TaxDome Reviews

Pros

This product is focused on its customer base. It is not trying to be all things to all industries. The developers understand how accountants and tax preparers work. Even in the short time I have been a client, there is a strong development effort to make the product better and more useful. Customer vote on what improvements they want to see added to the program and TaxDome provides a roadmap on what features are being developed and when they will be implemented. TaxDome's culture is focused on customer service.

Cons

It is clear that TaxDome has done a good job of integrating CRM, document storage, e-signatures, and client communications. As a browser-based solution, it suffers from all the problems that products that work over the Internet have. Whenever I have problems it is hard to know whether it is my internet connection, the number of browser screens open, or something with TaxDome and its servers. I do know it is as good as my previous broswer-based CRM and its speed is comparable to QuickBooks Online.

I would like the email and message templates to be better. Currently, you can't use fields in the contact records within emails to make them more client-friendly. Also, the invoicing features need improvement. The amount of information that can be included in an invoice is limited and I provide my clients with a line item invoice to show why their tax returns cost what they do.

Pros

Their all in one approach, and their incredible ongoing commitment to future improvements, all for a staggeringly low price.

Their pipeline approach to task management is exactly what I’ve been searching for. It does a fantastic job of distilling complex workflows down into a series of tasks that smoothly flow from one stage to the next.

They have many, many YouTube videos to demonstrate different features, and, importantly, also a series of videos that instructs CLIENTS on how to use the portal.

Cons

Some areas are still clunky but still usable. The mechanism for clients to create a subfolder in and/or upload documents to a specific folder is not very intuitive.

Clicking links within the site opens up a new tab far too often. Clicking on the + for sub tasks in a pipeline stage opens a new tab for some reason. Responding to an email from the inbox+ section opens a new tab. Clicking a client name while looking at an account opens a new tab. It seems very unnecessary.

OTP entry on mobile devices is a pain since did sons reason they decided not to let you paste a code in.

The conditional logic for their organizers is extremely limited, although they tell me they are working to expand this in the near future.

These are all minor annoyances in an overall outstanding product.

Alternatives Considered

Karbon

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

Lack of development, slow server speed, clunky portal that is inefficient to navigate, lack of a local workstation interface for portal files (web only, unlike TaxDome), lack of task management that works for my office. Developer is friendly and tells me all the time that improvements are coming but they never materialize. All for only $5 less per month than TaxDome.

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

All in one approach, outstanding value for the price. They are rapidly improving the product and continuing to develop it into an even better product. Simple flat pricing.

Pros

We researched a number of practice management packages but ultimately decided to go with TaxDome due to the number of features it contains, and all its functionality is available to the Pro subscription with unlimited clients, unlike others that increase pricing for certain functionality or when you exceed a certain number of clients. We have not fully implemented yet, so our opinions are based on our experience so far and the research we have done, but we like the portal functionality, the fact that clients can use their mobile devices to upload documents to or view the portal, the integrated e-signatures, and the ability to lock drafts until payment is received.

Cons

During our research, the most-often cited con with TaxDome was the complexity in implementing the system. I would have to agree with this. I think part of the complexity is because of the extreme flexibility and customability of the program. There are numerous videos and help topics available, far more than the other programs we researched. We wish that some of the best practices in setting up things like accounts and contacts were more available, as when you are setting up the program you don't always understand the downstream implications until you get to that part. I think once we work through the heavy lifting of setting up and customizing the program to meet our needs, it will be invaluable to improving the efficiency and technology our firm employs, especially with respect to automation.

Alternatives Considered

Financial Cents, Canopy and Firm360

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

The Thomson Reuters CS Suite (Practice CS practice management, NetClient CS portals, FileCabinet CS document management) are clearly legacy products and not where Thomson Reuters is focusing their R&D and future roadmap. However their new offerings are not ready for prime time, and their legacy products lack modern technology (like robust mobile apps and automation). This forced us to look outside the TR ecosystem, and we also wanted to be free to switch tax programs in the future if we chose to do so (we are currently using UltraTax CS, another legacy program).

Switched From

Fixed Assets CS

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

We felt it had the best feature set and pricing structure.

Pros

The features are all there except for scheduling; Contact, communication, document management with client portal - but poorly organized.

Cons

The design of this platform is not thought out, to say you have all features- then throw it all in there with no real thought on how to be efficient doesn't build value.

