H & R Block Inc (HRB) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to H&R Block's First Quarter Fiscal 2023 Results Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the call over to Vice President, Investor Relations, Michaella Gallina. Please go ahead..

感謝您的支持，歡迎來到 H&R Block 的 2023 財年第一季度業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）我現在想將電話轉交給投資者關係副總裁 Michaella Gallina。請繼續..

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to H&R Block's First Quarter Fiscal 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. Joining me today are Jeff Jones, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tony Bowen, our Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, we issued a press release and presentation, which can be downloaded or viewed live on our website at investors.hrblock.com.

謝謝你，運營商。大家下午好，歡迎來到 H&R Block 的 2023 財年第一季度財務業績電話會議。今天加入我的是我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Jeff Jones；和我們的首席財務官 Tony Bowen。今天早些時候，我們發布了一份新聞稿和演示文稿，可以下載或在我們的網站 investors.hrblock.com 上實時查看。

Our call is being broadcast and webcast live, and a replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days. .

我們的電話會議正在現場直播和網絡直播，網絡直播的重播將持續 90 天。 .

Before we begin, I'd like to remind listeners that comments made by management may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements involve material risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statement due to numerous factors. For a description of these risks and uncertainties, please see H&R Block's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as updated periodically with our other SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒聽眾，管理層發表的評論可能包括聯邦證券法意義上的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及重大風險和不確定性，實際結果可能因眾多因素而與任何前瞻性陳述中預測的結果不同。有關這些風險和不確定性的描述，請參閱 H&R Block 關於 10-K 表格的年度報告和關於 10-Q 表格的季度報告，這些報告會定期與我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的其他文件一起更新。

Please note, some metrics we'll discuss today are presented on a non-GAAP basis. We reconciled the comparable GAAP and non-GAAP figures in the appendix of our presentation.

請注意，我們今天討論的一些指標是在非 GAAP 基礎上提出的。我們在演示文稿的附錄中調整了可比較的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 數據。

The content of this call contains time-sensitive information accurate only as of today, November 1, 2022. H&R Block undertakes no obligation to revise or otherwise update any statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call. With that, I will now turn it over to Jeff.

本次電話會議的內容包含僅截至今天（2022 年 11 月 1 日）準確的時效信息。H&R Block 不承擔修改或以其他方式更新任何聲明以反映本次電話會議日期之後的事件或情況的義務。有了這個，我現在將把它交給傑夫。

Thank you, Michaella. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Today, I will begin with a summary of our fiscal 2023 Q1 results and share more about our Block Horizons progress. Then Tony will provide an update on our financials.

謝謝你，邁克爾。大家下午好，感謝您加入我們。今天，我將首先總結我們 2023 財年第一季度的業績，並分享更多關於 Block Horizons 的進展。然後 Tony 將提供我們財務狀況的最新信息。

While the first quarter is small in comparison to our fiscal year, just about 5% of our total revenue, our Q1 performance met expectations, and we are reaffirming our full year outlook. We've done a good job of converting extensions, which increased 5% over prior year, and we saw healthy ongoing adoption of virtual tools in the quarter.

雖然第一季度與我們的財政年度相比較小，僅占我們總收入的 5% 左右，但我們第一季度的業績符合預期，我們重申了全年展望。我們在轉換擴展方面做得很好，比上一年增長了 5%，而且我們看到本季度虛擬工具的採用情況良好。

We also managed expenses well despite the high inflationary environment. On the capital allocation front, we bought back another 3% of shares outstanding and, in October, paid our quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, which is an increase of 7% to last year. Overall, I'm pleased with our start, and I'm looking forward to the rest of fiscal '23.

儘管高通脹環境，我們也很好地管理了開支。在資本配置方面，我們又回購了 3% 的已發行股票，並在 10 月份支付了每股 0.29 美元的季度股息，比去年增加了 7%。總的來說，我對我們的開始感到滿意，我期待著 23 財年的剩餘時間。

We are in the third year of our Block Horizons transformation, and we are gaining momentum. Beginning with small business, we see a significant runway of growth and opportunity with both small business tax and wave. In assisted small business tax, we continue to see double-digit revenue growth driven by both volume and net average charge. In Q1, we broadened our marketing efforts with a bold message focusing on the value we deliver versus independent CPAs, which is meaningful.

