 "Intuit of US buys out Jaipur-based tax solutions firm KDK Software")
US-based financial services firm, Intuit Inc, has acquired Jaipur-based tax solutions provider, KDK Software India Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount. Intuit, which is based in Bangalore in India, is expected to make the announcement on the deal later in the day.
The buyout has marked the entry of the American firm to the local financial services market. Intuit primarily operates in the areas of offering business and management service solutions for small companies. Post the India acquisition, Intuit will have operations in seven countries.
KDK Software offers services in professional tax computation and e-filing solutions for small companies, both in desktop and cloud models. It has a base of over 100 channel partners in over 60 cities in India.
FirstBiz couldn’t independently verify the size of the deal.
“The closing of the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions by the parties,” Intuit, listed on Nasdaq, said in a release.
With a sizeable presence in business and financial management solutions for small businesses and accountants, Intuit’s flagship product, QuickBooks is used by more than 5 million users worldwide, including 300,000 accountant users, said Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director, Intuit India. In India, the company has 100,000 active users.
“The addition of KDK Software builds on Intuit’s QuickBooks small business ecosystem offering in India, providing for the first time a seamless and collaborative tax filing solution,” Arora added.
The acquisition will further strengthen Intuit’s aim to become the ecosystem behind small business success, Arora said, adding it will enable Intuit to add about 20,000 KDK Software customers to its fold.
“It [the acquisition] compliments Intuit’s growth strategy of being the end-to-end service provider to small businesses by expanding its portfolio of products and services in India,” Arora said.
Intuit already offers services to small businesses and accountants in the areas of taxation, payroll and payments managements.
Post acquisition, Intuit will now expand its portfolio of offerings to include simplified tax filing for accountants, bookkeepers and their small business clients, Arora said.
KDK Software is a provider of professional tax computation and e-filing solutions, both in desktop and cloud models, with a base of over 100 channel partners in over 60 cities in India.
Kapil Goyal, founder and Managing Director of KDK Software, said, “Together we will be able to add efficiency, ease-of-use and time savings for the small business ecosytem in India. Also, KDK Software accountants are early adopters of online solution and thus are an ideal fit to take advantage of the QuickBooks integration.”
Experts said the acquisition makes sense for the SME sector, but a lot more needs to be done. Chandrakant Salunkhe, Founder and President - Small and Medium Business Development Chamber of India, said that there is no system in India yet that provides complete storage of business solutions for the small business sector. The size of the SME sector in India is 4 million registered companies, with around 3.5 million unregistered companies. The major players providing financial solutions in this sector is Tally Solutions and UK-based Sage.
“Even those who use Tally and Sage use Quickbooks. The advantage of Quickbooks is that it is cloud-based and can be accessed anywhere and can generate invoices, etc.” However, Salunkhe feels that Intuit should come with competitively priced solutions, create awareness about its products and also educate the sector for wider acceptance among the SME sector.