Intuit (INTU) 10-K2021 FY Annual report

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

Intuit helps consumers, small businesses, and the self-employed prosper by delivering financial management and compliance products and services. We also provide specialized tax products to accounting professionals, who are key partners that help us serve small business customers.

Our global products and platforms, including TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, and Credit Karma, are designed to help consumers and small businesses manage their finances, save money, pay off debt and do their taxes with ease and confidence so they are receiving the maximum refund they deserve. For those customers who run small businesses, we are focused on helping them get paid faster, pay their employees, access capital, ensure their books are done right and find and keep customers. We serve approximately 100 million customers across our product offerings and platforms. We had revenue of $9.6 billion in our fiscal year which ended July 31, 2021.

Intuit Inc. was incorporated in California in March 1984. We reincorporated in Delaware and completed our initial public offering in March 1993. Our principal executive offices are located at 2700 Coast Avenue, Mountain View, California, 94043, and our main telephone number is 650-944-6000. When we refer to “we,” “our” or “Intuit” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we mean the current Delaware corporation (Intuit Inc.) and its California predecessor, as well as all of our consolidated subsidiaries.

At Intuit, our mission is to power prosperity around the world. All of our customers have a common set of needs. They are trying to make ends meet, maximize their tax refund, save money and pay off debt.

Those who have made the bold decision to become entrepreneurs, and go into business for themselves, have an additional set of needs. They want to find and keep customers, get paid for their hard work, access capital to grow and ensure their books are right.

Across our platform, we use the power of technology to deliver three core benefits to our customers: helping put more money in their pockets, eliminating work and saving people time so they can focus on what matters to them, and ensuring that they have complete confidence in every financial decision they make.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping our world — and Intuit is taking advantage of this technological revolution to find new ways to deliver on our mission. We are focused on capitalizing on this opportunity to improve prosperity globally and inspire our workforce, while investing in our company’s reputation and durable growth in the future.

We organize our businesses into four reportable segments:

At Intuit, our strategy starts with customer obsession. We listen to and observe our customers, understand their challenges, and then use advanced technology, including AI, to develop innovative solutions designed to solve their most important financial problems. For more than three decades, we have reinvented and disrupted ourselves in order to ensure our customers are armed with the technology they need to grow and prosper.

Our strategy for delivering on our bold goals is to become an AI-driven expert platform where we and others can solve our customers’ most important problems. We plan to accelerate the development of the platform by applying AI in three key areas:

As we build our AI-driven expert platform, we are prioritizing our resources on five strategic priorities across the company. These priorities focus on solving the problems that matter most to customers and include:

As the external environment evolves, we continue to innovate and adapt our strategy and anticipate our customers’ needs. For more than 35 years, we have been dedicated to developing innovative financial and compliance products and services that are easy to use and are available where and when customers need them. As a result, our customers actively recommend our products and solutions to others, which is one important way that we measure the success of our strategy.

QuickBooks Online is an open platform, enabling third-party developers to create online and mobile applications that integrate with our offering. A growing number of companies offer applications built for our QuickBooks platform, including PayPal, Shopify and Square.

In addition to our core QuickBooks offering, we also offer specific solutions for the following customer segments:

Our Consumer segment includes our TurboTax products and services that are designed to enable customers to prepare and file their federal and state income tax returns quickly and accurately. These offerings are available either online or as desktop versions. They are designed to be easy to use, yet sophisticated enough for complex tax returns. For customers using our online offerings and looking for additional advice or guidance along the way, we have experts standing by to offer tax review and advice all year round. We also have experts available to prepare, sign and file tax returns for customers who prefer to have

their taxes prepared for them. Within this segment, we also offer Mint, which is an online personal finance offering aimed at helping customers track their finances and daily financial behaviors. Our online offerings can be accessed on mobile devices.

Our Credit Karma segment provides consumers with a financial platform that helps them find the right financial products and put more money in their pockets. The platform offers a number of free services to its members: access to their credit scores and reports, credit and identity monitoring, credit report dispute, data-driven resources, personalized recommendations of credit card, loan, and insurance products and online savings and checking accounts through our bank partner, MVB Bank, Inc., Member FDIC. To provide these services to its members, Credit Karma works with a variety of partners, including credit bureaus, banks, credit card issuers, and other financial institutions and lending partners. Additionally, Credit Karma leverages Lightbox, a first-of-its-kind enterprise platform which allows lenders to leverage thousands of de-identified data points from Credit Karma members to help provide its members with greater certainty that they will be approved if they apply for a financial product.

We develop many of our products and services internally, and we have a number of United States and foreign patents and pending applications that relate to various aspects of our products and technology. We also supplement our internal development efforts by acquiring or licensing products and technology from third parties, and establishing other relationships that enable us to enhance or expand our offerings more rapidly. We expect to expand our third-party technology relationships as we continue to pursue our growth strategy.

Our online offerings and mobile applications have rapid development cycles, while our traditional desktop software products tend to have predictable annual development and product release cycles. In addition, developing consumer and professional tax software and services presents unique challenges because of the demanding development cycle required to accurately incorporate federal and state tax law and tax form changes within a rigid timetable. The development timing for our small

business payroll and merchant payment processing services offerings varies with business needs and regulatory requirements, and the length of the development cycle depends on the scope and complexity of each project.

We continue to make substantial investments in research and development, and we expect to focus our future research and development efforts on enhancing existing products and services with financial recommendations, personalization, and ease of use enabled by AI and other advanced technologies. We continue to focus on developing new products and services, including new mobile and global offerings, and significant research and development efforts for ongoing projects to update the technology platforms for several of our offerings.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the timing of tax filing seasons for fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020 varied significantly. In fiscal 2019, the IRS began accepting returns on January 28, 2019 and the tax filing deadline was April 15, 2019. In fiscal 2020, the IRS began accepting returns on January 27, 2020 and the tax filing deadline was July 15, 2020. In fiscal 2021, the IRS began accepting returns on February 12, 2021 and the tax filing deadline was May 17, 2021. These changes to the tax filing seasons impacted our quarterly financial results during fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020.

We expect the seasonality of our Consumer and ProConnect businesses to continue to have a significant impact on our quarterly financial results in the future.

Our primary customers are consumers, small businesses, and the self-employed. We also provide specialized tax and accounting products to professional accountants, who are key partners to help us reach small business customers. The markets in which we compete have always been characterized by rapid technological change, shifting customer needs, and frequent new product introductions and enhancements by competitors. Over the past several years, the widespread usage of mobile devices and the explosion of social media have accelerated the pace of change and revolutionized the way that customers learn about, evaluate, and purchase products and services.

Real-time, personalized online and mobile shopping experiences are the standard. In addition, many customers now begin shopping in one channel and ultimately purchase in another. This has created a need for integrated, multi-channel, shop-and-buy experiences. Market and industry changes quickly make existing products and services obsolete. Our success depends on our ability to respond rapidly to these changes with new business models, updated competitive strategies, new or enhanced products and services, alternative distribution methods, and other changes in the way we do business.

We use a variety of marketing programs to generate direct sales, develop leads, increase general awareness of our product portfolio, and drive sales in retail. These programs include digital marketing such as display and pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, and social and affiliate marketing; mobile marketing through online app stores; email marketing; offline marketing such as TV, radio, billboard, magazine and newspaper advertising; retail marketing; public relations; and in product marketing to drive awareness of related products and services. Our campaigns are designed to attract new users, retain existing users, and cross sell additional offerings.

We face intense competition in all of our businesses, both domestically and internationally. Competitive interest and expertise in many of the markets we serve have grown markedly over the past few years and we expect this trend to continue. Some of our existing competitors have significantly greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. In addition, the competitive landscape can shift rapidly as new companies enter and existing companies expand their businesses to include the markets in which we compete. This is particularly true for online and mobile products and services, where the barriers to entry are lower than they are for desktop software products and services. To attract customers, many online and mobile competitors are offering free or low-priced products which we must take into account in our pricing strategies.

Given the breadth of the products and services that we offer as a global technology company, we compete with the offerings from a variety of companies across a range of industries. Our most obvious competition comes from other companies that currently offer technology solutions similar to ours. In our Small Business & Self-Employed segment, we face competition from a variety of companies that provide products or services to address the problems that we help our customers to solve, including getting paid faster, paying their employees, accessing capital and ensuring their books are done right. Our Consumer segment competes with companies that offer products and services to help customers file their taxes, better manage their money and reduce their debt. We may also face competition from companies with platforms that could be developed to offer competing technology solutions to any of the problems that our customers may face, such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. In addition, for many of our products and services, other competitive alternatives for customers are third-party service providers such as professional accountants and seasonal tax preparation businesses. Manual tools and processes, or general-purpose software, are also important competitive alternatives. In some cases, a competitor in one of our segments may be our partner in another one of our segments. In other cases, a company may compete with us in more than one of our segments.

For the 2020 tax season, we were a member of the Free File Alliance, a consortium of private sector companies that has entered into an agreement with the federal government. Under this agreement, the member companies donate online federal tax preparation and filing services to eligible users at no cost to the government or individual users separate and apart from the member companies’ commercial free offerings, which the IRS then offers to eligible consumers on an IRS website. Approximately 22 states and the District of Columbia have also entered public-private partnerships with the Free File Alliance. Additionally, certain member companies, including Intuit, provided online state tax preparation and filing services at no cost if the taxpayer qualified for the free federal return under this program. We will no longer participate in the Free File Alliance after the conclusion of the 2020 tax season in October. We continue to actively work with others in the private and public sectors to support successful public-private partnerships that reinforce the voluntary compliance tax system, encourage electronic filing, and inform consumers of free filing options. However, future administrative, regulatory, or legislative activity in this area could seek to replace the voluntary compliance tax system with return preparation, or self preparation options, provided by government agencies which could harm our Consumer business.

