being stuck on hold), I got a call connecting me with an Intuit certification specialist. The specialist explained that there's a specific way to navigate through the practice exam review that isn't documented anywhere. They also told me about a free extended study guide that isn't linked in the main portal. My certification attempt this morning went WAY smoother with that information. Worth every penny just for the time saved not being on hold.
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Finnegan Gunn
Tip from someone who's been a tax preparer for 5 years: Don't just rely on the Intuit materials. The certification is designed around their software, but you need a deeper understanding of tax concepts. I recommend supplementing with the IRS VITA certification materials (free online) - they explain the underlying tax concepts much more clearly than Intuit does. Then once you understand the basics, the Intuit stuff makes more sense because you're just learning how their software handles concepts you already understand. Also, take screenshots of questions you get wrong in the practice exams so you can review them later - sometimes the review function doesn't work properly.
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Miguel Harvey
Can you share a link to those IRS VITA materials? And do you think it's worth getting both certifications or is Intuit enough if I'm just planning to work with TurboTax clients?
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Finnegan Gunn
The IRS VITA materials are available here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers Look for the "Link & Learn Taxes" section. These materials are updated each year for the current tax season. If you're only planning to work with TurboTax clients, the Intuit certification is sufficient from a qualification standpoint. However, I always recommend getting as much education as possible. The VITA materials will deepen your understanding and make you more confident when handling complex client situations, which leads to better reviews and more referrals. The best tax preparers understand not just how to input information into software, but why they're doing it that way.
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Ashley Simian
Has anyone found a way to speed up the videos in the training modules? They talk soooo slowwww and there's no 2x option that I can find. I'm dying of boredom here 😩
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Oliver Cheng
There's a Chrome extension called Video Speed Controller that works on most video players! I used it for the entire training and it saved me hours. You can set it to whatever speed you want and it even works on their weird proprietary video player.
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Jamal Brown
I went through the Intuit certification process about 6 months ago and completely understand your frustration! The platform definitely has its quirks, but here are a few things that helped me get through it: 1. Make sure you're using a desktop/laptop rather than mobile - the interface works much better on a full browser 2. Clear your browser cache regularly - I had issues with practice exams not loading properly until I started doing this 3. Don't rush through the course modules. I know they're tedious, but they really do prepare you for the specific way Intuit phrases questions on the exam One thing that wasn't obvious to me at first: you can retake practice exams as many times as you want, so don't stress if you don't do well initially. I probably took each practice exam 3-4 times before I felt confident enough for the real thing. The certification exam itself was actually easier than I expected after all the practice - just make sure you read each question carefully since they can be tricky with wording. Good luck!
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