"What we are in the throes of doing his a single tax platform than can span the needs from consumers to large pros," Wernkikoff said.

The company would move from products with different different code bases. That would unify Lacerte, ProSeries and TurboTax. Intuit's online ProConnect software is built on the Lacerte code.

However, the difference might not be apparent to users as Intuit will maintain different interfaces. Where endusers should see a difference is in the ability of Intuit to bring new features to market much more quickly, Wernikoff said.

Wernikoff explained the advantages of the new approach. "It breaks up the architecture into more module components that are easier to maintain," he said. So there will be a single data layer and a single logic layer, representing the American and Canadian tax codes.

"We can innovate faster," he said. Where it might have taken months to bring changes to markets, Intuit will be able to accomplish the same tasks "in a couple of weeks". The new architecture should also enable Intuit to provide personal experiences in the software.