Some 300,000 business owners across
the nation do their books themselves with
Intuit's Quickbooks software but then outsource
their payroll to one of Intuit's big
competitors, ADP or Paychex.
Intuit's ability to woo those Quickbooks
users to its payroll system will be one of the
keys to the growth of the company's
Employer Services Group, which employs
515 at a south-Reno facility.
The Reno offices, located in two
50,000-square-foot buildings in the Sierra
Corporate Center as well as a third facility
near Mill and McCarran Boulevard, reflect
revenue growth that has been close to 40
percent in recent years.
Intuit's employment in Reno has grown
quickly as well. It's more than doubled
from the 221 who worked for the company
when it arrived in northern Nevada in mid-
1999 after paying about $200 million to
acquire homegrown Computing Resources
Inc.
The recent employment growth has
been fast enough that Intuit is beginning to
think about additional office facilities, said
Mike Sykes, general manager of Intuit's
outsourced payroll team.
When it broke ground in 2001 for its
Reno campus, Intuit said it planned three
buildings one more than currently on
the campus that ultimately would house
about 850 employees.
The company isn't concerned about its
continued ability to find good employees in
northern Nevada.
"It's been a very good market for us,"
Sykes said. "We haven't struggled to attract
people."
Those employees serve three primary
groups of Intuit payroll customers:
* Quickbook users who continue to do
their own payroll, but receive updated tax
tables periodically.
* Quickbook users who rely on Intuit to
handle their tax filings and direct deposit of
payrolls.
* Customers who outsource their entire
payroll function to Intuit.
As the largest of Intuit's 25 Employer
Service Group locations nationwide, the
Reno office handles customer service, tax
support, tax processing, marketing, training
and other responsibilities.
Those responsibilities will grow, Sykes
said, as Intuit aggressively seeks to widen
its beachhead in the outsourced-payroll
business.
In most markets, he said, the company
holds the No. 3 position in market share
ADP and Paychex are dominant but
Intuit looks to leverage its strong name
recognition and built-in base of
Quickbooks customers into a bigger piece
of the business.
Intuit's strategy doesn't rely on undercutting
its rivals' pricing even though some
customers may see payroll outsourcing as a
commodity service that's virtually indistinguishable
from one provider to the next.
"We're holding the line," said Sykes.
"We charge a fair price, one that's reasonable."
While Intuit's payroll service serves customers
with as many as 3,000 or 5,000
employees, much of its focus centers on
smaller companies.
"Our sweet spot is the small employer
the one with 100 and fewer employees,"
said Sykes.
Once it's in the door with its payroll
service, Intuit seeks to widen its outsourcing
presence. It offers human resources and
benefits management. Other employers
turn to Intuit for management and administration
of 401(k) plans.
"It's an expanding wheel," said Sykes.
While payroll and human resources
functions are serious business, Intuit's
employees in Reno work in an atmosphere
whose playfulness is intended to spur creativity.
Artwork featuring Elvis Presley hangs
from one wall. The central hallway curves
through each of the elongated buildings,
which were designed to provide as many
offices-with-a-window as possible. Quiet
rooms provide space for employees to take
a short escape from the stresses of the day.
White boards are placed throughout the
building to facilitate meetings, and "huddle
rooms" are strategically placed for
impromptu small meetings and brainstorming
sessions.
The playful spaces, however, sit atop a
mechanical design that's intended to be
highly functional.
Power systems are backed up with a
diesel generator, and the room that houses
computer servers is equipped with redundant
mechanical systems.
Power and communication lines run
through trenches in a 2-inch raised flooring
that eliminates power poles from the ceiling
and provides greater flexibility for the
location of future workstations.
Intuit is based in Mountain View, Calif.