我們正處於 Block Horizons 轉型的第三個年頭，而且我們正在獲得動力。從小企業開始，我們看到了小企業稅和浪潮的重要增長和機會。在援助小企業稅方面，我們繼續看到數量和淨平均費用推動的兩位數收入增長。在第一季度，我們擴大了我們的營銷工作，大膽地強調了我們與獨立註冊會計師相比所提供的價值，這很有意義。

While early, bookkeeping and payroll are growing nicely, driven by our dedicated team of company bookkeepers and franchisees. We are also capitalizing upon the growth trends we saw last year in 2 ways. First, we're building an inside sales capability to convert tax leads into small business services. Second, we saw significant opportunity to help clients incorporate their small business. In response, we launched a self-serve business formation product in October that enables business owners to create an entity. This can result in significantly better tax outcomes and a greater level of legal protection for our clients and simultaneously provides the benefit of having 2 returns filed with Block, both the individual and the entity. As you can see, we have a lot of good things happening in small business.

在早期，在我們由公司簿記員和加盟商組成的敬業團隊的推動下，簿記和工資增長良好。我們還通過兩種方式利用去年看到的增長趨勢。首先，我們正在建立內部銷售能力，將稅務線索轉化為小型企業服務。其次，我們看到了幫助客戶合併其小型企業的重要機會。作為回應，我們在 10 月推出了自助式業務組建產品，使企業主能夠創建實體。這可以為我們的客戶帶來更好的稅收結果和更高水平的法律保護，同時提供向 Block 提交 2 份申報表的好處，包括個人和實體。如您所見，我們在小型企業中發生了很多好事。

Turning to Wave. Our new CEO has successfully onboarded is completing a strategic review of the business and is assessing levers to drive future performance. While Wave customers saw increased invoice volume, there was less payment activity than we anticipated. As a result, revenue growth was 18% in the quarter.

轉向 Wave。我們的新任首席執行官已成功上任，正在完成對業務的戰略審查，並正在評估推動未來業績的槓桿。雖然 Wave 客戶看到發票數量增加，但付款活動比我們預期的要少。因此，本季度收入增長了 18%。

Moving to financial products. Recall that we brought our new mobile banking platform, Spruce, to market in the DIY channel this past tax season. Given most of our marketing efforts are currently timed around the tax season, our metrics are relatively unchanged to the results we shared last quarter with approximately 160,000 sign-ups and $98 million in customer deposits.

轉向金融產品。回想一下，我們在過去的納稅季通過 DIY 渠道將我們的新移動銀行平台 Spruce 推向市場。鑑於我們的大部分營銷工作目前都在稅收季節前後進行，因此我們的指標與我們上個季度分享的結果相對沒有變化，大約有 160,000 名註冊用戶和 9800 萬美元的客戶存款。

We know that Spruce customers want to improve their financial health. One of the most proven and effective ways they can do this is by saving money, even in small amounts, which is why we've continued to focus on savings-related innovation within the app. We recently added capabilities that enable users to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar with the difference automatically deposited to their savings account as well as the ability to deposit checks with their mobile phone.

我們知道 Spruce 客戶希望改善他們的財務狀況。他們可以做到這一點的最成熟和最有效的方法之一就是省錢，即使是少量的錢，這就是為什麼我們繼續關注應用程序中與儲蓄相關的創新。我們最近添加了一些功能，使用戶能夠將他們的購買四捨五入到最接近的美元，差額自動存入他們的儲蓄賬戶，以及使用手機存入支票的能力。

We're also enhancing our unique smart task refund feature which allows customers to make a precommitment to save a portion of their tax refund rather than spending it right away. Last year, this feature empowered the average user to set aside more than 1/4 of their tax refund.

我們還增強了我們獨特的智能任務退稅功能，該功能允許客戶預先承諾節省一部分退稅，而不是立即花掉。去年，此功能使普通用戶能夠預留超過 1/4 的退稅款。

One of the greatest challenges of engaging clients to load money is the process of switching their payroll. In an upcoming release, users will be able to change their payroll deposit settings from within the Spruce app without having to go back to their employer, making this process much simpler.

吸引客戶加載資金的最大挑戰之一是轉換工資單的過程。在即將發布的版本中，用戶將能夠從 Spruce 應用程序中更改他們的工資存款設置，而無需返回他們的雇主，從而使這個過程變得更加簡單。

Alongside product innovation, we're preparing for launch in the assisted channel by educating tax professionals on the clear and different value propositions between Spruce and the Emerald Card to help clients make the best decision for their needs.

除了產品創新，我們還準備在輔助渠道中推出，向稅務專業人士介紹 Spruce 和 Emerald Card 之間明確而不同的價值主張，以幫助客戶根據他們的需求做出最佳決策。

Regarding Block experience, we're making great strides blending digital capabilities with human health, resulting in a better, more personalized process for our clients. We believe this is the key to winning in both assisted and DIY, and we have a multitude of exciting projects underway.

