Intuit Inc. expanded availability of the Intuit QuickBooks Business Network to millions of small and mid-market businesses in the U.S., creating one of the largest business-to-business (B2B) networks aimed at accelerating and automating B2B payments and improving overall cash flow. B2B payments remain one of the largest unsolved challenges small and mid-market businesses face and that fintech innovation is well-positioned to address. QuickBooks data shows that 52% of B2B small businesses are paid late, even more than business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses (32%), creating a cash flow challenge for small businesses that often rely on timely payments for critical business needs like paying employees, purchasing inventory or supplies, and growing their business.

Eligible QuickBooks Online customers in the U.S. can easily connect with one another in the network to accelerate B2B payments, leverage automation to simplify and streamline administrative tasks, and access enhanced collaboration and connection capabilities. As part of the QuickBooks Business Network, businesses will experience the following benefits instantly: Find and connect with customers and vendors easily: Businesses can search for their customers and vendors and send or accept an invitation to connect and begin leveraging the benefits of the QuickBooks Business Network. Manage connections with ease while eliminating effort and reducing errors: Any future updates customers or vendors make to their customer-facing contact information will automatically update across their network connections.

Additionally, in the future, payment information will be saved securely in network profile, streamlining payments by eliminating the need to share this information between connections. Payment information will not be displayed to network connections. Send invoices directly within QuickBooks and receive invoices as a bill automatically: Once two businesses are connected, the sending and receiving of invoices and payment of bills is made simple and seamless with features that save time and reduce errors often associated with manual entry.

A business can send an invoice directly to their customer's or vendor's QuickBooks account. QuickBooks will instantly create a bill for the customer or vendor using auto-populated information from the invoice. Customers or vendors can then simply review, save, and pay that bill through the variety of payment options available within QuickBooks.

Benefit from AP automation: Through accounts payable (AP) automation, when an invoice is received through the QuickBooks Business Network and the bill is created, one can easily review and approve the bill and it is automatically added to books. This saves businesses time and effort while ensuring their books are automatically reconciled.