Intuit overview
Intuit makes financial software for consumers, small and mid-market businesses and accountants. Its best-known products are TurboTax, which prepares and files personal tax returns in the United States and Canada; QuickBooks, an accounting, payroll and payments system aimed at small businesses; Credit Karma, a free credit score and personal finance service; and Mailchimp, an email marketing platform. The company also sells Intuit Enterprise Suite to larger businesses and professional tax software such as Lacerte, ProSeries and ProConnect to accounting firms. Its annual report for fiscal 2026 put the number of customers it serves at about 93 million.
Scott Cook, a former Procter & Gamble brand manager, started the company in Palo Alto in 1983 with Tom Proulx, a Stanford student who programmed its first product, the personal finance program Quicken. Intuit struggled through lean early years, when staff at times went unpaid, and refined Quicken by timing ordinary people recruited to try it. It released QuickBooks in 1992, went public in March 1993 and bought ChipSoft, the San Diego developer of TurboTax, later that year. Microsoft agreed to acquire Intuit in 1994 but abandoned the deal in 1995 after the US Justice Department sued to block it.
Over the following decades Intuit moved its products online and reshaped its portfolio through deals. It bought the personal finance site Mint in 2009, sold Quicken in 2016 and made its two largest acquisitions under chief executive Sasan Goodarzi: Credit Karma for about $7.1 billion in 2020 and Mailchimp for about $12 billion in 2021. Its tax business has drawn persistent criticism for lobbying against a free, government-run filing system and for the way it marketed free versions of TurboTax, which led to a $141 million settlement with all 50 states in 2022.
Goodarzi, CEO since 2019 and chairman since January 2026, has organized the company around artificial intelligence. Intuit introduced its generative AI assistant, Intuit Assist, in 2023, added AI agents to QuickBooks in 2025 and struck a deal with OpenAI, valued at more than $100 million, that puts Intuit apps inside ChatGPT. Revenue reached about $21.4 billion in fiscal 2026. In May 2026 the company cut about 17 percent of its full-time workforce to simplify its structure, and in August it began managing Mailchimp as a separate business segment. Intuit is based in Mountain View, California, and had about 18,600 employees at the end of July 2026.
Software by Intuit
4 products profiled, from TurboTax (1984) to Credit Karma (2008).
- TurboTaxTax preparation software with do-it-yourself and expert-assisted filing Finance, Accounting & Tax 1984 Freemium
- QuickBooksAccounting, payroll and payments software for small and midsize businesses Finance, Accounting & Tax 1992 Freemium
- Credit KarmaFree credit scores, credit monitoring and personal finance tools Finance, Accounting & Tax 2008 Free
- MailchimpEmail and SMS marketing automation for small and midsize businesses CRM & Marketing 2001 Freemium
Intuit history and milestones
- 1983
Scott Cook and Tom Proulx found Intuit in Palo Alto and begin work on the Quicken personal finance program.
- 1992
Intuit releases QuickBooks, bookkeeping software for small businesses.
- 1993
Intuit goes public in March and later acquires ChipSoft, the San Diego maker of TurboTax.
- 1995
Microsoft abandons its planned purchase of Intuit after the US Justice Department sues to block the deal.
- 2009
Intuit buys the personal finance website Mint for $170 million.
- 2016
Intuit sells Quicken to private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.
- 2019
Sasan Goodarzi succeeds Brad Smith as chief executive officer.
- 2020
Intuit completes its acquisition of Credit Karma, valued at about $7.1 billion, in December.
- 2021
Intuit acquires Mailchimp for about $12 billion in cash and stock and leaves the IRS Free File program.
- 2024
Intuit shuts down Mint, moving its users to Credit Karma, and launches Intuit Enterprise Suite for mid-market companies.
- 2025
Intuit adds AI agents to QuickBooks and strikes a deal with OpenAI worth more than $100 million.
- 2026
Goodarzi becomes chairman, Intuit cuts about 17 percent of its workforce and Mailchimp becomes a separate segment.
Who founded Intuit?
Scott Cook
Co-founder; CEO from 1983 to 1994 and a longtime board member
Scott Cook studied economics and mathematics at the University of Southern California and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1976. He worked in brand management at Procter & Gamble and then as a consultant at Bain & Company. The idea for Intuit came from watching his wife, Signe Ostby, grow frustrated with paying the household bills by hand.
Cook co-founded Intuit in 1983, served as its president and chief executive until 1994 and was chairman from 1993 to 1998. He remains a member of Intuit’s board and is credited with the company’s habit of watching customers use its software in their own homes and offices. He and Ostby fund philanthropy through their Valhalla Foundation.