關於 Block 體驗，我們在將數字功能與人類健康相結合方面取得了長足進步，從而為我們的客戶帶來了更好、更個性化的流程。我們相信這是在輔助和 DIY 領域取勝的關鍵，我們正在進行大量激動人心的項目。

Last year, we increased the number of clients using a virtual tool by more than 3 times. We're continuing to help the customer understand the benefit of these offerings such as digital drop-off and improving returns online. Machine learning models are improving how we serve assisted and DIY clients as well as driving advancements in matching the complexity of a client's return to the right tax professional. This makes for a better customer experience and increases our productivity.

去年，我們使用虛擬工具的客戶數量增加了 3 倍多。我們將繼續幫助客戶了解這些產品的好處，例如數字送貨和提高在線退貨率。機器學習模型正在改進我們為輔助客戶和 DIY 客戶提供服務的方式，並推動在將客戶回報的複雜性與合適的稅務專業人士相匹配方面取得進步。這有助於改善客戶體驗並提高我們的工作效率。

We've expanded remote work options for tax professionals and are seeing early positive signs in hiring and retention. Our first year tax pro role has been reshaped to accelerate their expertise, which increases productivity by enabling them to serve more clients. In fact, we've already hired to 75% of our goal for this new role.

我們已經為稅務專業人士擴大了遠程工作的選擇範圍，並且在招聘和留用方面看到了早期的積極跡象。我們對第一年的稅務專員角色進行了重塑，以加速他們的專業知識，從而通過使他們能夠為更多客戶提供服務來提高生產力。事實上，我們已經為這個新角色招聘了 75% 的目標。

Over the last few months, we've evaluated how we can more effectively highlight our DIY value proposition. We have been doing research with our clients and our competitors' clients, and we know that our product is strong, our value is strong, and the #1 opportunity we have is increasing awareness that we offer at DIY product. As a result, you'll see us come to market with a new approach.

在過去的幾個月裡，我們評估瞭如何更有效地突出我們的 DIY 價值主張。我們一直在與我們的客戶和競爭對手的客戶進行研究，我們知道我們的產品很強大，我們的價值很強大，我們擁有的第一大機會是提高我們對 DIY 產品的認識。因此，您會看到我們以一種新的方式進入市場。

In all, expanding virtual capabilities enables us to be well positioned to help our clients however they want, completely virtually or completely in person and everything in between. Our Block Horizons progress continues to build, and we're excited about the magnitude and the impact of this work.

總而言之，擴展虛擬功能使我們能夠很好地幫助我們的客戶，無論他們想要什麼，完全虛擬或完全面對面，以及介於兩者之間的一切。我們的 Block Horizons 進展不斷，我們對這項工作的規模和影響感到興奮。

Lastly, I'd like to mention that we recently released our annual environmental, social and governance, or ESG, report, which can be found on our website. While this is our third annual publication, in many ways, we're just getting started. Being a responsible corporate citizen that connects our people, communities and planet has been a part of our culture and aspirations from the very beginning, and I'm pleased with the work we're doing. With that, I'll now turn it over to Tony.

最後，我想提一下，我們最近發布了年度環境、社會和治理（ESG）報告，可以在我們的網站上找到。雖然這是我們的第三次年度出版物，但在許多方面，我們才剛剛開始。作為一個負責任的企業公民，將我們的人民、社區和地球聯繫起來，從一開始就是我們文化和願望的一部分，我對我們正在做的工作感到滿意。有了這個，我現在將它交給托尼。

Thanks, Jeff, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, I'll review our Q1 results, our capital allocation practice and our outlook for fiscal year '23. We delivered $180 million of revenue in the first quarter, which decreased approximately 7% or $13 million over the prior year. This decrease was due to the advanced child tax credit being loaded on to Emerald Cards last year, causing a $17 million impact in the quarter. We also expect a similar impact in the second quarter, both of which were contemplated in our fiscal year '23 outlook. .

謝謝，傑夫，大家下午好。今天，我將回顧我們第一季度的業績、我們的資本配置實踐以及我們對 23 財年的展望。我們在第一季度實現了 1.8 億美元的收入，比去年同期下降了約 7% 或 1300 萬美元。這一減少是由於去年 Emerald Cards 預付了兒童稅收抵免，導致本季度產生 1700 萬美元的影響。我們還預計第二季度會產生類似的影響，這兩者都在我們的 23 財年展望中有所考慮。 .

In addition, we had a $4 million negative revenue impact from our foreign exchange in our Australian and Canadian businesses. These declines were partially offset by growth at Wave and an increase in net average charge in our assisted business.

此外，我們的澳大利亞和加拿大業務的外匯對我們的收入產生了 400 萬美元的負面影響。這些下降部分被 Wave 的增長和我們輔助業務的淨平均費用增加所抵消。

Total operating expenses were approximately $389 million, an increase of approximately 6% or about $22 million primarily due to higher compensation and technology-related expenses and partially offset by lower consulting and outsourced services. We just completed our annual merit process, which contributed to the increased compensation expenses during the quarter.

