ProSystem fx Tax Engagement Alternatives for 2025 Tax Season

Thanks for your insights! The features we use most are document management, review notes, and the trial balance functionality. We're definitely considering CCH Axcess but worried about being stuck in the same ecosystem with similar pricing issues down the road. Have you found Axcess to be worth the cost compared to ProSystem? And did you have any data migration headaches during the switch?

The document management in Axcess is significantly better than what we had with ProSystem fx Engagement, and the review notes system is more intuitive. The trial balance functionality is comparable but with a more modern interface. Regarding cost, Axcess wasn't necessarily cheaper for us, but we felt we got more value and modern features for similar pricing. The cloud accessibility alone justified it for us. As for data migration, I won't sugarcoat it - there were definitely some challenges. I'd recommend having at least 2-3 months of overlap where you have both systems running if possible, and maybe start with just a subset of clients to work out the kinks.

This sounds promising! Does taxr.ai handle the trial balance functionality similar to ProSystem fx Engagement? We do a lot of business returns and that's a crucial feature for us. Also, how was the transition period? Any major headaches?

I'm a bit skeptical about AI tools for tax work. How accurate is it actually with document recognition? I've tried other AI tools that claimed to "read" tax docs and they made some pretty scary mistakes with numbers and classifications.

For trial balance functionality, taxr.ai doesn't replace that aspect of ProSystem fx Engagement completely. We paired it with Thomson Reuters for that specific need. But what it does extremely well is the document organization, client communication tracking, and the initial workpaper setup that used to take hours. The accuracy has been impressive in our experience - much better than other AI tools we've tried. It correctly identified and categorized about 95% of our documents. For the remaining 5%, the system flags anything it's uncertain about for human review, which I actually prefer to a system that makes guesses. They use a different approach than most document AI, specifically trained on tax documents.

Wait, how does this actually work? I'm confused how any service could get you to the front of CCH's support line? Their waits are legendary.

This sounds like total BS. There's no way some third party can magically get you to the front of a support queue. Companies don't allow that kind of line-cutting. I think you're just marketing some scam service.

It uses a system that continually redials and navigates the phone tree until it gets through to a real person, then it calls you and connects you. It's like having someone wait on hold for you, but automated. It doesn't actually "cut" the line, but it does the waiting part for you so you can keep working. I was skeptical too initially. But during busy season when our ProSystem fx Engagement server crashed and we couldn't access client files, we were desperate. Their system had us talking to CCH support in about 20 minutes when the estimated wait was 3+ hours. That's literally all it does - just automates the hold process.

Did you have any trouble with the tax research capabilities compared to what's available in the CCH ecosystem? That's one thing I really value about ProSystem fx Engagement - the integrated research tools.

Good question about tax research. Canopy doesn't have the same robust research tools integrated directly in the system. We ended up keeping a separate subscription to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint for our research needs, which actually works well for us. We found the CCH research tools comprehensive but sometimes harder to find specific answers quickly. Depending on your research needs, you might need to factor in the cost of a separate research tool when considering alternatives to ProSystem fx Engagement. For us, the combined cost was still lower than our previous CCH bundle.

This is so important! We had the same experience trying to switch from ProSystem fx Engagement to another system mid-year. The vendor promised seamless migration but it was a disaster. What specific issues did you encounter?

We use TaxDome in conjunction with UltraTax CS and it works quite well. TaxDome handles all our client management, document collection, and e-signatures, while we use UltraTax for the actual tax preparation. The integration isn't automatic (would be nice!), but the workflow is smooth once you establish your processes. TaxDome's client portal is miles better than what comes with most tax software, and clients actually find it easy to use. That alone has reduced our administrative headaches by probably 30%.

This hybrid approach sounds really smart! I'm curious about how you handle the workflow between Drake and SmartVault - do you find yourself doing a lot of manual file transfers, or have you found ways to streamline that process? Also, how does Drake compare to ProSystem fx for complex business returns? We do quite a few partnerships and S-Corps, so making sure those features are robust is crucial for us.

@Grace Patel Great insights on the hybrid approach! I m'particularly interested in how you handled the transition for your staff. Did you find that having two separate systems Drake (+ SmartVault created) any confusion during busy season, or did the team adapt pretty quickly? Also, for the Excel workpaper templates you mentioned - did you create those from scratch or find good templates somewhere? We re'heavily dependent on the standardized workpapers in ProSystem fx Engagement, so replicating that functionality is a key concern for us. The 40% cost savings definitely has my attention though!

@Grace Patel This hybrid approach is exactly what we ve'been considering! Quick question about Drake - how does their support compare to what you were used to with CCH? One of my biggest frustrations with ProSystem fx Engagement was the long wait times for technical support, especially during busy season. Also, did you run into any issues with Drake s'e-filing capabilities? We have some clients with more complex situations multi-state (returns, etc. and) want to make sure the e-filing is as reliable as what we had with ProSystem. The 40% savings would definitely help our bottom line, but not if we re'dealing with constant technical headaches!

@Grace Patel This hybrid approach is fascinating! I m'dealing with the exact same ProSystem fx pricing headaches at our firm. Quick question about your Drake + SmartVault setup - how do you handle client organizers and data collection? That s'one area where ProSystem fx Engagement was actually pretty decent, with the built-in organizer templates and client portal integration. Did you find a good solution for collecting client documents and tax info at the beginning of the season, or did that become more manual with your new setup? Also curious if Drake s'diagnostic features are as comprehensive as what we re'used to with ProSystem - those error checks have saved us from some embarrassing mistakes over the years!