Best 5 TaxDome alternatives to consider for your accounting practice management software
Summary
- For sole tax CPAs and smaller tax firms, TaxDome is a good option.
- For full-service tax and accounting firms with distributed staff, Karbon is the top choice.
- For specialized tax firms, Canopy is a good solution.
- For smaller firms looking for a simple solution, Financial Cents may be one to consider.
- For firms looking for workflow management features only, Jetpack Workflow is a good alternative.
- For firms looking for a general but customizable project management tool, Asana is a great option.
TaxDome is a cloud-based practice management software solution for accounting and tax firms.
Like other accounting practice management systems, TaxDome provides a central workspace that helps practitioners manage their clients, jobs, documents, and teams.
Task view in TaxDome
TaxDome brands itself as an all-in-one platform that replaces many apps a firm needs to run its day-to-day operations. Here's a look at some of its top features:
Project management
Workflow automation
Tax organizers
CRM
Document management
Client portal
Client-facing mobile app
Website creation service
eSignature
Invoicing and payments
For $50 USD/month, per user, TaxDome offers a wide range of features at a reasonable price.
But as the saying goes, 'you get what you pay for'. In this case, TaxDome users often report a wide breadth of features that don’t actually function very well.
With that in mind, here are TaxDome's top limitations you should be aware of before making a decision.
Why you should consider TaxDome alternatives for your practice management solution
1. TaxDome delivers more on quantity than quality
TaxDome’s biggest strength is its breadth of features, but that also happens to be one of its major flaws.
As one TaxDome user noted, “Although the system has everything you need, they’re badly placed and organized, creating more work than necessary.” Other users have also called out how the platform under-delivers on its CRM, internal communication, and email management functionalities.
If you require robust functionality in these areas, TaxDome may not meet your expectations.
2. TaxDome is time-consuming to onboard, and its implementation support is unclear
Because TaxDome is so feature-dense, users often experience a steep learning curve and a time-consuming onboarding and implementation process.
With TaxDome, you will have to spend many hours on video tutorials, product webinars, team training sessions, or even hire a third-party TaxDome consultant to properly set up and customize the platform. And it’s unclear whether TaxDome offers in-house implementation support like other practice management platforms.
If TaxDome’s pricing entices you, be prepared to invest more time and possibly more money before you can fully reap its benefits.
3. TaxDome’s communication and collaboration capabilities are underwhelming
As a solution geared towards sole practitioners, TaxDome’s internal communication and collaboration capabilities are limited.
Its ‘Inbox+’ feature (touted as a centralized location for your communication) only syncs emails from clients. That means you still have switch between your email and TaxDome to manage all other communication, like emails from staff members, IRS notifications, or any other emails from anyone else.
Inbox+ in TaxDome
Rather than fully embedding emails into your workflow, TaxDome becomes yet another siloed destination to manage your communication. One user has found TaxDome’s Inbox+ so flawed that he voted it his ‘least favorite feature’.
If effective collaboration and communication are crucial to your firm, you may want to look for an alternative practice management platform to streamline your workflows.
4. TaxDome has no current plans to integrate AI into its platform
AI (artificial intelligence) has taken the world by storm and it’s quickly becoming a highly desired (if not expected) feature of an accounting practice management system.
When asked whether TaxDome has plans to implement AI, the company’s answer was disappointing.
In comparison, other accounting practice management platforms like Karbon and Canopy have launched AI-powered features that promise to transform accountants’ productivity and efficiency.
5 best TaxDome alternatives for accounting and tax firms
1. Karbon
Karbon is a comprehensive practice management platform for accounting, tax, and bookkeeping firms.
It offers essential features of an accounting practice management solution, but it stands out from the crowd for its unmatched ability to provide visibility and transparency on team and client communication, job statuses, staff productivity, and firm profitability.
“Karbon has solved the 'silo' problem in my business. Complete visibility of communications between team members and customers is now a reality. The Karbon development team and support team are amazing and really care about me and my business.”
Workflow dashboard view in Karbon
Karbon's top features
Calendar integration
Work templates, including a library of 250+ of best practice accounting, tax, bookkeeping workflows
Document management (native storage and integration with DropBox and OneDrive)
Email comments and @mention capabilities
Time tracking and budgets
Billing and payments (currently in beta)
GPT-powered AI (currently in beta)
Mobile app
Open API to build your own custom solutions
Karbon pros and cons
Pros
Karbon is the only accounting practice management solution that allows you to @mention colleagues and comment on emails, turn emails into tasks, and assign emails to colleagues, client and project timelines
GPT-powered AI tools that help you work faster, smarter, and more securely
Constant innovation and frequent product releases
Simple and comprehensive pricing
Ranked #1 for ease-of-use in G2’s accounting practice management category
Open API so you can integrate apps, build custom solutions, and optimize workflows
Highly customizable to match your practice’s workflow
Unite your team and collaborate with a single source of truth for all communication and client information
CRM capabilities allow you to track your firm’s relationship with every client and deliver the service you promise
Reveal insights to guide critical firm decisions and improve efficiency with Karbon Practice Intelligence
Built by a team of accounting professionals and those with experience in the accounting space
Cons
Requires a more hands-on implementation and onboarding, because it is a more robust solution
More expensive due to more features and functionality
Who is Karbon best suited for?
