Canopy
- Best for
- Tax and tax-resolution practices that want transcripts and notices in their practice tool.95
Software for accounting firms, compared by job
Fifteen tools in one table, alphabetical, with the layer of the stack each one covers. The six columns apply across layers: price, how it’s charged, e-signing, links to the ledger, links to tax software, and AI. Every cell is sourced and was checked on 10 Nov 2026. Firmary is ours, and it appears only in the layers it serves.
Firmary publishes this site and makes Firmary, one of the products below. It’s labeled “Ours” wherever it appears.
| Layer it covers | Product | Price | How it’s priced | E-signing | QuickBooks and Xero links | Tax software links | AI features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Practice management | Canopy | From $74 (Standard) to $109 (Plus) per user per month on annual billing, with a custom Enterprise plan, as of 10 Nov 2026.1 | Per user, with per-client add-ons for tax workflow automation and close automation.2 | On every plan; KBA is $1.25 per credit.3 | QuickBooks Online sync of contacts, invoices and service items; Xero contacts for invoicing and payments.4 | File saving from UltraTax, Drake Tax, Lacerte and ProSeries; CCH Axcess and ProConnect status links marked coming soon.5 | Canopy Coworker in open beta, included with monthly credits.6 |
Tax prep | CCH Axcess Tax | Prices aren’t published. Packages are quoted; eStore packages are for new customers only. As of 10 Nov 2026.7 | Packages by users, returns and states; Essentials is for four or fewer users with up to 5 states.8 | CCH eSign for any document, including Form 8879.9 | Not covered in the pages we checked. | Is the tax software. Connects with other CCH Axcess modules and third-party tools.10 | AI return preparation from client documents and prior-year data, for review; availability and pricing not stated.11 |
Tax prep | Drake Tax | An annual license per tax year, not a monthly subscription.14 | Drake E-Sign needs Drake Portals and is charged per event: KBA from $2.50 down to $1.75.15 | Not covered in the pages we checked. | Is the tax software. Drake sells its own client file portal, workflow and e-sign as a $599-a-year bundle.16 | AI explanations of return diagnostics; SmartExtract is a limited beta.17 | |
Practice management | Financial Cents | Solo $19 a month (one user), Team $49 and Scale $69 per user per month, billed annually. As of 10 Nov 2026.18 | On all plans; KBA is an add-on at $1 to $2 each.21 | Drake, UltraTax, ProConnect, ProSeries and CCH Axcess files through Google Drive, on Scale.24 | |||
Practice management, client requests, proposals and invoices | Firmary OursWaitlist | Not published.27 | E-signing is part of Firmary.29 | Doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks, Xero or other accounting software.30 | Doesn’t integrate with tax software.30 | ||
Proposals, engagement letters and payments | Ignition | A flat monthly plan per firm with set users and active clients, plus a charge per extra client.35 | Xero and QuickBooks Online, for invoicing and reconciliation.38 | ProConnect, UltraTax CS, CCH Axcess and Practice CS, for importing clients and sending tax engagement proposals.39 | AI Price Insights, sold as an annual add-on.40 | ||
Practice management | Karbon | Team $59 and Business $89 per user per month, billed annually; Enterprise is custom. As of 10 Nov 2026.41 | Per user; client count doesn’t change the price.42 | Credit bundles from 100 for $100; KBA uses two credits.43 | ProConnect return statuses; Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax and CCH aren’t listed.46 | ||
Tax prep | Lacerte | Pay-per-return starts with a $599 annual single-user license, returns extra; bundles not published. As of 10 Nov 2026.49 | Annual license with per-return purchases or custom bundles.50 | Intuit Sign with KBA on every plan.51 | Trial-balance transfer from QuickBooks Desktop.52 | Is the tax software. Lists SmartVault for documents; Karbon, Canopy and TaxDome aren’t listed.52 | No AI features found on its pricing page. Intuit Tax Advisor builds tax plans from return data, with the Fast Path license.53 |
Tax prep | ProConnect Tax | Bundles from $2,478 a year (1 user, 50 returns) to $8,462 (400 returns), business returns extra; Intuit labels this current pricing ending 1 March. As of 10 Nov 2026.54 | Per return, pay-as-you-go or in prepaid bundles, plus a User Access license.55 | Unlimited Intuit Sign signatures and KBA at no extra fee.56 | Built into Intuit Accountant Suite, Intuit’s platform for books, tax and insights.57 | Is the tax software. | SmartReturn, labeled new, creates low- to medium-complexity 1040s from imported data; Intuit doesn’t say it uses AI.58 |