We believe the most important competitive factors for our core offerings – QuickBooks, TurboTax, Lacerte, ProSeries, and Credit Karma – are ease of use, product features, size of the installed customer base, size of membership base, member engagement, brand name recognition, value proposition, cost, reliability, security, and product and support quality. Access to distribution channels is also important for our QuickBooks and TurboTax desktop software products. In addition, support from accounting professionals and the ability for customers to upgrade within product families as their businesses grow are significant competitive factors for our QuickBooks products. Productivity is an important competitive factor for the full-service accounting firms to which we market our Lacerte software products. We believe we compete effectively on these factors as our QuickBooks and TurboTax products are the leading products in the U.S. for their respective categories.

For our service offerings such as small business payroll and merchant payment processing, we believe the most important competitive factors are functionality, ease of use, high availability, security, the integration of these products with related software, brand name recognition, effective distribution, quality of support, and cost.

We also provide access to experts, through our TurboTax and QuickBooks Live offerings, who provide tax advice, tax preparation and bookkeeping services.

Our customer success staff predominantly consists of Intuit-employed and outsourced experts. We supplement with seasonal employees and additional outsourcing during periods of peak call volumes, such as during the tax return filing season or following a major product launch. We outsource to several firms domestically and internationally. Most of our internationally outsourced small business customer success personnel are currently located in the Philippines.

We also source staff through our Prosperity Hub program, which is designed to spark economic prosperity for people and communities in need. One part of this program is our socially responsible sourcing model, where we both directly and through customer success partner-employers, hire, train, and retain workers who deliver support and services for our customers.

Self-help information is offered for free in-product and on our support websites for our QuickBooks, TurboTax, Mint and professional tax offerings. Support alternatives and fees vary by product. For example, some product subscriptions receive 24x7 support and additional contact channel options.

For our Credit Karma offerings we have a Partner Success team that is dedicated to ensuring that our financial institution partners operate efficiently and safely on our platform. This team consists of program management, operations, and compliance professionals, who interface directly with lending partners to facilitate new product launches; maintain product offers, including any updates to existing offers and compliance monitoring; manage and maintain data required for offers and partner invoicing; support audits and compliance reviews; and manage and resolve incidents to mitigate any potential negative impact on either Credit Karma’s or the partner’s platform.

Our online offerings include QuickBooks Online, online payroll services, merchant payment processing services, TurboTax Online, ProConnect Tax Online, consumer and professional electronic tax filing services, Mint, and Turbo. We recently completed the transition of our systems, networks and databases used to operate these online offerings to public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Currently, all of our online offerings are operating using AWS.

Although an increasing proportion of our desktop software customers choose to electronically download software, many customers continue to choose to purchase these products in the form of physical media. The key processes in manufacturing desktop software are manufacturing compact discs (CDs) and digital video discs (DVDs), printing boxes and related materials, and assembling and shipping the final products.

For retail manufacturing and distribution, we have agreements with Arvato Digital Services, Inc. (Arvato), a division of Bertelsmann AG, under which Arvato provides a majority of the manufacturing volume for our launches of QuickBooks and TurboTax and day-to-day replenishment after product launches, as well as our retail distribution logistics. Arvato also provides most of the manufacturing volume and distribution services for our direct desktop software orders.

Customers typically receive desktop software electronically. However, when physical product is ordered, we typically ship the physical product within a few days of receiving an order and backlog is minimal.

We use security safeguards to help protect the systems and the information that customers and members of our workforce give to us from loss, misuse and unauthorized alteration. We use technical, logical and procedural measures, such as multi-factor authentication, which are designed to help detect and prevent fraud and misuse of customer information. Whenever customers transmit sensitive information to us, such as credit card information or tax return data, through one of our websites or products, we follow current industry standards to encrypt the data as it is transmitted to us, and when we store it at rest. We routinely patch our systems with security updates and we work to protect our systems from unauthorized internal or external access using numerous commercially available computer security products as well as internally developed security procedures and practices.

Although our portfolio of patents is growing, the patents that have been issued to us could be determined to be invalid and may not be enforceable against competitive products in every jurisdiction. In addition, third parties have asserted and may, in the future, assert infringement claims against us and our customers. These claims and any litigation may result in invalidation of our proprietary rights or a finding of infringement along with an assessment of damages. Litigation, even if without merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. In addition, third-party licenses may not continue to be available to us on commercially acceptable terms, or at all.

Intuit’s workforce development strategies are developed and managed by our Chief People & Places Officer, who reports to the CEO. The Compensation and Organizational Development Committee of the Board of Directors has oversight with respect to company-wide organization and talent assessment, employee recruitment, engagement and retention, leadership development, management depth and strength assessment, workplace environment and culture, employee health and safety, and pay equity. Of the total number of employees, approximately 1,300 are employed by Credit Karma, which was acquired by Intuit in December 2020 and has certain unique compensation and workforce development programs. We regularly collect, measure and share the sentiment of our workforce through multiple channels, including engagement surveys, and other touch points, which help to guide the work we do to support our workforce.

In order to deliver on our mission to power prosperity around the world, we are guided by our company values as we strive to create a culture where employees can do the best work of their lives. Our value of Courage means being bold and fearless in how we think and act, holding a high bar for performance and valuing speed, a bias for learning and action. Our value of Stronger Together means championing diversity, inclusion and a respectful environment, thriving on diverse voices to challenge and inform decisions and delivering exceptional work so others can count on us. Consistent with our value of We Care and Give Back, we provide eligible full-time employees five days of paid time off every year that can be used to do volunteer work during normal work hours for vetted non-profits. Our We Care and Give Back program also provides donation matching up to an annual limit.

The company performs an ongoing pay equity analysis, conducted twice a year by an independent, third-party vendor. This analysis allows us to review each job code where there are enough employees that have the same or similar job duties and compensation mix. We compare base pay by gender and ethnicity, while factoring in location and time spent in the role, and make adjustments when there are unexplained statistical differences. We are transparent about our pay equity results and have multiple avenues for employees to use for any questions about their pay.

We are committed to creating a high-performing culture that consistently delivers for our customers, shareholders and communities while providing an experience for our workforce that values leadership, innovation, and collaboration. We promote the development of all of our employees through our One Intuit Learning Vision that every employee has a personalized learning plan based on their needs and interests, and are provided the resources they need to grow, thrive and reinvent themselves over time.

In addition, we are invested in growing our current and future leaders. Our Learning and Development teams design programs and resources to develop our employees and measure their progress.

All full-time employees have access to opportunities to develop and learn through over 1,400 Intuit-sponsored learning paths and online courses on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to manager essentials in support of an employee’s ability to adapt to any work environment. In fiscal 2021, our full-time employees completed over 170,000 pieces of learning content.

Employees set goals and measure progress through our goal setting tool and have opportunities to focus on growth both during year-end conversations and ongoing monthly check-ins.

Our compensation philosophy aims to attract and retain top talent for today and the future. Intuit’s total target compensation includes base hourly pay or salary at market-competitive rates, equity and a range of incentive plans that vary based on role. Incentive compensation plans are part of our pay for performance philosophy and closely align with company performance and reward top performance. Most year-round employees are eligible for equity, which allows the majority of our employees to share in the company’s success.

Additional benefits and rewards include an employee stock purchase plan, healthcare and retirement benefits, paid time off, annual paid recharge days, family and parental leave.

The health and well-being of our employees and their families has never been more important. We offer our employees (excluding experts) a reimbursement incentive to cover the costs of purchases made to support their physical, emotional and financial well-being. Employees also have access to other resources to help with their well-being, including a well-minds program for resilience, mindfulness and counseling, back-up childcare, financial education programs and access to an Employee Assistance Program.

Amid the unprecedented environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, management’s top priority has been the health and safety of our employees. We shifted nearly all our workforce from office locations to work from home environments. We also increased leave benefits for all employees to allow them to take care of what matters most to them. We provided our

employees with resources to have a complete and comfortable home workspace, to offset certain pandemic-related expenses and to promote physical and emotional health.

Strategic risks relate to our current and future operating model, business plans and growth strategy, including the risks associated with the following: competitive pressures on our product offerings and business models; our ability to adapt to technological changes and global trends; our reliance on third-party intellectual property and our ability to protect our own intellectual property rights; the value of our brand; and mergers, acquisitions and divestiture activity that may have unanticipated costs and expenses.

We face intense competition in all of our businesses, and we expect competition to remain intense in the future. Our competitors and potential competitors range from large and established entities to emerging start-ups. Our competitors may

introduce superior products and services, reduce prices, have greater technical, marketing and other resources, have greater name recognition, have larger installed bases of customers, have well-established relationships with our current and potential customers, advertise aggressively or beat us to market with new products and services. In addition, we face competition from existing companies, with large established consumer user-bases and broad-based platforms, who may change or expand the focus of their business strategies and marketing to target our customers, including small businesses, tax and personal financial management customers.

