Box Free IT : Intuit’s Plans for QuickBooks Online in Australia: Interview

BoxFree IT writes: Sydney accounting firm Interactive Accounting recently interviewed Intuit’s Brad Paterson, the managing director responsible for selling QuickBooks Online throughout the Asia Pacific (pictured above), as part of a review of the accounting software platforms.

Interactive’s managing director Lisa Callaghan asked Paterson about the roadmap and strategy for QuickBooks Online in the Australian market.

You’re the face of Intuit in Australia. Tell us a bit about yourself and what your mission is for QuickBooks Online in Australia.

First of all, QuickBooks has an amazing team of Aussies going for it. We have some phenomenal talent with a diverse range of expertise and experience. A common thread through the whole team is a shared passion for helping small businesses be more successful.

We’ve hired a local leader, Nicolette Maury, to drive the Australian QuickBooks Online business, in addition to growing our key functions in account management, product, marketing and customer care. Nicolette brings a successful history and deep experience in customer experience, innovation and technology. Plus, small businesses is part of her DNA, having grown up in a family business.

As an Aussie who also grew up with a family small business, I couldn’t be more excited and passionate about enabling Australian small business success with Quickbooks Online as their operating system. We will only achieve this in partnership with accountants, bookkeepers and developers in Australia.

My job is to ensure we stay focused on this mission while creating an environment at Intuit for our team to do the best work of their lives.

What’s the two year goal for Australia?

Our goal is to be the number one choice for Australian small businesses and their advisers. I can’t share specific customer targets as Intuit doesn’t break out our customer numbers outside of the US. What I can tell you is that my team and I are looking for explosive growth earned by delivering the best experience for small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers. Based on our current demand and positive feedback, we’re confident we’re on track.

What’s QuickBook Online’s point of difference compared to the current leading cloud accounting products like Xero, Saasu and MYOB live?

Instead of repeating our marketing messaging, I’ll share what we’re hearing from our customers. Small businesses love QuickBooks Online for its ease of use, the time it saves them and its simplicity, especially on smartphones and tablets. Accountants and bookkeepers love the fact we treat them as partners rather than resellers.

We know Invitbox is a great product but what was the strategy behind the purchase?

QuickBooks Online is designed to make it easier for small businesses and their trusted advisers to get the job done quickly and with confidence. Creating a deeply integrated and powerful ecosystem by partnering with the services small businesses and accountants currently use and love is a key way we’re achieving that.
The Invitbox acquisition is a perfect example of how we’re putting our money where our mouth is to deliver against our promise. Plus, the Invitco team are a great bunch of folks who are exceptionally talented and passionate about creating new ways for small businesses to be more successful. It’s a real win to have them inside the business.

Do you think accounting firms should support one accounting platform or many?

If you are looking to grow your practice and support new clients you need to support more than one platform. We’ve heard from accountants that it’s critical for them to be a trusted adviser to their clients. That means knowing which solutions are best for their client.
Those that support just one product risk missing out on opportunities to win and retain small business customers. Increasingly, business owners are becoming savvy when it comes to knowing what software they want to use.

Your list of add-on partners certainly lacks the depth of Xero’s. Is that something you plan to rectify or are integrations not part of your immediate focus?

Not all ecosystems are created equal. Quantity doesn’t always guarantee a quality experience or integration. QuickBooks Online is unique in the market for delivering a better experience through deeper integration and extensive quality and experience checks. Check out what Forbes.com just wrote comparing us to others.

Creating a powerful ecosystem of deeply connected apps is a priority for QuickBooks Online globally and for us here in Australia. We recently announced the addition of a number of new apps for our Australian customers including InvoiceSherpa, DEAR Inventory, Cloud Cart Connector and Affinity Live.

We have a fantastic pipeline of local and global integrations for Australia, so watch this space for some exciting new announcements.

What incentives will you offer Australian accounting firms to support your product?

We don’t offer incentives to our accounting partners for recommending QuickBooks Online to their clients. Accountants have told us they’re not keen on selling accounting software but they are very interested in training and certification so they can better support their clients and grow their practices.

We offer partners free training and certification when you sign up to our ProAdvisor program, including training for your clients. We have additional training for our ProAdvisors to help them become educators. Some are already building a business out of becoming trainers, creating a new revenue stream.

We also have free conversion of files from Xero, MYOB and Reckon.
We also have a limited offer of $4.99 per month for accountants and bookkeepers, a saving of up to $30 per month. The response has been phenomenal and ProAdvisors who sign up their clients now are guaranteed the price forever.
We launched the offer in January and have extended it to the end of the year.

What resources are you committing to Australia in terms of support, sales and the Australian version of the product?

We’re investing heavily in our Australian team. We now have a team of over 30 in Australia, tripling in size since the beginning of the year. Our local team is growing rapidly and includes people in account management, marketing, product and customer care.
QuickBooks Online in Australia has been built for Australians with all the best elements of years of global development as well as local acquisitions and partnerships. It already has these Australian specific features:

• GST tracking and management.
• Automatic and unlimited download of transactions from leading Australian banks such as ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank with more on the way.
• Seamless integration of KeyPay payroll service, free for the first 10 employees.
• BAS reports and lodgement via our partner Gov Reports.
• A quickly expanding ecosystem of best-in-class apps for Australian small businesses.

This article was written by Lisa Callaghan, managing director for Interactive Accounting.

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