For 21st Century Tax Practitioners
April 10, 2017

For 21st Century Tax Practitioners

Laurence Sarner | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Proconnect Tax Online

ProConnect Tax Online is the tax preparation software tool used in my practice. It is the engine behind the personal, business & non-profit tax returns that I prepare. Additionally, it is tightly integrated with my QuickBooks Online (QBO) practice, as the ProAdvisor dashboard allows you to easily move data from QBO to ProConnect.
  • Cloud Based: The world is moving towards cloud based software and Intuit is on top of its game with ProConnect.
  • Tight Integration with QuickBooks Online (QBO): This is a real bonus if you are using QBO and want to integrate the client's Trial Balance into ProConnect.
  • Excellent Client Portal (IntuitLink): Using IntuitLink which is built into ProConnect, you can share document requests and documents with your client. You've also got a very user friendly visual "Client Organizer" rather than the clunky pile of paper based forms that many firms still use.
  • Support: Excellent online chat & support for resolving any issue while working in the software.
  • Flexible Pricing: Purchase as many returns as you need for tax season.
  • A couple of the less common forms weren't included. However, this was during the 1st year I used the software, and I believe these were added subsequently.
  • A couple of minor "nice to haves" such as ability to print watermarked "DRAFT" on a pdf version for client review.
  • A couple of the screens could have better navigation.
  • Cloud Based: Positive ROI as it is browser based and doesn't involve as much client workstation maintenance, backup, upgrades, software configuration issues, etc.
  • Integration w/QuickBooks Online (QBO): Since we are running some clients on QBO, the Trial Balance integration feature creates for virtually seamless integration, greatly reducing data entry time and risk of manual errors. Very positive ROI.
  • Client Portal/IntuitLink: The Client Portal is tightly woven into the workflow of the product, affording the user a positive ROI. This eliminates the need of an alternative solution such as using SmartVault, for example.
  • Drake, Intuit ProSeries and Profx
For many of the reasons previously stated in the review (ie. cloud based, client portal, QBO integration), I am a big fan of ProConnect Tax Online. Many competing products have been around far longer (Drake, for example, was one of the original collaborators with the IRS on the original e-file data format protocol). However, even given its shorter history, Intuit has shown again that it is a very innovative, cutting edge company that has loaded the product with tremendous features and rich functionality. I highly recommend the product, especially if you are running a tax practice that is more modern and makes use of technology.
Intuit has coined the term "Firm of the Future" and its products live up to that moniker. If you run a practice that is cloud based, paperless and makes use of cutting edge tools such as e-signatures, client portals, etc., then this product will be a good fit for you. If you are slow to change and want to use the traditional desktop computing environment and frequently print client draft returns for review, use wet signatures, etc. then this might not be the product for you. If you are already using some of Intuit's products and plan to implement more business clients into QuickBooks Online, I would say this product is a "must have".