We also face competition from companies with a variety of business models, including increased competition from providers of free offerings, particularly in our tax, accounting, payments and personal finance platform businesses. In order to compete, we have also introduced free offerings in several categories, but we may not be able to attract customers as effectively as competitors with different business models. In addition, other providers of free offerings may provide features that we do not offer and customers who have formerly paid for Intuit’s products and services may elect to use our competitors’ free offerings instead. These competitive factors may diminish our revenue and profitability, and harm our ability to acquire and retain customers.

Our consumer tax business also faces significant potential competition from the public sector, where we face the risk of federal and state taxing authorities proposing revenue raising strategies that involve developing and providing government tax software or other government return preparation systems at public expense. These or similar programs may be introduced or expanded in the future, which may change the voluntary compliance tax system in ways that could cause us to lose customers and revenue. The IRS Free File Program is currently the sole means by which the IRS offers tax software directly to taxpayers and, in December 2019, the agreement governing the program was amended to eliminate the pledge by the IRS that it would not offer a duplicative or competing service. Under this program, the IRS has worked with private industry to provide more than 60 million free returns since 2003, utilizing donated private sector tax software and e-filing services, including software that we donated to the Free File Program, for low and middle income taxpayers at no cost to the government or individual users. However, we will no longer be participating in the IRS Free File Program, and its continuation depends on a number of factors, including continued broad public awareness of and access to the free program and continued private industry donations, as well as continued government support. The current agreement is scheduled to expire in October 2022. Our departure from the Free File Program may increase the likelihood that such program is terminated or is not extended beyond October 2022. If the Free File Program were to be terminated or the IRS were to enter the software development and return preparation space, the federal government could become a publicly funded direct competitor of the U.S. tax services industry and of Intuit. Government funded services that curtail or eliminate the role of taxpayers in preparing their own taxes could potentially have material and adverse revenue implications.

We operate in industries that are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. We must continue to innovate and develop new products and features to meet the changing needs of our customers and partners and attract and retain talented software developers. We need to continue to develop our skills, tools and capabilities to capitalize on existing and emerging technologies, which requires us to devote significant resources.

Our consumer and professional tax businesses depend significantly on revenue from customers who return each year to use our updated tax preparation and filing software and services. As our existing products mature, encouraging customers to purchase product upgrades becomes more challenging unless new product releases provide features and functionality that have meaningful incremental value. We also provide additional customer benefits by utilizing customer data available to us through our existing offerings. If we are not able to develop and clearly demonstrate the value of new or upgraded products or services to our customers, or effectively utilize our customers’ data to provide them with value, our revenues may be harmed. In addition, as we continue to introduce and expand our new business models, including offerings that are free to end users, our customers may not perceive value in the additional benefits and services we offer beyond our free offering and may choose not to pay for those additional benefits or we may be unsuccessful in increasing customer adoption of these offerings or our risk profile may change, resulting in loss of revenue.

We have devoted significant resources to develop products and services for users of mobile devices, but the versions of our products and services developed for these devices may not be compelling to users. Even if we are able to attract new users through these mobile offerings, the amount of revenue that we derive per user from mobile offerings may be less than the revenue that we have historically derived from users of personal computers. As new devices and new platforms are continually being released, it is difficult to predict the problems we may encounter in developing versions of our products and services for use on mobile devices and we may need to devote significant resources to the creation, support, and maintenance of such offerings. If we are slow to develop products and technologies that are compatible with mobile devices, or if our competitors are able to achieve those results more quickly than us, we will fail to capture a significant share of an increasingly important portion of the market for online services, which could adversely affect our business. Further, legislation or regulatory changes may mandate changes in our products that make them less attractive to users.

In some cases, we may expend a significant amount of resources and management attention on offerings that do not ultimately succeed in their markets. We have encountered difficulty in launching new products and services in the past. If we misjudge customer needs in the future, our new products and services may not succeed and our revenues and earnings may

be harmed. We have also invested, and in the future, expect to invest in new business models, geographies, strategies and initiatives. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management from current operations, expenses associated with the initiatives and inadequate return on investments. Because these new initiatives are inherently risky, they may not be successful and may harm our financial condition and operating results.

Many of our products and services include intellectual property of third parties, which we license under agreements that may need to be renewed or renegotiated from time to time. We may not be able to obtain licenses to these third-party technologies or content on reasonable terms, or at all. If we are unable to obtain the rights necessary to use this intellectual property in our products and services, we may not be able to sell the affected offerings, and customers who are currently using the affected product may be disrupted, which may in turn harm our future financial results, damage our brand, and result in customer loss. Also, we and our customers have been and may continue to be subject to infringement claims as a result of the third-party intellectual property incorporated in our offerings. Although we try to mitigate this risk and we may not be ultimately liable for any potential infringement, pending claims require us to use significant resources, require management attention and could result in loss of customers.

Some of our offerings include third-party software that is licensed under so-called “open source” licenses, some of which may include a requirement that, under certain circumstances, we make available, or grant licenses to, any modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software. Although we have established internal review and approval processes to mitigate these risks, we cannot be sure that all open source software is submitted for approval prior to use in our products. Many of the risks associated with usage of open source may not be eliminated, and may, if not properly addressed, harm our business.

Our patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, domain names and other intellectual property rights are important assets for us. We aggressively protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights in the U.S. and internationally, as well as a variety of administrative procedures. We also rely on contractual restrictions to protect our proprietary rights in products and services. The efforts that we take to protect our proprietary rights may not always be sufficient or effective. Protecting our intellectual property rights is costly and time consuming and may not be successful in every location. Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business, our brand and our ability to compete.

Policing unauthorized use and copying of our products is difficult, expensive, and time consuming. Current U.S. laws that prohibit copying give us only limited practical protection from software piracy and the laws of many other countries provide very little protection. We frequently encounter unauthorized copies of our software being sold through online marketplaces. Although we continue to evaluate and put in place technology solutions to attempt to lessen the impact of piracy and engage in efforts to educate consumers and public policy leaders on these issues and cooperate with industry groups in their efforts to combat piracy, we expect piracy to be a persistent problem that results in lost revenues and increased expenses.

Developing and maintaining awareness of our brands is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our existing and future products and services and is an important element in attracting new customers. Adverse publicity (whether or not justified) relating to events or activities attributed to us, members of our workforce, agents, third parties we rely on, or our users, may tarnish our reputation and reduce the value of our brands. Our brand value also depends on our ability to provide secure and trustworthy products and services as well as our ability to protect and use our customers’ data in a manner that meets their expectations. In addition, a security incident that results in unauthorized disclosure of our customers’ sensitive data could cause material reputational harm. Damage to our reputation and loss of brand equity may reduce demand for our products and services and thus have an adverse effect on our future financial results, as well as require additional resources to rebuild our reputation and restore the value of the brands and could also reduce our stock price.

We have acquired and may continue to acquire companies, products, technologies and talent that complement our strategic direction, both in and outside the United States. Acquisitions, such as our acquisition of Credit Karma, involve significant risks and uncertainties, including:

We have divested and may in the future divest certain assets or businesses that no longer fit with our strategic direction or growth targets. Divestitures involve significant risks and uncertainties, including:

In addition, any acquisition or divestiture that we announce may not be completed if closing conditions are not satisfied. Because acquisitions and divestitures are inherently risky, our transactions may not be successful and may, in some cases, harm our operating results or financial condition. In particular, if we are unable to successfully operate together with Credit Karma to achieve shared growth opportunities or combine reporting or other processes within the expected time frame, such delay may materially and adversely affect the benefits that we expect to achieve as a result of the Credit Karma acquisition and could result in additional costs or loss of revenue. Moreover, the impact of COVID-19, adverse changes in market conditions and other factors, such as the failure to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits of the Credit Karma acquisition, may cause the acquisition to be dilutive to Intuit’s operating earnings per share beyond the first fiscal year after close. Any dilution of our non-GAAP diluted earnings per share could cause the price of shares of Intuit Common Stock to decline or grow at a reduced rate.

Operational risks arise from internal and external events relating to systems, processes and people. Risks that affect the operation of our businesses include the following: potential security incidents; privacy and cybersecurity concerns relating to online offerings; fraudulent activities by third parties; relationships with third parties; competition for and retention of key talent; issues with our product launches; problems with our information technology infrastructure; and risks associated with operating internationally.

We host, collect, use and retain large amounts of sensitive and personal customer and workforce data, including credit card information, tax return information, bank account numbers, credit report information, login credentials and passwords, personal and business financial data and transactions data, social security numbers and payroll information, as well as our confidential, nonpublic business information. We use commercially available security technologies and security and business

controls to limit access to and use of such sensitive data. Although we expend significant resources to create security protections designed to shield this data against potential theft and security breaches, such measures cannot provide absolute security.

