Intuit QuickBooks has acquired PaySuite, a leading provider of cloud-based self-service payroll solutions in the UK.
As part of Intuit, PaySuite will form part of the QuickBooks Online (QBO) ecosystem bolstering its add-on services that integrate with its core accounting application.
For the past several months, the two companies have been collaborating to offer PaySuite to QBO customers.
AccountingWEB caught up with Stuart Hall, managing director of PaySuite, to find out how the deal came about.
“There was no trigger as such, but it definitely became clear in the lead up to Accountex that the markets Intuit and PaySuite were both looking at, and wanting to work in more, were the same,” Hall said.
“Payroll is so critical to companies and it’s even more important for accountants to be ahead of the game in particular with things like auto enrolment,” he added.
On the auto enrolment question, Hall said that as they were part of the Employee Services Management Group they’d already been through auto enrolment with larger clients.
“The experience is all there, it’s just a question of how we bring that into a simpler format for accountants with small business clients now. We’re in touch with all the main auto enrolment providers and we’re looking to make the transition to SMEs.”
PaySuite currently provides small businesses with everything they need to run employee payroll by automatically calculating relevant taxes, generating electronic payslips, and sending RTI submissions to HMRC.
The acquisition means small businesses will be able to integrate payroll data directly in QBO, allowing business owners and accountants to keep on top of cash flow.
On whether Paysuite will still remain a Xero add-on, Hall said that was still to be discussed, but it would be “business as usual” for the short term.
Xero is expected to launch its own payroll product in the next year or two. Once they’ve released their own, they may or not decide to move on from PaySuite.
Intuit said they were going to continue strengthening the QuickBooks Online ecosystem by focusing on the core services that matter most: Payroll, payments and inventory.
The acquisition follows a string of recent activity for Intuit in the UK to ramp up its operations in the region including Intuit QuickBooks becoming the main sponsor for West Bromwich Albion football club this season.
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