Intuit had 121,000 professional customers in 2014 and 2015 and whether the 1,000 increase is slight, with the difference possibly due to rounding. These are the customers who purchase the Lacerte and ProSeries packages and ProConnect Online, formerly known as Intuit Tax Online.

In the company's recent earnings webcast, CFO Neil Williams said Intuit expects the professional tax revenue to be flat for 2017. Williams' comments reflect the reason given for changing the group's name—the increasing connection of professional tax products to QuickBooks Online. "We're focused less on price on the pro tax side, and investing in our accountant offerings to enhance growth in the QuickBooks Online ecosystem," Williams said.

Meanwhile, with revenue recognition shifting from one-time sales to a subscription basis, the totals reported by the company make comparison difficult. Intuit had $422 million in the ProConnect Group (formerly called ProTax) revenue for 2014, but only $284 million for 2015. Through the first three quarters of fiscal 2015, the total is $320 million. In its guidance, Intuit said it expects fourth quarter revenue would be in the same range as the $107 million reported for the last quarter of 2015. Add the same amount in and this year's total would hit $427 million.

Historically, the professional tax revenue came in a big lump—so in 2104 $322 million of the $422 million for that year came in the April quarter. But the accounting change shifted the pattern and in 2015, $130 million was recognized in the third quarter and $107 million in the fourth quarter.

For 2016, the shift is more noticeable with $110 million in revenue reported for the first quarter, which had historically had minimal sales. There was $84 million recognized in the second quarter and $126 million in the third and Intuit will end this year with three quarters of more than $100 million in reported revenue, instead of the one big quarter, such as last occurred in 2014.

Bob Scott

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Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards.  Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He  has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that.  A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind