9 May 2023
In a world first, the launch of the cloud-based financial management software is free to accounting professionals around the globe.
Intuit QuickBooks today announces global free access to QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA), enabling accounting professionals in 170 countries to move to the cloud faster, scale their practices and bring more value to their clients and the wider economy.
Accounting professionals make a huge contribution to the economy at a local, regional and global level, working as trusted business partners to the SMB community, which represents 90% of businesses and accounts for 70% of employment globally.
But their impact could be even bigger, as QuickBooks research suggests accountants are now busier than ever. Four out of 10 (43%) report they have more than 40 clients – and 86% are looking to technology to help them be more efficient and better meet client needs.
QBOA addresses this by enabling accountants to manage their practice workflow, client interactions and billing all in one place. Developed with a select group of accountants globally over the past 12 months, QBOA is a refined suite of benefits to help professional accountants move to the cloud faster and drive greater efficiency and scalability of their firms.
Access to real time insights from anywhere in the world puts professional accountants at the heart of driving informed business decisions that could positively increase small business survival rates – currently, only 51.6% of U.S. small businesses survive beyond the first five years.
Intuit serves more than 100 million customers worldwide and is one of the biggest software companies in the world, with Intuit QuickBooks now the first provider in the market to deliver at this scale for the accounting profession.
Lars Leber, Vice President of Intuit QuickBooks Australia, said: “Hong Kong is regularly recognized as one of the best places globally for running a business, consistently placing in the top five ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings. Accountants in the region play a key role in helping these businesses to adapt and prosper. With the rollout of QBOA, every accountant and bookkeeper can efficiently manage their clients from one easy-to-manage platform. Any professional accountant with an internet connection will benefit from financial management innovation fit for the modern age, while businesses benefit from improved expert support.”
Global trends and technological advancements are transforming the world of work and reshaping the future of the accountancy profession, increasingly shifting demand towards more strategic and analytical roles.
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most competitive business centers, with the digitization of over 360,000 SMEs, constituting more than 98% of business establishments and employing about 44% of the workforce in the private sector expected to provide further boost to the economy. Accountants will be key to helping fuel local business and economic prosperity.
But unfortunately, in April, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants said 30% of local accountants would leave the city in 2023 hinting that the country will soon face a shortage of accountants. According to the latest government figures, only 50% of micro-enterprises (>10 employees) and 60% of medium-sized enterprises (10-49 employees) survive beyond the first five years. With their local SMEs soon facing a shortage of accountants, there is an urgent need to manage bookkeeping and accounting to ensure their books are in order. With the help of QuickBooks, Intuit hopes to increase the overall survival rates of Hong Kong SMEs.
While AI and automation may lead to job displacement in certain industries, such as accounting and auditing, it’s up to SMEs to adapt and embrace these changes to stay competitive and survive in the future.
A recent QuickBooks study suggested that 93% of UK small businesses believe their business is more likely to survive with an accountant on board.
QuickBooks Online Accountant benefits professional accountants anywhere in the world – through the following set of features:
- Singular login and dashboard view of real-time and historic client data, current projects and deadlines;
- Automated transactions and specific rules classifying data, minimizing manual data entries and reducing risk of errors;
- Options to use workflows to send reminders to the right people at the right time and automate common tasks – invaluable for bookkeepers in busiest periods of the year;
- Integrated apps providing functionality that spans reporting, inventory management, expense management, payroll, eCommerce;
- Predictive AI-based ability to estimate income tax/VAT contributions, support self-assessment filings with automated breakdown of earnings and tax-deductible expense.
Assisted QuickBooks Online Accountant onboarding for accountant professionals and bookkeepers is free, via a Zoom session, and is focused on new clients who are new to QuickBooks, as well as any existing clients that aren’t actively using QuickBooks. It’s a hands-on, “Do-It-With-Me” session. To celebrate the launch of the QBOA global edition, limited time only pricing bundles have also been announced. To help accountants get their small business clients started on QuickBooks online, for just the next three months, the one-dollar subscription deal will be active. One dollar (or country currency equivalent), per month, per file. The deal is available in all countries, to further support digital expansion for all accountants.
Local developers can now publish apps as part of the QuickBooks Global App Store – to include payroll, payments, inventory and purpose-built applications for specific regions – to integrate with QuickBooks. For more information and information on how to access the free QuickBooks Online Accountant platform please visit here.