For example, the journey to go from a contact comment back to the document that was being reviewed takes over 7 clicks. SEVEN CLICKS. Working one file can take over 100 clicks, multiply that by 8-10 files in a day... my hand is in pain by the end of the day from all the clicking... and scrolling. Every activity takes over 5 clicks from one thing to the next.

The goal of software is to build efficiency. It is easier for me to open a paper file and review and makes notes by hand then it is to use this software. The actual functionality of this system was not done by a software designer who didn't understands how to build an efficient system. It's like a house with the all the appliances and furniture that go in a house shoved into the living room; its all there you just have to sort through a lot to get what you need when you need it. Without an organized design you are creating too many moves and means wasted time, which means wasted money.

The purpose of software is to cut time and in return save money, this system in the 2yrs I've used it, has added time to my workload. To say the least I am shopping to get out of it, or i'll end up needing surgery for carpal tunnel.

Alternatives Considered

Canopy and Jetpack Workflow

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

The list of features; unfortunately the presentation of the features gave the impression of organization...

Pros

I love the fact that TaxDome replaces DropBox, Secure portal for file sharing, and CRM. TaxDome not brings these three components together, but then you also get a client portal, workflow management tool, automations with your workflows.

Cons

Like any new system, there is an implementation and adjustment period. This isn't really con, but it would be the only pain point, but totally worth the time spending on implementing and adjusting to the tax dome system.

Pros

Easier for clients to access and upload documents

Cons

I have only had one complaint, about uploading documents in the desktop upload folder. The dev team jumped right on it and should have it fixed soon!

Alternatives Considered

Canopy and Rever

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

Easier to use, better interface for clients. Easier for the client to use.

Switched From

Rever

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

Cost and ease of use by clients. Tax Dome gave me more for my money!

Pros

It is user friendly and everything we need is all in one.

Cons

We are excited to try out the SMS feature that is in the works.

Alternatives Considered

Canopy

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

The features we are looking for are all in one.

Switched From

Adobe Acrobat

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

How user friendly it was

Pros

That is is so many products in one and is clearly staying up to date with new features

Cons

That there's so much to learn and tinker with, I'm not sure I'll be able to roll out complete pipelines and task automations before I start transitioning clients to the new platform

Alternatives Considered

Canopy

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

Cost, TD had more features, proposals, billing

Pros

I like the ease of use for my clients and the templates that are already available.

Cons

It takes some getting use to and there seems to be a lot of things to do to get to where you need to be within the software.

Alternatives Considered

Asana

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

Canopy was very expensive and customer service was horrible!

Switched From

Canopy

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

Customer service and help was exceptional!

Pros

Cutting edge client solutions and great customer support.

Cons

Jobs & project workflow takes a little time to become accustomed to.

Pros

I love that there are both client and firm facing apps. In addition, after using other software, the ability to direct message a client inside the software keeps it encrypted and confidential. Also after much trial of other software, TaxDome allows us to give a client a open item list of to-do's and track the deliverables as they are completed without having to constantly update the request and keep manually tracking what is neededed.

Cons

We are waiting for the ability to autopay the recurring invoices. Additionally, we would like to be able to customize an existing pipeline template per client, without creating multiple template copies, which is currently on the roadmap which we are excited about!

Alternatives Considered

Jetpack Workflow

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

Canopy did not have a direct message feature to speak to clients without "requesting" data. Further, the messaging happened outside the software in the native text app on the phone creating the opportunity for sensitive data to leak. Additionally, there was no easy way to create an open items list and track it. Finally, and most importantly, we were looking for a one stop app that also allowed us to customize the organizer.

Switched From

Canopy

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

1) Direct messaging in app, 2) Checklist of open items sent to client to easily track deliverables, 3) customizable organizers

Pros

I like the security and the portal the most. It is one of the most important needs. The workflows can be made as complex or as simple as I would like and they make work more efficient.

Cons

I would like the ability to edit documents directly in the TD environment. The messaging feature is severely lacking. It would be nice if there was a main messaging page in the left panel. It would bring up a list of all messages, instead of having to go to the client then to their messages. As we do more than just taxes, and we offer bookkeeping services, it would be nice if we could link QBO to TD in a way that when the account Uncategorized Expenses in QBO, TD would send a chat out asking what the transaction was for. The would be able to select from the list of accounts currently in QBO.

Alternatives Considered

Karbon and Ignition

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

Tax partner had already purchased this when we formed our company, so we decided to stay with it.

Pros

This is super easy to use and get set up.

Our clients love the portal. We love how status updates can be automatically sent to the client to keep them in the loop of what stage their tax return is in.