Our technologies, systems, and networks have been subject to, and are increasingly likely to continue to be the target of, cyberattacks, computer viruses, ransomware or other malware, worms, social engineering, malicious software programs, insider threats, and other cybersecurity incidents that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, use, loss or destruction of sensitive and personal data of our customers and members of our workforce, or Intuit's sensitive business data or cause temporary or sustained unavailability of our software and systems. While we maintain cybersecurity insurance, our insurance may not be sufficient to cover all liabilities described herein. These types of incidents can be made by individuals, groups of hackers, and sophisticated organizations including state-sponsored organizations or nation-states themselves. Customers who fail to update their systems, continue to run software that we no longer support, fail to install security patches on a timely basis or inadequately use security controls create vulnerabilities and make it more difficult for us to detect and prevent these kinds of attacks. We are increasingly incorporating open source software into our products and there may be vulnerabilities in open source software that make it susceptible to cyberattacks. In addition, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to sensitive information change frequently, and are becoming more sophisticated and are often not able to be detected until after a successful attack, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventive measures. Although this is an industry-wide problem that affects software and hardware across platforms, it may increasingly affect our offerings because cyber-criminals tend to focus their efforts on well-known offerings that are popular among customers and hold sensitive information and we expect them to continue to do so.

Further, the security measures that we implement may not be able to prevent unauthorized access to our products and our customers’ account data. While we provide resources like mandatory annual security training for our workforce, third parties may still be able to fraudulently induce members of our workforce, customers or users by social engineering means, such as email phishing, to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our systems. It is also possible that unauthorized access to or disclosure of customer data may occur due to inadequate use of security controls by our customers or members of our workforce. Accounts created with weak or recycled passwords could allow cyberattackers to gain access to customer data. Unauthorized persons could gain access to customer accounts if customers do not maintain effective access controls of their systems and software. In addition, we are experiencing new and more frequent attempts by third parties to use the COVID-19 pandemic to fraudulently gain access to our systems, such as through increased email phishing of our workforce.

Criminals may also use stolen identity information obtained outside of our systems to gain unauthorized access to our customers’ data. We have experienced such instances in the past and as the accessibility of stolen identity information increases, generally, we may experience further instances of unauthorized access to our systems through the use of stolen identity information of our customers or members of our workforce in the future. Further, our customers may choose to use the same login credentials across multiple products and services unrelated to our products. Such customers’ login credentials may be stolen from products offered by third-party service providers unrelated to us and the stolen identity information may be used by a malicious third party to access our products, which could result in disclosure of confidential information. In addition, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we shifted nearly all our workforce from office locations to work from home environments. We expect to resume operations in our offices under a hybrid model where our workforce will spend a portion of their time working in our offices and a portion of their time working from home. This model increases our exposure to security-related risks due to operational changes, such as the increased use of videoconferencing.

Our efforts to protect data may also be unsuccessful due to software bugs (whether open source or proprietary code), break-ins, workforce member error or other threats that evolve.

Further, because we have created an ecosystem where customers can have one identity across multiple Intuit products, a security incident may give access to increased amounts of customer data. This may result in disclosure of confidential information, loss of customer confidence in our products, possible litigation, material harm to our reputation and financial condition, disruption of our or our customers’ business operations and a decline in our stock price. From time to time, we detect, or receive notices from customers or public or private agencies that they have detected, actual or perceived vulnerabilities in our servers, our software or third-party software components that are distributed with our products or fraudulent activity by unauthorized persons utilizing our products with stolen customer identity information. The existence of such vulnerabilities or fraudulent activity, even if they do not result in a security breach, may undermine customer confidence as well as the confidence of government agencies that regulate our offerings. Such perceived vulnerabilities could also seriously harm our business by tarnishing our reputation and brand and/or limiting the adoption of our products and services and could cause our stock price to decline.

Additionally, Credit Karma is subject to an order issued in 2014 by the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") that, among other things, requires maintenance of a comprehensive security program relating to the development and management of new and existing products and services and biannual independent security assessments for 20 years from the date of the order. To the extent Credit Karma shares data covered by the order with Intuit, the order may apply to Intuit with respect to such data. Credit Karma’s failure to fulfill the requirements of the FTC’s order could results in fines, penalties, regulatory inquiries, investigations and claims, and negatively impact our business and reputation.

We depend on a number of third parties, including vendors, developers and partners who are critical to our business. We or our customers may grant access to customer data to these third parties to help deliver customer benefits, or to host certain of our and our customers' sensitive and personal data. In addition, we share sensitive, nonpublic business information (including, for example, materials relating to financial, business and legal strategies) with other vendors in the ordinary course of business.

While we conduct background checks of our workforce, conduct reviews of partners, developers and vendors and use commercially available technologies to limit access to systems and data, it is possible that one or more of these individuals or third parties may misrepresent their intended use of data or may circumvent our controls, resulting in accidental or intentional disclosure or misuse of our customer or workforce data. Further, while we conduct due diligence on these third parties with respect to their security and business controls, we may not have the ability to effectively monitor or oversee the implementation of these control measures. Individuals or third parties may be able to circumvent these security and business controls and/or exploit vulnerabilities that may exist in these controls, resulting in the disclosure or misuse of sensitive business and personal customer or workforce information and data. In addition, malicious actors may attempt to use the information technology supply chain to compromise our systems by, for example, introducing malware through software updates.

A security incident involving third parties whom we rely on may have serious negative consequences for our businesses, including disclosure of sensitive customer or workforce data, or confidential or competitively sensitive information regarding our business, including intellectual property and other proprietary data; make our products more vulnerable to fraudulent activity; cause temporary or sustained unavailability of our software and systems; result in possible litigation, fines, penalties and damages; result in loss of customer confidence; cause material harm to our reputation and brands; lead to further regulation and oversight by federal or state agencies; cause adverse financial condition; and result in a reduced stock price.

The continued occurrence of cyberattacks and data breaches on governments, businesses and consumers in general indicates that we operate in an external environment where cyberattacks and data breaches are becoming increasingly common. If the global cybersecurity environment worsens, and there are increased instances of security breaches of third-party offerings where consumers’ data and sensitive information is compromised, consumers may be less willing to use online offerings, particularly offerings like ours in which customers often share sensitive financial data. In addition, the increased availability of data obtained as a result of breaches of third-party offerings could make our own products more vulnerable to fraudulent activity. Even if our products are not affected directly by such incidents, any such incident could damage our reputation and deter current and potential customers from adopting our products and services or lead customers to cease using online and connected software products to transact financial business altogether.

The online tax preparation, payroll administration, online payments, lending and personal financial management industries have been experiencing an increasing amount of fraudulent activities by third parties, and those fraudulent activities are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Although we do not believe that any of this activity is uniquely targeted at our products or businesses, this type of fraudulent activity may adversely impact our tax, payroll, payments, lending and personal financial management businesses and is heightened when our workforce is working from home. In addition to any losses that may result from such fraud, which may be substantial, a loss of confidence by our customers or by governmental agencies in our ability to prevent fraudulent activity that is perpetrated through our offerings may seriously harm our business and damage our brand. If we cannot adequately combat such fraudulent activity that is perpetrated through our offerings, governmental authorities may refuse to allow us to continue to offer such services, or these services may otherwise be adversely impacted, which could include federal or state tax authorities refusing to allow us to process our customers’ tax returns electronically, resulting in a significant adverse impact on our earnings and revenue. As fraudulent activities become more pervasive and increasingly sophisticated, and fraud detection and prevention measures must become correspondingly more complex to combat them across the various industries in which we operate, we may implement risk control mechanisms that could make it more difficult for legitimate customers to obtain and use our products, which could result in lost revenue and negatively impact our earnings.

Our operations process a significant volume and dollar value of transactions on a daily basis, especially in our payroll, payments and personal financial management businesses. Despite our efforts to ensure that effective processing systems and controls are in place to handle transactions appropriately, it is possible that we may make errors or that funds may be misappropriated due to fraud. The likelihood of any such error or misappropriation may increase as we accelerate the speed at which we process transactions. The systems supporting our business are comprised of multiple technology platforms that are sometimes difficult to scale. If we are unable to effectively manage our systems and processes, or if there is an error in our products, we may be unable to process customer data in an accurate, reliable and timely manner, which may harm our

reputation, the willingness of customers to use our products, and our financial results. In our payments processing service business, if merchants for whom we process payment transactions are unable to pay refunds due to their customers in connection with disputed or fraudulent merchant transactions, we may be required to pay those amounts and our payments may exceed the amount of the customer reserves we have established to make such payments.

Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our customers is dependent upon the reliable performance of our products and our underlying technical infrastructure. As we continue to grow our online services, we become more dependent on the continuing operation and availability of our information technology and communications systems and those of our external service providers, including, for example, third-party Internet-based or cloud computing services. We do not have redundancy for all of our systems, and our disaster recovery planning may not account for all eventualities. We have designed a significant portion of our software and computer systems to utilize data processing and storage capabilities provided by public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services. If any public cloud service that we use is unavailable to us for any reason, our customers may not be able to access certain of our cloud products or features, which could significantly impact our operations, business, and financial results.

Failure of our systems or those of our third-party service providers, may result in interruptions in our service and loss of data or processing capabilities, all of which may cause a loss in customers, refunds of product fees, material harm to our reputation and operating results.

Our tax businesses must effectively handle extremely heavy customer demand during critical peak periods, which typically occur from January until April of each year. We face significant risks in maintaining adequate service levels during these peak periods when we derive a substantial portion of our overall revenue from the tax businesses. Any interruptions in our online tax preparation or electronic filing service at any time during the tax season, particularly during a peak period, could result in significantly decreased revenue, lost customers, unexpected refunds of customer charges, negative publicity and increased operating costs, any of which could significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on internal systems and external systems maintained by manufacturers, distributors and other service providers to take and fulfill customer orders, handle customer service requests and host certain online activities. Any interruption or failure of our internal or external systems may prevent us or our service providers from accepting and fulfilling customer orders or cause company and customer data to be unintentionally disclosed. Our continuing efforts to upgrade and expand our network security and other information systems as well as our high-availability capabilities are costly, and problems with the design or implementation of system enhancements may harm our business and our results of operations.

