Intuit
Intuit Inc. is an American multinational business software company that specializes in financial software. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, the company is led by CEO Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit's products include the tax preparation application TurboTax, the small business accounting software QuickBooks, the credit monitoring and personal finance service Credit Karma, and the email marketing platform Mailchimp. more than 95% of its revenue and earnings originated from its operations within the United States. Intuit is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange and is a component of the Nasdaq-100, S&P 100, and S&P 500 stock market indices.
Intuit offered 'TurboTax Free File' alongside a similarly named but paid service, 'TurboTax Free Edition'. In 2019, investigations by ProPublica found that Intuit deliberately steered taxpayers from the free TurboTax Free File to the paid TurboTax Free Edition using tactics including search engine delisting and a deceptive discount targeted to members of the military. As of the 2021 tax filing season, TurboTax no longer participates in the Free File Alliance.
Intuit has lobbied against IRS proposals to create a free, pre-filled tax filing system. Critics of Intuit's lobbying often note that such pre-filled systems are standard in many other developed nations.
History
The company was founded in 1983 by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx in Palo Alto, California.Scott Cook developed the concept for Intuit after his work at Procter & Gamble helped him realize that personal computers would lend themselves towards replacements for paper-and-pencil based personal accounting. While seeking a programmer, Cook met Tom Proulx at Stanford University. The two started Intuit, which initially operated out of a small room on University Avenue in Palo Alto. The first version of Quicken was coded in Microsoft's BASIC programming language for the IBM PC and UCSD Pascal for the Apple II by Tom Proulx and had to contend with a dozen serious competitors.
In 1991, Microsoft decided to produce a competitor to Quicken called Microsoft Money. To incentivize retailers, Intuit included a US$15 rebate coupon. Industry observers at the time noted this as a novel strategy for a software company. Around the same time, the company engaged John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins and diversified its product lineup.
On March 12, 1993, Intuit went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol INTU. The proceeds were used to make a key acquisition: the tax-preparation software company Chipsoft based in San Diego. Following the IPO, the company expanded its market share, leading to a 1994 buyout offer from Microsoft in 1994; at this time Intuit's market capitalization reached US$2 billion. However, the United States Department of Justice sued to block the acquisition.
As Microsoft competition intensified Intuit's Quicken business in the late 1990s, the company pivoted its strategy by developing web-based products while prioritizing QuickBooks for small business accounting and TurboTax for tax preparation—market segments where Microsoft faced less competition. The company made a number of investments around this time. Among others, it purchased a large stake in Excite and acquired Lacerte Software, a Dallas-based developer of tax preparation software used by tax professionals. It also divested its online bill payment service unit in exchange for an equity stake in CheckFree.
In June 2013, Intuit announced it would sell its financial services unit to private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $1.03 billion.
As of May 2018, Intuit had more than US$5 billion in annual revenue and a market capitalization of about US$50 billion. In August 2018, the company announced that Sasan Goodarzi would become Intuit's leader and CEO at the beginning of 2019. Former CEO Brad Smith remained as chairman of Intuit's board of directors. In August 2020, Intuit QuickBooks Canada was expected to reveal intentions to partner with Digital Main Street, as the company aims to help digitally turn Canadian small businesses.
In July 2024, Intuit announced it would lay off 1,800 employees, or 10% of its workforce, in order to refocus resources on generative AI initiatives.
Legal issues
Intuit formerly offered a free online service called TurboTax Free File as well as a similarly named service called TurboTax Free Edition which is not free for most users. TurboTax Free File was developed as part of an agreement whereby members of the Free File Alliance would offer tax preparation for individuals below an income threshold for free in exchange for the IRS not providing taxpayers with free pre-filled forms. In 2019, investigations by ProPublica found that Intuit deliberately steered taxpayers from the free TurboTax Free File to the paid TurboTax Free Editionthrough deceptive practices, including search engine delisting and misleading discounts targeted at members of the military. Subsequent investigations by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the New York State Department of Financial Services reached similar conclusions, the latter concluding that Intuit engaged in "unfair and abusive practices".
As of 2022, Intuit is the subject of multiple lawsuits and is under investigation by the FTC and several state attorneys general. On May 4, 2022, Intuit agreed to pay a $141 million settlement over misleading advertisements.
