Intuit Inc. today introduced QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, a new offering that turns QuickBooks into a trusted collaboration platform, connecting self-employed people and small business owners with on-demand live experts through the QuickBooks product. Offered via a monthly subscription, QuickBooks Live connects small businesses to an experienced bookkeeper to help ensure their records are accurate and up-to-date, giving them the confidence that their books are done right and the freedom to focus on the important work of delighting their customers.
QuickBooks Live solves the two biggest challenges small business owners without accountants face: the lack of confidence that they’re managing their books correctly and finding an expert to help them manage their books on an ongoing basis. Today, 40 percent of small businesses using QuickBooks are not connected to an accountant. Yet, small businesses connected to an accountant say they are twice as likely to succeed. For bookkeepers, many struggle to find new clients and retain them, with most only adding an average of four new clients per year.
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Combining the technology and simplicity of QuickBooks with a virtual, on-demand network of screened bookkeeping professionals, QuickBooks Live delivers both confidence and expertise to small businesses when they need it most, giving them the freedom to focus on other aspects of their businesses.
Small business owners who don’t know exactly what kind of accounting help they need can get basic bookkeeping services from experts inside the product, including categorizing expenses, reconciling accounts and transactions. Through QuickBooks Live, small businesses are provided with a dedicated, virtual bookkeeping team to oversee their needs, including a primary bookkeeper, who serves as the main point of contact. This lead expert will understand an individual’s unique needs, walk the business owner through a custom setup of QuickBooks and close the business’s books each month, while providing an accuracy guarantee[1] for the work they perform. Additionally, business owners can get on-demand assistance from their dedicated bookkeeping team when questions come up, including chat with screen share and one-way video options. QuickBooks Live also provides a full year-end report for small businesses using the service to assist with tax preparation.
“QuickBooks Live is truly the first of its kind - an expert-driven, AI platform that enables small businesses to make smarter decisions and achieve better money outcomes so they can take their businesses to the next level,” said Alex Chriss, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Small Business Self-Employed Group at Intuit. “By introducing QuickBooks Live, we believe more businesses will be able to tap not only into the technology platform that is delivering smarter business outcomes, but accounting and bookkeeping experts they may not have access to today.”
QuickBooks Live was designed specifically for small businesses who are not currently connected with an accountant or bookkeeper and feel they only require a light level of ongoing assistance. The easy connection to expert bookkeeping advisors is significant, as a recent study conducted by QuickBooks and Wakefield Research[2] found that nearly three in four (72 percent) small businesses first sought advice from family and friends before going to an expert or professional. Furthermore, the study found that more than a quarter (29 percent) cited difficulty in finding experts as a barrier for receiving business advice. By driving increased access to the experts small businesses need to manage and grow, QuickBooks is enabling its mission of powering prosperity for millions of small businesses around the world.
For accountants and bookkeepers, QuickBooks Live provides the opportunity to earn extra money with the flexibility of working remotely and setting their own hours. To participate as a QuickBooks Live bookkeeper, professionals must be QuickBooks Online certified and meet several other qualifications, including active credentials and work history with small business clients.
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“QuickBooks Live has been amazing for me, providing extreme value to my business. My dedicated, virtual bookkeeper, Jenni, has been so great. She can literally point and light up the buttons I need to push while she’s explaining things to me in real-time,” said Jon Shelton, business owner of Shelton Builders in Warrenton, Oregon. “When I first started using QuickBooks, it felt like a jumbo jet. I knew it would help my business tremendously, but it was a bit intimidating. Now, after getting set up correctly with Jenni’s help, I feel confident about what I’m doing, plus I know she’s always there if I have a question down the road.”
For more information about QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, please visit https://quickbooks.intuit.com/live/.
[1] 100% Accurate Books Guarantee: If your QuickBooks Live Bookkeeper makes an error that requires you to re-open your books for any month, we will correct the errors in your books for the month that the error occurred at no additional charge.
[2] The Intuit QuickBooks Growth Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,000 U.S. small business owners at companies of 0-100 employees, between Sept. 18 and Oct. 2, 2019, using an email invitation and an online survey.