最受贊賞的軟件公司

總部：加州山景城

雇員：8000人

業務：約有2,400萬美國人在線或通過移動設備使用金融服務軟件公司Intuit的報稅軟件TurboTax。每年Intuit公司為電子報稅者處理的退稅額高達幾十億美元。

??? Intuit公司在自助式金融管理軟件市場上處于統治地位。這個細分市場是這家市值39億美元的公司29年前起一手打造起來的。多年來，Intuit讓微軟公司（Microsoft）和其他眾多潛在的競爭對手都甘拜下風，現在，它正向新的細分市場挺進，比如能幫病人理解醫療賬單或讓農民追蹤農產品價格的手機應用程序。雖然這種多元化戰略會帶來風險，但很少有分析師不看好Intuit這家今年榮膺全美最受尊敬的軟件公司榮譽的公司。

Intuit在做什么

??? 北美洲的眾多小企業都在運用Intuit的會計軟件QuickBooks，同時成千上萬的普通用戶在用報稅軟件TurboTax和個人理財軟件Quicken管理個人財務事宜。Intuit的其他搖錢樹還包括：小企業專用工資單和支付處理服務軟件，職業會計師專用的高級稅務和會計軟件。目前，Intuit正致力于拓展商業模式，從銷售桌面軟件過渡到提供在線金融管理服務。首席執行官布萊德?史密斯表示：“普通客戶率先使用這一服務，然后是小企業，隨后是專業會計師。”他特別提到，依托于網絡的軟件產品可以帶來穩定的注冊使用收入，從而讓Intuit不斷獲益。

風險所在

??? 不過Intuit的競爭對手從未放棄努力。單在報稅領域，它就面臨來自傳統報稅公司如H&R Block公司和Jackson Hewitt公司的激烈競爭。隨著軟件行業開始向云服務轉型，小型初創公司能夠更容易通過廉價的財務管理軟件服務削弱Intuit這種大型公司的市場地位。同時，有些分析師擔心，創新的步子過快會導致不夠專注。

Most admired

Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.

Employees: 8,000

The business: About 24 million U.S. customers use Intuit's TurboTax service online or through mobile devices. Intuit processes billions in refunds for electronic tax filers every year.

??? Intuit dominates the market for DIY financial-management software, a category that the $3.9 billion company basically invented 29 years ago. Having faced down Microsoft and many other would-be competitors over the years, Intuit is now branching into new markets like mobile apps that help patients make sense of medical billing statements or farmers track commodity prices. Although this diversification strategy carries risks, few analysts are betting against Intuit, the most admired software company in America this year.

What it does

??? Small businesses across North America run on Intuit's QuickBooks accounting app, while millions of consumers use TurboTax and Quicken to keep their financial lives in order. Other Intuit cash cows: payroll and payment-processing services for small businesses, and high-octane tax and accounting products for professional accountants. Intuit is broadening its business model beyond selling desktop software to delivering online financial-management services. "Consumers adopt first, then businesses, then accountants," says CEO Brad Smith, who notes that web-based product delivery helps Intuit by generating steady subscription revenues.

Its risk

??? Intuit's rivals aren't giving up. In the tax arena the company faces stiff competition from traditional tax preparers like H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. As the software industry shifts to cloud-based services, it becomes easier for tiny startups to undercut established players like Intuit with cheaper financial-management services. And some analysts worry that innovation at too fast a pace could prove distracting.