MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) delivered another dynamic event, connecting, educating and inspiring thousands of small businesses, accountants and developers at this year’s QuickBooks Connect in San Jose, Calif.
“QuickBooks Connect brought together more than 4,500 small businesses, accountants and developers, face-to-face and side-by-side, demonstrating the unmatched power of our ecosystem,” said Brad Smith, president and chief executive officer of Intuit. “Over the course of three days, we fueled each other through inspiring speakers and informative workshops, and all walked away with new insights and connections that will continue to build our collective success.”
Main Stage Inspiration
QuickBooks Connect featured influential main stage speakers including:
- Oprah Winfrey, global media leader, philanthropist, producer and actress, who shared how to build, maintain and grow a professional and personal brand.
- Robert Herjavec, a leading shark on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning hit “Shark Tank” and founder of Herjavec Group, who discussed how entrepreneurs can differentiate themselves in a crowded market.
- Jessica Alba, founder and chief creative officer of The Honest Company, and Brian Lee, co-founder and chief executive officer of The Honest Company, who participated in a fireside chat on developing and adapting business models for growth.
- Brian Grazer, Academy Award-winning producer and New York Times best-selling author, who provided tips on how to generate new opportunities through networking, mentorship and curiosity.
An event recap video, as well as select main stage sessions, can be viewed on the QuickBooks YouTube channel.
Educational Breakout Sessions and Workshops
The event included dozens of tailored breakout sessions and workshops featuring the expertise of speakers from a range of industries with insights and advice for a diverse audience:
- Small businesses and entrepreneurs received personal speed mentoring sessions hosted by Lean Startup Co., while thought leaders Scott Cook, Intuit founder, and Eric Ries, author and founder of the Lean Startup movement, shared their challenges and successes of bringing a seed of an idea to life.
- Accountants learned to embrace innovative strategies designed to help them save time, grow their practice, drive client success and create a future-ready firm today by transitioning to the cloud, strengthening their role as a trusted advisor and using social media and the Web more effectively.
- Developers had a chance to solve big problems for small businesses during Intuit’s second QuickBooks Connect Hackathon, where Collbox won the grand prize, valued at $40,000, for simplifying the small business owner’s task of chasing down customers who owe them money, all tied into QuickBooks Online.
New Additions to the QuickBooks Ecosystem
Intuit also announced several new product enhancements:
- Providing better financing options with the QuickBooks Financing marketplace, including a new line of credit product offered in partnership with OnDeck, and a new partnership with Fundbox that enables small businesses to advance payments for outstanding invoices.
- Launching a new partner program that will provide developers with the marketing support they need to reach more than 1 million small businesses around the world that run on the QuickBooks platform.
- Providing a new range of solutions to make it easier for retailers, e-commerce merchants, wholesalers and manufacturers to manage their inventory and sales channels. These solutions build on the power of the QuickBooks platform and leading third-party apps.
- Simplifying tax preparation on QuickBooks Online Accountant with Trial Balance, designed to reduce or eliminate manual data import, export and entry work. The feature helps accounting professionals save time and become better strategic advisors for their clients.
Small Business Big Game Top 3 Finalists
Intuit announced the top three finalists in its Small Business Big Game contest, one of whom will receive an expenses-paid, 30-second television commercial during professional football’s biggest game on Feb. 7.
Finalists include Chubbies Shorts of San Francisco, Death Wish Coffee Company of Round Lake, N.Y. and Vidler’s 5 & 10 in East Aurora, N.Y. The grand prize winner will be announced in January.
For more information on the event, visit the QuickBooks Connect website.
About Intuit Inc.
Intuit Inc. creates business and financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals.
Its flagship products and services include QuickBooks®, and TurboTax® and Mint.com, which make it easier to manage small businesses and payroll processing; tax preparation and filing; and personal finance. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants.
Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.2 billion in its fiscal year 2015, with approximately 7,700 employees in major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.
