# How Intuit makes money

CXProWealth Business Lens · Intuit (INTU) · FY2026

Read from the 10-K for the period 2025-08-01 to 2026-07-31, filed 2026-09-09 with the SEC (accession 0000896878-26-000037): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/896878/000089687826000037/

Business Lens explains how a company earns, spends and keeps its money, from its own filings. It is insight and context, never a view on the shares, a target, or advice. Figures are raw units as filed; percentages are percentage points.

## Headline figures

- Revenue: $21.4B (+13.9% on the year)
- Operating income: $5.9B (operating margin 27.4%)
- Net income: $4.6B (net margin 21.3%)
- Gross margin: not reported (the company reports expenses by nature: no cost of revenue or gross profit line exists)
- Free cash flow: $8.7B (40.4% of revenue)
- Cash conversion (operating cash flow / net income): 1.94x
- Capital expenditure: 0.8% of revenue

## Where the money goes (FY2026)

- Service → Total net revenue: $18.9B
- Product and other → Total net revenue: $2.5B
- Total net revenue → Total costs and expenses: $15.6B
- Total costs and expenses → Cost of goods and services sold: $4.1B
- Total costs and expenses → General and administrative: $1.6B
- Total costs and expenses → Restructuring: $293.0M
- Total costs and expenses → Amortization of acquired technology: $174.0M
- Total costs and expenses → Research and development: $3.4B
- Total costs and expenses → Amortization of other acquired intangible assets: $485.0M
- Total costs and expenses → Selling and marketing: $5.5B
- Total net revenue → Operating income: $5.9B
- Operating income → Interest expense: $256.0M
- Operating income → Income before income taxes: $5.6B
- Interest and other income, net → Income before income taxes: $389.0M
- Income before income taxes → Income tax provision: $1.5B
- Income before income taxes → Net income: $4.6B

## Where the revenue comes from

### Products and services (Consolidated Statements of Operations)

| Member | Value | Share |
|---|---:|---:|
| Service | $18.9B | 88.2% |
| Product and other | $2.5B | 11.8% |

The members sum to total revenue.

## Income statement, as filed

| Line | FY2026 | Of revenue |
|---|---:|---:|
| Total net revenue | $21.4B | 100% |
|   Service | $18.9B | 88.2% |
|   Product and other | $2.5B | 11.8% |
| Service | $4.0B | 18.7% |
| Product and other | $63.0M | 0.3% |
| Amortization of acquired technology | $174.0M | 0.8% |
| Selling and marketing | $5.5B | 25.8% |
| Research and development | $3.4B | 15.7% |
| General and administrative | $1.6B | 7.6% |
| Amortization of other acquired intangible assets | $485.0M | 2.3% |
| Restructuring | $293.0M | 1.4% |
| **Total costs and expenses** | $15.6B | 72.6% |
| **Operating income** | $5.9B | 27.4% |
| Interest expense | ($256.0M) | 1.2% |
| Interest and other income, net | $389.0M | 1.8% |
| **Income before income taxes** | $6.0B | 28.1% |
| Income tax provision | $1.5B | 6.8% |
| **Net income** | $4.6B | 21.3% |
| Basic net income per share (in dollars per share) | $17 | 0.0% |
| Shares used in basic per share calculations (in shares) | 276,000,000 |  |
| Diluted net income per share (in dollars per share) | $16 | 0.0% |
| Shares used in diluted per share calculations (in shares) | 277,000,000 |  |

