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2016 tax software survey: Individual product survey responses
Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2016. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

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In this year’s survey by the JofA and The Tax Adviser, 3,851 CPAs assessed the software they used to prepare 2015 tax returns for a fee. The survey was conducted in May and June 2016. Overall, respondents rated their software an average of 4.4 out of 5. Users of three products, Lacerte, ProSystem fx, and UltraTax CS, formed a majority of respondents. Their share of respondents, in total and by firm size, are shown below with others of the 13 products the survey asked about that received more than one reply. Additional survey analysis, including charts of major likes and dislikes of users of eight products that were each used by at least 2% of respondents, are available in the August 2016 issues of The Tax Adviser and the Journal of Accountancy.
What tax preparation software did you predominantly use to prepare 2015 tax returns for clients?
Market share among firms with five or fewer preparers
Market share among firms with six or more preparers
Individual major product survey responses
Detailed survey responses for each product may be obtained by clicking on the product headings below. Contact information, basic packages and their features are shown below for selected products receiving more than 1% of total responses in the survey. More detailed product information is available at the software vendors’ websites at the addresses shown.
- CCH Small Firm Services, a Wolters Kluwer business, Kennesaw, Ga., atxinc.com
- Packages: 1040 (individual returns, includes three states, 100 efiled returns); 1040 Office (preceding features, plus all states, efiling included, tax research); MAX (preceding features, plus federal and state business returns, sales and use forms, payroll compliance reporting); Total Tax Office (preceding features, plus integrated document management and expanded research capabilities)
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: Yes
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes
- Wolters Kluwer, CCH, Riverwoods, Ill., CCHGroup.com
- Packages: Multiple bundles based on firm needs
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: Yes
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes
- Drake Software, Franklin, N.C., DrakeSoftware.com
- Packages: Drake Unlimited, Drake Pay Per Return
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: Yes
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes
- Thomson Reuters, Dexter, Mich., cs.thomsonreuters.com/GoSystem
- Packages: No
- Per-return pricing available: No
- Integrated tax research available: Yes
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes
- Intuit, Inc., Mountain View, Calif., accountants.intuit.com/tax/lacerte
- Packages: Lacerte Unlimited, Lacerte 200, Lacerte Pay-Per-Return (Fast Path)
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: No
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes
- Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif., accountants.intuit.com/tax/proseries
- Packages: ProSeries Basic (50 1040 returns + two states; Unlimited 1040 returns + four states; or Unlimited 1040 + 15 Business returns); ProSeries Professional: Pay Per Return, 1040 Complete, PowerTax Lite, PowerTax Library
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: No
- Integrates with accounting software: Yes
- Wolters Kluwer, CCH, Riverwoods, Ill., CCHGroup.com
- Packages: Multiple bundles based on firm needs
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: Yes
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes
- Thomson Reuters, Dexter, Mich., cs.thomsonreuters.com/UltraTaxCS
- Packages: No
- Per-return pricing available: Yes
- Integrated tax research available: Yes
- Integrated accounting software available: Yes