The Breakup

I broke up with QuickBooks after a 14-year relationship. 

This was the platform my first CPA set up for me and it worked well and helped me keep up with things in my business over the years. For the most part, it was cost-efficient and widely used by others – so as I needed to change CPAs or hire an accountant, there was essentially no learning curve.

Why change what was working? 

Thanks for asking – It was because I did not like how they were treating others, specifically some of the most financially compromised individuals among us.

You can read about this story here – 

https://www.propublica.org/article/turbotax-and-h-r-block-used-unfair-and-abusive-practices-state-regulator-finds

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free

or search the internet and learn more.

Now, it would have been so much easier making informed decisions that align for me to stick with them. After all, I had 14 years of data, a system in place already working, and a personal understanding of how to use the platform. However, it felt wrong for me to share to clients and colleagues what I discovered, to suggest they use something else as they were starting their businesses, and for me to stay with what worked because it was “easy.”

I doubt that QuickBooks or their parent company Intuit which runs TurboTax misses me or my measly little annual subscription – so again, why change?

Simply because it is the right thing to do, and doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing. 

We are at a time in our society where information like this is available. We can do this research ourselves and learn more about how we give our money to run their businesses. This is not as much about boycotting as making informed decisions that align with our beliefs. 

Wanting change requires us to be willing to be or do things differently. Collectively, we can speak up with our wallets – little by little adjusting our shopping decisions and sharing with others the things we’ve discovered. And as Glennon Doyle says, “We can do hard things.”

A final note on this – the new platform I chose, Xero, functions just as well, and I have a wonderful service that helps me keep it current. I chose Xero for its functionality and fee, but I found no stories online of corporate smarminess, and they had many females on their board of directors and in C-level positions. Do I think they are over there celebrating my subscription? No, but I’ll tell you what; I’ve shared this with at least ten people, some have shared it with others. And now all of you are reading this, so…eventually, we’ll tip this, and corporations will be forced to do a better job all around. 

We have the power. It is up to us to create the change we want to see in the world.