## History

| Period | Revenue | Operating income | Net income | Operating cash flow | Capital expenditure | Free cash flow |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| FY2008 | $3.0B | $644.0M | $477.0M | $830.0M | $262.0M | $568.0M |
| FY2009 | $3.1B | $683.0M | $447.0M | $812.0M | $131.0M | $681.0M |
| FY2010 | $3.4B | $904.0M | $574.0M | $998.0M | $74.0M | $924.0M |
| FY2011 | $3.4B | $1.1B | $634.0M | $1.0B | $114.0M | $899.0M |
| FY2012 | $3.8B | $1.2B | $792.0M | $1.2B | $135.0M | $1.1B |
| FY2013 | $3.9B | $1.2B | $858.0M | $1.4B | $129.0M | $1.2B |
| FY2014 | $4.2B | $1.3B | $907.0M | $1.4B | $104.0M | $1.3B |
| FY2015 | $4.2B | $738.0M | $365.0M | $1.6B | $142.0M | $1.4B |
| FY2016 | $4.7B | $1.2B | $979.0M | $1.5B | $416.0M | $1.0B |
| FY2017 | $5.2B | $1.4B | $985.0M | $1.6B | $102.0M | $1.5B |
| FY2018 | $6.0B | $1.6B | $1.3B | $2.1B | $38.0M | $2.1B |
| FY2019 | $6.8B | $1.9B | $1.6B | $2.3B | $76.0M | $2.2B |
| FY2020 | $7.7B | $2.2B | $1.8B | $2.4B | $59.0M | $2.4B |
| FY2021 | $9.6B | $2.5B | $2.1B | $3.3B | $53.0M | $3.2B |
| FY2022 | $12.7B | $2.6B | $2.1B | $3.9B | $157.0M | $3.7B |
| FY2023 | $14.4B | $3.1B | $2.4B | $5.0B | $210.0M | $4.8B |
| FY2024 | $16.3B | $3.6B | $3.0B | $4.9B | $191.0M | $4.7B |
| FY2025 | $18.8B | $4.9B | $3.9B | $6.2B | $84.0M | $6.1B |
| FY2026 | $21.4B | $5.9B | $4.6B | $8.8B | $175.0M | $8.7B |

Latest trend (the newest full year against the year before; a reading, not a forecast):

- Revenue: +13.9% (year before +15.6%): steady
- Operating income: +19.5% (year before +35.6%): slowing
- Net income: +18.0% (year before +30.6%): slowing
- Free cash flow: +41.5% (year before +30.5%): accelerating

## Operating figures stated in the filing

- Customers served: 93,000,000 customers (as of 2026-07-31). "Serving approximately 93 million consumers, small and mid-market businesses, and accountants worldwide" (Item 1. BUSINESS)
- Online Ecosystem paying customers growth: 3.0% (as of 2026-07-31). "Online Ecosystem paying customers, which we define as the sum of all QuickBooks Online paying customers, QuickBooks Time customers, Mailchimp paying customers, and customers who subscribe to standalone services outside of QuickBooks Online, increased 3% as of July 31, 2026 compared with July 31, 2025." (Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL)
- Online Ecosystem average revenue per customer growth: 15.0% (as of 2026-07-31). "Online Ecosystem average revenue per customer, which we define as total online ecosystem revenue divided by the average number of online paying customers, increased 15% for fiscal 2026 compared with fiscal 2025." (Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL)
- Employees: 18,600 employees (as of 2026-07-31). "As of July 31, 2026, we had approximately 18,600 employees in seven countries." (Item 1. BUSINESS)
- Average seasonal employees (January to April): 12,300 employees (as of 2026-07-31). "During fiscal 2026, we employed on average approximately 12,300 seasonal employees from January to April primarily to support our Consumer segment customers during the peak of tax season." (Item 1. BUSINESS)

## Key insights

### Online growth came from each customer, not new ones

Online Ecosystem revenue per paying customer rose 15% while paying customers rose 3%, so price and add-ons, not sign-ups, carried online growth.

The filing defines revenue per customer as total Online Ecosystem revenue divided by the average number of online paying customers. It rose 15% in FY2026, while paying customers rose 3% at year end. The filing credits QuickBooks Online Accounting growth to “higher effective prices, customer growth, and mix shift”, and money revenue to payments growth and higher QuickBooks Capital loan volume. _(from the filing)_
The same pattern shows across the company. Service revenue, which carries subscriptions, payments, lending and assisted services, grew 15.3% to $18.9B and is 88.2% of revenue, up 1.08 points on the year. Product and other revenue, mainly desktop software, grew 4.4%. _(from the filing)_
Analysis: growth of this kind leans on customers accepting higher prices and taking more services. It holds while each added service saves them enough time or money to justify the bill. If the paying-customer count stalls while revenue per customer keeps rising, the gain would be coming from goodwill rather than added value. The customer count is the figure that separates the two. _(analysis)_
Caveat: the figures here give both measures as growth rates only, so the separate pull of price, product mix and money services on revenue per customer cannot be sized from them. _(analysis)_

### The tax-season quarter earns 68.3% of operating income

The quarter ending in April brought 39.9% of revenue but 68.3% of operating income, so most of the year's profit rests on tax season.

