Intuits Taps Smith to Head Consumer Tax Business

Mountain View, Calif. (March 17, 2004) -- Accounting software maker Intuit Inc. has tapped Brad Smith to head up the company's consumer tax business.

Smith replaces Intuit president Steve Bennett, who held the post temporarily after the departure of Tom Allanson. Allanson, who had been with Intuit since April 2002, left the company in January to pursue other interests as Intuit was gearing up for the tax season.

Jill Ward, who also leads the company's vertical business management solutions, has taken over Smith's duties as head of Accountant Central.

Last tax season, the consumer tax business' flagship TurboTax product helped generate roughly 25 percent of its annual revenues of $1.6 billion, or $423 million.

The move comes only a few months after Smith was tapped to head Accountant Central, one of two recently created Professional Accounting Solutions divisions. Accountant Central is the unit responsible for driving Intuit’s overall accounting strategy, while the Pro Tax group encompasses the company’s tax compliance software units -- Pro Series and Lacerte.

"Over the last year, Brad [Smith] has done a tremendous job developing strategies, programs and service offerings that offer value to an important community of accountants," Bennett said in a statement. "He is an excellent leader and will do a great job building on our success in consumer tax this season. We are also thrilled about the expanded role of Jill Ward, who will provide strong leadership to our Accountant Central organization."

-- Seth Fineberg

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY