"Intuit's established small business customer base opens up a world of opportunity and revenue potential for developers," said Timothy Schaefer, president and CEO of American Computer Software, LLC, a Madison, Wisconsin developer of property management and maintenance software. "By participating in the Intuit Developer Network, we believe that we have the potential to double our business within a year."

Developers have immediate access to APIs for two of Intuit's small business products - QuickBooks® Site Solutions, a Web site creation and management tool, and QuickBase®, the company's new Web shareable database service. To enable developer comment and review,

Intuit has also released a draft API specification for QuickBooks® financial software.

Ultimately, this API will enable developers to integrate data from their solutions with the leading small business accounting solution, with more than 80 percent share of unit sales at retail. The APIs are available at http://developer.intuit.com.

Each API offers a type of integration to enhance the specific benefit of each product. The QuickBooks Site Solutions API enables third-party applications to take on the look and feel of the end-user's QuickBooks Site Solutions website. The QuickBase API enables third-party templates for workflow and user interface to access QuickBase databases. The QuickBooks financial software API will eventually allow for certain data exchange between future versions of QuickBooks and the third-party application.

Intuit expects to release a production version of the QuickBooks financial software API with the next major release of the software. In the future, this API also is intended to support development for QuickBooks® for the Web, the company's new online financial management solution.

Small Business Channel
Developers who become members of the Intuit Developer Network will be able to participate in several sales vehicles, including an online small business catalog where they can easily publish and sell their solutions. Small businesses can search for applications by function or industry, view customer ratings, and select and purchase an application in just a few clicks. Intuit is delivering this online catalog using technology from Apps.com, Inc., a Boston-based company recently acquired by Intuit. Apps.com currently hosts a directory of more than 5,000 business solutions. Intuit announced the acquisition of Apps.com separately today (http://www.intuit.com/pressroom).

The online catalog of applications will be promoted through several of Intuit's small business products and services including QuickBooks financial software, QuickBooks Site Solutions, QuickBase and QuickBooks.com. For example, there is a link within QuickBooks Site Solutions to third-party applications that are applicable to that service. Several developers are already providing solutions to small business customers using the new version of QuickBooks Site Solutions, also announced separately today. Intuit also intends to publish a printed catalog of applications.

"Selling vertical applications to small businesses has been a huge challenge in the small business software market because, let's face it-- a baker's needs are very different from those of a dentist," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of the DEMO Conference. "If Intuit's developer program achieves its goal of providing a host of vertical and horizontal add-on applications for its small business customers, both the developer and the customers will be big winners, and Intuit will have fostered an even more loyal customer base."

Initial Developer Participants
The developer program is ideal for a range of large to small developers, including those who focus on a specific small business niche. Several developers have already begun building new applications to integrate with QuickBooks Site Solutions and QuickBase, and are reviewing the draft specifications for the QuickBooks software API. Participants include:

• American Computer Software (ACS) is a leading provider of property management software. The software include tools for tracking resident ledger, security deposits and other receivable information. ACS's MANAGEMENT Plus software currently supports basic exchange of accounting data with QuickBooks via the Intuit Interchange Format (IIF). With the future API, ACS intends to utilize the data integration of the future API to include additional data types such as vendor contacts and account look-ups, and believes this integration will increase their customers' use and loyalty to both MANAGEMENT Plus and QuickBooks.
• LivePerson is a leading provider of technology facilitating real-time sales and customer service for companies doing business on the Internet. The LivePerson service enables online businesses to communicate with Internet users in real-time, thereby enhancing the online experience. Small businesses will be able to embed the LivePerson application into their Web sites created with QuickBooks Site Solutions.
• Reckon Australia has developed QuickPOS, a computerized point of sale solution with an interface to QuickBooks Pro. Inventory, employees, customers and chart of accounts data is exchanged with QuickBooks Pro using IIF. Reckon plans to use the future QuickBooks API to integrate their data further with QuickBooks, making their solution even more attractive to small businesses.
• Video4i is making its V4iTM VideoStation service compatible with QuickBooks Site Solutions, so small business owners will be able to easily incorporate and track streaming video on Web sites they have created with QuickBooks Site Solutions. Through the Intuit Developer Network, Video4i will now have a channel for empowering small businesses with streaming content.
• WeServeApps expects to grow its small business customer base through its participation in the Intuit Developer Network. Its applications include a project cost estimator for the construction industry, where QuickBooks is a commonly used accounting solution and is recommended by the National Association of Home Builders; a time management application for project-based companies, and a resume workflow application for managing the recruiting process from end to end.

Small Business Ready for Integrated Solutions
There are more than 12 million small businesses currently using computers in the U.S. (TowerGroup, 2001). Nearly three million small businesses use QuickBooks, and 80 percent of those want QuickBooks to integrate with their other software and devices (QuickBooks 2000 User Study). In working with developers, Intuit hopes to fulfill the specific and vertical needs of a wide spectrum of small businesses, delivering the next generation of functionality and data integration.

"We're changing the world for developers and small businesses," said Scott Cook, Intuit founder and chairman of the executive committee. "We intend to build a dynamic small business economy designed to make developers successful and enable them to do what they're really good at - and that's developing innovative solutions that small business can't live without."

Program Registration and Pricing
Developers can register to become members of the Intuit Developer Network at http://developer.intuit.com. Membership will provide them with access to email-based technical support, product feedback channels and marketing services. Intuit is waiving the membership fee for an introductory period, ending May 31, 2001. Beginning in June, the company expects the annual membership fee for the Intuit Developer Network to be less than $1,000. A sales commission applies to sales through the online catalog and related Intuit channels. Fees apply to certain optional services.

At the developer.intuit.com site, developers also can apply to join the QuickBooks Developer Beta Program, and to participate in a March 28 Webcast that will educate developers on the Intuit Developer Network.