總運營費用約為 3.89 億美元，增長約 6% 或約 2200 萬美元，這主要是由於薪酬和技術相關費用增加，部分被諮詢和外包服務減少所抵消。我們剛剛完成了年度績效流程，這導致本季度的薪酬支出增加。

While field and corporate salary positions increased more than historical levels, tax pro compensation, which is our largest line item, is variable and fluctuates in line with return volumes. EBITDA was a loss of $172 million, an increase of 24% or about $33 million. Interest expense was approximately $16 million, a decrease of about $7 million or 31%. Recall that, last quarter, we paid off the $500 million, 5.5% notes early, which will result in material savings as we issued new notes in June of 2021 at an interest rate of 2.5%.

雖然現場和公司薪資職位的增幅超過歷史水平，但我們最大的項目稅收專業薪酬是可變的，並隨著回報量的波動而波動。 EBITDA 虧損 1.72 億美元，增長 24% 或約 3300 萬美元。利息支出約為 1600 萬美元，減少約 700 萬美元或 31%。回想一下，上個季度，我們提前還清了 5 億美元、利率為 5.5% 的票據，這將節省大量資金，因為我們在 2021 年 6 月以 2.5% 的利率發行了新票據。

Given that we are in a rising interest rate environment, the borrowing cost on our line of credit will be impacted, but higher deposit rates on our cash balances are acting as a natural hedge. Pretax loss was $221 million compared to a loss of $197 million in the prior year. And our effective tax rate was 24.4% compared to 24% last year.

鑑於我們處於利率上升的環境中，我們信貸額度的借貸成本將受到影響，但我們現金餘額的較高存款利率是一種自然對沖。稅前虧損為 2.21 億美元，而上一年為虧損 1.97 億美元。我們的有效稅率為 24.4%，而去年為 24%。

Loss per share from continuing operations increased from $0.84 to $1.05, while adjusted loss per share from continuing operations increased from $0.78 to $0.99.

持續經營每股虧損從 0.84 美元增加到 1.05 美元，而調整後的持續經營每股虧損從 0.78 美元增加到 0.99 美元。

Turning to capital allocation. Our practice remains strong. We repurchased 4.9 million shares for $220 million this quarter at an average price of $44.60. This equates to another 3% of shares outstanding, and we now have repurchased approximately 1/3 of our shares since 2016. We also paid our $0.29 dividend in October, which was an increase of 7% to last year and an increase of 45% since 2016.

轉向資本配置。我們的做法仍然很強大。本季度我們以 44.60 美元的平均價格以 2.2 億美元回購了 490 萬股股票。這相當於另外 3% 的已發行股票，自 2016 年以來，我們現在已經回購了大約 1/3 的股票。我們還在 10 月份支付了 0.29 美元的股息，比去年增加了 7%，增加了 45%自 2016 年以來。

In summary, we are reiterating our fiscal year '23 outlook. As we have discussed, I am pleased with this guidance given the roll-off of the child tax credit, the increase in our effective tax rate compared to last year and the headwinds we are seeing in the foreign exchange rates.

總而言之，我們重申了我們的 23 財年展望。正如我們所討論的那樣，鑑於兒童稅收抵免的取消、我們的有效稅率與去年相比有所提高以及我們在外匯匯率方面看到的逆風，我對這一指導感到滿意。

We continue to expect top line growth, EBITDA that outpaces revenue and EPS that grows even faster. In addition, we are confident in the longer-term target we provided in August of adjusted EPS growing double digits annually through fiscal year '25.

我們繼續預計收入增長，EBITDA 超過收入和 EPS 增長更快。此外，我們對我們在 8 月份提供的長期目標充滿信心，即調整後每股收益在 25 財年每年增長兩位數。

Overall, we are off to a great start. With that, I will now turn it back over to Jeff for some closing remarks.

總的來說，我們有了一個良好的開端。有了這個，我現在將把它轉回給 Jeff 做一些結束語。

Thanks, Tony. We're focused on building upon the momentum we've driven over the last couple of years. I'm excited about what's ahead. And in closing, I'd like to thank our tax professionals, franchisees and associates, who embody our purpose every day to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities. Now operator, we'll open the line for questions..

謝謝，托尼。我們專注於在過去幾年推動的勢頭上再接再厲。我對未來感到興奮。最後，我要感謝我們的稅務專業人士、加盟商和同事，他們每天都體現了我們的宗旨，即為我們的客戶和社區提供幫助並激發信心。現在接線員，我們將打開問題熱線..

