Intuit has reported a 3% decline in its revenue to $968m for Q2 2013, compared to $999m for the same period it reported in 2012.

The company cited the delayed tax season as the major factor for its decline in sales and said revenue growth would have been 10% without the delays.

The company’s net income declined 40% to $71m during Q2 2013, compared to $118m, for the same period last year.

Operating income declined 52% to $93m for the quarter, compared to $195m for the same period previous year.

The company said global small business revenue increased 16%, driven by QuickBooks Online, which now has over 24,000 paid subscribers outside the US and trial users in more than 160 countries.

Intuit president and chief executive officer, Brad Smith, said the second-quarter results are in line with the company’s updated outlook.

"Looking at the big picture, we see a secular theme – the adoption of cloud-based services – continuing to drive growth across all of our businesses," Smith said.

"Small business subscribers grew double digits in the second quarter and mobile offerings continue to be a catalyst for growth with more than 50 applications across various mobile platforms and devices."

For the third quarter of fiscal 2013, Intuit expects revenue to be in the range of $2.21bn to $2.27bn.