Intuit debuts iPhone, BlackBerry apps for QuickBooks Online

By Mickey Alam Khan

August 26, 2008

Landscaping profitable future

Intuit Inc. strengthened its presence on mobile with the integration of its QuickBooks Online small business accounting software with the iPhone and BlackBerry platforms.

This development comes a week after the Mountain View, CA-based company released Quicken Beam, a new service for mobile phones or devices that gives consumers immediate access to their bank balances and recent activity.

“Mobile is a natural extension of our customer focus in terms of allowing them the flexibility to manage their business and to really manage their lives,” said Ed Mobraaten, group marketing manager for QuickBooks Online.

The iPhone and BlackBerry offering is targeted to the 340,000 users working at the more than 130,000 small businesses that subscribe to QuickBooks Online.

Available on the site at http://www.intuitlabs.com/apps/category/mobile/, the iPhone and BlackBerry applications will let QuickBooks Online users check their current bank and credit card balances and track who owe them money and who they owe.

Quick look on QuickBooks

Also, users can find vendors and customer contact information with addresses through Google Maps and run balance and profit and loss reports.

The mobile applications are password-protected, just as the online version is.

“We store that data on the same server that TurboTax uses,” Mr. Mobraaten said.

SaaSy
These Web-based mobile applications are part of IntuitLabs.com, a site that lets users experiment with Intuit’s early concept releases and offer feedback.

QuickBooks Online starts at $9.95 per month at http://www.qboe.com, going all the way up to $34.95 depending on the package. A 30-day free trial is available.

“At this point we’re not charging additional fees for our mobile offerings,” Mr. Mobraaten said.

“We do expect to get more customers over time, but we didn’t launch this with that in mind,” he said.

Intuit is best for its QuickBooks, Quicken and TurboTax software for accounting and tax preparation purposes.

Founded in 1983, the company posted revenue of $3.1 billion for fiscal 2008. Approximately 8,000 employees work in Intuit offices nationwide and in Canada, Britain and India.

Intuit’s increased use of the Web and mobile is part of an overall strategy to develop more software-as-a-service tools that let customers work anytime, anywhere and on a variety of devices.

This strategic focus played out with the recent acquisition of Homestead. The purchase lets Intuit offer software and ecommerce services to small businesses for them to create a Web presence, maintain or promote their sites and sell or market their products over the Internet.

“As a company we’re looking to develop more as a software-as-a-service tools,” said Sharna Brockett, PR manager at Intuit.

Mr. Mobraaten would not tip his hand, but he said Intuit is looking to expand to platforms based on user functionality. Mobile plays a key role in that vision.

“It’s absolutely critical,” Mr. Mobraaten said. “The world’s going that way. Mobile’s growing more powerful. Mobile’s growing more operationally instead of just for communications.”