Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) today announced the expansion of its IntuitAdvisor program to help accountants better serve clients and help those who wish to grow their business beyond traditional accounting and tax services. Accountants, a small business' most trusted advisor , are increasingly being asked to consult on topics beyond traditional accounting - from tax planning and payroll to employee records management and job costing. For example, more than 40 percent of Intuit's nearly three million QuickBooks small business customers seek assistance from accountants for purposes other than bookkeeping .
The expanded suite of IntuitAdvisor offerings includes new programs and resources that offer additional business development opportunities to help accountants broaden and grow their business. Some of these tools and services include expanded marketing toolkits, new resources on IntuitAdvisor.com, and recognition and rewards programs for accountants who both use and recommend Intuit products.
"The goal of the IntuitAdvisor program is to give accountants a competitive advantage in the marketplace by supplying them with the products, tools and resources that are right for their practice and right for their small business clients," said Steve Blundell, Vice President of IntuitAdvisor. "By expanding the IntuitAdvisor program, we are more clearly focused on accountants as business partners and have created new programs with real-world customer needs foremost in mind."
What IntuitAdvisor Offers Accountants
QuickBooks Professional Advisors Program
Throughout the next year, Intuit will broaden its existing QuickBooks Professional Advisors Program through new member benefits such as education programs, additional product training, product discounts and other services.
Intuit currently has relationships with more than 115,000 professional accounting customers who use QuickBooks® small business accounting software and ProSeries® and Lacerte® professional tax preparation products. Almost 24,000 of these accountants have become members of the QuickBooks Professional Advisors Program since its inception four year ago to help better service existing QuickBooks clients and attract new ones.
Providing Resources to Help Accountants Better Serve Clients
IntuitAdvisor.com is a customizable and comprehensive web portal that offers the information, tools and resources to help accounting professionals better run their business and better serve their clients. It offers a broad portfolio of solutions organized around areas of professional interest, ranging from abstracts on important legislation to information on professional training and growth opportunities. It also provides central access to tools such as financial calculators, event calendars and expanded marketing toolkits that will help accountants better market their services.
Intuit offers QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certification and now Intuit® Master Builder™ Certification to help accountants provide a higher level of product knowledge to their clients, and in turn, differentiate their practices from others in the industry. These certification programs also help accountants broaden their practice by being able to offer product demonstrations or training, and consult on implementations planning and system installations.
Intuit also recently announced a new QuickBooks solution designed specifically to help accountants manage the financial activities of their multiple QuickBooks clients. Additional industry-specific QuickBooks products that enable accountants to further specialize in their clients' unique businesses and provide additional services to them will be coming soon. Intuit also offers tools and services, such as a full range of payroll processing solutions, incorporation services and retirement planning solutions that better equip accountants to counsel clients on business and employee management issues.
Providing More Business Development Opportunities
IntuitAdvisor offers several networking and rewards programs and tools designed to help accountants gain incremental revenue through new consulting services and new clients. Recent Intuit research shows that accounting practitioners can earn significantly greater income when they add business administration consulting to their service offerings.
For example, the new and improved QuickBooks Accounting and TurboTax LiveAdvice Centers give accountants the opportunity to offer one-time and ongoing accounting and tax assistance to almost 13 million small businesses and individuals who use Intuit products.
IntuitAdvisor continues to develop referral and reward programs that recognize accountants for their support of Intuit. Through these programs, accounting partners are able to earn incremental income or pass along savings to their clients.
"I've been using and recommending QuickBooks products to my clients for many years," said Steve Sabba, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and professional accountant for the TaxPro Financial Network in New York. "Intuit is the only vendor company I know that treats professional accountants as true business partners. They are continually coming up with innovative new products and services that help accountants like myself grow our business to expand beyond traditional services like tax and accounting advice."
