Intuit defers the decision to exit India with QuickBooks

Intuit recently announced that it would stop products and services in India. The initial announcement stated that it would no longer signup customers to QuickBooks from July 1^st, 2022. However, it also stated that it would cease product and service support from January 31^st 2023

In a revised announcement, it will now extend access until April 30^th 2023. New signups are no longer available. To assist customers with the transition to new solutions, Quickbooks will also switch existing customers to a free subscription by July 31^st. It will mean they will no longer have to pay for the solution until it is switched off on April 30^th 2023. Customers can also download their data. Intuit provided a link to help them with this task. Intuit also provided a link to guide providers to a new solution.

Zoho did not waste any time offering options to QuickBooks customers, with Prashant Ganti, Head of Products – Tax, Accounting & Payroll, Zoho commenting, “The continuation of financial systems for any business is essential for its growth and sustainability. At Zoho, we understand how challenging it can be for businesses to find a replacement for their existing financial system. Zoho Books will be glad to serve the needs of those businesses looking for an alternative solution, and help them transition smoothly.

“Zoho Books is hyperfocused on strengthening its operations in India, enabling businesses to simplify and abstract GST filing and compliance, e-invoicing, and e-way bill compliance, and gain deep visibility into their finances. We have a strong customer base in the country, and will continually work towards serving them. Zoho is also a GST Suvidha provider,” 

QuickBooks is no longer available, but Intuit remains in India

The recent post also makes it clear that whilst QuickBooks is no longer available in India; Intuit will retain a strong presence in the country. It stated: “Intuit’s 1,300+ strong team in India continues to deliver bold innovation that benefits more than 100 million customers around the world.

“The decision to retire QuickBooks products in India won’t impact Intuit’s ongoing presence and investment in India. Intuit remains committed to the region and committed to our mission of powering prosperity around the world.

The decision to withdraw QuickBooks is almost certainly economic. It is a challenge that many US vendors have faced. Pricing competitively is a challenge with the overheads that MNOs often have.

What does this mean

Intuit seems to have bowed to pressure from social media. Iqbal Singh Grover, a QuickBooks Online Pro-Advisor and respected accountant tweeted, “@QuickBooks Majority of the businesses follow April to March year in India. Please consider making your services till at least May 2023 so that businesses can close their books for FY 2022-23. Discontinuation of services midway during a year would be painful.”

Intuit has reacted swiftly, but its original decision was made in haste with little thought about the implications for customers. The decision is probably irreversible and initially showed a lack of understanding of the Indian market. Intuit are unlikely to be welcome back into the market as this will leave many customers distrustful in the future. The question is whether Intuit will consider similar decisions as swiftly in other countries. It might concern some.