For many of us Hotspotters, managing your finances (invoices, expenses, payments, etc) can be disjointed and time consuming. Throw taxes and bookkeeping into the mix and you have a night job. I’m able to keep up with it is with a virtual assistant, part time bookkeeper and a CPA. The frustrating part is that with the exception of the CPA, no one is doing anything that isn’t programmable. Mint.com, now Intuit, seeks to make automation that happen; so long as the old guard stays out of their way.

If you haven’t started using Mint yet, you should. Mint is about a 1/2 step up from managing your finances in Excel, the way many of us currently do it. The service is completely free, to the user. They make their money on financial product referrals, like a lower interest rate credit card, or a checking account that offers less fees. It automatically downloads all of your bank transactions, and they even have a rather effective iPhone app. (I understand a blackberry app is in the works.) The founder, Aaron Patzer, promises to continue down the same rode of innovation in his new GM role at Intuit. In an email sent to all current Mint.com users by Patzer says:

I’ll personally be taking on the role of GM of Intuit’s Personal Finance group responsible for online, desktop and mobile consumer personal finance offerings. Joining Intuit enables us to bring our vision of helping consumers understand and do more with their money to millions of Intuit customers.  This is a compelling combination of our innovative product, technology, and industry leading user interface design with one of the most trusted brands in software.

I am optimistic, but not without concerns. If you have ever used an Intuit product, you’ll know they’re too complex for very small business market and entrepreneurs. Secondly, it is difficult for entrenched companies to change their way.  Let’s hope Patzer can teach them a thing or two and that Intuit’s purchase wasn’t to just to take down a competitor.

via The Value of TechCrunch50: Mint Acquired by Intuit for $170m Two Years After Winning TC40.

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