Intuit Partnership with Box Gives QuickBooks Online Accountant Users Free Client Document Sharing

Intuit is partnering with cloud-based document storage and sharing provider Box to streamline collaboration between accounting firms and their busineses. Intuit is the maker of QuickBooks, TurboTax and many financial and business management technologies for small businesses and professional accountants.

When the integration functions have been fully developed, users of the web-based QuickBooks Online Accountant program will be able to access a new document collaboration center built into the system, making it easier for professionals to send and receive financial and tax documents to and from their clients in a secure environment. The features are not an add-on, but will be included in the base cost of the QuickBooks system.

“Our partnership with Box is all about strengthening the relationship between small businesses and accounting professionals by making it easier than ever to share information,” said Dan Wernikoff, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit’s Small Business Group. “We know that accounting professionals are one of a small business’ most trusted advisors. The new document sharing center in QuickBooks Online Accountant is a simple but powerful way of leveraging the cloud to make the accountant-small business relationship even stronger.”

“The cloud enables small businesses to leverage the same best-in-class technologies that were previously only available to the largest enterprises in the world,” said Dan Levin, COO of Box. “Box and Intuit are committed to transforming how accounting professionals and small businesses collaborate and stay productive by providing them with a powerful content platform for securely managing financial information.”

The new “QuickBooks Client Document Center Powered by Box” will be available in early 2015, providing accounting professionals the ability to request and receive documents from clients directly from within the QuickBooks Online Accountant system.

For document storage and sharingaccounting professionals using QB Online for Accountants will automatically receive 10 gigabytes of storage space on Box.
The document center includes features to request documents, and also keep track of the documents they’ve received or those they are still waiting for.
Small businesses can respond by uploading documents and viewing files sent to them by the accounting professional within their own QuickBooks Online account.
Box.com offers enterprise-level security and meets government standards.

“Box is a cloud-based content collaboration platform used by businesses of all sizes,” Levin told CPA Practice Advisor. “This new capability in the accountant version of QuickBooks Online will allow accountants and clients to exchange docs easily and simply from inside the QuickBooks experience, powered by the Box platform.”

The partnership with Box is one of more than a hundred product enhancements unveiled at QuickBooks Connect 2014, a new conference that brought together small businesses, entrepreneurs, accountants and developers.