Current products
CEO Sasan Goodarzi oversees all products in all countries.;TurboTax
;QuickBooks
;QuickBooks Online
;ProConnect
;Credit Karma
;QuickBooks Commerce
;Intuit Prosperity Hub Program
;Mailchimp
;Intuit Enterprise Suite
Intuit Professional Tax Software
Intuit Professional Tax Software is a portfolio of tax preparation products developed by Intuit for accounting and tax professionals. The portfolio includes three professional products: ProConnect Tax, Lacerte Tax, and ProSeries Tax. Each product is designed for a different segment of the professional tax market, from individual practitioners to firms that manage complex or high-volume returns. Together, they form Intuit’s Professional Tax software lineup and support a broad range of workflows and firm types.ProConnect Tax Online
Intuit ProConnect Tax Online is a cloud-based professional tax preparation software designed for accountants and tax advisors. The platform enables tax professionals to prepare and file individual and business returns entirely online, with workflows accessible from any location.ProConnect Tax Online is a cloud-based tax software that supports over 5,700 tax forms, including Forms 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120-S, and 1065, and features more than 21,000 error diagnostics. The software integrates with QuickBooks Online Accountant to streamline bookkeeping-to-tax workflows. It includes tools such as Intuit Link for client document collection, built-in e-signature capabilities, and integration with Intuit Tax Advisor for generating tax planning strategies. It is used by accounting firms that prefer cloud-based tax preparation workflows. ProConnect Tax is offered as a package or on a pay-per-return basis. Intuit ProConnect Tax is offered as a package or on a pay-per-return basis In 2024, it became the first professional tax software to offer built-in tax-planning strategy generation through its Tax Advisor integration.
Lacerte Tax Software
Intuit Lacerte Tax is a desktop-based professional tax preparation software designed for large accounting firms and complex tax returns. Originally developed by Lacerte Software Corp., founded by CPA Larry Lacerte, the software was acquired by Intuit in May 1998 for approximately $400 million in cash.Lacerte Tax is a desktop-based tax software that supports over 5,700 forms, including individual, corporate, partnership, fiduciary, estate, and gift tax returns, and features more than 25,000 error-checking diagnostics. The software offers advanced tools, including comprehensive tax planning utilities, what-if analysis, and integration with QuickBooks Desktop for trial balance imports. Although it requires local installation, Intuit offers optional cloud-hosting services for remote access. Lacerte is primarily targeted at mid-size and large accounting firms, as well as smaller firms handling particularly complex returns, and is typically sold either as an unlimited-use license or on a pay-per-return basis, positioning it as a premium offering in the professional tax software market.
ProSeries Tax Software
Intuit ProSeries Tax is a desktop-based professional tax preparation software aimed at individual practitioners and small to mid-sized firms. ProSeries predates Intuit's acquisition of Lacerte and has been offered by Intuit since the 1990s.ProSeries is a desktop-based tax software available in two editions: ProSeries Professional, which supports individual and business returns, including Forms 1120, 1120-S, and 1065, and ProSeries Basic, which is primarily limited to Form 1040 individual returns. The software features a forms-based interface that displays tax forms on-screen for direct data entry, offering approximately 3,700 forms and schedules, along with around 1,000 error-checking diagnostics. ProSeries integrates with QuickBooks Desktop for importing financial data, and optional cloud hosting is available. Intuit markets ProSeries to small and mid-sized tax practices seeking a balance of functionality and cost, positioning it as a more affordable tax software to Lacerte, with licensing options including unlimited annual licenses or pay-per-return plans.
International operations
Canada
Intuit Canada ULC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Intuit, is a developer of financial management and tax preparation software for personal finance and small business accounting. Services are delivered on a variety of platforms including application software, software connected to services, software as a service, platform as a service and mobile applications. Intuit Canada has employees located all across Canada, with offices in Edmonton, Alberta, and Toronto, Ontario.Intuit Canada traces its origins to the 1993 acquisition by Intuit of a Canadian tax preparation software developer. In 1992, Edmontonians and University of Alberta graduates Bruce Johnson and Chad Frederick had built a tax preparation product called WINTAX – Canada's first Microsoft Windows-based personal tax preparation software. In 1993, they agreed to be acquired by Chipsoft, manufacturer of the U.S. personal income tax software TurboTax. Shortly after the WINTAX acquisition, Chipsoft agreed to merge with Intuit, the developer of the Quicken financial software. Intuit Canada continued to update and support the WINTAX software, which was renamed QuickTax in 1995 and then renamed TurboTax in 2010. Intuit Canada quickly became the hub for international development at Intuit, producing localized versions of Quicken and QuickBooks for Canada and the United Kingdom. The U.K. version of Quicken was discontinued in 2005.