QuickBooks had a profitable quarter, but investors have doubts about the company’s ability to keep up demand for its small business services. Its latest quarterly report found that, while QuickBooks Online surpassed earnings expectations, subscriber growth dropped and has been dropping for three consecutive quarters now, according to reports.
The company recently published a blog post outlining new capabilities and upgrades to its QuickBooks Android mobile solution, a move that reports on Friday (June 3) said suggest the company is exploring ways to keep its subscriber growth rate up.
QuickBooks launched a new function that enables users to access multiple company accounts when a user is running multiple company subscriptions. Reports also highlighted the firm’s additional effort to partner with accounting and consulting firm BDO USA in an effort to attract new small business customers.
“Like us, BDO is focused on helping small businesses adopt today’s online technologies and streamline processes to fuel their success,” said Intuit Accountant Segment Vice President and Leader Jim McGinnis in a statement.
Intuit has been under pressure as of late to step up its performance. Earlier this year, the firm divested one of its flagship products, Quicken, a few months after it announced plans to “pare down” operations.
Intuit also revealed plans to divest QuickBase and Demandforce as part of a plan to streamline its focus on the small business.
In a recent interview with CNBC, IDC’s Crawford del Prete said QuickBooks is facing pressure to perform.
“They had a great quarter,” he said. “My bet is that there’s skepticism that demand can continue without the seasonal strength that tax season represents.”