Intuit Marketing To Your Clients

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#1
CP Hay  
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As someone that uses Intuit to process payroll for my clients, I find it somewhat deceiving that payroll-related documents that is sent to the client (W-2's, employment posters, etc) all have Intuit's logo on them. In some cases, Intuit promotes Turbo Tax on these documents!

Does anyone else also feel as though Intuit is overstepping its boundaries by this kind of aggressive marketing?
 

#2
novacpa  
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Like their TV ads "CPAs on Demand with our Turbo-Tax Package"
 

#3
Andrew  
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Yes, agree. Intuit's advertising pops up in QuickBooks Desktop and the online version as well. Yesterday, I logged into the QBO account of a client and an ad appeared for financing in the program itself. In another client's QBO account, an ad appeared for an Intuit tax planning program. When someone uses a web based program like QBO, my concern would be that Intuit potentially has access to all their financial information.
 

#4
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Andrew wrote: When someone uses a web based program like QBO, my concern would be that Intuit potentially has access to all their financial information.


Do not underestimate how much of QBD is "web based," too. It may not be in the cloud like QBO, but it relies heavily on native web browsers for a lot of functionality, including the landing "pages."

If I could fine an equal alternative to Quickbooks, I would move away from Intuit, entirely. I do not like what they do to line their fat bank accounts while undermining the importance and value of actual accounting and tax professionals.
 

#5
makbo  
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Yeah, maybe Intuit should be more like Facebook and Google... :lol:

Incidentally, I use QBD and don't recall seeing any ads for anything. I am a ProAdvisor and use the Accountant's version, maybe that has something to do with it?

As to QBD being web-based, then how is it I can run QBD just fine with no internet connection?
 

#6
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makbo wrote:Incidentally, I use QBD and don't recall seeing any ads for anything. I am a ProAdvisor and use the Accountant's version, maybe that has something to do with it?

As to QBD being web-based, then how is it I can run QBD just fine with no internet connection?


The data still resides locally, but QBD heavily utilizes a modified version of IE for certain screens and functions.

I am also a QBD ProAdvisor using the Accountant's editions. I have the frickin' TurboTax ads pop up every tax year.
 

#7
makbo  
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CornerstoneCPA wrote:The data still resides locally, but QBD heavily utilizes a modified version of IE for certain screens and functions.

I agree. For example, the "Reminders" and "Accountant Center" screens seem to be web-based, because they only pop up after all the other windows open and after, for example, I am prompted to enter memorized transactions that are due. In fact, when the window first opens, the title bar says something like "QB Web Browser" before it refreshes with the intended content.

Just to clarify for other readers, use of a web browser is not synonymous with accessing the internet, as HTML pages can be served up just as easily from the local disk. It's no different than using Word or Excel to read an HTML file.
 

#8
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makbo wrote:
Just to clarify for other readers, use of a web browser is not synonymous with accessing the internet, as HTML pages can be served up just as easily from the local disk. It's no different than using Word or Excel to read an HTML file.


Correct, but there is no doubt QBD is web connected. Again, a number of functions that utilize the "QB Web Browser" (just a shittier implementation of IE) are connecting directly to the internet, and these are not simply HTML formatted pages (which, again, is correct that it does not equate to web connectivity--I can remove my network card and still load local HTML, CSS, PHP, and other code files). Does Intuit have access? Cannot say with certainty, but I would not be naive enough to say no. It IS a web connected application despite a local install. Virtually ALL software is, these days.
 

#9
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I agree the QB Desktop is indelibly linked to the web these days. If you even dare to start up QB desktop without an active internet connection, it complains mightily.

It began about 2-3 years ago, when they would no longer provide a license key and product code to enable a completely off-line install.

These days, when you buy QB Desktop, you are essentially buying a three year subscription.
 

#10
CP Hay  
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As an update to this, it's not just putting logos and communicating with clients, Intuit is now offering QuickBooks users bookkeeping/tax services! On one hand they are trying to assist tax professionals with software but on the other hand they are trying to cannabilize their customer's clients.
 

#11
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Could not agree more with CP Hay. Intuit is trying to take your clients in the same way that Amazon, a billion dollar company, took away the livelihood of numerous businesses by undercutting what these businesses made for years. Until these businesses were out of business. And Amazon owns the highway of how sales happen nowadays: thru Amazon. Small private sellers on Amazon have had their accounts closed. The real reason seems to be that they're not professional sellers and do not pay monthly Amazon sellers account fees. Intuit is the Amazon in tax and bookkeeping land. They have a billion dollars to spend on marketing. And they will offer your clients bookkeeping and tax prep by so-called dedicated bookkeepers. Wow, your client thinks, it's $10 less a month, I'm saving money ... Your client doesn't understand that the Amazon bookkeepers who get paid minimum wage does not know half as much as you do (which is a generous comparison). But do you have a billion dollars to tell your clients that? I don't. Unless the IRS starts auditing, but even then, a billion dollar company will be able to strike a deal ... You do the work, you have the knowledge, you loose the work because you don't have the marketing budget. Any industry can be taken by an Amazon in their field. You loose, your client loses, no Intuit dedicated bookkeeper working for $12 an hour ... can do what you can do. But here's the carrot, saving $10 a month for a dedicated bookkeeper located somewhere on the planet, who your client doesn't know, who doesn't have the credentials, experience and just works for minimum wage, being rated with every entry and fired just as easily, will get the client. That's the power of marketing and the marketing budget which would have not been spent (about a billion dollars) if it didn't work.
 

