Intuit Hunts for More Growth

Intuit views free software as an entry ramp to the company's franchise. One in five users of free QuickBooks immediately upgrades to a paid version, while more upgrade at a later date, executive Rick Jensen said.

In 2008, QuickBooks added 600,000 new users, bringing the total to 4 million. The company projects the product's revenue growth at 8% to 12% in fiscal 2009, to a range of $670 million to $695 million.

Intuit will spend 50% more on marketing QuickBooks during the fiscal year to create more demand for the product, executives said.

QuickBooks is successful, in part, due to referrals to small-business clients by their accountants. Intuit said QuickBooks 2009 will get even more traction with accountants due to a new feature that flags and fixes conflicting data-entries made by their clients. The feature is expected to reduce the time an accountant spends on reconciliation by 30%.

At least one new online, subscription-based service is now offered to QuickBooks users, with more to come during the year. And in 2009, an entry-level point-of-sale product called Cash Register will give startup businesses the ability to accept electronic payments.

Intuit has 240,000 payments customers and one million customers for its payroll software. To push the category, Intuit will offer an Assisted Payroll service for customers who need help but find outsourcing too pricey.

Intuit said it will charge about one-third the cost of a typical outsourcing payroll service provider. Intuit will handle inquiries from the IRS, a key selling point for small businesses, Smith said.