What's the Best Tax Resolution Software for Tax Preparers? (Comparison)

The best tax resolution software for your practice will be an effective tool that helps with your tax work while dramatically reducing the time you spend on each case and thereby increasing your profit margins.

Resolution services specifically must be agile enough to handle the variety of work your clients need. You should also look for a service that will help you stay on top of your work and make working with the IRS an easier process. Here we take a deeper dive into a few of the important aspects you should consider when choosing a tax resolution software for your practice.

Office and client management

Running your own tax practice requires airtight organization and fluid communication. If your tax practice is able to effectively manage organization, it is much easier to be accountable and avoid important items slipping through the cracks. In addition, a successful tax practice should not only communicate well internally but also effectively communicate with clients in order to develop strong relationships that spur client retention and further business growth.

The onboarding experience for you and your client should be a seamless and painless process. The software you choose to run your practice should enhance your ability to effectively serve your clients.

Canopy provides an easy client onboarding process for your tax practice that will save you time and money. Every client that signs on with you will go through a client survey that will allow you to obtain complex financial information in a simple and straightforward way. Canopy also strives to help you enhance your brand image by providing your clients with an easy-to-manage client portal, custom branding capabilities, and safe document exchange.

Industry-wide, PitBullTax, IRS Solutions, and IRSLogics all provide features such as secure document exchange, client portal management, and various custom branding capabilities. IRSLogics and PitBullTax also include initial client surveys within their software. PitBullTax rounds out their feature set by providing a user-friendly office management and onboarding experience in addition to their customized branding tools. 

IRS form functionalities

Working effectively with the IRS and its requirements is one of the most important yet frustrating aspects of being a tax professional. Finding a software that cuts down on the busywork is incredibly important for your tax practice.

At the heart of tax resolution services is finding the best outcome for your clients in a given tax issue and scenario. Especially when dealing with complex cases, it is essential to use a software that will assist you in finding the best outcome for your client.

If you are looking for guided instructions and summaries of in-depth resolution scenarios for your cases, Canopy provides tax resolution analytics and calculations based on your client’s unique case, as well as useful discussion guides for when you call the IRS. Canopy’s case scenario capabilities work with you to instantly identify the best outcome for your cases. Improved from the industry standard, information from the client survey is instantly populated into the IRS form fields. Canopy also gives you the ability to pull transcripts in as little as two minutes to gather important historical data on your clients.

Within the realm of transcript reporting, Tax Help Software is one of leading softwares in the industry. Tax Help Software gives extensive reports and data when pulling historical transcript data from your clients, including information on notices and prior tax payments. Other softwares such as IRS Solutions and PitBullTax provide effective case scenario assistance and transcript pulling. These providers, along with IRSLogics, offer letter templates specifically designed for tax cases to send to your client and speed up the resolution process.

Tax forms

Whether you’re working on simple or complicated tax resolution cases, having access to a wide variety of state and federal forms is essential. As a tax resolution specialist, you will need to take a good look at your clientele and analyze what business, federal, or state forms will be required to effectively serve your clients. In addition, be sure to understand what your software offers as far as Power of Attorney and various state collection forms are concerned.

Canopy offers access to up-to-date tax forms for every occasion, whether that be individual or business clients. With various collection and Power of Attorney forms currently from 47 states, you will be prepared to handle the tax resolution cases that come your way. With Canopy you will have access to the federal, individual, and business tax forms needed to successfully run your practice.

Almost all other tax softwares include various functionalities compatible with IRS tax forms. PitBullTax offers access to forms from four states. However to use those forms you must purchase an extra add-on which will grant you permission to three of those states. Almost all softwares within the industry provide the most common individual, business, and POA forms. IRSLogics in addition offers more specific state collections forms than the industry average.

IRS notices

Understanding how to respond to notices from the IRS is fundamental to being a successful tax resolution specialist. A software that provides insight and knowledge into what each notice entails and how to resolve that issue, will give you the upper hand in providing the highest quality service for your client. Don’t overlook the importance of IRS notices to your business. Understanding what they mean, how they work, and how to resolve them is critical to your success.
Keeping tabs on every notice your clients receive can be a challenge. Canopy’s IRS Notices tool offers you the ability to stay up-to-date on notice requirements and will work with you to find a path to the best solution for your client. Standard software offerings in the industry will define the IRS notice for you and detail out why your client is receiving it. In addition to defining each notice, Canopy goes the extra mile by offering step-by-step instructions for each notice type so you can help your client reach resolution.