#12
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I'll be blunt here--the clients that will hire a company such as Intuit or even a local bookkeeper that undercuts everyone (and their work shows why) kind of deserves what they get in terms of poor quality service.

I have had banks market to my clients by offering to manage their receivables and payables. That is basic bookkeeping outside of reconciliations, but that is also the foundation for everything of higher level that we can and do offer. We all have many large "competitors," it boils down to what exactly are they offering and at what level and quality of service? Reality is they are not actual competitors, but they market themselves as if they are and the clients they gain are generally the garbage clients many of us refuse to take on or, if we do, we quickly let go.

I do not take on every client. I never compete on price. I am basically always available to my clients. I do not have any sympathy for any individual or business that takes the cheapest option and then later complains to me about what a mistake it ended up being.

As to Amazon, I get your point. When I worked for a wholesale and retail business, we sold on Amazon. Not much business was gained through it, but we certainly had boutique stores we sold to also trying to sell on Amazon, eBay, etc., which was a violation of their wholesale agreement with us. Most of the Amazon stores I have observed be shut down by Amazon were shut down because Amazon learned they violated specific terms of being a seller on Amazon, most notably selling counterfeit goods (a very serious issue on Amazon and on the internet, as a whole).
 

#13
Andrew  
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CornerstoneCPA wrote:I'll be blunt here--the clients that will hire a company such as Intuit or even a local bookkeeper that undercuts everyone (and their work shows why) kind of deserves what they get in terms of poor quality service.

One problem is that your client doesn't understand bookkeeping and therefore doesn't understand what good bookkeepers know and do. I always explain why they're paying rockbottom prices to a billion dollar company that pays their employees minimum wage for data entry. Intuit now moved to online "CPA's" because their tax prep software can't do the job of answering a kazillion questions that it leaves unanswered... Ultimately, a company that has a billion dollars to spend on marketing will win. Quality doesn't matter. Nor does the truth. As Seth Godin once said "all marketeers are liars".
 

#14
CP Hay  
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It's not just Intuit either. H&R Block's management, seeing the shift to do-it-yourself tax preparation, recently announced that they will be focusing on serving small business owners.
 

#15
Andrew  
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H&R doesn't have nearly the money Intuit can spend on marketing. Our industry will probably look much different in 20 years from now with most of the small shops gone, outpriced by Intuit. Not because the service is better, the knowledge more but because of the marketing. Young people who start with tt may never move away from tt anymore, even if their taxes become more complex. I don't think someone who has build a solid practice already has much to fear from this. But I do think it will become harder for younger accountants to venture out on their own. But I may be wrong.
 

#16
CP Hay  
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Andrew wrote:H&R doesn't have nearly the money Intuit can spend on marketing. Our industry will probably look much different in 20 years from now with most of the small shops gone, outpriced by Intuit. Not because the service is better, the knowledge more but because of the marketing. Young people who start with tt may never move away from tt anymore, even if their taxes become more complex. I don't think someone who has build a solid practice already has much to fear from this. But I do think it will become harder for younger accountants to venture out on their own. But I may be wrong.


Maybe ...maybe not but it's that time of year where Intuit is out there recruiting for TurboTax support. What gets me is how many credentialed preparers are applying to work for them. Can't blame someone if they're trying to make an honest buck but it's a great way to try to kill the profession.
 

#17
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I disagree. There is already a huge shift occurring among the wiser practitioners and firms in this country (you can see it in the various discussions occurring on this Board, not to mention CPE and CPA Society topics, etc.). Subscription models, value pricing, value-added services, shifting away from focusing on history to being forward-thinking, etc. A three day summit I attended in August had a VERY heavy focus on the state of our profession, adaptation, how we must evolve, the very serious issue of LACK of CPAs, among many other topics. We still have a very strong future, but we are definitely under going not only an evolution, IMO, but also a revolution. Even the CPA exam is being modified in an attempt to appeal to more potential candidates.

The ones that are going to suffer are the ones unwilling to adapt, and I realize that does constitute quite a high number of individuals and firms in our profession...probably more due to age than anything else. The ones that have already made significant moves to adapt are thriving. The ones that are not able or willing to adapt? They're closing up shop or selling out before they end up killing their businesses. I am seeing it left and right as a 36 year old owner of a pretty successful Firm and where my entire life has been about adding value, adapting, etc.

I do not feel the least bit threatened by Intuit or H&R Block, now or in the future. They make A LOT of mistakes and absolutely do not provide any personalized level of service that successful business owners and individuals wish to have. Do you really think they are going to help small businesses plan for and open new locations, markets, or service or product offerings for example? Heck no! Not to mention the "forward thinking" tax aspects.
 

#18
Frankly  
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What is "forward thinking"? Same thing we call tax planning. Nothing new here.
What is "value pricing"? Same thing we do when tweaking the invoice.
What is "subscription model"? It's a different way of getting paid, avoids sticker shock, e.g. time payments.

All these things were invented years ago, and implemented with varying degrees of success, which explains why they are not universal.
 

#19
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Frankly wrote:What is "forward thinking"? Same thing we call tax planning. Nothing new here.
What is "value pricing"? Same thing we do when tweaking the invoice.
What is "subscription model"? It's a different way of getting paid, avoids sticker shock, e.g. time payments.

All these things were invented years ago, and implemented with varying degrees of success, which explains why they are not universal.


They're not universal because what you so generally described them as is not even remotely accurate.
 


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