Intuit updates QuickBooks with more AI, aims to help SMBs avoid cash flow issues

QuickBooks, for example, has added payment features to invoices and employed artificial intelligence to manage cash flow. The cash flow forecasting function in QuickBooks may have the most significant immediate impact on all the new features and changes. QuickBooks is getting 50 new AI tools, according to Alex Chriss, executive vice president and general manager of Intuit’s small company sector. “In the industry, the new Cash Flow Planner is a first. Our AI detects transactions across the platform and begins parsing them out, “Chriss elaborated. “We examine cash flow, expenditure, and outstanding invoices. The AI also calculates the chances of a consumer paying on time.” Cash Flow Planner forecasts cash flow for the following 90 days, notifying owners when a “negative situation” arises and advises avoiding a cash constraint. Cash Flow Planner also has a question and answer format for scenario planning.

“Things like constant costs vs uneven revenue, and whether 30-day bills are paid in 45 days,” Chriss explained. QuickBooks Capital is also integrated to help bridge funding shortfalls. QuickBooks Capital assesses risk and makes loans to small businesses using machine learning.

QuickBooks now includes the following new features:

• QuickBooks Payments, which will allow payments to be made instantly without having to wait. In less than a minute, AI will enable payment-enabled invoices. Customised invoices are also available.
• Receipt Capture is a function of the Receipt Capture software that allows small businesses to upload, email, or snap receipts for expenditure. Receipt Capture extracts information from a receipt and either produce a new transaction or matches it to a QuickBooks entry.
• Mileage Tracking will be available to all QuickBooks Online customers, not just QuickBooks Self-Employed users. Mileage Tracking, according to Chriss, is available via the QuickBooks mobile app, which may use smartphone technology and GPS to identify when you’re driving and track your trip. The QuickBooks user is then asked if the trip was personal or business-related and is instructed to keep track of it in the future.
• Updates to QuickBooks Online Enhanced will further automate transactions and workflows, as well as provide advanced reporting. QuickBooks Online Advanced is crucial to Intuit since it elevates the company’s ERP systems to the midmarket. QuickBooks Online Advanced, according to Chriss, is for users who “liked QuickBooks but outgrew it.” Chriss explained, “We’re scaling it to automate more workflows.”
• You can get metrics, trends, and ratios from the QuickBooks Online Accountant Business Performance Dashboard with a single click. The programme was created with accountants in mind.

Intuit also unveiled plans for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, a reference to the fact that AI will not run all company processes. This monthly membership service allows small businesses to connect with a bookkeeper to verify their records are accurate and up-to-date and their books are in order. According to Intuit, 40% of small firms utilising QuickBooks do not have access to an accountant. QuickBooks conducts background checks on bookkeepers and accountants.

Overall, QuickBooks aims to provide small businesses with a single correct version of the truth through AI and authentic relationships.