Our business operations, information technology and communications systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, climate change, human error, malicious attacks, fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses and malware, computer denial of service attacks, terrorist attacks, public health emergencies and other events beyond our control. For example, we modified our business practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (including employee travel, employee work locations and cancellation of physical participation in meetings, events and conferences) and we expect to resume operations in our offices under a hybrid model where our workforce will spend a portion of their time working in our offices and a portion of their time working from home. The implementation of this hybrid model will introduce new execution risks and we may experience longer-term disruptions to our operations as we evolve our workplace model. We may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers or third-party partners. We cannot predict how long any such measures will be in place and whether we would reimplement or enhance any such measures in one or more locations in order to respond to the effects of the pandemic or the rules, regulations or guidelines of any governmental authority. Any such measures may impair our ability to perform critical functions or could make it considerably more difficult to develop, enhance and support our products and services.

In addition, our corporate headquarters and other critical business operations are located near major seismic faults. In the event of a major natural or man-made disaster, our insurance coverage may not completely compensate us for our losses and our future financial results may be materially harmed.

We rely on our network infrastructure, data hosting, public cloud and software-as-a-service providers, and internal technology systems for many of our development, marketing, operational, support, sales, accounting and financial reporting activities. We are continually investing resources to update and improve these systems and environments in order to meet existing needs, as well as the growing and changing requirements of our business and customers. If we experience prolonged delays or unforeseen difficulties in updating and upgrading our systems and architecture, we may experience outages and may not be able to deliver certain offerings and develop new offerings and enhancements that we need to remain competitive. Such improvements and upgrades are often complex, costly and time consuming. In addition, such improvements can be challenging to integrate with our existing technology systems, or may uncover problems with our existing technology systems.

Unsuccessful implementation of hardware or software updates and improvements could result in outages, disruption in our business operations, loss of revenue or damage to our reputation.

Our growth is increasingly dependent on the strength of our business relationships and our ability to continue to develop, manage and maintain new and existing relationships with third-party partners. We rely on various third-party partners, including software and service providers, suppliers, credit reporting bureaus, vendors, manufacturers, distributors, accountants, contractors, financial institutions, core processors, licensing partners and development partners, among others, in many areas of our business in order to deliver our offerings and operate our business. Credit Karma generates revenue from its relationships with financial institution partners, which are subject to particular risks that affect their willingness to offer their products on Credit Karma's platform, such as adverse economic conditions and an increasing complexity in the regulatory environment. We also rely on third parties to support the operation of our business by maintaining our physical facilities, equipment, power systems and infrastructure. In certain instances, these third-party relationships are sole source or limited source relationships and can be difficult to replace or substitute depending on the level of integration of the third party’s products or services into, or with, our offerings and/or the general availability of such third party’s products and services. In addition, there may be few or no alternative third-party providers or vendors in the market. Further, there can be no assurance that we will be able to adequately retain third-party contractors engaged to help us operate our business.

Additionally, the business operations of our third-party partners have been and could continue to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken in response to it, including the pandemic’s effects on their third-party partners. If our third-party partners are unable to help us operate our business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our business and financial results may be negatively impacted. For example, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, credit card companies and lenders initially and temporarily reduced or suspended their activity on Credit Karma’s platform, which impacted Credit Karma’s revenue. The failure of third parties to provide acceptable and high quality products, services and technologies or to update their products, services and technologies may result in a disruption to our business operations and our customers, which may reduce our revenues and profits, cause us to lose customers and damage our reputation. Alternative arrangements and services may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or we may experience business interruptions upon a transition to an alternative partner.

Although we have strict standards for our suppliers and business partners to comply with the law and company policies regarding workplace and employment practices, data use and security, environmental compliance, intellectual property licensing and other applicable regulatory and compliance requirements, we cannot control their day-to-day practices. Any violation of laws or implementation of practices regarded as unethical could result in supply chain disruptions, canceled orders, terminations of or damage to key relationships, and damage to our reputation.

In particular, we have relationships with banks, credit unions and other financial institutions that support certain critical services we offer to our customers. If macroeconomic conditions or other factors, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, cause any of these institutions to fail, consolidate, stop providing certain services or institute cost-cutting efforts, our business and financial results may suffer and we may be unable to offer those services to our customers.

We increasingly utilize the distribution platforms of third parties like Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store for the distribution of certain of our product offerings. Although we benefit from the strong brand recognition and large user base of these distribution platforms to attract new customers, the platform owners have wide discretion to change the pricing structure, terms of service and other policies with respect to us and other developers. Any adverse changes by these third parties could adversely affect our financial results.

Much of our future success depends on the continued service and availability of skilled personnel, including members of our executive team, and those in technical and other key positions. Experienced personnel in the software, mobile technologies, data science, data security, and software as a service industries are in high demand and competition for their talents is intense, especially in California and India, where a significant number of our employees are located. Also, as we strive to continue to adapt to technological change and introduce new and enhanced products and business models, we must be able to secure, maintain and develop the right quality and quantity of engaged and committed talent. The incentives we have available to attract, retain, and motivate employees provided by our equity awards may become less effective, and if we were to issue significant equity to attract additional employees, the ownership of our existing stockholders would be diluted. Although we strive to be an employer of choice, we may not be able to continue to successfully attract, retain and develop key personnel, which may cause our business to suffer. Moreover, as social and economic conditions evolve from the COVID-19 pandemic, current and prospective employees may seek new or different opportunities based on factors such as compensation, benefits, mobility and flexibility that are different from what we offer, making it difficult to attract and retain them.

All of our tax products and many of our non-tax products have rigid development timetables that increase the risk of errors in our products and the risk of launch delays. Our tax preparation software product development cycle is particularly challenging due to the need to incorporate unpredictable and potentially late tax law and tax form changes each year and because our customers expect high levels of accuracy and a timely launch of these products to prepare and file their taxes by the tax filing deadline. Due to the complexity of our products and the condensed development cycles under which we operate, our products may contain errors that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of the software or result in incorrect calculations. The complexity of the tax laws on which our products are based may also make it difficult for us to consistently deliver offerings that contain the features, functionality and level of accuracy that our customers expect. When we encounter problems we may be required to modify our code, work with state tax administrators to communicate with affected customers, assist customers with amendments, distribute patches to customers who have already purchased the product and recall or repackage existing product inventory in our distribution channels. If we encounter development challenges or discover errors in our products either late in our development cycle or after release it may cause us to delay our product launch date or suspend product availability until such issues can be fixed. Any major defects, launch delays or product suspensions may lead to loss of customers and revenue, negative publicity, customer and employee dissatisfaction, reduced retailer shelf space and promotions, and increased operating expenses, such as inventory replacement costs, legal fees or other payments, including those resulting from our accuracy guarantee in our tax preparation products. For example, an error in our tax products could cause a compliance error for taxpayers, including the over or underpayment of their federal or state tax liability. While our accuracy guarantee commits us to reimburse penalties and interest paid by customers due solely to calculation errors in our tax preparation products, such errors may result in additional burdens on third parties that we may need to address or that may cause us to suspend the availability of our products until such errors are addressed. This could also affect our reputation, the willingness of customers to use our products, and our financial results. Further, as we develop our platform to connect people to experts, such as connecting TurboTax customers with tax experts through our TurboTax Live offering, or connecting QuickBooks customers with bookkeepers through our QuickBooks Live offering, we face the risk that these experts may provide advice that is erroneous, ineffective or otherwise unsuitable. Any such deficiency in the advice given by these experts may cause harm to our customers, a loss of customer confidence in our offerings or harm to our reputation or financial results.

In addition to uncertainty about our ability to generate revenues from our foreign operations and expand into international markets, there are risks inherent in doing business internationally, including:

Violations of the rapidly evolving and complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that apply to our international operations may result in fines, criminal actions or sanctions against us, our officers or our broader workforce, prohibitions on the conduct of our business and damage to our reputation. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to promote compliance with these laws, we cannot be sure that our workforce, contractors and agents are in compliance with our policies.

These risks inherent in our international operations and expansion increase our costs of doing business internationally and may result in harm to our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Legal and compliance risks arise from change in the government and regulatory environment, including complex and evolving regulations relating to privacy and data security; potential litigation; regulatory inquiries and intellectual property infringement claims.

The Company is subject to federal, state, local and international laws and regulations that affect the Company’s activities, including, without limitation, areas of labor, advertising, tax, financial services, data privacy and security, electronic funds transfer, money transmission, lending, digital content, consumer protection, real estate, billing, e-commerce, promotions, quality of services, intellectual property ownership and infringement, import and export requirements, anti-corruption, foreign exchange controls and cash repatriation restrictions, anti-competition, environmental, health and safety, and other regulated activities. There have been significant new regulations and heightened focus by the government on many of these areas, as well as in areas such as insurance and privacy. As we expand our products and services and revise our business models, both domestically and internationally, we may become subject to additional government regulation or increased regulatory scrutiny. For example, in April 2020, one of our subsidiaries became a Small Business Administration ("SBA") approved lender under the SBA’s recently established Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Further, regulators (both in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions in which we operate) may adopt new laws or regulations, change existing regulations, or their interpretation of existing laws or regulations may differ from ours. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal, state, local and foreign governmental authorities have imposed, and may continue to impose, protocols and restrictions intended to contain the spread of the virus, including limitations on the reopening of work facilities, schools, public buildings and businesses, quarantines, lockdowns and travel restrictions. Such restrictions have disrupted and may continue to disrupt our business operations and limit our ability to perform critical functions.

