Intuit is awarding grants of $10,000, plus $10,000 in free products and services, to 10 tax and accounting firms, in hopes to “give them a boost to hire and invest in their businesses and thus get more done.” The campaign is centered around the tag line “get more done.”

The program is fully outlined at, you guessed it, http://accountant.intuit.com/GetMoreDone.

You can download the entry form (at least you could earlier today -- right now the form and the related rules have been taken down) at the above mentioned Web site -- it requires a brief, high-level business plan explaining how you’ll use the  money to “stimulate growth.” Entries are due April 30.

Judges will include a panel of Intuit and accounting profession executives, with winners chosen each month from May through July. This looks like fun (hey Intuit -- I’m available to help judge!) and it’s nice to see one of our profession’s main vendors step up with some hard cash to “help” -- after all, the average firm grew almost 14 percent last year (it’s a GREAT TIME to be in public accounting!).

When the application DOES go back up, be sure to read the rules. Intuit will end up with a treasure-trove of marketing material -- everything you send them is theirs to use however they see fit! That said, it’s still a great deal for 10 firms.