Stripe joins forces with Intuit to help freelancers manage their finances

27 Jan 2015

The Collison brothers’ e-payments start-up Stripe has joined forces with Silicon Valley accounts software player Intuit to roll out new tools to help self-employed contractors better manage their finances.

The deal is the latest coup for Limerick brothers John and Patrick Collison. Earlier this month the company ousted Amazon Payments to facilitate transactions on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.

Last year Stripe signed significant e-commerce partnerships with Apple, Twitter and Facebook.

Stripe recently received a valuation US$3.5bn after raising US$70m in investment from Thrive Capital along with existing investors Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures.

The alliance with Intuit will see enable workers who work for on-demand platforms that pay through Stripe to connect with QuickBooks’ Online Self-Employed software.

The upshot is that freelancers will be able to have a clear picture of their tax obligations and easily track deductions such as business expenses and mileage.

“We’re thrilled to see Intuit build such a powerful tool on top of the Stripe platform,” said Cristina Cordova, head of strategic partnerships at Stripe.

“Marketplaces on Stripe can integrate in minutes, and unlock a beneficial service to their contractors without any additional hassle or involvement on their end.”

The networked economy

Since launching late last year QuickBooks Online Self-Employed has helped entrepreneurs track over US$50 million in business expenses, helping them save money on their taxes and simplify their financial lives.

One of the organisations that pays via Stripe and is using the new service is HourlyNerd.com, which has a network of over 7,000 experienced professionals.

“While the expanding on-demand economy is making it easier for millions of individuals to find work, it’s also exposing new hardships in the form of tracking net income, managing individual expenses, and paying quarterly taxes,” explaind Alex Chriss, vice president and general manager of Self-Employed Solutions at Intuit.  

“The integration between QuickBooks Online Self-Employed and Stripe enables On-demand marketplaces to provide a tremendous and free benefit to their independent contractors to help ease this tax complexity.

“Marketplaces are focused on creating efficient interactions for consumers by leveraging fleets of independent contractors –now they can offer these contractors a product that is laser focused on improving their financial lives.”

Doing taxes image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

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