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Kartik Mehta of Northcoast Research.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Northcoast Research 的 Kartik Mehta。

I wanted to get a perspective on your expectations for total tax returns for the upcoming tax season. Looking at 2020 tax returns and looking at 2021, there was a huge increase, probably 7%, which was unusual. And I'm wondering maybe your thoughts on why such an increase and what your expectations are for the upcoming tax season.

我想了解一下您對即將到來的納稅季的總納稅申報表的期望。看看2020年的報稅單，再看看2021年，漲幅很大，大概7%，很不尋常。我想知道您對為什麼會這樣增加的想法以及您對即將到來的稅收季節的期望是什麼。

Kartik, it's Jeff. I'll kick this off. There's no question in the last couple of years have had a lot of volatility and different things impacting volumes, changing dates, et cetera. We don't know for sure where the season ended until the IRS officially releases their data. But we know every year, historically, we've been in the zone of about $150 million e-files plus paper. And as we look ahead to the upcoming tax season and factor in the various puts and takes on employment, et cetera, we expect the industry to be back to normal growth rates, which we consider to be about 1%. So that's how we're looking forward to fiscal '23 tax season.

Kartik，是傑夫。我會開始的。毫無疑問，在過去的幾年裡，波動很大，不同的事情影響著交易量、日期的變化等等。在美國國稅局正式發布他們的數據之前，我們不確定這個季節在哪裡結束。但我們知道，從歷史上看，我們每年的電子文件加紙質文件都在 1.5 億美元左右。當我們展望即將到來的稅收季節並考慮到各種看跌期權和就業等因素時，我們預計該行業將恢復正常增長率，我們認為該增長率約為 1%。這就是我們期待 23 財年稅收季節的方式。

So Jeff, are you saying the kind of the baseline is somewhere around $150 million e-file and paper for the upcoming tax season?

那麼傑夫，你是說即將到來的稅收季節的基線是大約 1.5 億美元的電子文件和紙質文件嗎？

Yes. I mean we obviously don't know where the industry will end from last year until the IRS releases that data. So we can't comment on that specifically. But we expect that we'll be somewhere in the $150 million zone for e-files plus paper. So that's our working assumption going into the year and again expecting the industry to get back to normal of about 1% growth.

是的。我的意思是，在美國國稅局發布該數據之前，我們顯然不知道從去年開始該行業將在哪裡結束。所以我們不能具體評論。但我們預計電子文件加紙質文件的價值將達到 1.5 億美元。所以這是我們進入今年的工作假設，並再次期望該行業恢復到約 1% 的正常增長。

Perfect. And then, Jeff, I think if I heard right on your prepared remarks, you talked a little bit about the DIY product having a different approach. And I'm wondering -- I know you want to be cautious about what you say, but I'm wondering if you could talk about if it's marketing, if it's pricing, if it's product, maybe how you're looking at the DIY product and, holistically, what kind of changes do you think you can make and gain market share.

完美的。然後，傑夫，我想如果我聽到你準備好的發言是對的，你談到了一些關於 DIY 產品有不同方法的問題。我想知道——我知道你想對自己說的話保持謹慎，但我想知道你是否可以談談它是否是營銷，是否是定價，是否是產品，也許你是如何看待 DIY 的產品以及整體而言，您認為您可以做出什麼樣的改變並獲得市場份額。

Yes. I appreciate the question. When we look back over recent years, we're pleased with our new client growth. We're pleased with the pricing ability we've had in the revenue growth, but we're not pleased with market share. And so over the last several months, we have looked at everything. And I think, most importantly, talking to our customers and talking to our competitors' customers, to understand where we are relative to the market, and that work has confirmed for us that our product is strong.

是的。我很欣賞這個問題。回顧近年來，我們對新客戶的增長感到滿意。我們對我們在收入增長方面的定價能力感到滿意，但我們對市場份額並不滿意。所以在過去的幾個月裡，我們研究了一切。而且我認為，最重要的是，與我們的客戶和我們競爭對手的客戶交談，了解我們相對於市場的位置，而這項工作已經為我們證實了我們的產品是強大的。

Now make no mistake, we're always improving the product, and we know that faster and more personalized is the key, but we know we're starting from a really good place there. We know the same to be true about the value we're offering, especially relative to our #1 competitor and what they have done historically in pricing. So we know it's not value.

現在別搞錯了，我們一直在改進產品，我們知道更快和更個性化是關鍵，但我們知道我們從一個非常好的地方開始。我們知道我們提供的價值也是如此，尤其是相對於我們排名第一的競爭對手以及他們在定價方面的歷史表現。所以我們知道這不值。

What customers consistently told us was we just didn't know you offered this product, and it's something we've talked about before as we track our unaided and aided awareness. What that means is less about how much we're spending, our total spending is contemplated in our outlook, and more about the way we go to market, the messages that we deliver. We know that customers are frustrated with the industry not being transparent in how they think about pricing and upgrades. We know that customers don't fully understand how easy it is for them to switch. And so you should expect us to lean in to some of those kind of things, and we're taking a holistic approach in marketing, in channels, in product, really across the board to make sure that we take a completely different approach for this year.