Karbon is most effective for teams of at least 3 staff or a sole practitioner who’s looking to rapidly grow within a short period of time.
Reviews
Here’s how Karbon and TaxDome stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
G2
Capterra
Karbon pricing
Karbon has three pricing plans: Team, Business, and Enterprise.
Annually:
Team: $59 USD/month, per user
Business: $79 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Monthly:
Team: $75 USD/ month, per user
Business: $99 USD/month, per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing
Karbon or TaxDome?
Karbon and TaxDome both offer essential features you’d expect from an accounting practice management platform. The key difference comes down to their depth of functionality, pricing, and ideal firm size.
TaxDome delivers an abundance of features with relatively basic functionality at a reasonable price. This makes it a more suitable product for sole practitioners who simply need a system to consolidate different apps or replace Excel-based project trackers.
Karbon is a robust practice management platform with some of the strongest project management, workflow automation, collaboration, analytics, and artificial intelligence capabilities in the market. It’s ideal for teams with at least 3 staff members, and firms looking for a system that will scale with them.
If you’re still on the fence, evaluate Karbon and TaxDome with a detailed side-by-side comparison or get started with Karbon to see for yourself.
2. Financial Cents
Financial Cents is a no-frills practice management tool for accounting firms. It provides email integration, project management, client management, time tracking and a few native reports that enable firms to work with clients, manage tasks and deadlines, and report on key metrics.
Workflow management view in Financial Cents
Financial Cents’ top features
Email integration
Client portal
CRM
Project and task management
Workflow automation
Invoicing (through QuickBooks Online integration)
Time tracking
Native reports (time tracking, effective hourly rate, capacity management, client tasks, team activity)
Financial Cents pros and cons
Pros
Affordable pricing
Quick to implement (however, this might be a drawback for some firms looking for a more powerful solution)
Responsive customer support
Cons
Basic workflow features (tasks and projects are only available in a list view or a calendar view, not as Kanban boards or customizable work dashboards)
No native invoicing and payment functionality
Very limited integrations (only QuickBooks Online, Gmail and Outlook)
Who is Financial Cents best suited for?
Financial Cents is suited for smaller accounting or bookkeeping firms that are looking for a simple and cost-effective solution to stay on top of tasks, projects, and clients.
Reviews
Here’s how TaxDome and Financial Cents stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
G2
Capterra
Financial Cents pricing
Financial Cents pricing starts at $49 USD/month per team member, billed monthly ($39 USD/month on an annual plan).
Financial Cents or TaxDome?
Financial Cents is a comparable alternative to TaxDome for smaller CPA firms. It’s similarly priced as TaxDome and has an adequate amount of features that can help smaller teams get started relatively quickly.
Keep in mind that TaxDome offers more features, but the depth of functionality may not stack up against the fewer, yet more well-rounded, Financial Cents features.
3. Canopy
Canopy is a cloud-based practice management solution for mid-sized tax and accounting firms.
Initially founded as a tax resolution tool, Canopy’s strengths lie in its robust tax workflow features, such as pre-built client organizers, IRS transcript auto-retrieval and notice creation, and tax resolution.
For tax firms that frequently handle complex client issues, Canopy can significantly reduce the amount of client chasing and manual work in the resolution process.
Work and task view in Canopy
Canopy’s top features
Integrated email inbox
Task and project management
Client tasks and auto-reminders
Client portal
CRM and client management
Invoicing and payments
Time tracking
Document management
Budget planning and tracking
ChatGPT-powered email drafting
IRS integration and transcript service
Canopy pros and cons
Pros
Tax resolution cases and integration with IRS (paid add-on)
Flexible document and file management functionality (paid add-on)
Time, billing and invoicing capabilities
Pre-built reports on firm efficiency, revenue, and billing
Cons
Key product features are only available as paid add-ons (e.g. workflow management and document management)
Complicated and expensive pricing (pay per client, per add-on module, per user)
Limited workflow functionality and templates
Despite the prebuilt reports available, customized reporting is limited
Who is Canopy best suited for?
Canopy is best-suited for specialized tax firms that value the Canopy tax resolution cases and integration with the IRS.
Reviews
Here’s how Canopy and TaxDome stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
G2
Capterra
Canopy pricing
Canopy has a modular pricing model that charges by the number of features you add on. It includes 500 free contacts and charges $40 USD/month, per user for the document management feature, $30 USD/month, per user for its workflow tools, and $24 USD/month, per user for time and billing for users under an annual contract.