Q3 FY2026, the quarter ending in April, had revenue of $8.56B and operating income of $4.02B, against full-year figures of $21.4B and $5.88B. Its operating income came close to half of its revenue. The quarter ending in July, after tax season, earned $475M on revenue of $4.35B, a margin of 10.9%. The filing says tax sales are “heavily concentrated in the period from November through April”. _(from the filing)_
Labor flexes with the season. Intuit employed on average approximately 12,300 seasonal employees from January to April, against approximately 18,600 employees at year end: seasonal staff equal to 66.1% of the permanent workforce. _(from the filing)_
The dependence eased this year. Q3 FY2025 carried 75.6% of that year's operating income of $4.92B; Q3 FY2026 carried 68.3%. The other quarters grew: Q1 operating income was $534M against $271M, Q2 $855M against $593M, and Q4 $475M against $339M. _(from the filing)_
Analysis: the filing warns that an interruption of online preparation or e-filing at the peak “could result in significantly decreased revenue”. With this much of the year's profit earned in one quarter, an outage, a late tax-law change or a weak filing season weighs far more than the same event in July. The stronger off-season quarters are consistent with business software, which bills all year, taking a larger part. _(analysis)_

### Margin widened even after a $293M restructuring charge

Costs grew 11.9% against revenue growth of 13.9%, lifting operating margin to 27.4% from 26.1% despite restructuring of $293M against $15M a year earlier.

The savings came from selling and administration. Selling and marketing fell to 25.8% of revenue from 26.7%, and general and administrative to 7.6% from 8.5%, on spending of $1.62B against $1.60B. Research and development moved the other way, rising to $3.38B, 15.7% of revenue, from $2.93B and 15.5%. _(from the filing)_
Restructuring cost $293M, equal to 5.0% of operating income. The filing says the reorganization is meant to make Intuit “a faster, leaner, more focused company”, reduces the full-time workforce and closes some sites, and that the charge was primarily severance and employee benefits. _(from the filing)_
Analysis: spending is shifting from selling and overhead toward engineering. Most of the restructuring is a charge taken once, and the filing expects the plan to be substantially complete early in the next fiscal year, so this year's margin carries a cost that is not meant to recur. Whether the added research spending turns into more revenue per customer is the open question. _(analysis)_

### Cash from operations was nearly twice net income

Operating cash flow of $8.84B was nearly twice net income of $4.57B, against $6.21B and $3.87B a year earlier, helped by lower cash tax payments.

Operating cash flow was $8.84B against $6.21B in FY2025, and net income $4.57B against $3.87B. The filing says FY2026 operating cash included “the impact of lower cash tax payments”, after a new federal tax law restored immediate expensing of domestic research and development spending. _(from the filing)_
Capital spending was $175M, 0.8% of revenue, so almost all of the operating cash became free cash flow: $8.66B, 40.4% of revenue, against $6.12B and 32.5% in FY2025. Diluted shares fell to 277 million from 283 million, which the filing attributes to “increased share repurchase activity”, and diluted earnings per share rose to $16.46 from $13.67. _(from the filing)_
Cash running ahead of profit is not new, but the gap swings. Operating cash flow was $5.05B against net income of $2.38B in FY2023, and $2.41B against $1.83B in FY2020. The filing expects a larger income tax payment in the coming fiscal year, mostly in its second half. _(from the filing)_
Analysis: part of this year's surplus is timing, since tax deferred is tax paid later. The repeatable part rests on subscriptions billed ahead and a business that needs little equipment. Next year's ratio, once the tax effect passes, will show how much of the gap was the model and how much was the calendar. _(analysis)_

### Competitive edge

- **The ledger makes each added service easier to sell** Once a business keeps its books in QuickBooks, payroll, payments and capital sell into that account, and each raises the cost of leaving.
- **One platform carries costs both segments draw on** Both segments earn more than the whole company because engineering, support and experts sit centrally, so each new product reuses work already paid for.
- **Free products bring in customers that partners pay for** Credit Karma is free to users and paid by lenders and insurers per completed action, and free TurboTax filers can grow into paid tiers.

