@Teri

Are you in the US? Because this is not allowed in the US: "I just hate to pay taxes early myself so assume others do too. So if deferred revenue was common or majority of my business, I would want to do accrual-basis accounting to be able to pay taxes on that money in the next year"

Your tax basis is set by what you filed with the IRS; there is a minimum revenue level at which you are required to be on Accrual basis. Otherwise, most small businesses run on Cash Basis. We don't get to choose how to treat prepayments; we treat them per the accounting requirement for our Basis for tax reporting. "Want to do" doesn't drive how to handle something.

In QB, you can manage using the accrual functions, but a Cash Basis entity is supposed to show this is Income. That means the invoice or sales receipt uses an item linked to Income, not liability. It's that simple. Follow the regulations that apply.

And since this person was Told what applies, and they pay that professional for their guidance, they should follow that guidance.