客戶一直告訴我們的是，我們只是不知道您提供了該產品，這是我們之前在跟踪我們的獨立和輔助意識時討論過的事情。這意味著更少地關注我們花費了多少，我們的總支出在我們的前景中得到了考慮，更多的是關於我們進入市場的方式，我們傳遞的信息。我們知道，客戶對行業在定價和升級方面的看法不透明感到沮喪。我們知道客戶並不完全了解他們轉換是多麼容易。因此，您應該期望我們會專注於其中一些事情，並且我們在營銷、渠道、產品方面採取整體方法，真正全面地確保我們為此採取完全不同的方法年。

Our next question comes from the line of George Tong of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 George Tong。

You mentioned that you expect 1% industry growth in terms of tax volumes in the next tax season. Can you break that down into what you expect for the Assisted category and what you expect for the DIY category? .

你提到你預計下一個稅收季節的行業稅收量將增長 1%。你能把它分解成你對輔助類別的期望和你對 DIY 類別的期望嗎？ .

George, this is Tony. If we expect a 1% overall growth, I think our base expectation is fairly consistent with what we've said for a number of years, which is Assisted category, flat to slightly up; and the DIY category, likely growing faster, call it, 3% to 4%, getting you to that 1% overall.

喬治，這是托尼。如果我們預計整體增長 1%，我認為我們的基本預期與我們多年來所說的相當一致，即輔助類別，持平至小幅上升；和 DIY 類別，可能增長得更快，稱之為 3% 到 4%，讓你總體達到 1%。

Okay. Got it. And then secondly, with respect to Online Assist, which is an important virtual category for Block, can you talk about some of your initiatives there how HRB is positioned, particularly relative to competitors to win and potentially gain share in Online Assist?

好的。知道了。其次，關於 Online Assist，這是 Block 的一個重要虛擬類別，你能談談你在那裡的一些舉措，HRB 是如何定位的，特別是相對於競爭對手，以贏得併可能在 Online Assist 中獲得份額？

Yes, George, this is Jeff. So in our DIY product offering 2 different ways for the consumer to get help, one is Online Assist, which is simply access to get your questions answered. The second is Tax Pro Review, which is turning over that return to us to check and validate your work and file on your behalf. We feel very well positioned here, both because of our Tax Pro network and our ability to utilize tax professionals as well as our pricing and value proposition.

是的，喬治，這是傑夫。因此，在我們的 DIY 產品中，消費者可以通過 2 種不同的方式獲得幫助，其中一種是在線幫助，只需訪問即可回答您的問題。第二個是 Tax Pro Review，它將返回給我們以代表您檢查和驗證您的工作和文件。由於我們的 Tax Pro 網絡和我們利用稅務專業人士的能力以及我們的定價和價值主張，我們在這裡感覺非常有利。

As we've tested our product, we believe that we are very quick to get questions answered. We get somebody directly to a tax professional versus an intermediary step to a call center like competitors do. And so that continues to be a growth channel for us, both to acquire DIY customers but also if you start as a DIY filer, demonstrating the value of human help and expertise.

由於我們已經測試了我們的產品，我們相信我們很快就能得到問題的解答。我們直接讓某人聯繫稅務專業人士，而不是像競爭對手那樣通過中間步驟聯繫呼叫中心。因此，這仍然是我們的增長渠道，既可以吸引 DIY 客戶，也可以作為 DIY 文件管理器開始，展示人工幫助和專業知識的價值。

Great. Just a quick follow-up to that. Relative to perhaps TurboTax and TurboTax Live, how has that product compared or performed relative to the competition?

偉大的。只是對此進行快速跟進。相對於 TurboTax 和 TurboTax Live，該產品與競爭對手相比或表現如何？

Our products in virtual, we feel very good about because of our leverage of the built-in Tax Pro network, our ability to connect somebody with a true expert quickly and the price. Pricing gets tricky to talk about in this forum because there are so many different SKUs and add-ons based on where you start. But across the board, our pricing is better. And so we know our value proposition for that assisted help to a DIY filer is very strong.

我們的虛擬產品，我們感覺非常好，因為我們利用內置的 Tax Pro 網絡，我們能夠快速將某人與真正的專家聯繫起來，而且價格合理。在這個論壇上談論定價變得很棘手，因為根據您的起點，有太多不同的 SKU 和附加組件。但總的來說，我們的定價更好。因此，我們知道我們對 DIY 文件管理器的輔助幫助的價值主張非常強大。

Our next question comes from Scott Schneeberger of Oppenheimer.

