Life at Intuit

Finding Fulfillment in a Second Finance Career with Intuit

Written by Kelly Coughlin
Modified Apr 18, 2022
3 min read

Even though I run my own business, I still love working for Intuit, which serves millions of customers worldwide with QuickBooks, TurboTax, Mint, Credit Karma and Mailchimp. As an expert working across both the tax and finance domains-TurboTax Live and a new pilot program, Mint Coach, I utilize my experience to help customers solve their tax and financial challenges – making sure they are set up for better financial health. Read on to discover why entering the world of finance – and joining Intuit – was one of the best decisions I ever made.

From studying Russian to practicing accounting

I studied Russian in college and even thought about working for the intelligence community. But eventually I found my way into business, and I’ve been a CPA for 25+ years. I’m in my 60s now, and I’ve had a wonderful career. It’s been hard and challenging and interesting and fun, and I have so much to be thankful for, truly. I feel very fortunate.

This is the real reason I came to Intuit

After I sold my financial technology business, I decided to go back to helping small businesses with accounting. I had a feeling Intuit would disrupt the tax preparation field the way Uber disrupted the taxi industry, and I wanted to understand what drove their success.

Once I joined Intuit, I found I really liked the whole experience – from the remote-working aspect to being able to talk with clients all over the country.

What is a Multi-Domain Expert and why I chose this path

A multi-domain expert is one that supports multiple Intuit products. I work as a Mint Coach, helping customers with their personal finances and TurboTax Live,helping customers with tax preparation. The career path at Intuit keeps me challenged and engaged.

Never a dull moment

My focus is on Mint but I’ve loved the challenge working across products, including TurboTax. Last year, just before the tax filing deadline in April, the TurboTax team was looking for additional tax experts to help customers. When they asked me and some teammates to support, we said, “heck yeah, let’s do it and have some fun with it.” It’s rewarding to be a Multi-Domain expert. I’m able to switch between helping Mint customers with the opportunity to join TurboTax prepares to help customers get through the final three days of the tax season.

The one customer I’ll never forget

A Belgian citizen, living in California, called TurboTax Live to ask if the $7,000 a year he receives in reparations for being held in an internment camp during World War II was taxable. Talk about an amazing story. He continues to get this benefit every year, and I was humbled to be able to help him with the question. This is just one example of the types of situations I am engaging with customers about, where I’m helping people with a variety of tax and financial challenges from simple to complex.

This is what job satisfaction feels like

The work at Intuit is emotionally and mentally rewarding – I truly enjoy it. And the compensation and benefits? Let’s just say you’ll be as pleased as I am. As a Multi-Domain Expert at Intuit, I can still run my own practice, but I don’t have to do it full time. I’m continuing to grow my business, and I’ve actually been able to hire people for tax season. That frees me up so I can do more TurboTax Live and Mint Coach work, which gives me so much satisfaction.

Ready for your next move?

Whether you’re an experienced financial professional like me,launching your career or somewhere in between, you’ll appreciate the connections you can create at Intuit. Not only will you find challenging work, but your colleagues will share their knowledge – helping you broaden your own skills. If you want to grow your career working on interesting, complex problems in tax, accounting, or finance, come join the Intuit team.

Kelly Coughlin is a tax expert working across the tax and finance domains for TurboTax Live and as a Mint Coach, an Intuit pilot program. He enjoys helping customers solve their financial challenges, allowing them to get to a better place in their lives. Kelly says the work at Intuit is emotionally and mentally rewarding, and it provides him with a sense of satisfaction.

After 25+ years as a CPA and owning his own financial technology business, Kelly, now in his 60s, joined the company to learn what drove its success. He relishes every aspect of his role – from remote working to being able to talk with clients all over the country about their fascinating life stories. With the flexibility to work the schedule he wants for TurboTax Live and Mint, Kelly continues to grow his own independent tax practice.