@ParkwayInc

No I have not taken the exam, I have no need or reason to. The number of times I have been asked to take on a business as a client still staggers my mind, and that is with no certification or advertising at all.

Again, you are discussing this from a consultants viewpoint, a consultant with integrity, but not seeing the situation from outside your environment (a concept called mirror thinking if I remember right). If I call in a network consultant, and I see his msft certifications, I can at least be assured that he know the difference in network protocols, etc.

Not so with the buy it badge - but a user does not know that.

When I first started with QB I asked questions on the community forum, and those folks with badges (back then they were displayed with the log in name) would answer. To me, they had certification, they sounded like they knew what they were doing - I followed their directions and concepts. In the first 18 months of the business I had to redo the company file from scratch to fix all the so called expert directions - twice!

And all the other consultants who read those wrong answers, stayed mum on the sidelines.

Let me guess, professional courtesy, right (rhetorical).

The test got harder- good it should not be simple.
You no longer can take it 99 times until you pass - how many times can you take it before you forfeit your money and are locked out for a period of time?

None of that addresses the not so pure of heart, the ones who just want clients. Those who do not have the integrity to do it themselves.

Un-proctored certifications leave the door open to fraudulent test taking and certification.