Interview With Intuit Marketing Executive, Cindy Thomas

Libeti.com had the privelege to interview Cindy Thomas about managing taxes with accounting software. Cindy Thomas is a marketing executive for Intuit. Intuit is one of the most recognized companies in the accounting industry and is the manufacturer of Quickbooks, TaxPro, and Quicken.

Intuit Q&A:

Libeti: Which type of freelance professionals and small businesses use Intuit products?

Cindy Thomas: A wide range of freelancers and small businesses use Intuit small business offerings from real estate agents and web designers to retail stores and construction companies.

Libeti: Can you briefly explain to me exactly what QuickBooks are and other major services that intuit customers frequently use?

Cindy Thomas: Intuit is well-known for its popular QuickBooks financial accounting software, which is used by more than 4 million small businesses. A well-kept secret though is that Intuit has everything you need to run your small business including tools to create your business website, pay your employees, process credit cards and even market your business online. And best of all, many of these tools are integrated with QuickBooks so you have one central spot where you can review and manage all of your business operations.

Libeti: Why would your organization be most useful for a startup company?

Cindy Thomas: Intuit has cost-effective tools that help you efficiently run your business no matter where you are in your business lifecycle. Once your business grows or your needs change, it’s then easy to add new services. For example, you can start by easily creating your company website with Intuit Websites. To start making money, you can use Intuit GoPayment to process credit card payments on your mobile phone. Then QuickBooks Online lets you easily track the “money in” and “money out” of your new business. And then when you’re ready to hire your first few employees, you can add Intuit Online Payroll, which integrates with QuickBooks Online, to easily and accurately pay your employees on time.

Libeti: How do your company’s products simplify managing taxes and finances? Why not just hire an accountant instead?

Cindy Thomas: Our products make tasks such as managing taxes and finances so easy and cost-effective that people can’t imagine going back to their old way of doing it. At Intuit we also partner closely with accountants and in many cases accountants recommend that their clients use services like QuickBooks and Intuit Payroll as it makes it easier for them to help the business owner with their accounting. For example, many accountants prefer not to get a shoebox of receipts that they need to sort out. Most prefer to spend their time on more important tasks such as reviewing a business owner’s QuickBooks files so they can give him or her key guidance to help them improve the bottom line.

Libeti: It says that your company offers website builder services. How do your services compare to Wordpress, Drupal, and Joomla?

Cindy Thomas: With our services, small business owners can easily get a professional-looking site at a cost-effective price point. Intuit Websites is specifically designed for small businesses with more than 2,000 ready-made business themed templates to choose from. Or if they want a designer’s touch, Intuit Websites also has a team of web designers who can work individually with business owners to create a professionally-designed website. In addition, Intuit Websites also offers online marketing tools such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Web Listings to help small businesses get found online.

Libeti: Who are some of your competitors (if any) and what makes your services superior?

Cindy Thomas: With 7 million small business customers, we are the only company to offer a complete ecosystem of products and services that help small businesses make and save money.

Libeti: Many of your services are for smaller businesses; do you deal with any bigger businesses?

Cindy Thomas: We mainly focus on small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. We do however have some products targeted at larger small businesses such as QuickBooks Enterprise.

Libeti: Dealing with taxes and revenue, how big a part does the government play in the regulation of the company?

Cindy Thomas: We work closely with the government to make sure our services such as TurboTax and Intuit Payroll are up-to-date with the latest tax filing information from the IRS. Intuit is also part of the Free File program, the public-private partnership between the federal government and about 20 private tax preparation companies, including TurboTax

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