As previously explained, Tax Help Software offers one of the most in-depth transcript reporting tools on the market. Within each report, you will be able to see all of the past notices that your client has received from the IRS. IRS Solutions also offers notice definitions from the IRS. Although you will not be given step-by-step assistance from either of these software, each notice is defined and explained within the report to give you an understanding of the issues facing your client.

IRS programs and filing

Whichever software you decide to use to run your tax resolution services, it is vital you ensure that it is robust enough for you to manage your workload. Tax resolution cases can be complex and the IRS may ask you for many collection types from your clients. When dealing with these cases, your resolution software must be comprehensive enough to enhance your ability to serve your clientele.

Canopy enables you to deal with any type of collection that comes your way. You will have extensive ability to handle the IRS’s collection programs, including Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible, and Installment Agreement. In addition, you will receive powerful OIC analytic tools to best handle collection scenarios from the IRS and make the best decision for your client moving forward. Canopy will also provide you with assistance in the main IRS filing types such as liens, levies, Penalty Abatement, and more.

Most softwares in the tax resolution industry are adept at handling IRS collections. Providers such as IRS Solutions, PitBullTax, and IRSLogics also provide OIC planners and analytic-type features. In addition, PitBullTax and Tax Help Software offer helpful tools that give you the ability to calculate Penalty Abatement eligibility. Assistance with filing types such as Penalty Abatement and Innocent Spouse are common across the industry.

Industry education and customer support

In a constantly changing industry such as the world of tax and accounting, it is imperative that every tax professional stay informed of all adjustments and updates to tax regulations. Every tax professional must seek out ways to educate themselves. While there are many resources available, many of them can prove to be costly or ineffective. Your education is fundamental in making sure you stay at the top of your game and ahead in industry tax knowledge.

Canopy, unlike a lot of online resources, offers a variety of free resources to ensure that you stay informed and on the cutting edge of tax changes. Beginning with Canopy’s free CPE courses, you will earn CPE credits taught by skilled tax professionals at no charge. You will receive education in a variety of topics from advanced Offer in Compromise courses to how to become an Enrolled Agent. Canopy’s tax community of experts will give you valuable insights as well as personalized customer support to assist you when you begin using Canopy software.

One of the educational highlights within the tax resolution industry is the user conference hosted by PitBullTax designed for tax professionals to earn CPE/CE credit and be trained on PitBullTax software. Other tax resolution software companies such as Tax Help Software and IRS Solutions also provide free, periodic webinar trainings on resolution topics.

Practice management software and tools

In helping your practice run as efficiently, effectively, and profitably as possible, you should be looking for specific tools. Many tax practices lose money and valuable time because of inefficiencies within their organization. Task management and workflow-type tools can prove to be incredibly valuable in cutting back on unnecessary busywork that plagues many tax practices.

Many of the tools Canopy provides to manage your organization are offered in the Practice Management product, which is separate from the Tax Resolution offering. For users of both Practice Management and Tax Resolution, Canopy provides a seamless integration. You will have the ability for enhanced billing, time tracking, task management, and workflow systems. You can quickly email clients and send over forms securely. Fully integrated e-signature and KBA capabilities ensure that Canopy gives you maximum efficiency and security in your tax work.

PitBullTax and IRSLogics also provide many tools for your practice as a part of their tax resolution product, including billing, task management, and workflow management. They also provide email functionalities with clients that are important to effective communication and productivity. While PitBullTax provides some e-signature capabilities, they do not provide an integrated step-by-step and KBA-friendly process.

Final word

There’s a lot to think about when purchasing the best tax resolution software for your practice. Ultimately, your decision should focus on what software solution will best help you manage your clientele, reduce wasted time, and increase your profits. If you want more information about these five tax resolution software vendors, check out The Complete Guide to Buying Tax Resolution Software for a deeper industry look at pricing information, contract lengths, and other important things to know when deciding on the ideal professional tax software for your practice.

If you feel like Canopy is a good option for your practice, schedule a demo with one of our product specialists or give it a try for free. 

Publish Date: February 28, 2019