The portal, IntuitAdvisor, is designed to help small to mid-size accounting and financial service firms create their own digital offices, said Intuit. By visiting www.intuitadvisor.com, professionals can access services such as IntuitAdvisor WorkSpace Pro, a subscription-based service that features online workflow and document management capabilities; and Intuit Advisor Site Solutions, a subscription-based service that enables users to create and maintain a professional Web site.

"IntuitAdvisor helps accounting professionals transition from a paper, filing and faxing office system to an electronically efficient one that has the power to expand relationships with clients, increase revenue opportunities and more efficiently manage their time and businesses," said Steve Blundell, vice president of Intuit's Professional Accountants Channel.

IntuitAdvisor.com, which is free to accounting professionals, and Intuit Advisor Site Solutions are expected to be available Dec. 4, 2000, the company said. Intuit Advisor Site Solutions will cost $19.95 per month, which includes domain name registration and Web hosting.

IntuitAdvisor WorkSpace Pro will be available by mid-December for a one-time activation fee of $95 and $19.95 a month thereafter.

In other news, Intuit announced that it is selling its QuickenInsurance Business to InsWeb, an online insurance marketplace, in a stock deal valued at about $14 million. The companies expect the transaction to close during the first quarter of 2001.

Under the agreement, InsWeb will acquire selected assets of Intuit's QuickenInsurance business. In exchange, Intuit will receive a 16.6 percent post-closing equity stake in InsWeb. Based on the closing price of InsWeb's stock on Nov. 24, 2000 and the number of shares expected to be received, the equity value of the transaction is expected to be about $14 million, the company said.

Intuit's president and chief executive Steve Bennett is expected to be elected to the InsWeb Board of Directors when the deal closes, said Intuit.

Under a separate five-year agreement, InsWeb will become the exclusive consumer insurance aggregator for Intuit's Quicken.com and QuickenInsurance Web sites and certain consumer desktop products, said Intuit. Intuit will share in associated revenues and will work to transition its relationships with its online distribution sources to InsWeb, Intuit stated.

-- SmartPros News Staff

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