FCB New York has been appointed global creative agency of record for Intuit QuickBooks following a review that began in February and included multiple agencies.

The account was previously held by TBWA\Chiat\Day, which first started working with the brand in 2017. Beyond the U.S., which is QuickBooks’s largest market, FCB London will handle the business in the U.K. while FCB Canada will be responsible for Canada. The company will also work with R/GA in Australia. International revenue comprised 8% of total revenue for QuickBook parent Intuit in its 2022 fiscal year, according to Intuit financial filings.

FCB will work on marketing for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Payroll, QuickBooks Payments and QuickBooks Time.

Intuit put QuickBooks into review around the same time as TurboTax, which is currently handled by Wieden+Kennedy. It is unclear if the company has made a decision on TurboTax. Intuit did not respond to a request for comment. In a press release announcing FCB's hiring, Dan McCarthy, senior VP and chief business officer at Intuit stated that “we believe we’re well positioned to be the source of truth for small businesses around the world. We look forward to our partnership with FCB to increase awareness of the tangible ways our products help our customers succeed.”

QuickBooks spent $131 million on U.S. measured media in 2022 and $153 million in 2021 according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics.

Beyond hiring an agency that has a global footprint, QuickBooks was looking for an agency to help shift the brand’s perception beyond just being an accounting tool, according to Emma Armstrong, CEO of FCB New York.

QuickBooks is “at different stages of maturation in the different markets,” Armstrong said. “They're really looking to move from being known as accounting software to being known for an entire ecosystem of small business tools.”

FCB will work on creating a new global platform for the brand and a series of campaigns, the first of which is slated to launch between August and July globally.

It’s unclear if TBWA had defended the account. Last year the agency handled a Super Bowl ad for QuickBooks that was its first Big Game appearance since 2016. The “Hey Start” campaign featured a cameo from DJ Khaled. 

TurboTax is a frequent Super Bowl advertiser—Wieden+Kennedy was behind this year's spot.

Armstrong said FCB kept its QuickBooks pitch broadly focused, given the global nature of the role that FCB will be playing and the fact it will be handling several products. 

During the pitch, rather than focusing on “one or two platforms or strategies” the agency reviewed its approach after every meeting, and “went back to the data, and tweaked the strategy,” she said. “So they really were buying a partner and seeing it was a test drive of how that partner thought, listened, and then responded.”