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Microsoft trumps Google in Intuit QuickBooks

Almost six months ago, Steve Bennett, CEO, Intuit, sang the praises of Google “integration” into QuickBooks 2007, as of Q3 2006:Intuit is committed to partnering with best-in-class companies to help solve important customer problems. By partnering with a leading company like Google, we bring together Intuit's strength in creating easy-to-use solutions with Google's Web expertise to offer leading-edge online services to help small businesses attract new customers.
Written by Donna Bogatin, Contributor

Almost six months ago, Steve Bennett, CEO, Intuit, sang the praises of Google “integration” into QuickBooks 2007, as of Q3 2006:

Intuit is committed to partnering with best-in-class companies to help solve important customer problems. By partnering with a leading company like Google, we bring together Intuit's strength in creating easy-to-use solutions with Google's Web expertise to offer leading-edge online services to help small businesses attract new customers.

Last week Bennett reported F2Q07 earnings to Wall Street, touting “Intuit delivered another solid quarter with revenue and non-GAAP EPS above the high-end of our guidance range.” No thanks to Google, apparently.

The Intuit-Google “best-in-class” partnership was not mentioned in Bennett’s prepared remarks designed to present the factors responsible for the Inutit “solid” performance and to outline ‘how Intuit will continue to grow.”

Asked by an analyst about the Intuit-Google alliance which had been deemed by the companies to forge “Two companies, one powerful solution,” Bennett only offered:

I would tell you its still early and we haven't seen a huge lift on that yet.

Upon the alliance announcement last September, in “Google QuickBooks 2007: Death of Yellow Pages, local newspapers?” I put forth:

Google and Intuit would like us to conclude from their numbers that upon the release of QuickBooks 2007 this Fall, Google will be on its quick and sure way to adding millions of small business customers to its AdWords conquests, displacing traditional small business advertising vehicles such as the Yellow Pages, local newspapers…

Not so fast, I concluded, literally.

What’s more, Google’s new productivity application nemesis Microsoft, is enjoying favored status within QuickBooks, but not Google Apps.

Share data with Microsoft Office, QuickBooks 2007 proclaims:

QuickBooks breaks the language barriers between your favorite applications, so you can share data seamlessly instead of tediously copying or retyping it.

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Avoid redundant data entry with easy synchronization with Outlook
Simply download the QuickBooks Contact Sync tool from our website and a "synchronize" icon will be added to your Outlook toolbar. Just click once on this icon whenever you want to sync customer, vendor or job information between QuickBooks and Outlook.

Transfer data to and from Microsoft Excel
Quickly pull information such as large groups of customers, vendors, and inventory items into QuickBooks. Or use your company data from your QuickBooks reports and export it to new or existing Excel spreadsheets with all Excel formulas and formatting intact.

Merge QuickBooks data with Microsoft Word
QuickBooks comes with a variety of customer and vendor letters that you can create using Microsoft Word that merge information from QuickBooks, such as customer name, address, and current balance. Select a group of customers or vendors in QuickBooks, choose a template, and QuickBooks merges the data to create a letter in Word.

In “Google vs. Microsoft: David and Goliath?” last week I underscored that Google Apps Premier is the underdog in a Google Office vs. Microsoft Office battle.

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