Ledger (firm workspace) | QuickBooks Online Accountant | Monthly firm plans, Core and Accelerate.60 | Not covered in the pages we checked. | Is the ledger workspace. QuickBooks Online Accountant ends 31 Dec 2026, replaced by Intuit Accountant Suite.61 | Manage ProConnect clients and returns inside the suite.62 | Intuit Intelligence chat in beta; AI month-end close coming soon, paid after beta.63 | |
Documents | ShareFile | Per employee user; clients log in as client users.67 | On Premium and above, KBA at no extra cost.68 | Not covered in the pages we checked. | No named tax programs on its accounting page.69 | AI Document Assistant on Premium and above, with usage limits.70 | |
Documents | SmartVault | Per user, with unlimited clients and seasonal licenses from 15 Dec to 30 Apr.73 | Through DocuSign: add-on on Accounting Pro, unlimited on Accounting Unlimited.74 | QuickBooks Online and Desktop, and Xero, are listed.75 | Direct with Lacerte, ProConnect and ProSeries; configurable with UltraTax CS, Drake Tax and CCH.76 | SmartRequestAI at $15 per return, in bundles of 50.77 | |
Practice management | TaxDome | From $1,500 a year for 150 active clients and 20 seats, billed annually. As of 10 Nov 2026.78 | Unlimited e-signatures and KBA.81 | Reads prior-year returns from Drake, ProSeries, UltraTax, ATX, CCH Axcess and Lacerte; takes finished returns from any program that prints.84 | |||
Tax prep | UltraTax CS | Prices aren’t published. Thomson Reuters prices it by users, returns and states. As of 10 Nov 2026.87 | Custom quotes based on users, returns and states.87 | Through SafeSend One, a separate Thomson Reuters product.88 | Accounting CS and Accounting Payroll CS, inside Thomson Reuters’ suite.89 | Is the tax software. Integrates with Practice CS.89 | CoCounsel Tax, sold as a separate product.90 |
Ledger, with optional practice management | Xero | Per firm, by partner status.92 | Not covered in the pages we checked. | Is the ledger. Xero Partner Hub is live for all US partners, per Xero’s July 2026 post.93 | Not covered in the pages we checked. | JAX is in beta in Partner Hub.94 |
Each tool in brief
CCH Axcess Tax
Drake Tax
- Best for
- Price-sensitive and seasonal practices that want published, per-year pricing.13
Financial Cents
- Best for
- Small bookkeeping firms on QuickBooks Online.22
Firmary Ours
Ignition
- Best for
- Firms that want signed agreements to drive billing.101
Karbon
- Best for
- Teams that work from shared email with books in Xero or QuickBooks.103
Lacerte
- Best for
- Firms with complex returns that want KBA e-signing in the license.51
ProConnect Tax
- Best for
- Firms that want tax returns and QuickBooks client books on one Intuit platform.57
QuickBooks Online Accountant
- Best for
- Firms whose clients keep their books in QuickBooks Online.59
ShareFile
SmartVault
TaxDome
- Best for
- Firms with many clients and few seats.79
UltraTax CS
- Best for
- Firms already on Thomson Reuters CS products.89
Xero
When another tool is a better fit than Firmary
Canopy
You need software running this season, from a vendor that states its SOC 2 status. Canopy says it is SOC 2 Type II compliant, Ignition and Karbon’s web application say they are SOC 2 Type 2 certified, and TaxDome says it holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation.112–115 Firmary is waitlist-only and has not completed a SOC 2 examination.28,116
Ignition
You send tax engagement letters in bulk from your tax software. Ignition imports clients from ProConnect, UltraTax CS, CCH Axcess and Practice CS for tax engagement proposals.39
Karbon
Invoices must sync with QuickBooks Online or Xero. Karbon syncs invoices to both and payments both ways with Xero, and Financial Cents runs a two-way QuickBooks Online sync on every plan.22,44,45 Firmary has no ledger integration.30
TaxDome
Your practice tool must read your tax returns. TaxDome builds document checklists from prior-year returns in Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax, CCH Axcess and others, and takes finished returns back from any program that prints.84 Firmary doesn’t integrate with tax software.30
Xero
You’re a Silver Xero partner or above. Practice Management in Xero Partner Hub is included at that level, beside the client books you already work in.92
How we compared them
For each layer we kept tools whose own pages gave us a price or a plain statement that prices aren’t published. The six columns are the criteria that apply across layers; the layer column shows which job each tool does. A cell that starts with “Is the ledger” or “Is the tax software” describes the tool itself. “Not covered in the pages we checked” means the pages cited for that vendor didn’t say; the feature may still exist. All facts were checked on 10 Nov 2026.