The tax preparation industry continues to receive heightened attention from federal and state governments. New legislation, regulation, public policy considerations, changes in the cybersecurity environment, litigation by the government or private entities, changes to or new interpretations of existing laws may result in greater oversight of the tax preparation industry, restrict the types of products and services that we can offer or the prices we can charge, or otherwise cause us to change the way we operate our tax businesses or offer our tax products and services. We may not be able to respond quickly to such regulatory, legislative and other developments, and these changes may in turn increase our cost of doing business and limit our revenue opportunities. In addition, if our practices are not consistent with new interpretations of existing laws, we may become subject to lawsuits, penalties, and other liabilities that did not previously apply. We are also required to comply with a variety of state revenue agency standards in order to successfully operate our tax preparation and electronic filing services.

Changes in state-imposed requirements by one or more of the states, including the required use of specific technologies or technology standards, may significantly increase the costs of providing those services to our customers and may prevent us from delivering a quality product to our customers in a timely manner.

Regulations related to the provision of online services is evolving as federal, state and foreign governments continue to adopt new or modify existing laws and regulations addressing data privacy and the collection, processing, storage, transfer and use of data. This includes, for example, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Protection Act, the California Privacy Rights Act, and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, which will become effective in January 2023. In our efforts to meet the GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy regulations, we have made and continue to make certain operational changes to our products and business practices. If we are unable to engineer products that meet these evolving requirements or help our customers meet their obligations under these or other new data regulations, we might experience reduced demand for our offerings. Further, penalties for non-compliance with these laws may be significant.

Other governmental authorities throughout the U.S. and around the world are considering similar types of legislative and regulatory proposals concerning data protection. Each of these privacy, security and data protection laws and regulations could impose significant limitations, require changes to our business, require notification to customers or workers of a security breach, restrict our use or storage of personal information, or cause changes in customer purchasing behavior which may make our business more costly, less efficient or impossible to conduct, and may require us to modify our current or future products

or services, which may make customers less likely to purchase our products and may harm our future financial results. Additionally, any actual or alleged noncompliance with these laws and regulations could result in negative publicity and subject us to investigations, claims or other remedies, including demands that we modify or cease existing business practices, and expose us to significant fines, penalties and other damages. We have incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenses to comply with existing privacy and security standards and protocols imposed by law, regulation, industry standards or contractual obligations.

We are subject to various legal proceedings (including class action lawsuits), claims and regulatory inquiries that have arisen out of the ordinary conduct of our business and are not yet resolved and additional claims and inquiries may arise in the future. The number and significance of these claims and inquiries may increase as our businesses evolve. Any proceedings, claims or inquiries initiated by or against us, whether successful or not, may be time consuming; result in costly litigation, damage awards, consent decrees, injunctive relief or increased costs of business; require us to change our business practices or products; require significant amounts of management time; result in diversion of significant operations resources; or otherwise harm our business and future financial results. For further information about specific litigation, see Item 3, “Legal Proceedings.”

We may become increasingly subject to infringement claims, including patent, copyright, trade secret, and trademark infringement claims. Litigation may be necessary to determine the validity and scope of the intellectual property rights of others. We have received a number of allegations of intellectual property infringement claims in the past and expect to receive more claims in the future based on allegations that our offerings infringe upon the intellectual property held by third parties. Some of these claims are the subject of pending litigation against us and against some of our customers. These claims may involve patent holding companies or other adverse intellectual property owners who have no relevant product revenues of their own, and against whom our own intellectual property may provide little or no deterrence. The ultimate outcome of any allegation is uncertain and, regardless of outcome, any such claim, with or without merit, may be time consuming to defend, result in costly litigation, divert management’s time and attention from our business, require us to stop selling, delay shipping or redesign our products, or require us to pay monetary damages for royalty or licensing fees, or to satisfy indemnification obligations that we have with some of our customers. Our failure to obtain necessary license or other rights, or litigation arising out of intellectual property claims may harm our business.

The laws relating to the liability of online services companies for information such as online content disseminated through their services are subject to frequent challenges. In spite of settled law in the U.S., claims are made against online services companies by parties who disagree with the content. Where our online content is accessed on the internet outside of the U.S., challenges may be brought under foreign laws which do not provide the same protections for online services companies as in the U.S. These challenges in either U.S. or foreign jurisdictions may give rise to legal claims alleging defamation, libel, invasion of privacy, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement, or other theories based on the nature and content of the materials disseminated through the services. Certain of our services include content generated by users of our online services. Although this content is not generated by us, claims of defamation or other injury may be made against us for that content. Any costs incurred as a result of this potential liability may harm our business.

Financial risks relate to our ability to meet financial obligations and mitigate exposure to financial impacts to our businesses or our offerings. Financial risks arise from the following: seasonality; excessive subscription cancellations and product returns; unanticipated changes in income tax rates; adverse global macro-economic conditions; credit risks; fluctuations in our net income; indebtedness; and the fluctuation of our stock price.

Our tax offerings have significant seasonal patterns. Revenue from income tax preparation products and services has historically been heavily concentrated from November through April and this seasonality has been affected by changes to the opening and closing dates of the tax season. For example, the IRS and many states extended their tax filing deadlines to May 17, 2021 for the 2020 tax year and to July 15, 2020 for the 2019 tax year. This seasonality has caused significant fluctuations in our quarterly financial results. Our financial results may also fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year due to a variety of factors, including factors that may affect the timing of revenue recognition. These include the timing of the availability of federal and state tax forms from taxing agencies and the ability of those agencies to receive electronic tax return submissions; changes to our offerings that result in the inclusion or exclusion of ongoing services; changes in product pricing strategies or product sales mix; changes in customer behavior; and the timing of our discontinuation of support for older product offerings. Other factors that may affect our quarterly or annual financial results include the timing of acquisitions, divestitures, and

goodwill and acquired intangible asset impairment charges. Any fluctuations in our operating results may adversely affect our stock price.

Like many software companies we refund customers for product returns and subscription cancellations. We establish reserves against revenue in our financial statements based on estimated customer refunds. We closely monitor this refund activity in an effort to maintain adequate reserves. In the past, customer refunds have not differed significantly from these reserves. However, if we experience actual customer refunds or an increase in risks of collecting customer payments that significantly exceed the amount we have reserved, it may result in lower net revenue.

Our future effective income tax rates may be favorably or unfavorably affected by unanticipated changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, by changes in our stock price, or by changes in tax laws or their interpretation. There are several pending proposed changes to U.S. and non-U.S. tax legislation and the ultimate enactment of any of them could have a negative impact on our effective tax rate. Foreign governments may enact tax laws that could result in further changes to global taxation and materially affect our financial position and results of operations. In addition, we are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. These continuous examinations may result in unforeseen tax-related liabilities, which may harm our future financial results.

An increasing number of states and foreign jurisdictions have adopted laws or administrative practices, that impose new taxes on all or a portion of gross revenue or other similar amounts or impose additional obligations to collect transaction taxes such as sales, consumption, value added, or similar taxes. We may not have sufficient lead time to build systems and processes to collect these taxes properly, or at all. Failure to comply with such laws or administrative practices, or a successful assertion by such states or foreign jurisdictions requiring us to collect taxes where we do not, could result in material tax liabilities, including for past sales, as well as penalties and interest.

Adverse macroeconomic developments could negatively affect our business and financial condition. Adverse global economic events have caused, and could, in the future, cause disruptions and volatility in global financial markets and increased rates of default and bankruptcy, and could impact consumer and small business spending. In particular, because the majority of our revenue is derived from sales within the U.S., economic conditions in the U.S. have an even greater impact on us than companies with a more diverse international presence. Challenging economic times could cause potential new customers not to purchase or to delay purchasing our products and services, and could cause our existing customers to discontinue purchasing or delay upgrades of our existing products and services. In addition, financial institution partners may again decrease or suspend their activity on Credit Karma’s platform, Credit Karma’s members may decrease their engagement on the platform or their creditworthiness could be negatively impacted, reducing members' ability to qualify for credit cards and loans. Any of the foregoing may negatively impact our revenues and future financial results. Decreased consumer spending levels could also reduce credit and debit card transaction processing volumes causing reductions in our payments revenue. Poor economic conditions and high unemployment have caused, and could in the future cause, a significant decrease in the number of tax returns filed, which may have a significant effect on the number of tax returns we prepare and file. In addition, weakness in the end-user consumer and small business markets could negatively affect the cash flow of our distributors and resellers who could, in turn, delay paying their obligations to us, which could increase our credit risk exposure and cause delays in our recognition of revenue or future sales to these customers. Any of these events could harm our business and our future financial results.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken in response to it have significantly increased economic and demand uncertainty. Accordingly, the risks described in the paragraph above may be more likely to materialize, any of which could harm our business and our future financial results.

