Intuit称霸财务管理软件市场之谜

最受赞赏的软件公司

总部：加州山景城

雇员：8000人

业务：约有2,400万美国人在线或通过移动设备使用金融服务软件公司Intuit的报税软件TurboTax。每年Intuit公司为电子报税者处理的退税额高达几十亿美元。

    Intuit公司在自助式金融管理软件市场上处于统治地位。这个细分市场是这家市值39亿美元的公司29年前起一手打造起来的。多年来，Intuit让微软公司（Microsoft）和其他众多潜在的竞争对手都甘拜下风，现在，它正向新的细分市场挺进，比如能帮病人理解医疗账单或让农民追踪农产品价格的手机应用程序。虽然这种多元化战略会带来风险，但很少有分析师不看好Intuit这家今年荣膺全美最受尊敬的软件公司荣誉的公司。

Intuit在做什么

    北美洲的众多小企业都在运用Intuit的会计软件QuickBooks，同时成千上万的普通用户在用报税软件TurboTax和个人理财软件Quicken管理个人财务事宜。Intuit的其他摇钱树还包括：小企业专用工资单和支付处理服务软件，职业会计师专用的高级税务和会计软件。目前，Intuit正致力于拓展商业模式，从销售桌面软件过渡到提供在线金融管理服务。首席执行官布莱德•史密斯表示：“普通客户率先使用这一服务，然后是小企业，随后是专业会计师。”他特别提到，依托于网络的软件产品可以带来稳定的注册使用收入，从而让Intuit不断获益。

风险所在

    不过Intuit的竞争对手从未放弃努力。单在报税领域，它就面临来自传统报税公司如H&R Block公司和Jackson Hewitt公司的激烈竞争。随着软件行业开始向云服务转型，小型初创公司能够更容易通过廉价的财务管理软件服务削弱Intuit这种大型公司的市场地位。同时，有些分析师担心，创新的步子过快会导致不够专注。

Most admired

Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.

Employees: 8,000

The business: About 24 million U.S. customers use Intuit's TurboTax service online or through mobile devices. Intuit processes billions in refunds for electronic tax filers every year.

    Intuit dominates the market for DIY financial-management software, a category that the $3.9 billion company basically invented 29 years ago. Having faced down Microsoft and many other would-be competitors over the years, Intuit is now branching into new markets like mobile apps that help patients make sense of medical billing statements or farmers track commodity prices. Although this diversification strategy carries risks, few analysts are betting against Intuit, the most admired software company in America this year.

What it does

    Small businesses across North America run on Intuit's QuickBooks accounting app, while millions of consumers use TurboTax and Quicken to keep their financial lives in order. Other Intuit cash cows: payroll and payment-processing services for small businesses, and high-octane tax and accounting products for professional accountants. Intuit is broadening its business model beyond selling desktop software to delivering online financial-management services. "Consumers adopt first, then businesses, then accountants," says CEO Brad Smith, who notes that web-based product delivery helps Intuit by generating steady subscription revenues.

Its risk

    Intuit's rivals aren't giving up. In the tax arena the company faces stiff competition from traditional tax preparers like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. As the software industry shifts to cloud-based services, it becomes easier for tiny startups to undercut established players like Intuit with cheaper financial-management services. And some analysts worry that innovation at too fast a pace could prove distracting.