What each column means
- Price
- The public list price, the unit it’s charged on, and how it’s billed. Read from the vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown. If no price is published, we say so.
- How it’s priced
- Per user (seat), per active client, per connected client, or per firm. From the vendor’s pricing page.
- E-signing
- Built-in electronic signatures, including knowledge-based authentication (KBA) where tax forms such as 8879 need it. From the vendor’s product, pricing or help pages.
- QuickBooks and Xero links
- A built-in integration with QuickBooks Online or Xero, and what it syncs. From the vendor’s integrations page.
- Tax software links
- A built-in integration with tax preparation software (for example Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax, CCH Axcess, ProConnect). From the vendor’s integrations page.
- AI features
- AI features the vendor says are available now, with what they cost; announced or beta features are labeled as such. From the vendor’s pages and dated trade press. Beta and waitlist status is stated.
Join the Firmary waitlist
Firms join the Firmary waitlist and are emailed when they can join.
Sources
Each product fact on this page links to a numbered source. Quotes are copied as the page’s text reads on the date shown, spacing included.
- 1
Canopy
Standard $74 user/month ... Plus $109 user/month
- 2
Canopy
Starting at $34 credit/client annual billing; volume discounts available ... $10 connected client/month annual billing; first 5 connections included
- 3
Canopy
$1.25 per KBA credit
- 4
Canopy
Sync Canopy and QBO information, including classes, categories, locations, contacts, invoices, and service items. ... Send invoices and accept payments with Xero by syncing your Canopy contacts.
- 5
Canopy
CCH Axcess (Coming Soon) ... Intuit Proconnect (Coming Soon) ... Save files from Drake Tax to Canopy.
- 6
Canopy
AI coworker that plans, does, and checks work across Canopy. Monthly AI credits per user. Add more as your needs grow.
- 7
CCH Axcess Tax
Please note: CCH Axcess™Tax packages available on the eStore are intended for new customers only. These packages are not eligible for purchase by existing CCH Axcess or ProSystem fx® Tax customers.
- 8
CCH Axcess Tax
For firms with four or fewer users, CCH Axcess Essentials* offers comprehensive compliance for core tax workflows.
- 9
CCH Axcess Tax
Simplify client interactions with secure, integrated eSignatures that save time and reduce paper-based delays for any document, including Form 8879.
- 10
CCH Axcess Tax
Connect seamlessly with other CCH Axcess modules and third-party tools through a secure, cloud-native platform.
- 11
CCH Axcess Tax
Agentic return preparation is an Expert AI capability within CCH Axcess Tax that helps firms prepare returns using client documents, prior-year information, and established workflows while keeping tax professionals in control of review and approval.
- 12
Drake Tax
Multi-User $3,295 * $3,145 / Tax year 2026
- 13
Drake Tax
Additional returns can be purchased individually: $49.99 per individual return and $74.99 per business return.
- 14
Drake Tax
Licensing for desktop software is per physical site and Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN) with multi-user and single user versions available. Licensing for Drake Tax Online is primarily user-based.
- 15
Drake Tax
KBA E-Signatures Identity-verified signing Events Cost Per Event 0-99 $2.50 100-499 $2.25 SAVE 10% 500+ $1.75 SAVE 30% Minimum purchase: 5 E-Sign events
- 16
Drake Tax
Practice Essentials and Practice Essentials Plus are annual subscriptions that begin on the date of purchase and automatically renew each year. Subscriptions cannot be canceled, modified, or refunded during the active term.
