FAQ
What is a Profit First Professional?
A bookkeeper, accountant or business coach trained in the methodologies of Profit First as a money management strategy for business growth and sustainability.
All certified PFPs must have successfully implemented Profit First in their own business, and client businesses, before becoming certified.
How can I become a Profit First Professional?
- Read more about what it means to become a Profit First Professional
- Complete the application form here
- Meet with Laura Elkaslassy to discuss your application
- Pay your membership
- Get access to ProfitU, the member forum and enjoy the fruits of becoming a PFP
How long does it take to get certified?
On average it takes 5 to 6 months. Many have achieved certification much sooner. Our Profit First Guides are very agile. They can help you with what you need today as well as focus on the compliance aspects of the program.
When does Certification start?
It starts immediately, when you become a member you will have access to the Profit First University. We will be in contact with you shortly after access has been granted to make sure you can log in and if you need any assistance with any of the modules.
What is included in the PFP Membership?
- Private Profit First training and implementation coaching
- Access to Profit University (ProfitU) with 24/7 access to resources, guides and training media.
- Our members only Facebook forum for Professionals to network, seek help, and strategise collectively.
- Profit First branding and marketing tool kit.
- Monthly national call (held virtually) with other Profit First Professionals and lead by Laura Elkaslassy.
- Monthly international call (held virtually) with Profit First Professionals from around the globe.
- Access to Profit First events.
- Certification as a Profit First Professional.
- Entry into our database of recommended Profit First Professionals which we connect to incoming leads.
How much does membership and certification cost?
Membership is required to train and practice as a Certified Profit First Professional. Our fees are tiered:
Year 1 $9900 upfront or $990 per month
Year 2 $7700 upfront or $770 per month
Year 3 $5500 upfront or $550 per month
Year 4 $5000 upfront or $500 per month
Training and certification are included in this membership fee.
There is an annual contract commitment. However, you can cancel your membership before your annual renewal if and when you are ready, although the majority of our PFPs stay members to reap the benefits of the Profit First community, events and resources.
If you are in Australia, you will be charged in Australian dollars and includes GST. If you are in New Zealand, you will be charged in NZ dollars and no GST will be charged.
Can I count my hours for certification towards CPD / CPE?
We have checked the requirements for CPA, TPB, ICB, IPA, AAT and ABN and the great news is Profit First Professionals are able to utilise the monthly national calls, workshops and events, plus time spent on certification or recertification towards their CPD / CPE hours.
How many PFPs world wide
Approx 600, with over 50% in the US. We have headquarters all over the globe, including UK, Netherlands, Canada, & Germany. Our aim is not to scale to too many people, we want to grow the membership to about 1,000 people globally – as we want the right people to be or PFP advocates.
Do you have many PFP accountants?
We have 60 members (March 2023) and approx 25% are accountants.
Do you have many PFP do you have?
We have 60 members (March 2023) and approx 20% are accountants, 20% are coaches and 60% are bookkeepers.
About half of my clients are personal, does PF work for them?
Absolutely! Personal life and spending habits affect business spending. All the foundations of Profit first are interchangeable between personal and professional finances. Some PFPs have opened up their advisory services to help personal finances only using Profit First.
Do you need to offer bookkeeping services to offer Profit First?
You can have them as separate stand-alone products in your business.
Can I join at any time?
We have two intakes for new members each year. This ensures we are able to fully support new and existing members.
Intake 1 – 1 March to 31 May
Intake 2 – 1 September to 30 November
You can book a Q&A call at any time of year, but you won’t be able to book your application interview until we are open for the next intake.
How can I get support as a PFP?
- One-on-one coaching
- Monthly national group coaching call
- Monthly international group coaching call
- Private member Facebook forum,
- Profit University for training and resources
How often are PFP events held?
ProfitCon is held annually in the United States, and Australian in-person events are held in different locations around the country each month.
Click here for details of upcoming events.
Do I need to stay a member to practice PF with clients?
No, but you need to remain a member to utilise your designation as a Certified Profit First Professional and to continue to use the tools, association, branding, marketing and other member benefits.
What is Profit University?
ProfitU is our members-only platform where we house:
- our video training library,
- done for you branding tool kit,
- marketing took kit,
- power-point presentations,
- workshop resources,
- pricing documents,
- client proposal scripts,
- Profit First calculators
Basically everything that a business owner would need to leverage their Profit First Membership.
How can I get leverage becoming a PFP?
When prospecting you will be able to create far better leads instantly, by leveraging the Profit First brand.
We will support you in converting leads into clients. As a trusted third party expert, any leads you generate by leveraging your affiliation to Profit First, will know that you are an integral part of the brand. We are ready, willing, and pumped to get on the phone with you and close sales.
Every time we, a fellow PFP, or you, markets Profit First, the awareness grows. You are being marketed even when you are not marketing!
I’m an accountant but I dont do taxes, can I still do PF?
Yes! You don’t need to be a tax agent to do Profit First. Many of our PFP accountants offer their Profit First services as a stand-alone product.
What if you are just starting out?
We won’t put you in any situation that will cause you financial pressure, so you need to know whether this is something you are able to invest in. We have lots of resources available to help you get clients and experts who specialise in growth for businesses. Please be aware that it may take longer for you to get a return on your investment, as you do not have an existing client base. But we will do all we can to support you.
What if I have other accountants or bookkeepers on my team? Do they also need to be certified?
With your membership, you get access to all the emails, calls, and university access. You can obtain access for your other team members at no extra cost if you train them yourself. They will not be able to attend any of our in-person events or live calls.
If you would like them to become certified and trained through Profit First, we do offer a teammate membership, this is at half the investment that you pay and they will have access to everything that a full member has access to, including in-person events.
My practice only offers business services, can Profit First help me?
Yes, any business can implement Profit First and offer it as a service. For example, cash flow support has a good uptake rate.
What is the general feel from the client’s accountant around the offering of Profit First Services? Do you find it conflicts with any of their tax advice?
Generally what we recommend is for you to introduce yourself to the accountant, and acknowledge that they may have a tax strategy in place, and what is that? Are there things to consider?
It is also a good idea to let them know that Profit First is Cash in Cash out, so it shouldn’t interfere with what they are already doing. So far, we haven’t had any conflicts with tax advice from accountants working with bookkeepers who are implementing Profit First.