### What to watch

- **Free and government filing threaten the paid TurboTax base** TurboTax revenue grew on fewer federal units, and the filing names free offerings and government tax software as competitors that could take paying filers.
- **AI is both the strategy and a new entrant** Intuit is spending more on research to build AI agents, while the filing warns general-purpose AI providers could build features solving the same problems.
- **One identity concentrates data, fraud and e-filing exposure** Tax returns, bank details and credit reports sit behind one identity across products, and failing to curb fraud could cost Intuit electronic filing access.

## Operating income by segment

- Global Business Solutions: $9.9B (168.0% of operating income)
- Consumer: $6.3B (107.2% of operating income)

## Investor view

**Intuit grew by earning more from each customer: Online Ecosystem revenue per paying customer rose 15%**

### How it makes money

Intuit sells financial software and services to small and mid-market businesses, accountants and consumers, about 93 million customers in all. Service revenue, which covers online subscriptions, payments, lending, assisted tax and Credit Karma, was $18.9B, 88.2% of total net revenue of $21.4B. Product and other revenue, mainly QuickBooks Desktop licenses and desktop tax software, was $2.54B, the other 11.8%. _(from the filing)_
Global Business Solutions runs QuickBooks, Intuit Enterprise Suite, Intuit Accountant Suite, payroll, Mailchimp and money services: payment processing, bill pay and QuickBooks Capital loans made through an originating bank partner. It earns subscription fees, a yield on payment volume and lending income, with the stated aim of running a business “from lead to cash”. Segment operating income was $9.89B. _(from the filing)_
The Consumer segment combines TurboTax, Credit Karma and ProTax. TurboTax charges for do-it-yourself and expert-assisted filing and sells money products such as early refund access. Credit Karma is free to users and is paid by lenders and insurers, mostly for “the delivery of qualified links that result in completed actions, such as credit card issuances and personal and auto loan funding”. Segment operating income was $6.31B. _(from the filing)_
The two segment profits add up to more than the company's operating income of $5.88B: Global Business Solutions alone equals 168.0% of it and Consumer 107.2%. The gap is costs Intuit runs at the platform level, which the filing lists as including customer success, product development, share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangibles and restructuring. Cost of service revenue was $4.02B, 21.2% of service revenue. _(from the filing)_

### What shifted

Costs grew slower than revenue, 11.9% against 13.9%, and the gain came from selling and administration. Selling and marketing fell to 25.8% of revenue from 26.7%, and general and administrative to 7.6% from 8.5%. Research and development moved the other way, to 15.7% of revenue from 15.5%, and restructuring under the reorganization approved in May cost $293M against $15M a year earlier. _(from the filing)_
The online business grew through price and attachment more than through new customers. Online Ecosystem revenue per paying customer rose 15% while paying customers rose 3%. The filing credits QuickBooks Online Accounting growth to “higher effective prices, customer growth, and mix shift”, and money revenue to payments growth and higher QuickBooks Capital loan volume. Service revenue rose 15.3%, product and other 4.4%. _(from the filing)_
In Consumer, revenue rose on Credit Karma's personal loan, credit card and insurance verticals and on assisted tax and consumer money offerings, “partially offset by a decrease in revenue due to fewer TurboTax federal units”. TurboTax revenue still grew, so each filer brought in more. The filing names higher marketing spend as the main offset to Consumer segment operating income, which reached $6.31B. _(from the filing)_
Below operating income, interest and other income rose 146.2% to $389M from $158M, which the filing attributes mainly to gains on long-term investments after losses a year earlier. The income tax provision rose 50.4% to $1.45B, an effective rate of 24.1% against 20.0%, partly from “tax shortfalls related to share-based compensation”. Net income rose 18.0%, slower than operating income at 19.5%. _(from the filing)_
Diluted earnings per share were $16.46 against $13.67, on 277 million diluted shares against 283 million, a decline the filing attributes to “increased share repurchase activity”. Free cash flow was $8.66B, 40.4% of revenue, against $6.12B in FY2025. The filing says operating cash flow of $8.84B included “the impact of lower cash tax payments” under the new federal tax law. _(from the filing)_