- 17
Drake Tax
Assistant — Drake Tax® and Drake Tax Online™ (diagnostics and suggested next steps) Document classification — Drake Portals®
- 18
Financial Cents
Solo ($19/mo annual) – Best for single-user firms. Team ($49/mo annual, $69/mo monthly) ... Scale ($69/mo annual, $89/mo monthly)
- 19
Financial Cents
Financial Cents pricing is per user. ... Month-End close, our tool for managing uncategorized transactions, is an add-on for $5/month per client, billed annually.
- 20
Financial Cents
All plans are a 12-month agreement. ... Minimum 5 users required for monthly billing.
- 21
Financial Cents
$1–$2 per KBA, depending on package size.
- 22
Financial Cents
Our two-way QuickBooks Online sync keeps your accounting data up to date by ensuring that client records, invoice statuses, and payment details are automatically reflected in both systems.
- 23
Financial Cents
Import clients, link employees, and sync time logs effortlessly with QuickBooks Online.
- 24
Financial Cents
Tax Integrations: Drake, UltraTax, ProConnect, ProSeries, CCH Axcess
- 25
Financial Cents
The agents are available on every Financial Cents plan, and your firm decides whether each one acts automatically or waits for approval.
- 26
Financial Cents
Available on the Financial Cents Scale plan.
- 27
Firmary Ours
Firmary’s pricing isn’t published.
- 28
Firmary Ours
Firmary is pre-launch: firms join a waitlist and are emailed when they can join. There is no self-serve sign-up.
- 29
Firmary Ours
Firmary covers client requests and documents, forms, tasks, secure messaging, automations, proposals, e-signing, invoices and payments, and time tracking, with PocketFirm as the client side.
- 30
Firmary Ours
Firmary doesn’t integrate with accounting software (such as QuickBooks or Xero) or tax software.
- 31
Firmary Ours
Staff can connect Claude to Firmary today as a custom connector. It acts as the staff member, within their permissions and the firm’s AI rules; Claude asks before running a change unless the staff member has set that tool to always allow, and every change made through Claude is recorded in the firm’s audit log.
- 32
Firmary Ours
ChatGPT support is in testing (not live).
- 33
Ignition
*$39/month paid annually, $49/month paid monthly. … Includes 20 active clients, 1 user, 1 e-signature per proposal, and email and in-app support.
- 34
Ignition
$229/month(billed annually) Save % (billed annually) Save 18% [Start free trial](https://go.ignitionapp.com/sign-up) Clients Active clients with signed agreements 350 Cost per additional active client (over plan inclusion) +$3 Users User accounts 15
- 35
Ignition
Cost per additional active client (over plan inclusion)
- 36
Ignition
Branded online proposals Unlimited E-signatures per proposal Single … Engagement letters Automated engagement letters or contract terms Industry standard engagement terms template Customized engagement terms
- 37
Ignition
Additional fees (Pro plans only): $1.20 per extra document | | | 500 docs/year | Unlimited docs |
- 38
Ignition
Streamline your workflow with Ignition + QuickBooks: Turn invoices into proposals and automate invoicing and reconciliation.
- 39
Ignition
Boost efficiency with Ignition + ProConnect: Import clients by return type, send bulk proposals, tailor tax engagements, and automate payments.
- 40
Ignition
Get AI-powered price insights tailored to your business, built on real proposal data.
- 41
Karbon
Team$59/month, per user, paid annually Or $79/month per user, paid monthly ... Business$89/month, per user, paid annually Or $99/month per user, paid monthly
- 42
Karbon
Karbon is priced per user. ... Your client count and document volume do not determine the subscription price.
- 43
Karbon
Each eSignature request with knowledge-based authentication uses two credits.
- 44
Karbon
Two-way contact sync ... Automatic one-way invoice sync
- 45
Karbon
Karbon invoices will be synced to Xero, and payments collected from either system will be auto-synced with the other.
- 46
Karbon
tax returns in ProConnect become repeating work items in Karbon, and tax return statuses become filterable work statuses
- 47
Karbon
Karbon AI is currently available to all Karbon customers at no additional cost.