Customer service is amazing. If you have questions, there is a chat feature and they respond very quickly.

Since this is a new product they are always adding new features.

We like how there is a to do list & kanban view of tasks. We also love the messages feature where you can send direct messages to the client.

Cons

This is a new product so there are still a few features missing. They are working on adding e-signature for 8879's which would have been great to have during tax season. They are adding new features all the time so hopefully this will be available soon.

It would be nice to be able to put notes on the face of the kanban cards so you can see them by just glancing at them and not having to open them up.

There is no way of knowing if documents have already been downloaded. If a client uploads tax documents, there is no way to know if anyone else in the firm has already downloaded them or if new documents have been uploaded there is no way to distinguish them.

Alternatives Considered

Canopy and Karbon

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

We felt like we really didn't know what we needed to work on. We were still keeping track of everything in spreadsheets.

Switched From

Jetpack Workflow

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

All in one features. It was like both Karbon and Canopy all in one. The cost is great too.

Pros

I love the ease of use for the client and the available app. I've practiced using it as a client and it is so easy to sign up, activate and upload documents and information. I have also utilized the onboarding on several occasions and have been very pleased. It's been easy to schedule a session and everyone I spoke to has been extremely knowledgeable and patient.

Cons

Creating the pipelines and understanding the relationships between tasks, templates, automations, etc has been challenging and will be time consuming to fully customize, but I feel it will be worth it in the long run.

Pros

Working with automations has relieved a lot of work in our practice.

Cons

When we review docs to work, we rename them. We previously used the browser but it was taking too long to rename, click save and move forward to the next.

Pros

The document management system seems quite robust, and the security and encryption features built into the software seem top notch.

Cons

The ability to have nested folders that are assigned a different privacy / security level versus the parent folder is a negative feature that must be worked around by creating a separate file folder chain.The ability to print from your tax software and have the files go directly into the proper account and file folder (Like SmartVault has) is a negative that I'm hopeful that will be developed quickly, as navigating to the correct folder every time a different client needs to be uploaded to the secure portal will be a royal pain in the ***.

Alternatives Considered

Onehub, ShareFile and TitanFile

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

SmartVault was kind enough to implement a 288% price increase for the 2023 tax year.

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

Tax Dome presence and support in the tax community and affiliation with NAEA and NATP were the main reasons I went with Tax Dome.

Pros

We are brand new, just converted from our trial. I have loved all of the videos they have available along with the videos they update regularly. I also love the support on FB. There are a ton of resources out there to help you make sure this is right for your firm prior to you making the jump.

Cons

It is a lot more expensive than what we are currently using, and I wish there was a discount for having so many employees on it. I feel like for small firms this is very affordable but for a firm our size (15 employees) it becomes quite costly. We are able to cancel some other things we are paying for, but it was still a big bite to chew on to move forward.

Alternatives Considered

Canopy

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

There was not enough automation in atom- too much of a risk of error if someone forgot to check a box, and too much time for administrative stuff and "clicks".

Switched From

Atom

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

We loved the automation that was included and all of the support that is available

Pros

We are transitioning to TaxDome from another software, and we love that TaxDome integrates our email into the client dashboard. No matter who received the email it will display for every team member and work is no longer going to be bottlenecked until the individual receiving the email can get to it.

We haven't been able to build out our workflows fully yet, but this is already a major upgrade from our current software.

Cons

Our prior software provided a discounted rate for contractors because they saw that seasonal contractors are not using it all day, every day. TaxDome doesn't have this feature making the use of it way more costly than other competitors.

Alternatives Considered

Asana

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

The prior software just didn't fit our needs anymore as we were growing too fast in comparison to the features they have. The old software is a great option for those wishing to have a small firm or only have one or two people working within a firm. It just was no longer a fit for our needs as we grew.

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

TaxDome was able to take our current CRM system (Liscio) that we paired with ClickUp for internal tasks and allows us to combine the two software platforms. This will help with efficiency within our firm. Also, TaxDome allows any team member to view communications that are sent to just my email and act on the requests. This is stress-relieving in itself, as everything was still falling onto just my shoulders to process, regardless of how much I tried to delegate to our team.

Pros

Has just the features we needed. Their interface is not overly cluttered like other programs, which can overwhelm new users. TaxDome is straight forward and there is more than enough online videos to walk you through how to use the program.

