Our principles

Be clear and precise

Customers look to us for answers and guidance. So when you explain things, be as definitive and precise as you can. And use simple terms consistently.

Consistent use of definitive words improves user comprehension and also helps out with accessibility and translation.

There will be times, of course, when you don’t know exactly what’s going on. That’s a good opportunity to push your partners to improve the experience so you can speak more directly to what’s happening. But if all else fails and things still aren’t clear, try to be as straightforward as possible.

End sentences with prepositions

It’s fine to end sentences with prepositions most of the time. We prefer it, in fact. Just be careful not to slip into something that’s too informal. If you’d never say it in conversation, then don’t write it that way.

Speak to customers as "you"

Use first person when we talk about ourselves

Use we, our, and us when you write as TurboTax, QuickBooks, or ProConnect. It’s one way that we make experiences feel more personal. We want customers to know that there are people behind Intuit products and that we’re in this with them.

Just don’t be creepy. We never want them to think we’re spying on them.

Exception: when you’re referring to the actual product, especially in marketing and sales, use it, not us.

Use second person for customers, except for buttons and legal stuff

Our product experiences are a conversation with customers. We talk directly to them, so use second person to address them.

Buttons can be the exception, though. Sometimes they represent the customer’s side of the conversation, so it’s OK to use first person there to represent the customer’s voice and maintain the conversational quality of the experience.

Note that first person in buttons is an option, not a mandate.

Use third person for people who aren’t the customer, and keep things gender neutral

Use third person when you refer to someone (or something) other than the customer performing the action.

We work with plenty of small businesses, so we use third person when referring to those small business’s customers, vendors, partners, accountants, and so forth.

Try to keep things gender neutral, including pronouns. If you find yourself in the awkward spot where the subject’s gender is unknown, write your way around it. Don’t use she/he, s/he, or one. If you can’t write your way around it, then it’s OK to use they, them, or their.

For more, check out our gender-neutral language guidelines.

Think globally

You’re reading content created in U.S. English. Not all our customers experience our products or marketing in this way. As Intuit reaches more people around the world, here are some things to consider.

Translation differences

To make U.S. English copy work in other languages, things are going to change. Word order, grammatical gender, and copy length will affect the content design. In Romance languages like French, Portuguese, and Spanish, the content will be longer. Prepare to be flexible and work toward designs that can accommodate copy variations.

Localization for culture fit

Direct translations of content aren’t enough. Copy also needs to be culturally appropriate and correct for the region it appears in. Intuit products need to reflect local variations in currency, taxes, dates, times, government and business regulations, and other things that are important for our customers’ finances.

Writing tips that can help

Consistent, clear, specific word choice

Try to choose one specific term and stick to it. Instead of saying purchase, register, or get, maybe consistently write buy.

Contractions

Contractions are an essential way of making U.S. English conversational, but they get tricky in translation. Work with your regional content designers to decide how to handle them. And follow the guidelines for contractions.

Gender

Try to be gender-neutral and inclusive in copy, and be aware that this is challenging in languages that build gender into the grammar. See gender guidelines.

Slang and jargon

Idioms are specific to cultures and languages. Use slang when it works, and partner with regional content partners to find the right fit for other regions.

Sentence length

Try to limit sentences to no more than 20 words. For more information, see our guidelines on keeping it simple.

Similes and metaphors

Some metaphors might not translate well for other languages and cultures. Feel free to use metaphors, but be careful and test it if you can. What sounds good to you may not resonate with others.

Use active voice

We use active voice most of the time because it’s clearer, more direct, and easier to read than passive voice. It’s also more conversational. Need a quick refresher? Active voice means the subject of the sentence performs the action. With passive voice, the subject receives the action, and doesn’t necessarily appear in the sentence.

Active voice also conveys responsibility. When we talk to customers, we’re as transparent as possible. We don’t want them to feel like they did something wrong.

If there’s a problem that’s our fault, we say so. And if we’re taking care of something for them, we explain that. 

Sometimes it makes sense to use passive voice. Confirmation messages are a good example. If you need to let a customer know the status of a task, it’s fine to just say what happened. And that type of content often shows up in small spaces, like toast messages or inline alerts.

Passive voice in these contexts may sound less conversational than active voice. That’s OK if you’re being diagnostic or just providing a quick summary.

You can also use passive voice when you want to soften the impact of a bad situation. If you can’t fully explain why something happened (for legal or other reasons), try to help customers focus on what they can do.

For instructional or descriptive content like help articles or tooltips, we try to use active voice as much as possible. In some cases, though, passive voice makes the info shorter and more concise. And it can be a good choice if the customer doesn’t need to know who performed the action.

Use everyday contractions

Use the contractions of everyday conversation. Just don’t get carried away.

Don’t use regional contractions like ain’t, shan’t, y’all (sorry, Austin), mustn’t, and so on.

Don’t turn nouns into contractions.

And be aware that contractions get tricky when it comes to translation. Work with your regional content designers to decide how to handle them.

Here’s a list of contractions that are usually fine.

Use simple verb tenses

For the most part, write in simple tenses—past, present, and future. They’re direct, clear, and short.

Try to stay away from progressive tenses unless you need to convey ongoing action.

Simple verb tenses are also easier for non-native speakers to understand and for translation teams to translate.