Canopy or TaxDome?
TaxDome and Canopy are a close match on practice management software features. But their differences lie in the finer details:
TaxDome offers many features, but because of the sheer quantity, they lack depth.
Canopy has more depth and a unique tax resolution suite, but it’s also significantly more expensive.
For sole practitioners or small firms who are looking for more features with basic functionality, TaxDome may suffice. But if your team is larger or you have complex tax clients, Canopy or Karbon may be a better choice in the long run.
4. Jetpack Workflow
As its name suggests, Jetpack Workflow is a workflow management tool for accounting firms. It’s not a practice management solution. Because of that, you won’t find typical practice management features in Jetpack Workflow (like a client portal or invoicing).
But, despite its distinction as a workflow management tool, Jetpack Workflow still has many useful functions that rightfully place it as a noteworthy alternative.
Jetpack Workflow dashboard view
Jetpack Workflow’s top features
Work dashboard
Job and task management
Workflow automation
Calendar view
Jobs and progress report
Client management
Time tracking and budgets
QuickBooks Online and Zapier integration
Jetpack Workflow pros and cons
Pros
Affordable pricing for simple workflow management
Time tracking capabilities
Useful dashboard with a high-level overview of work
Cons
Dated user interface
Limited collaboration features (no ability to comment on or @mention or team members on tasks or subtasks)
No integrated email inbox, which means you have to constantly switch between Jetpack Workflow and your email provider
No client portal
Basic CRM
No invoicing or payments
Who is Jetpack Workflow best suited for?
Jetpack Workflow may be a good option for accounting, bookkeeping or tax firms that are simply looking for a tool to manage their tasks, jobs and/or projects.
Because it’s not a practice management system, firms will need to use Jetpack Workflow alongside other software such as a client portal, CRM, and a billing and payment app to fulfill their needs.
Reviews
Here’s how Jetpack Workflow and TaxDome stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
G2
Capterra
Jetpack Workflow pricing
Jetpack workflow has two pricing plans: Organize and Scale.
The Organize plan costs $45 USD per month, per user on a monthly subscription ($36 USD annually).
The Scale plan costs $50 USD per month, per user on a monthly subscription ($39 USD annually).
Jetpack Workflow or TaxDome?
Jetpack Workflow and TaxDome are both built for the accounting industry, but they are intended for different use cases, which is reflected in their key features and prices.
If you’re simply looking for a workflow management tool, Jetpack Workflow may be the answer. But if you need other features that are more commonly found in a practice management solution, you might want to consider more well-rounded tools like TaxDome or Karbon.
5. Pixie
Pixie is a user-friendly practice management solution that primarily focuses on smaller firms across the UK. They market themselves as providing ‘everything you need to manage your practice and get things done faster in one simple, flexible practice management tool’.
Work/task view in Pixie
Pixie’s top features
CRM with custom fields
Workflow management
Email management
Workflow template library
eSignatures
Client reminders
Pixie pros and cons
Pros:
Modern, clean user interface
Affordable solution for small firms with 1-3 employees
Flexible recurring work functionality
Best-practice template library
Cons:
Limited collaboration functionality (unable to @mention colleagues in comments or notes, making teamwork difficult)
No time and budget tracking means that productivity and profitability insights are limited
No Kanban board view, which makes it difficult to get a high-level view of your firm
No ability to assign work subtasks to different team members
Limited to mostly UK-specific integrations
Who is Pixie best suited for?
Pixie is suitable for a UK-based firm with a smaller volume of clients and complex projects.
Reviews
Here’s how TaxDome and Pixie stack up against each other on popular software review sites:
G2
Capterra
Pixie pricing
Pixie’s pricing is based on the number of clients you have and includes an unlimited number of users:
Less than 50 clients: $69 USD per month
51-250 clients: $129 USD per month
251-500 clients: $199 USD per month
501-750 clients: $249 USD per month
751-1,000 clients: $329 USD per month
More than 1,000 clients: Custom pricing
Pixie or TaxDome?
Pixie is an option to consider if you’re a UK-based accounting firm with 1-3 staff members and you’re looking for a straightforward practice management tool. Its UK-specific integrations with partners like Companies House and Xama may make it even more convincing.
But if you’re based in the US, TaxDome is a better fit because:
It has more US-based accounting and tax workflows and templates.
Its customer support is based in the US.
Try Karbon for free
Now that you have an overview of the top alternatives to TaxDome, you should have a better idea about which options best suit your practice.
If that’s Karbon, you can learn more or book a demo.
If you need more information to help with decision-making, you can review this in-depth guide to the 11 best accounting practice management software solutions.
To see how professional services firms save an average of 16.5 hours per employee each week, you can explore the Karbon Effect. Or you can use the Karbon ROI calculator to see what your return on investment could be.
You can also hear directly from Karbon customers about what Karbon is enabling them to do at their firm (and for their clients).