Cons

Pricing is not low, but also not out of the norm for practice management software. The requirement to pay one-year up front for the first license is a bit annoying as it makes you feel like you need to be all in, right away. Not saying this is a bad thing, but if you are on a tighter budget, you may want to look at lower cost software to piece together for your practice management needs.

Alternatives Considered

Financial Cents, Karbon and Firm360

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

The layout and features were easier to digest than Karbon. Financial Cents were missing some integration components and document management features.

Pros

The ability for clients to upload documents without a scanner, and for those documents to get saved directly to their files without my staff needing to take valuable time to get them there.

Cons

The meetings to initially test the software did not happen as promised. I created appointments but 2 of those 3 meetings I scheduled were canceled or rescheduled by a TaxDome person and they never told me. I was left scrambling trying to get the meetings to happen. For the software itself, what I like least is the inability to link an email to a client without adding the contact entirely to that client (ie like a bank that I deal with for multiple clients. I only want the emails relating to that specific client to be linked to them. My current CRM software allows me to do this.)

Pros

The product is easy to navigate, with much more fluids craters than it’s competitors. Everything I need is at my fingertips and clients are adjusting well.

Cons

It’s more difficult to learn the automotive workflows, but that is mostly due to me learning during peak season. I just don’t have the time to dedicate to learning as I need to right now.

Pros

The Simple Simplicity Of The GUI & Product Design, Endless Intuitive Customizations.

Cons

Need more dashboard features to complete preparer payroll & commission; card vault

Alternatives Considered

Canopy and Salesforce Sales Cloud

Reasons for Choosing TaxDome

I wrote a custom solution for our firm in Power Automate; and realized that the upkeep there was untenable. I found TaxDome to be the same solution that I had created in my own imagination!

Switched From

Microsoft SharePoint, SmartVault, DocuSign, Microsoft Lists, Microsoft Teams and Asana

Reasons for Switching to TaxDome

Price

Pros

I like the ease and functionally of tax dome the best. It is very user friend, a lot of my clients have been able to use it as well with very little questions on their end. I love the client portal aspect allowing clients to upload and download documents in a safe and secure manner. We use the signature function as well, not having to go out to a third part software has increased the return time and timing requesting the signatures. The customer service is great schedule a time to help on board or asking questions is very easy. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] is great!!!

Cons

The cons are are feel a few and far between and all things that I have been asking about and are supposed to be fixed or updated by the end of the month. For instance e-signature you have to send the document out two for a husband and wife to sign unlike other software you send it one to both email address. The notification may be a little too much but I guess I would rather know what is going on with all my clients than not and reminders to follow up on emails, or documents they have provided. Lastly moving the files from public (client view) to private (firm view) currently is not allowed so you have to delete the file and than upload again which takes additional time, but they assured me this was an update fix at the end of the month as well.

Alternatives Considered

Canopy

Pros

TaxDome has helped us service over 300 clients. We were able to send them engagement letters, collect signatures, communicate, and easily oversee multiple jobs/tasks. Building the workflows took some time but once they were up and running, it was a smooth process.The biggest pro for us was seeing the system consistently improve. Every few weeks we'd see changes and it made us feel like the team really cares about building a better system. It feels like we're growing with TaxDome.

Cons

It can be pretty expensive but I guess you get what you pay for!

Alternatives Considered

HoneyBook, Jira and Podio

Pros

I love that everything for managing clients, file sharing, gathering and requesting documents and the smart email inbox, is all in one place. I have been using a number of solutions that don't integrate thoroughly to achieve these things and finally i can have all these features in one place at a fair price. I am very happy with it. It does have shortcomings in some areas but they are constantly improving it and adding features. Support is also very responsive. They also have a really great email integration which collects files sent to your email and saves correspondence with clients in the client file, no more dragging and dropping correspondence from outlook into the client folders or saving attachments and dragging and dropping where to go. If the email is linked with a Taxdome client account it goes through your inbox and adds all client communications automatically.

Cons

There are some features that could be improved. Some of pipeline and workflow tools I haven't quite implemented. These could be improved with some sample templates that could be customized. Designing a workflow from scratch is difficult and I feel like i might be leaving things out, templates would give a baseline of common practices that would guide new users on how to take advantage of these features. Signature implementation could use some work, getting signatures from two spouses isnt well done, there should be an option for them to physically sign on their phone instead of using the signature font for the printed signature, and it has to have knowledge based e-signature (this would come at an additional cost to us users but it is required for certain document electronic signatures). I'm not concerned about these shortcomings because they are constantly adding updates and im sure improvements are on the way.