QuickBooks AI

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Intuit announced adding artificial intelligence (“AI”) in QuickBooks, called Intuit "Assist." Assist also works across other of Intuit's products (Credit Karma, MailChimp, and TurboTax). On its surface, it appears to be a direct competitor to accounting firms doing advisery work.

Users can ask questions to Assist, and it can perform actual work, such as:

• Apply for credit cards

• Explore financing options

• Send out invoice reminders

• start a marketing campaign

• Actionable insights

• Connect you to a live expert

Two things that stick out to me that I think Intuit nailed were:

1. Assist can connect owners to a live expert. AI can only go so far right now to answer questions, so this is a brilliant bridge. Plus, owners want the comfort of talking to someone.

2. Assist provides user prompts. It allows users to dig further into their financials without knowing exactly how.

However, I don't think Assist will be competing with accounting firms doing consulting anytime soon.

FinDaily and AI

I have spent the last few months thinking about incorporating AI into FinDaily. My ideas are similar to Assist.

FinDaily would provide business owners with one or two targeted recommendations based on the financial information available to FinDaily. The key difference is that FinDaily is sending the advice. The entrepreneur is not seeking the advice.

My idea comes from what I have learned in advising businesses ranging from start-ups to multi-million dollar companies over the past decade. Here are my top three takeaways:

1. Business owners are paying me not to seek advice but to get advice

2. Entrepreneurs are short on time, so advice needs to the point with one to three takeaways

3. Owners making less than $1 million in revenue have difficulty paying my average monthly investment.

Therefore, the only current AI path for FinDaily is providing these targeted recommendations via email or text to smaller, less complex businesses that could not afford my monthly coaching or fractional CFO investment.

So, the takeaway is to focus on larger, more complex businesses with resources to pay for advisory in your accounting firm. The advice needs to be proactive and easy to understand.

To Stay or Not to Stay with Intuit - That is the Question

I know some accounting firm owners are considering moving away from Intuit completely, but I am not one of them.

See what others think about Intuit Assist. 👇

Intuit will attract lower-end clients that accounting firms do not need or want.

People need human connection. We were designed that way. And showing your financials to some is the equivalent of dropping your pants in front of your doctor. That is why accountants are one of the most trusted professionals out there.

Think about QuickBooks Live and Intuit Assist for a second. A business owner gets the next available person whenever they want to connect with someone. The owner then has to explain their company again to someone new before diving into the question.

A savvy business owner will not waste their time on this process. And a cost-conscious business owner will eventually get educated on the value of a good accountant.

On top of that, training in financial consulting is not possible. If Intuit figures that piece out, then credit to them, but I have found that speaking numbers in simple terms to entrepreneurs is an acquired rather than a learned skill.

Rather than run away from Intuit and AI, I would embrace them by setting your accounting firm apart from Intuit Assist and learning AI.

You can start learning about setting your accounting firm apart by reading the last issue here. In the next issue, I will talk about embracing AI and how ChatGPT has earned me $175k.

Guru Cache 👂📚👀

📚 Jason Staats's Thoughts on Intuit

📚 Are Accountants Afraid of the AI in the Water? by Seth Fineberg

Client Cache 🗣

📈📚Increase your sales by simplifying your pricing. One study showed that 66% of people picked a higher-price product over a cheaper one with more complex pricing. Click here to learn more.

Thanks for reading, Luke Templin!

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