Tom Proulx
Co-founder; wrote the first version of Quicken
Tom Proulx was an electrical engineering student at Stanford University in 1983 when Scott Cook recruited him to program software for paying bills and balancing a checkbook. Proulx wrote the first version of Quicken, along with early editions for Apple and Radio Shack computers, and ran early usability tests in which Intuit invited people off the street to try the program while the team timed them.
He stayed through the company’s cash-starved early years, helped take Intuit public in 1993 and championed its merger with TurboTax maker ChipSoft, then retired from Intuit in 1994. He later invested in startups and served for many years as chairman of Netpulse, a fitness technology company.
How Intuit makes money
Intuit earns its revenue from software subscriptions, filing fees, payment and payroll services and referral fees. In fiscal 2026, which ended on July 31, 2026, total revenue was about $21.4 billion. The Global Business Solutions segment produced $12.9 billion, or 60 percent, from QuickBooks Online and Desktop subscriptions, Intuit Enterprise Suite and services such as payment processing, payroll, bill pay, business loans and Mailchimp. Starting with fiscal 2027, Intuit reports Mailchimp as its own segment.
The Consumer segment brought in $8.6 billion. TurboTax generated $5.3 billion, mostly from fees for do-it-yourself filing and expert help collected during the US tax season, which concentrates that revenue in Intuit’s third fiscal quarter. Credit Karma, which is free for its members, earned $2.6 billion from banks, lenders and insurers whose products members choose, and ProTax software for accounting firms added $647 million.
Who owns and runs Intuit?
Sasan Goodarzi has been Intuit’s chief executive officer since January 2019 and added the role of chairman in January 2026, when former chair Suzanne Nora Johnson left the board and Vasant Prabhu became lead independent director. Sandeep Aujla is chief financial officer, and co-founder Scott Cook remains a director. Bill McDermott, chief executive of ServiceNow, and Nasdaq chief executive Adena Friedman joined the board in August 2026. Intuit is a public company listed on the Nasdaq and is owned by its shareholders, mostly institutional investors.
- Sasan GoodarziChairman and chief executive officer
- Sandeep AujlaExecutive vice president and chief financial officer
- Vasant PrabhuLead independent director
- Scott CookCo-founder and director
Intuit: frequently asked questions
Who founded Intuit?
Intuit was founded in 1983 in Palo Alto, California, by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx. Cook, a former Procter & Gamble brand manager and Bain & Company consultant, wanted software to simplify paying household bills, and Proulx, then a Stanford student, wrote the first version of Quicken, the company’s original product.
Who owns Intuit?
Intuit is a public company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker INTU, so it is owned by its shareholders, most of them institutional investors such as mutual funds and pension funds. Co-founder Scott Cook still sits on the board, and chief executive Sasan Goodarzi also serves as chairman.
Who is the CEO of Intuit?
Sasan Goodarzi has been Intuit’s chief executive officer since January 2019 and also became chairman of the board in January 2026. He first joined Intuit in 2004, left to run the grid software company Nexant, returned in 2011 and later led Intuit’s consumer tax and small business groups before succeeding Brad Smith as CEO.
Where is Intuit headquartered?
Intuit is headquartered at 2700 Coast Avenue in Mountain View, California, in Silicon Valley. The company was founded in nearby Palo Alto in 1983. Its consumer tax business has its principal offices in San Diego, and Intuit also has offices in Canada, India, Israel and the United Kingdom.
What software does Intuit make?
Intuit makes TurboTax for personal tax filing, QuickBooks for small-business accounting, payroll and payments, Credit Karma for credit scores and personal finance, and Mailchimp for email marketing and automation. It also sells Intuit Enterprise Suite for mid-market companies and professional tax software for accountants, including Lacerte, ProSeries and ProConnect Tax.
How does Intuit make money?
Intuit made about $21.4 billion in fiscal 2026. Its Global Business Solutions segment, which includes QuickBooks subscriptions, payments, payroll and Mailchimp, brought in $12.9 billion. The Consumer segment brought in $8.6 billion, mainly from TurboTax filing fees and the fees banks, lenders and insurers pay Credit Karma when members choose their products.
What companies has Intuit acquired?
Intuit’s largest acquisitions are Mailchimp, bought for about $12 billion in 2021, and Credit Karma, acquired for about $7.1 billion in 2020. Earlier purchases include ChipSoft, the maker of TurboTax, in 1993 and the personal finance site Mint in 2009. Intuit shut Mint down in 2024 and moved its users to Credit Karma.
Sources
- Intuit Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, SEC sec.gov
- Intuit reports fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2026 results investors.intuit.com
- Intuit appoints Bill McDermott and Adena Friedman to board of directors investors.intuit.com
- Architecting Intuit for a new chapter of growth, Intuit blog intuit.com
- Intuit, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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