Continuing its efforts to bring new tools and new opportunities to the professional accounting community, Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) today announced the Tax Advisor program, which provides Quicken® TurboTax® customers access to live tax advice from qualified accounting professionals. Intuit's current financial professional customers, including ProAdvisors, Lacerte and ProSeries professionals, can earn incremental income and attract new customers by advising TurboTax users who want counsel or validation from a professional accountant before filing their returns.
The service is offered to consumers through the "TurboTax Live Tax Advice" button in the TurboTax software programs and the Quicken TurboTax for the WebSM service for Tax Year 2000, announced last week. The button links consumers to a Web site that hosts accountants seeking to offer advice through the Tax Advisor program. The Web site is hosted by Intuit and EXP.com, the leading infrastructure provider of Expert Networks, and allows consumers to contact one of the participating accountants via phone, e-mail or instant messaging.
"Most of the consumers who choose to prepare their tax returns with TurboTax would ordinarily not hire an accountant to handle their taxes, but many of them would welcome some validation on their returns before filing them," said Steve Blundell, vice president, Professional Accountants Channel, Intuit Inc. "The Tax Advisor program connects these consumers with qualified financial professionals, helping the consumer get personalized advice at the point of need."
Tax Advisors Set Their Own Hours and Fees
When accounting professionals register for the Tax Advisor program, they will set the hours when they are willing to accept requests from TurboTax users and also determine preferred means for communication - either phone, e-mail or instant messaging. Participating accountants will also determine the price per minute they want to charge for their services, based on open market pricing, and then post that rate on the Web site. TurboTax users who wish to take advantage of the professional advice service will pay for those services with a credit card. Tax Advisors will then receive payment for their services from EXP.com.
Mark Benning, CEO and founder of EXP, said, "We are dedicated to providing consumers advice from highly qualified financial experts and our partnership with Intuit is a positive extension of that goal. Tax filing season is a stressful time for individuals and we are excited to help simplify the process."
Registration and Availability
Financial professionals who are already Intuit ProAdvisors, Lacerte or ProSeries customers can fill out an application at www.IntuitTaxAdvisor.com. At that site, professionals will also complete an online profile with their qualifications. The profile will then be featured on the Tax Advisor site, making the accounting professional's name available to thousands of potential new clients. Users of TurboTax software can access advice from participating Tax Advisor professionals starting December 15.
About EXP.com, Inc.
Established in February 1999, EXP.com, Inc., is the leading online marketplace for expert advice and services. EXP connects individuals seeking advice with experts and service providers in over 300 business, technology, and personal interests areas. The company also powers Expert Networks for corporations and destination Web sites. EXP has attracted over $65 million in financing from Bessemer Venture Partners, CMGI @Ventures, Maveron, Bowman Capital, JW Seligman, meVC (NYSE: MVC), Ask Jeeves (Nasdaq: ASKJ), Oracle Ventures (Nasdaq: ORCL), and Comdisco (NYSE: CDO). EXP is located in Menlo Park, California. For further information, please visit http://www.exp.com.