We provide capital to qualified small businesses, which exposes us to the risk of our borrowers’ inability to repay such loans. We have also entered into credit arrangements with financial institutions to obtain the capital we provide under this offering. Any termination or interruption in the financial institutions’ ability to lend to us could interrupt our ability to provide capital to qualified small businesses. Further, our credit decisioning, pricing, loss forecasting, scoring and other models used to evaluate loan applications may contain errors or may not adequately assess creditworthiness of our borrowers, or may be otherwise ineffective, resulting in incorrect approvals or denials of loans. It is also possible that loan applicants could provide false or incorrect information. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken in response to it have had a significant impact on small businesses and may increase the likelihood that our borrowers are unable to repay their loans. If any of the foregoing events were to occur, our reputation, relationships with borrowers, collections of loans receivable and financial results could be harmed. In addition, one of our subsidiaries is a lender and a servicer under the PPP to support our small business customers and other eligible applicants during the pandemic. Our participation in this program exposes us to many of the risks described

above and additional risks, such as borrower default, the SBA declining to forgive or honor its guarantee with respect to PPP loans and litigation or other disputes with borrowers or others related to our PPP activities.

Our acquisitions have resulted in significant expenses, including amortization and impairment of acquired technology and other acquired intangible assets, and impairment of goodwill. Total costs and expenses in these categories were $196 million in fiscal 2021; $28 million in fiscal 2020; and $26 million in fiscal 2019. Although under current accounting rules goodwill is not amortized, we may incur impairment charges related to the goodwill already recorded and to goodwill arising out of future acquisitions. We test the impairment of goodwill annually in our fourth fiscal quarter or more frequently if indicators of impairment arise. The timing of the formal annual test may result in charges to our statement of operations in our fourth fiscal quarter that may not have been reasonably foreseen in prior periods. At July 31, 2021, we had $5.6 billion in goodwill and $3.3 billion in net acquired intangible assets on our consolidated balance sheet, both of which may be subject to impairment charges in the future. New acquisitions, and any impairment of the value of acquired intangible assets, may have a significant negative impact on our future financial results.

As of July 31, 2021, we had an aggregate of $2.0 billion of indebtedness outstanding under our credit facilities and our senior unsecured notes. Under the agreements governing our indebtedness, we are permitted to incur additional debt. This debt, and any debt that we may incur in the future, may adversely affect our financial condition and future financial results by, among other things:

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our debt, we may be required, among other things, to seek additional financing in the debt or equity markets, refinance or restructure all or a portion of our indebtedness, sell selected assets or reduce or delay planned capital, operating or investment expenditures. Such measures may not be sufficient to enable us to service our debt. 

Additionally, the agreements governing our indebtedness impose restrictions on us and require us to comply with certain covenants. For example, our credit facilities restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to incur indebtedness and require us to maintain compliance with specified financial ratios. Our ability to comply with these ratios may be affected by events beyond our control. In addition, our credit facilities and the indenture governing our senior unsecured notes limit our ability to create liens our and subsidiaries’ assets and engage in sale and leaseback transactions. If we breach any of these covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders or the noteholders, as applicable, then, subject to applicable cure periods, any or all of our outstanding indebtedness may be declared immediately due and payable. There can be no assurance that any refinancing or additional financing would be available on terms that are favorable or acceptable to us, if at all.

Under the terms of our outstanding senior unsecured notes, we may be required to repurchase the notes for cash prior to their maturity in connection with the occurrence of certain changes of control that are accompanied by certain downgrades in the credit ratings of the notes. The repayment obligations under the notes may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a takeover of our company. If we were required to pay the notes prior to their scheduled maturity, it could have a negative impact on our cash position and liquidity and impair our ability to invest financial resources in other strategic initiatives.

In addition, changes by any rating agency to our credit rating may negatively impact the value and liquidity of both our debt and equity securities. If our credit ratings are downgraded or other negative action is taken, the interest rate payable by us under our unsecured revolving credit facility may increase. In addition, any downgrades in our credit ratings may affect our ability to obtain additional financing in the future and may negatively impact the terms of any such financing.

Intuit’s common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “INTU.”

As of August 31, 2021 we had approximately 490 record holders and approximately 700,000 beneficial holders of our common stock.

We declared cash dividends that totaled $2.36 per share of outstanding common stock or $651 million during fiscal 2021 and $2.12 per share of outstanding common stock or $562 million during fiscal 2020. In August 2021 our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.68 per share of outstanding common stock payable on October 18, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 11, 2021. We currently expect to continue to pay comparable cash dividends on a quarterly basis in the future; however, future declarations of dividends and the establishment of future record dates and payment dates are subject to the final determination of our Board of Directors.

None.

Stock repurchase activity during the three months ended July 31, 2021 was as follows:

You should read this MD&A in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes in Item 8 of this Annual Report.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we continue to conduct business with substantial modifications to employee work locations and employee travel, among other modifications. In June 2021 a small number of employees started returning to work locations on a limited basis. While we have not experienced significant disruptions to our operations from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to predict the full impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our operations and future financial performance, including demand for our offerings, impact to our customers and partners, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities, and other factors identified in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I of this Report.

In April 2020, Intuit was approved as a non-bank Small Business Administration lender for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP was authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide small businesses loans to pay payroll and group health costs, salaries and commissions, mortgage and rent payments, utilities, and interest on other debt which is designed to provide assistance to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2020, we reorganized certain technology and customer success functions that support and benefit our overall platform. Additionally, certain legal, facility and employee service costs are now managed at the corporate level. As a result, these costs are no longer included in segment operating income and are now included in other corporate expenses. For the twelve months ended July 31, 2020 and 2019, we reclassified $180 million and $172 million from Small Business & Self-Employed, $121 million and $78 million from Consumer, and $13 million and $12 million from ProConnect to other corporate expenses. In August 2020, we also renamed our Strategic Partner segment as the ProConnect segment. This segment continues to serve professional accountants.

In fiscal 2021 we acquired Credit Karma. We have included their results of operations in our consolidated results of operations from the date of acquisition. Credit Karma operates as a separate reportable segment. Segment operating income for Credit Karma includes all direct expenses related to selling and marketing, product development, and general and administrative, which is different from our other reportable segments. See Note 6 in Item 8 of this Annual Report for more information.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming multiple industries, including financial technology. Disruptive start-ups, emerging ecosystems and mega-platforms are harnessing new technology to create personalized experiences, deliver data-driven insights and increase speed of service. These shifts are creating a more dynamic and highly competitive environment where customer expectations are shifting around the world as more services become digitized and the array of choices continues to increase.  

Our Consumer and ProConnect offerings have a significant and distinct seasonal pattern as sales and revenue from our income tax preparation products and services are typically concentrated in the period from November through April. This seasonal pattern typically results in higher net revenues during our second and third quarters ending January 31 and April 30, respectively.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the timing of tax filing seasons for fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020 varied significantly. In fiscal 2019, the IRS began accepting returns on January 28, 2019 and the tax filing deadline was April 15, 2019. In fiscal 2020, the IRS began accepting returns on January 27, 2020 and the tax filing deadline was July 15, 2020. In fiscal 2021, the IRS began accepting returns on February 12, 2021 and the tax filing deadline was May 17, 2021. These changes to the tax filing seasons impacted our quarterly financial results during fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020.

We expect the seasonality of our Consumer and ProConnect businesses to continue to have a significant impact on our quarterly financial results in the future.

As we offer more online services, the ongoing operation and availability of our platforms and systems and those of our external service providers is becoming increasingly important. Because we help customers manage their financial lives, we face risks associated with the hosting, collection, use, and retention of personal customer information and data. We are investing significant management attention and resources in our information technology infrastructure and in our privacy and security capabilities, and we expect to continue to do so in the future.

For our consumer and professional tax offerings, we have implemented additional security measures and are continuing to work with state and federal governments to implement industry-wide security and anti-fraud measures, including sharing information regarding suspicious filings. We received ISO 27001 certification for a portion of our systems and we continue to invest in security measures and to work with the broader industry and government to protect our customers against this type of fraud. Additionally, Credit Karma’s security measures are regularly reviewed and updated.

Our senior management has reviewed the development and selection of these critical accounting policies and their disclosure in this Annual Report on Form 10-K with the Audit and Risk Committee of our Board of Directors.

We derive our revenue primarily from the sale of online services such as tax, accounting, payroll, merchant payment processing, delivery of qualified links and packaged desktop software products and desktop software subscriptions. Our contracts with customers often include promises to transfer multiple products and services. In determining how revenue should be recognized, a five-step process is used, which requires judgment and estimates within the revenue recognition process. The primary judgments include identifying the performance obligations in the contract and determining whether the performance obligations are distinct. If any of these judgments were to change it could cause a material increase or decrease in the amount

Significant estimates and assumptions that we must make in estimating the fair value of acquired technology, customer lists, and other identifiable intangible assets include future cash flows that we expect to generate from the acquired assets. If the subsequent actual results and updated projections of the underlying business activity change compared with the assumptions and projections used to develop these values, we could record impairment charges. In addition, we have estimated the economic lives of certain acquired assets and these lives are used to calculate depreciation and amortization expense. If our estimates of the economic lives change, depreciation or amortization expenses could be accelerated or slowed.

We estimate the fair value of acquired intangible assets and other long-lived assets that have finite useful lives whenever an event or change in circumstances indicates that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. We test for potential impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets that have indefinite useful lives annually in our fourth fiscal quarter or whenever indicators of impairment arise. The timing of the annual test may result in charges to our consolidated statement of operations in our fourth fiscal quarter that could not have been reasonably foreseen in prior periods.

