Small businesses have long viewed cash flow management as an afterthought, counting expenses after the money runs out. Now financial platforms are bundling payments, payroll, loans and advances into one system that can see the flow of money in both directions and predict where it goes.
This shift puts software providers in direct competition with banks for small business loans. According to Todd Denbo (pictured), senior vice president of lending and commercial leader of money at Intuit, Intuit Inc. says its view of both sides of the ledger, coupled with AI driving finance toward automation, gives it an edge that traditional lenders can’t match.
“We can see the expenses you have in the queue,” Denbo said. “For us, we can effectively predict that there will be a cash flow shortfall. That’s why we also have our lending operations, so we can proactively offer lines of credit or a term loan to fill that gap.”
Denbo spoke with theCUBE’s Alison Kosik and Christophe Bertrand at Intuit Connect during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Intuit uses real-time financial data and AI to help small businesses manage cash flow and automate financial tasks. (*Disclosure below.)
Cash flow management meets real-time credit data
Denbo said Intuit was borrowing about $400 million annually four years ago and nearly $7 billion in its most recent fiscal year. This growth reflects an average of 625,000 data points per small business across the 10 million companies already on the platform. Because these companies manage their finances on Intuit’s platform, the company can track money coming in and going out instantly.
“Most lenders in this space rely on outdated trends that come from commercial credit reporting agencies or personal credit reporting agencies, or they try to derive data that is very difficult to determine,” Denbo said. “This is all happening in real time.”
Intuit has also added spending data through its business credit card integrated with QuickBooks, allowing owners to control their employees’ spending before the money flows out. The company has also expanded QuickBooks to Claude and ChatGPT, although automation is still not enough to move money alone, Denbo explained. AI can handle the financial fundamentals while entrepreneurs have the final say on actions that involve their money.
“We collect the data, we analyze the data, we package an answer or a draft,” Denbo said. “But when it comes to moving money or sending a bill of exchange, we’re basically waiting for human intervention.”
Here’s the full video interview, part of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Intuit Connect:
(*Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Intuit Connect 2026 event. Neither Intuit, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over theCUBE or SiliconANGLE content.)
Photo: SiliconANGLE
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