As a self-proclaimed recovering CFO, Fady Hawatmeh knows from firsthand experience that small businesses suffer when they don’t have access to top-tier financial experts who can help them achieve financial clarity. He says this lack of critical financial insight leads to “poor decision-making, and in many cases, businesses shutting down simply because they don’t have the right answers to the right questions.”
It’s a frustrating situation, so Hawatmeh decided to do something about it. That something was founding Clockwork Technologies in 2018. Clockwork is an AI-powered financial planning and analysis (FP&A) platform that provides CFO-level insights in minutes (not days or weeks). It also integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Online to help businesses plan, manage, and predict their cash flow and finances.
Hawatmeh and the Clockwork team are helping over 3.6K customers streamline their financial planning and analysis processes, and they recently participated in the Intuit Developer Growth Program to expand their impact on small business success. Clockwork joins an expanding group of Intuit developers who have taken part in the program, including Helm, Asset Accountant, Re-Leased, Genius Sheets, Syft Analytics, Buildertrend, Katana, Uncat, Client Hub, A2X, ApprovalMax, VERIFYiQ, Dext, Knowify, Bookkeep, NiceJob, Capsule CRM, and LiveFlow, and Hawatmeh says it’s been an “incredible experience.”
From passion to five-star solution
According to Hawatmeh, Clockwork was born out of a passion for helping small businesses achieve critical financial insights without the expense of a CFO or full-time finance team.
“Clockwork connects directly to a company’s accounting system, pulling in real-time financial data to generate automated forecasting, modeling, cash flow projections, and more,” he explains. “Instead of relying on spreadsheets or outdated reports, business owners get an intuitive, real-time solution that helps them understand where their finances stand today and where they’re headed.”
Hawatmeh’s history explains why he cares so much about finances and problem-solving. He first worked in his father’s restaurant managing finances. He then joined the FP&A and strategy team at The Boeing Company, where he created billion-dollar financial models. From there, he started his own consulting firm and quickly found that the available FP&A tools weren’t enough for him to be effective as an outsourced CFO.
“As a CFO myself, I realized that existing tools were holding my clients back, not helping them grow. That’s when I knew I had to create something better,” he says.
He spent years perfecting his FP&A solution and fully launched Clockwork in 2023. It quickly became one of the fastest growing FP&A platforms on the market.
“One of the biggest strengths we’ve had as a startup is our deep industry knowledge and financial expertise. Understanding the complexities of finance and the true needs of small businesses has given us a solid foundation to build upon. That expertise has helped us create a product that isn’t just another tool—it’s something that genuinely makes a difference.”
And it has made a difference.
A QuickBooks App Store reviewer who gave Clockwork five stars writes, “Clockwork is not only extremely easy to set up, use, and update, it also helps automate more of our advisory processes, allowing us to scale our advisory and FP&A services.”
Another five-star reviewer says, “Clockwork allows me to do things I never thought possible without a CFO.”
The Clockwork partnership with Intuit
For Hawatmeh, the partnership between Clockwork and Intuit has been a perfect fit. He says about 80% of Clockwork’s customers are QuickBooks users and that his consulting firm was a QuickBooks-only firm. “I’ve seen firsthand how Intuit has evolved to meet the needs of small business owners over the years.”
He’s also seen—and experienced—Intuit’s willingness to actively collaborate with developers to improve the app experience.
“If there’s something in their API that isn’t quite right for what we need, they’re always willing to have a conversation and work with us to find a solution,” he says. “That kind of partnership fosters real innovation, and it helps us keep making Clockwork better. In turn, it helps accountants and small business owners get more value from both platforms so it’s a win-win all around.”
And Hawatmeh highlights Intuit’s commitment to putting small business owners first by making sure business owners have the tools they need to succeed.
“This aligns perfectly with what we’re doing at Clockwork. By integrating with QuickBooks and leveraging the Intuit ecosystem, we’re able to give businesses better financial insights and automation, making it easier than ever for them to take control of their finances.”
When the opportunity to join the Developer Growth Program came up, Hawatmeh jumped at it right away.
The Developer Growth Program experience
During the Developer Growth Program, the Clockwork team received input from various Intuit experts, including an accountant panel, an experience designer, and a team of solution architects.
Hawatmeh says the experience design team provided a unique perspective on key aspects of Clockwork’s UX. “We truly appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with them.”
He also says he valued the collaboration with the solution architect team. “They helped us optimize our use of the Intuit API, ensuring maximum efficiency. It was invaluable to get insider validation and the confidence that we were following best practices.”
Ultimately, the Clockwork team’s direct access to the Intuit team provided many benefits.
“We gained expert advice and partnership opportunities, received honest, valuable feedback from Intuit’s accounting panel, and built connections with like-minded companies on the same journey.”
Committed to the Clockwork user experience
As Clockwork wraps up their participation in the Developer Growth Program, the team is dedicated to keeping things easy and smooth for their users. This includes speaking directly with accountants in the field and using their insights to shape the development of Clockwork.
“What’s clear from these conversations is that accountants don’t want to be buried in manual work. They want to spend their time helping their clients succeed,” Hawatmeh says. “That’s a mission we share. We’re not just here to make accounting more efficient; we’re here to make accountants’ lives better. Because let’s be real: accountants are the unsung heroes of the business world. The more we can support them, the bigger impact they can have.”
He adds, “At the end of the day, we’re not just building software—we’re building something that changes lives. Every feature we develop is designed to help accountants spend more time with their families, take real vacations, and focus on what actually matters.”
Intuit is proud to partner with Clockwork and work together to help QuickBooks customers find success personally and professionally. We’re rooting for Clockwork’s success because we believe in the power of innovative solutions to transform the way small businesses manage their finances. And we’re always looking for innovative apps that can address the needs of QuickBooks customers. Our step-by-step guide makes listing your app on the QuickBooks App Store easy.