"Acquiring CRI offers benefits for both small businesses and Intuit. It's a benefit to the company in that it enables Intuit to further execute on its small business strategy. It's also a benefit for small business owners and managers as this acquisition helps Intuit better fulfill its role as a key resource," said Bill Harris, president and CEO of Intuit. "We are pleased to have CRI become part of the Intuit family."

CRI is one of the country's largest payroll services companies and has been offering payroll services through Intuit's QuickBooks since April of 1998. The acquisition of CRI and the addition of its management and operations team are the evolution of this successful working relationship.

Some of the financial institutions Intuit works with are looking to expand their offerings to small businesses through Internet-based connectivity. "By providing these progressive financial institutions with the ability to distribute new Internet-based services, we are enabling them to deepen their relationship with their small business customers," said Harris.

CRI will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intuit, reporting through Jim Heeger, senior vice president of Intuit's small business division. Ranson Webster will continue as CEO of the subsidiary. John Carlen joins the management team as president and COO of the subsidiary reporting to Ranson Webster. Before joining Intuit earlier this month, Carlen was president and COO of Vincam, one of the nation's largest professional employer organizations (PEOs) which was recently acquired by ADP. Prior to Vincam, Carlen spent several years at Paychex as executive vice president for all payroll services sales and operations.

"We're very fortunate to have someone with John's industry experience and management skill join this strong team," said Heeger.