我們的下一個問題來自 Oppenheimer 的 Scott Schneeberger。

Jeff, just following up on that last question, discussing online assist and tax pro review. Could you talk about kind of lessons learned last year and maybe some innovations for this year? I know you just mentioned the speed of connecting the customer to the tax pro, and you all had done that well last year. And a major competitor of yours, yes, I think that they will have some innovations this year to increase their speed.

傑夫，只是跟進最後一個問題，討論在線協助和稅務專業審查。您能否談談去年的經驗教訓以及今年的一些創新？我知道你剛剛提到了將客戶與稅務專家聯繫起來的速度，你們去年都做得很好。還有你的一個主要競爭對手，是的，我認為他們今年會有一些創新來提高他們的速度。

So just curious, what should we see from the industry as a whole and H&R Block in particular with regard to this hybrid product observing customers virtually DIY and Assisted?

所以很好奇，我們應該從整個行業，特別是 H&R Block 看到什麼關於這種混合產品觀察客戶幾乎 DIY 和輔助？

Absolutely. Obviously, for several years now, we've been talking about blurring the lines between these capabilities because what we see at the macro level is the customer seeking help. And so whether that's coming to an office, getting us to do the work virtually or starting yourself but relying on an expert to help you finish, that gives us great confidence because of our position as experts and because of our tax pro network that's so well trained built in. We have a very strong asset that we can leverage in these growing and new channels. .

絕對地。顯然，多年來，我們一直在談論模糊這些功能之間的界限，因為我們在宏觀層面看到的是客戶尋求幫助。因此，無論是到辦公室，讓我們以虛擬方式完成工作，還是自己開始但依靠專家幫助您完成，這都給了我們很大的信心，因為我們作為專家的地位以及我們的稅務專家網絡非常好經過培訓的內置。我們擁有非常強大的資產，我們可以在這些不斷增長的新渠道中加以利用。 .

The thing that we see as the key is when a customer has a question and they hit that help button, they want to get answers, and they want to get connected to somebody who actually has the tax expertise to help them answer those questions. And versus competitors where we've seen that first stop largely be at a call center, not with a tax expert, we have seen that to be a real point of difference and something we feel very good about.

我們認為關鍵是當客戶有問題並按下幫助按鈕時，他們希望獲得答案，並且希望與真正具有稅務專業知識的人聯繫以幫助他們回答這些問題。與競爭對手相比，我們看到第一站主要是在呼叫中心，而不是稅務專家，我們已經看到這是一個真正的差異點，我們對此感覺非常好。

So we'll continue to lean into how do we make the experience as fast as we can -- leveraging the expert network of tax pros and making sure that our price proposition relative to the competition remains strong. And again, across each lineup in the SKU, we feel very good about where we're priced today, especially as we see the competitor take more and more price increases. Do you want add anything to that?

因此，我們將繼續研究如何盡可能快地提供體驗——利用稅務專家的專家網絡，並確保我們相對於競爭對手的價格主張仍然強勁。同樣，在 SKU 的每個產品系列中，我們對今天的定價感到非常滿意，尤其是當我們看到競爭對手的價格上漲幅度越來越大時。你想添加什麼嗎？

Yes. The only thing I was going to add is just the piece we're also working on is figuring out when do we introduce the product and making sure that we're introducing at the right moment within the experience and balancing being transparent but also providing the help at the right time. And I think that's a really important balance that we're trying to hit right because we want to make sure clients know we have these products. We want to provide that help at the right moment but not provide an upsell screen at every single turn. So that's a really important part of the initiative this year as well.

是的。我唯一要補充的是我們也在努力的部分是弄清楚我們什麼時候推出產品並確保我們在體驗中的正確時刻推出並平衡透明但也提供在適當的時候提供幫助。而且我認為這是一個非常重要的平衡，我們正在努力實現這一平衡，因為我們希望確保客戶知道我們擁有這些產品。我們希望在適當的時候提供幫助，而不是在每個回合都提供追加銷售屏幕。因此，這也是今年該計劃的一個非常重要的部分。

Yes, that's right. And what I mentioned about the machine learning models is this is one example where we can see if a customer might be getting frustrated in the experience and use that as a way to introduce the option to them that they can get help. So that would be right.

是的，這是正確的。我提到的機器學習模型是一個例子，我們可以看到客戶是否會對體驗感到沮喪，並以此作為向他們介紹可以獲得幫助的選項的一種方式。所以那是對的。

That brings up another side question that just came to me. Our inference is that you're going to be very proactive and visible with marketing of the DIY product because of what you were saying earlier, Jeff, about just brand recognition and the need for improvement there. Will we see that paired with your online assist and Tax Pro Review products? Will we see enhanced visibility of that in marketing this year? I think Tony's response was, yes, when the consumer is using it, we got to pick the timing of when it gets shown. But how much attention will be given or how much marketing will be provided to that in the DIY push?

