Keeper’s deep integration with QuickBooks is one of the reasons Stein decided to join the Intuit Developer Growth Program. He discovered the program through Intuit’s Firm of the Future blog and jumped at the chance to get involved.
As part of the Developer Growth Program fall 2024 cohort, he and his team were ready to fine-tune their app and amplify their marketing efforts with the help of an exclusive network of accountants, experience design (XD) experts, solution architects, and go-to-market managers. And like other participants in the Developer Growth Program—including Expensify, Method CRM, Clockwork, Asset Accountant, Syft Analytics, Buildertrend, Uncat, Bookkeep—the Keeper team gained valuable insights into refining their app for continued success.
The story of Keeper
Keeper was co-founded in 2020 by Stein and Kenny Song. Stein says the idea behind Keeper came about while he was the CFO of a tech startup. He quickly found out that the tech available for month-end closes wasn’t getting the job done. So he and Song decided to develop an app that would do better.
Keeper is a comprehensive practice management tool for bookkeeping and offers a wide range of features including the following:
- Custom management files to help clients understand their financials.
- Automated file review to catch and correct coding errors (with instant sync to QuickBooks).
- Simplified 1099/W9 processing.
- Task management to optimize workflows.
- Seamless communication through their client portal.
With Keeper, firms can expect to receive responses from clients twice as fast, identify and correct hard-to-find errors, and save over an hour per close on average.
Per customer AngeeW, Keeper is a keeper. She describes it as “THE must-have app!” and shares her thoughts in a five-star review on the QuickBooks App Store: “We use Keeper for all of our clients for client communication, reporting, time tracking within our firm, quality control to ensure we’re catching everything that could affect reporting or even keeping a clean supplier list. My clients love having ONE place to check for communication and uploading necessary documents! And did I mention the W9/1099 features?! Wow! Seriously my favorite app in my business!”
SusanNelson also gives Keeper five stars: “This software is essential to accounting businesses. It does so many things for me every month! Keeps track of what has been done week to week, tracks closes and when QA needs to be done. Duplicate vendors and customers and the 1099 portion can’t be beaten. Highly recommend!”
Going deep with the Developer Growth Program
Stein knew he wanted to participate in Intuit’s Developer Growth Program because of the great benefits it offered, but he was surprised at the depth of the reviews his product received. “They didn’t just kick the tires; they dove right in and tried everything.”
He particularly appreciated the insights from the expert accountant panel.
“Collaborating with the expert accountant panel has been a great opportunity for us to work with firms who have tried a lot of different apps,” he said. “This means they bring significant accounting expertise and deep tech knowledge, and they understand the constraints app developers work under.”
A specific constraint for Keeper has been persuading firms to switch from their legacy systems to Keeper. But when Keeper convinces them to try the app just for one close, Stein said, “Over 80% decide to use Keeper across their client base.”
As a marketing story, this is a win. Keeper took advantage of using the assets in the Intuit marketing portal as part of the program.
“The marketing portal has helped provide the tools to professionalize our marketing. It also helped us get our QuickBooks App Store listing into pristine condition.”
Maximizing the Developer Growth Program
Stein and his team think the Developer Growth Program is a great opportunity for app companies willing to capitalize on all it has to offer.
“The Developer Growth Program is a program where you really get out what you put into it,” he said. “The Intuit team has been helpful at tailoring what it offers to what we feel we need to mature as a company.”
Our goal is to support the growth of app developers like Keeper, and we’re excited about the future success of their integration with QuickBooks Online. We’re always looking for innovative apps in our marketplace that can address the needs of QuickBooks customers. Check out our step-by-step guide that makes listing your app on the QuickBooks App Store easy.
