why vendors need to start with “why.”
by seth fineberg
unless you’ve been under a rock in the accounting profession, you know that intuit—makers of some of the most widely used tax and accounting products on the u.s. market—has caused quite a stir within the profession in recent weeks, making some wonder where they stand with the software giant.
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for quick review, a growing number of accountants that use of the company’s quickbooks online product have had to consider how to pass on rising costs of using the product, on top of where they stand with the company and its seemingly competing quickbooks live service. then, more recently, intuit began running national tv ads promoting its turbotax live service with the message of “break up with your accountant.”
this move, in turn, rankled many tax pros and national organizations such as the national association of enrolled agents and the national association of tax professionals (natp). in fact, the natp’s dissatisfaction forced intuit to agree to remove the tv ads altogether and their ceo, sasan goodarzi, to apologize to all attendees at its recent intuit connect event.
historically, large software company moves have not always been met with agreement from their respective accountant “channels.” as such, it stands to reason that with the majority of the profession being small tax and accounting firms, there is concern over pricing and marketing that seemingly keeps them at arm’s length. moreover, it has raised questions about their place in the ecosystem, which consists of some that have supported the company and its products for decades.
at the company’s now eponymous partner event, i was able to sit down with ted callahan, intuit director of accountant partnership and strategy, to discuss his views on accountants’ role with the company, the profession’s future, and the proadvisor program in general.
q: given all that has transpired recently, i have to ask, where do we do from here?
ted: if i look at the state of the accounting industry today, i do see an industry that is transforming itself out of necessity and other reasons. i then ask, ‘how do we take our platform strategy and help?’
we provide tools to help run their firms; how do we elevate what qboa is and balance it with client needs and opportunities? if you then say, ‘let’s look workflow by workflow opportunities,’ that is what i lean into, specifically. the industry needs to see what is coming for them, not their jobs.
covid elevated the need to evolve what bookkeeping is and how it’s done. look at the features we built into the product and how we are better serving needs. the whole theme of partnership is that you have to look at how businesses grow and give accountants the opportunity to grow with them. if you think about our end-to-end, look at mailchimp into pro connect. it is to serve the evolving needs of the businesses we are serving.
q: how do you believe vendor-accountant relations improve?
ted: we have a deep partnership with accountants. we work directly with them and trust is important. we made a deliberate move so that the community understands where we are going and why.
we always make sure we are starting with ‘why’ rather than ‘what.’ when the community understands intention, they are better at helping us understand the intention. i got feedback last year from some members that said, ‘i trust you, but can you get some non-accountant people to also discuss [the company’s] direction?’ and we are doing that.
q: what are you hearing the loudest from proadvisors?
ted: i’d say it’s that they’ve been skeptical on what we are up to and this year and feel different. partnership is woven into everything we talk about. they feel we are leaning into the community more and the opportunity is that they are, by nature, a very focused crew on telling us to “prove it.”
we have to deliver on what we are talking about. they root for us to do the right thing and we are making a bigger case for partnership.
q: how is the proadvisor program evolving?
ted: we are moving from a program that serves individuals to one that serves whole firms. we are looking at rule-based access and contracts we build in. there is firm consolidation going on here and as these firms grow, we need to provide the right training and discounts to go from individual needs to whole-business needs.
vendors have often gotten it wrong [with partner programs]. they start with ‘what,’ and it needs to start with ‘why.’ we also have to figure out the right ways to stay and work with them.
q: what do you feel is the biggest opportunity in the profession that is not being taken advantage of?
ted: i’d say there are a few things. first off, there are more small businesses being formed and fewer individuals entering the [accounting] profession. we have also changed how we are learning. there’s new training for level one and level two proadvisor. there’s more training on qboa now as well on technical bookkeeping skills.
there’s a client console for key kpis in one view of the client dashboard, where the accountant can be ready to meet with a client and have discussion on deliverables. ‘advisory’ is played out, and we have to be careful of how we talk about it. we don’t even have the right mental models to see where technology will take us.
one response to “where intuit is at with accountants”
frank stitely
the reality is that intuit said what they said, and they meant it. they may have walked it back publicly, but you have to know they are talking about this internally. they have no loyalty to the accounting profession, nor should they, and we should have no loyalty to them. they are miserable partners in a very one-sided relationship. we are solely a revenue source.