We estimate the recoverability of acquired intangible assets and other long-lived assets that have finite useful lives by comparing the carrying amount of the asset to the future undiscounted cash flows that we expect the asset to generate. In order to estimate the fair value of those assets, we estimate the present value of future cash flows from those assets. The key assumptions that we use in our discounted cash flow model are the amount and timing of estimated future cash flows to be generated by the asset over an extended period of time and a rate of return that considers the relative risk of achieving the cash flows and the time value of money. Significant judgment is required to estimate the amount and timing of future cash flows and the relative risk of achieving those cash flows. We also make judgments about the remaining useful lives of acquired intangible assets and other long-lived assets that have finite lives. See Note 5 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for a summary of cost, accumulated amortization and weighted average life in years for our acquired intangible assets.

Assumptions and estimates about future values and remaining useful lives are complex and often subjective. They can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors such as industry and economic trends, and internal factors such as changes in our business strategy and our internal forecasts. For example, if our future operating results do not meet current forecasts or if we experience a sustained decline in our market capitalization that is determined to be indicative of a reduction in fair value of one or more of our reporting units, we may be required to record future impairment charges for goodwill and

acquired intangible assets. Impairment charges could materially decrease our future net income and result in lower asset values on our consolidated balance sheet.

We are subject to certain legal proceedings, as well as demands, claims and threatened litigation that arise in the normal course of our business. We review the status of each significant matter quarterly and assess our potential financial exposure. If the potential loss from any claim or legal proceeding is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated, we record a liability and an expense for the estimated loss. If we determine that a loss is possible and the range of the loss can be reasonably determined, then we disclose the range of the possible loss. Significant judgment is required in the determination of whether a potential loss is probable, reasonably possible, or remote as well as in the determination of whether a potential exposure is reasonably estimable. Our accruals are based on the best information available at the time. As additional information becomes available, we reassess the potential liability related to our pending claims and litigation and may revise our estimates. Potential legal liabilities and the revision of estimates of potential legal liabilities could have a material impact on our financial position and results of operations. See Note 13 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for more information.

We estimate our income taxes based on the various jurisdictions where we conduct business. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide income tax provision. The calculation of our tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax rules and the potential for future adjustment of our uncertain tax positions by the United States Internal Revenue Service or other taxing jurisdictions. We estimate our current tax liability and assess temporary differences that result from differing treatments of certain items for tax and accounting purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which we show on our consolidated balance sheet. We must then assess the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be realized. To the extent we believe that realization is not likely, we establish a valuation allowance. When we establish a valuation allowance or increase this allowance in an accounting period, we record a corresponding tax expense in our consolidated statement of operations.

We record a valuation allowance to reflect uncertainties about whether we will be able to utilize our deferred tax assets before they expire. We assess the need for an adjustment to the valuation allowance on a quarterly basis. The assessment is based on our estimates of future sources of taxable income in the jurisdictions in which we operate and the periods over which our deferred tax assets will be realizable. While we have considered future taxable income in assessing the need for a valuation allowance for the periods presented, we could in the future be required to increase the valuation allowance to take into account additional deferred tax assets that we may be unable to realize. An increase in the valuation allowance could have an adverse impact on our income tax provision and net income in the period in which we record the change.

We recognize and measure benefits for uncertain tax positions using a two-step approach. The first step is to evaluate the tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained upon audit, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes. For tax positions that are more likely than not of being sustained upon audit, the second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement. Significant judgment is required to evaluate uncertain tax positions. We evaluate our uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. Our evaluations are based upon a number of factors, including changes in facts or circumstances, changes in tax law, correspondence with tax authorities during the course of audits and effective settlement of audit issues. Changes in the recognition or measurement of uncertain tax positions could result in material increases or decreases in our income tax expense in the period in which we make the change, which could have a material impact on our effective tax rate and operating results. See Note 10 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for more information.

Net income increased $236 million or 13% in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020 due to the increase in operating income described above, a $30 million gain from the sale of a note receivable that was previously written off, and a $17 million gain on other long-term investments. These increases were partially offset by a higher tax expense for the period. Diluted net income per share increased 9% to $7.56 for fiscal 2021 due to the increase in net income, which was partially offset by an increase in the weighted average shares outstanding due to the shares issued as part of the acquisition of Credit Karma in the second quarter of fiscal 2021.

In August 2020, we reorganized certain technology and customer success functions that support and benefit our overall platform. Additionally, certain legal, facility and employee service costs are now managed at the corporate level. As a result, these costs are no longer included in segment operating income and are now included in other corporate expenses. For the twelve months ended July 31, 2020 and 2019, we reclassified $180 million and $172 million from Small Business & Self-Employed, $121 million and $78 million from Consumer, and $13 million and $12 million from ProConnect to other corporate expenses. In August 2020, we also renamed our Strategic Partner segment as the ProConnect segment. This segment continues to serve professional accountants.

In December 2020 we acquired Credit Karma in a business combination and it operates as a separate reportable segment. We have included the results of operations of Credit Karma in our consolidated statements of operations from the date of acquisition. See Note 6 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for more information. Segment operating income for Credit Karma includes all direct expenses, which is different from our other reportable segments where we do not fully allocate corporate expenses.

Segment operating income is segment net revenue less segment cost of revenue and operating expenses. For our Small Business & Self-Employed, Consumer, and ProConnect reportable segments, we include expenses such as corporate selling and marketing, product development, and general and administrative, which are not allocated to specific segments, in unallocated corporate items as part of other corporate expenses. For Credit Karma, segment expenses include all direct expenses related to selling and marketing, product development, and general and administrative. Unallocated corporate items for all segments include share-based compensation, amortization of acquired technology, amortization of other acquired intangible assets, and goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges. These unallocated costs for all segments totaled $2.9 billion in fiscal 2021, $2.3 billion in fiscal 2020, and $2.0 billion in fiscal 2019. Unallocated costs increased in fiscal 2021

compared with fiscal 2020 due to increased corporate product development, selling and marketing, and general and administrative expenses in support of the growth of our businesses, higher share-based compensation expenses, higher amortization of acquired technology, and higher amortization of other acquired intangible assets. See Note 14 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for reconciliations of total segment operating income to consolidated operating income for each fiscal year presented.

Online Ecosystem

Desktop Ecosystem

Desktop Ecosystem revenue increased $70 million in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020 primarily due to growth in our QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise subscription offering due to an increase in customers and higher revenue for our desktop payments offering due to higher charge volume. Also, during fiscal 2021 there was an increase in revenue from license updates as a result of price increases that occurred during fiscal 2020. These increases were partially offset by a decline in desktop unit revenue.

Consumer segment operating income increased $174 million or 8% in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020 due to the higher revenue described above, which was partially offset by higher expenses for staffing, marketing, and outside services.

Segment operating income was $182 million in fiscal 2021. Expenses were primarily related to staffing and marketing.

ProConnect segment operating income increased $26 million or 8% in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020 primarily due to the higher revenue described above and slightly lower spending.

Cost of product revenue as a percentage of product revenue was relatively consistent in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020. We expense costs of product revenue as they are incurred for delivered software and we do not defer any of these costs when product revenue is deferred.

Cost of service and other revenue as a percentage of service and other revenue decreased slightly in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020. The acquisition of Credit Karma contributed $209 million to cost of service and other revenue for fiscal 2021. The decrease in cost of service and other revenue as a percentage of service and other revenue is primarily due to the increase in revenue described above. Additionally, during fiscal 2021 we experienced an increase in customer success costs for TurboTax Live due to customer growth, partially offset by a decrease in depreciation expense.

Interest expense of $29 million in fiscal 2021 consisted primarily of interest on our senior unsecured notes, secured revolving credit facility, unsecured term loan, and unsecured revolving credit facility. Interest expense of $14 million in fiscal 2020 consisted primarily of interest on our unsecured term loan, unsecured revolving credit facility, secured revolving credit facility, and senior unsecured notes. See Note 7 and Note 8 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for more information.

At July 31, 2021, we had net deferred tax liabilities of $517 million which included a valuation allowance for state research and experimentation tax credit carryforwards, foreign loss carryforwards, foreign intangible deferred tax assets and state operating and capital loss carryforwards. See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” earlier in this Item 7 and Note 10 to the financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report for more information.

In the current global tax policy environment, the U.S. and other domestic and foreign governments continue to consider, and in some cases enact, changes in corporate tax laws. As changes occur, we account for finalized legislation in the period of enactment.

The following table summarizes selected measures of our liquidity and capital resources at the dates indicated:

Based on past performance and current expectations, we believe that our cash and cash equivalents, investments, and cash generated from operations will be sufficient to meet anticipated seasonal working capital needs, capital expenditure requirements, contractual obligations, commitments, debt service requirements, and other liquidity requirements associated with our operations for at least the next 12 months. We believe that our financial resources will allow us to manage any impact of COVID-19 on our business operations for the foreseeable future, which could include potential reductions in revenue and delays in payments from customers and partners.

We expect to return excess cash generated by operations to our stockholders through payment of cash dividends, after taking into account our operating and strategic cash needs.

We evaluate, on an ongoing basis, the merits of acquiring technology or businesses, or establishing strategic relationships with and investing in other companies. Our strong liquidity profile enables us to quickly respond to these kinds of opportunities.