### Risks in the filing

Competition includes free and low-cost offerings in tax, accounting, payments and personal finance, and the public sector itself. The filing says the IRS free direct filing system was suspended but “proponents of these programs continue to advocate for them”, and that the IRS Free File Program could grow. Government-funded preparation that removes the taxpayer's role could have “material and adverse revenue implications”. _(from the filing)_
AI is named as both the strategy and a threat. Intuit says its AI work may not prove “successful, adopted, or monetizable”, and that general-purpose AI providers may lower barriers to entry and build features that solve the same customer problems. New AI rules, such as the EU AI Act and state laws in Utah, Colorado and California, may add costs and limit how the company uses the technology. _(from the filing)_
Intuit holds tax returns, bank details, credit reports and payroll data, and one identity works across its products, so a single incident “may give access to increased amounts of customer data”. Fraud is a second exposure: if it cannot combat fraud, tax authorities could refuse to let it file customers' returns electronically. Credit Karma's data use is also under an FTC order requiring a security program and independent assessments. _(from the filing)_
Much of the year rides on tax season, and the filing warns that an interruption of online preparation or e-filing at peak “could result in significantly decreased revenue”. The company depends on public cloud providers, bank partners, credit bureaus, app stores and AI platforms, and Credit Karma's revenue depends on partners' willingness to offer products, which weak economies reduce. Tax preparation also faces rules that could restrict what it can charge. _(from the filing)_
Two of these risks already show in the numbers. Peak-season exposure is visible in the quarterly history, where the quarter ending in April earns most of the year's operating income, so an outage in those weeks would cost more than at any other time. The fewer TurboTax federal units are consistent with pressure from free alternatives, though the filing does not link the two; so far assisted tax and money products have more than made up the revenue. _(analysis)_

## Founder view: mechanisms

### The books anchor the upsell

QuickBooks holds a small business's ledger. Once the books live there, payroll, payments, bill pay, capital and marketing are sold into the same account, and each uses data already present, such as invoices and cash flow, to sell or underwrite the next. Every attachment raises the cost of leaving, because a switch means moving history, payroll and payment flows at once. Price rises then land on a customer who is costly to move. _(analysis)_

### Tax season carries the year

Consumer tax demand arrives in a few months. Intuit flexes its workforce with seasonal and outsourced staff, concentrates marketing on the filing window and books most of its profit in the quarter ending in April. Engineering and the yearly rebuild of the tax product against new law are fixed costs carried all year, so the off-season quarters run thin and the peak earns the margin. _(analysis)_

### A free front door, paid by partners

Credit Karma gives consumers free credit scores and monitoring, and lenders and insurers pay when a user completes an action, such as a card issued or a loan funded. TurboTax's free tier brings in filers whose situations, the filing says, can later “require paid services”. The user pays little or nothing up front; the money is in the matched transaction or the later upgrade, funded by the data the free product collects. _(analysis)_

### One platform, costs held at the center

Intuit runs customer success, product development and its in-house AI system centrally rather than inside each segment. Both segments draw on one identity, one data layer and one network of human experts, so each new product reuses engineering, support and compliance work already paid for. The segments report what they earn before that shared base; the company's margin is what is left after it. _(analysis)_

### Cash arrives ahead of profit

Subscriptions billed in advance, tax fees collected at filing and almost no physical capital mean operating cash can run ahead of accounting profit. Most costs are people, marketing and cloud capacity, and very little has to be spent on equipment before revenue arrives. The surplus funds buybacks and dividends without new capital. This year part of the gap also came from lower cash taxes, which is timing rather than the model. _(analysis)_

## Member research

Signed-in members read, on the page: what Intuit's numbers depend on from here, and the playbook behind each mechanism (what needs scale, what transfers, how to test it, the metric that would show it).

## Sources

- Intuit 10-K for the period to 2026-07-31: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/896878/000089687826000037/ (2026-09-09)

Methodology business-lens-1.0 · schema 1.2.0 · run business-lens-2026-11-02 · as of 2026-11-02