- 48
Karbon
Kai is available to Karbon customers now in limited early access with the list of capabilities growing each week. You can join the waitlist
- 49
Lacerte
Pay-per-return pricing: An annual license fee (Fast Path) is required to purchase returns on a per-return basis. If purchasing a bundle, this fee is included.
- 50
Lacerte
Bundles of individual and/or business returns (all states included) Unlimited individual and/or business returns (all states included)
- 51
Lacerte
Digital signatures and KBAs for all tax clients
- 52
Lacerte
SmartVault Manage documents securely in the cloud with unlimited storage capabilities
- 53
Lacerte
Use tax return data to build custom tax plans for your clients in minutes*
- 54
ProConnect Tax
ProConnect Plus For growing firms managing individual and business returns that need more capacity and alignment. starting at $8,802 $5,868per year+ applicable taxes 2 users 200 individual returns, all states included
- 55
ProConnect Tax
Every account requires a User Access license.
- 56
ProConnect Tax
Unlimited digital signatures and authentication included, no additional purchase.
- 57
ProConnect Tax
ProConnect Tax is the only professional tax software built into Intuit Accountants Suite, letting you go from books, tax, and insights in one connected platform with fewer steps and less switching.*
- 58
ProConnect Tax
SmartReturn Quickly create low- to medium-complexity 1040 returns using imported data.
- 59
QuickBooks Online Accountant
Core Centralized firm operations, workflows, and service delivery. $0/mo
- 60
QuickBooks Online Accountant
*$149/mo starting on January 20, 2027. Remains free for ProPartner Accountants at the Premier tier and above.
- 61
QuickBooks Online Accountant
QuickBooks Online Accountant is going away December 31, 2026. Get ahead and transition to Intuit Accountant Suite—no data migration, no switching costs, no starting over.
- 62
QuickBooks Online Accountant
Manage tax clients without switching between ProConnect and QuickBooks. Assign, track, and file returns with customizable workflows built for your team.
- 63
QuickBooks Online Accountant
Agentic Books Close will be $0/client per month during beta. A paid add-on will be required post-beta to continue access.
- 64
ShareFile
Advanced Secure File Sharing for Teams $18.15 $16.50 $18.15 Per user/month Minimum of 3 users
- 65
ShareFile
Premium End-to-End Document Workflows for Teams and Clients $28.59 $26.00 $28.59 Per user/month Minimum of 3 users
- 66
ShareFile
$42.00 $35.00 $42.00 Per user/month Minimum of 3 users
- 67
ShareFile
Think of employee users as internal users who work for your company and client users as external users.
- 68
ShareFile
Use included KBA on e-signature documents to verify the identity of clients.
- 69
ShareFile
Whether you’re using platforms for tax prep, client billing or reporting, ShareFile products support integrations that complement your existing systems and workflows.
- 70
ShareFile
AI Workflows Subject to usage limitations and applicable pricing, which may be modified from time to time.
- 71
SmartVault
Accounting Pro … $65 per user / month, billed annually 2 user minimum … $85 per user / month, billed monthly 2 user minimum
- 72
SmartVault
Tax/accounting firms needing unlimited eSignatures, KBAs, PDFs, quotes and proposals. … $85 per user / month, billed annually 2 user minimum … $110 per user / month, billed monthly 2 user minimum
- 73
SmartVault
Unlimited clients and external collaborators
- 74
SmartVault
KBAs / ID verification Integrate an existing DocuSign account, or create one through SmartVault. Add-on Add-on Unlimited
- 75
SmartVault
Intuit QuickBooks
- 76
SmartVault
Thomson Reuters UltraTax CS Configurable integration DrakeTax Configurable integration Wolters Kluwer CCH Configurable integration
- 77
SmartVault
Prior-year returns generate a personalized document request list … Available as an add-on to Accounting Pro and Accounting Unlimited annual plans. … $15 / return Bundles of 50 SmartRequests $750 per bundle
- 78
TaxDome
Pricing starts at 150 active clients, which is $1,500 a year, or about $0.83 per client a month. That minimum applies even if you have fewer than 150 active clients.
- 79
TaxDome
An active client is a client with any activity in the past 12 months, such as logging in, uploading documents, sending messages, or receiving an invoice. Contacts without activity cost nothing.