這就引出了我剛剛想到的另一個問題。我們的推斷是，由於您之前所說的，Jeff，您將非常積極主動地營銷 DIY 產品並引起人們的注意，只是品牌知名度和改進的必要性。我們會看到它與您的在線協助和 Tax Pro Review 產品搭配使用嗎？今年我們會在營銷中看到這一點的可見度提高嗎？我認為 Tony 的回答是，是的，當消費者使用它時，我們必須選擇它顯示的時間。但是在 DIY 推送中將給予多少關注或提供多少營銷？

Yes, great question. And I guess the way I'd answer it is, it depends if you're the audience, we believe that message is best for. And so what I mean by that is we continue to get smarter and smarter about relying on the right channel to reach the right audience, not broadcasting every message to everyone. And so it's possible that you or I may not see that message at all but based our ability to find the right audience who's most predisposed to that product, that's who it would be delivered for. But yes, it is part of our value prop and our communication. .

是的，很好的問題。我想我的回答方式是，這取決於您是否是聽眾，我們認為該信息最適合。所以我的意思是，我們會越來越聰明地依靠正確的渠道來接觸正確的受眾，而不是向所有人廣播每條消息。因此，您或我可能根本看不到該消息，但基於我們找到最傾向於該產品的合適受眾的能力，這就是該產品的目標受眾。但是，是的，這是我們價值支柱和我們溝通的一部分。 .

Got it. And then just one more for me, if I may. The -- last year, the 8% NAC growth in Assisted was 2/3 from mix. And that was -- I believe, retail and crypto investors made up a portion of that and then the child tax credit. If you could just kind of give us a sense for what was I right with that? And kind of what was the mix within the mix category and where this question is going is next tax season, what type of headwind should we anticipate from the child tax credit not recurring this year and thinking about that specifically?

知道了。如果可以的話，再給我一個。 -- 去年，輔助 NAC 增長 8%，其中 2/3 來自混合。那就是——我相信，散戶和加密貨幣投資者構成了其中的一部分，然後是兒童稅收抵免。如果您能讓我們了解一下我的正確做法是什麼？混合類別中的混合類型是什麼，這個問題的去向是下一個稅收季節，我們應該從今年不會再次發生的兒童稅收抵免中預見到什麼樣的逆風，並具體考慮這個問題？

Yes. Let's tag team this, Tony. But I guess I'd start off by saying that pricing in Assisted, we feel good that we're able to continue our low single-digit price increases. Obviously, pricing in DIY is more dynamic, and we think about that differently than we do in Assisted.

是的。讓我們標記團隊，托尼。但我想我首先要說的是輔助定價，我們感覺很好，我們能夠繼續我們的低個位數價格上漲。顯然，DIY 的定價更具動態性，我們對這一點的看法與我們對 Assisted 的看法不同。

As we've mentioned in our prepared remarks and even going back a bit, the #1 headwind that we've contemplated in our outlook is the roll-off of the child tax credit. And so that's one we're aware of. It's one we've planned for, and that is the main headwind from a revenue perspective. Tony, you want to...

正如我們在準備好的評論中提到的，甚至稍微回顧一下，我們在展望中考慮的第一大逆風是兒童稅收抵免的取消。這就是我們所知道的。這是我們計劃的，從收入的角度來看，這是主要的阻力。托尼，你想...

Yes. And just going back to last year. I think the other one, Scott, that we talked about was first-time filer roll-off, which we did see in our assisted business benefit that we got in '21 that didn't recur in '22, and that provided a net average charge increase as well. So that was the other part of the mix triangle that you alluded to.

是的。回到去年。我認為另一個，Scott，我們談到的是首次申報者減少，我們確實在 21 年獲得的輔助業務收益中看到了這一點，但在 22 年沒有再次發生，這提供了一個淨平均費用也增加。這就是你提到的混合三角形的另一部分。

And for this year, when you think about that headwind, call it, 1 to 2 points and -- but we're netting that against our targeted price increases to get us to the net average charge that we want to land on for the full year, which is that kind of low single-digit net average charge that we've been talking about.

而對於今年，當你考慮到逆風時，稱它為 1 到 2 點，並且 - 但我們將其與我們的目標價格上漲相抵消，以使我們達到我們希望全額登陸的淨平均費用年，這是我們一直在談論的那種低個位數的淨平均費用。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call back over to Michaella Gallina for any closing remarks.

此時，我想將電話轉回給 Michaella Gallina 以聽取任何結束語。

Thanks, Latif, and thanks, everyone, for joining us today. This concludes our First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝 Latif，也謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們的 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議到此結束。

Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。