- 80
TaxDome (press)
Firms that signed up before Nov. 2, 2026 can still pay per seat, based on plan tier, and their plan and price stay the same until the first renewal on or after Jan. 1, 2027.
- 81
TaxDome
Unlimited e-signatures ... IRS-compliant signature requests with KBA.
- 82
TaxDome
Automatically sync all payments and invoices created in TaxDome with your QuickBooks Online account.
- 83
TaxDome
QuickBooks Online
- 84
TaxDome
Works with Drake, ProSeries, UltraTax, ATX, CCH Axcess, and Lacerte.
- 85
TaxDome
Available for $200 per month.
- 86
TaxDome
AI intake is included in every plan, and Atlas is coming soon.
- 87
UltraTax CS
Custom pricing for UltraTax CS is available based on the number of users, tax returns, and states and jurisdictions of operations.
- 88
UltraTax CS
SafeSend One Automate your firm’s delivery and e-signing process with this powerful accounting solution.
- 89
UltraTax CS
UltraTax CS is a part of the CS Professional Suite and integrates seamlessly with all CS products, including Accounting CS, Accounting Payroll CS, Practice CS, and more.
- 90
UltraTax CS
Transform your tax practice with CoCounsel Tax, an AI-powered assistant that combines trustworthy answers, automation, and firm knowledge into one seamless platform.
- 91
Xero
All new partners can use Xero and Xero Partner Hub for free, with more products added at higher status levels.
- 92
Xero
It’s included free for practices at Silver, Gold or Platinum level. If you’re new to Xero or at Bronze level, you can try it free for 14 days, then subscribe for USD $149 per month for up to 10 users.
- 93
Xero
Following rollout in the UK earlier in the year, Xero Partner Hub is now live for all partners in the US, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa and Canada ... if you use Xero Practice Management tools, then Jobs, Time and Billing are there too.
- 94
Xero
JAX is Xero’s AI finance partner, available in beta in Xero Partner Hub.
- 95
Canopy
20 years of transcripts, quick and easy
- 96
Canopy
COMING SOON Premium Built to scale for the autonomous firm $149
- 97
Financial Cents
Everything in Team Plan, plus Auto-follow ups for client tasks Customize client task emails Task dependencies Auto-send email updates Auto-create work
- 98
Financial Cents
Open API Branded client portal Shared email Inbox
- 99
Firmary Ours
Firms define their services, send a proposal, and keep the accepted agreement with the engagement it starts.
- 100
Firmary Ours
Invoice details and payment status stay with the client record, with outstanding balances across clients. Clients pay invoices through Stripe.
- 101
Ignition
Automated invoice creation via ledger integration Import unpaid invoices from accounting software Flexible billing options Manual or automated billing Bill for out of scope work Send one-off invoices
- 102
Ignition
Platform Overview Proposals Contracts & Engagement Letters Payments Invoicing Billing WIP Billing AML Compliance New Reporting Integrations AI Price Insights Forms Deals
- 103
Karbon
Share, assign and comment on emails across your team.
- 104
Karbon
Includes everything in Team, plus: Automatic Client Reminders Task Automation Industry Integrations
- 105
Karbon
self-serve free trials are not available
- 106
Lacerte
you may request a refund within five (5) business days of the software release date for the tax year purchased or your payment date, whichever is later. No other refund requests shall be honored.
- 107
ProConnect Tax
Individual returns $109.95 $93.46 each Business returns $129.95 $110.46 each … + $210 per User Access license ($2,100 flat for 10+ users)
- 108
QuickBooks Online Accountant
Books Close is available as part of Intuit Accountant Core and Accelerate at no additional cost.
- 109
ShareFile
Search for a document or folder name, as well as for words within documents.
- 110
ShareFile
Client collaboration tools - e-signature, requests, tasks, forms, workflow automation Enhanced client portal
- 111
TaxDome
Most firms complete TaxDome implementation in 6–8 weeks.
- 112
Canopy
SOC 2 type II compliant
- 113
Ignition
Ignition is SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
- 114
Karbon
Karbon’s web application product is SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
- 115
TaxDome
TaxDome completes the PCI DSS Questionnaire A (SAQ A) and holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation.
- 116
Firmary Ours
Firmary has not completed a SOC 2 examination or a third-party security audit.