iFirms (from Wolters Klover) is pushing their software right now. I’m wondering if anyone knows how it compares to TaxCycle?
Thanks!
We are currently switching from Tax Cycle to CanTax. We have been using Tax Cycle for years and loved it but now since Tax Cycle was sold to Xero the customer support has really dropped to a low level so now we are going to switch. Cantax is fully online with IFirm and works on Mac as well as PC.
I’m sad about the level of support from Tax Cycle, we always had amazing support but this year we called about an issue with the date and time not printing on the T183 and after 2 minutes of asking me questions the support fella said “well sorry nothing we can do to help with this” prior to the sale to Xero support would have NEVER responded like that.
Can’t agree. My support has continued to be superb.
Neal
Seconded. Support is excellent
Maybe the fella had an off day. We all do.
You can’t judge a company by one incident.
I love the support!
Add me to the pile. I haven’t had a bad experience with the support from TaxCycle. I email them and always hear back the same day.
I’m also considering Ifirm Cantax. Nothing is wrong with TaxCycle. I just prefer everything in the cloud. Is anyone using it? If yes, please share your feedback.
I’d look at other options as I’ve had a HORRID experience with (mostly) DoxCycle this year and the response from TC has been nonexistent. Given that I expect to go to more retirement than working status over the next couple of years, I’ll probably just stick with what I know although I’m not overly thrilled about it.
I’m pretty much done with DoxCycle. Every time I try to print a T2 to it…it craps out half way through. Time and again. I finally gave up today, installed Bullzip on my server and can print in seconds to PDF. DC doesn’t really offer anything I can’t otherwise do.
Oh well. FWIW, TC still seems to have accurate tax calculations and that is mostly what I care about. If that changes…I’m done with it.
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My experience with helpdesk at TC has been great. Hoping that part stays that way… I agree calculations being accurate are a must and switching involves a learning curve of the newest version of whatever(not sure that is where I want to put my spare time). Also not interested in a web based version. I am on the East Coast and rural… Internet is often slow and we do not get the speeds we are paying for. I work much faster than it does 
I dumped doxcycle a couple of years ago. It worked most of the time but i can scan everything to pdf without it and a lot of clients already email in PDF.
For PDF, i just use Adobe print driver or MS Print to PDF
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I originally got DoxCycle because I liked the idea of being able to stash various receipts, RRSPs etc in there…but the reality is that there are other methods that are faster and just as good. The “classification” of the return was another nice feature, but frankly, clients don’t care, and if I want to know somethin, 99.886% of the time, I just fire up TC to look.
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i just attempted to set up a trial but once logged in it wanted google authenticator but then it said you had to set it up in MFA. When i tried to use the text code to phone it complained about area code being blank. So now i can’t even use the trial. Cantax simply sucks and T/C has NO competition. T/C imports from other software but other software can’t import from T/C - not a good way to try and switch over customers.
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I started with Taxcycle in 2017. I have the full suite and the cost has increased each year, except once the same price was kept for 2 years. Prior to that, I used Taxprep for about 6 months when I was employed by others. Aside from that, I had used Cantax from the days of dot matrix printers up until 2016. The programs worked fine. Diagnostics were excellent and support was always available, although we rarely needed to call. Plus, when it came to carrying forward investment tax credits claimed in year 1 to schedule 8 in year 2, it worked flawlessly. Not so good in Taxcycle. I made the mistake of assuming all was done right until I checked. Had to file adjustments for more than one T2. Now, I try not to assume anything.
But, the Taxcycle suite offers so much more than Cantax. For example, Quebec corporate returns. As I did these manually in my Cantax days, I would download both the English & French versions, fill in the English return, then transfer the numbers to the corresponding line numbers on the French return. Thankfully, my returns were simple and didn’t last more than 10 years or so.
As much as I liked the Cantax programs, the mechanics of their system made it a nightmare.
First, each module (T1, T2, FormMaster) was a standalone program. For each year. For each update. And the yearly updates did not coincide. Nor did the interim updates. First year with Cantax, you had 3 installs initially. During the year, there would be updates to all three, requiring an installation for each. So, at a minimum, you had 3 programs installed on your hard drive each year. After 10 years, you had 30 programs, at a minimum. In addition to being an accountant, I was also the designated IT guy. We had 6 computers at the time. I built a schedule for the office, showing how many of the 3 programs each employee used. If Mrs. A only did T1’s, I wouldn’t waste my time installing the T2 or FormMaster.
Imaging my joy when, in 2016, I first installed Taxcycle. There was one program containing ALL modules, for ALL years. What a novel idea. And, rather than get the dreaded update notices from Cantax, Taxcycle tells you that an update is available, and, would I like to install it? Yes, please. And, there I am - all modules up to date. After 6 years with TaxCycle, I have 1 installed program instead of 18. And, when I do my first T1 (or whatever), Taxcycle creates a TaxCycle Files directory under My Documents. Within that, it sets up sub-directories for T1, T2, T3010, etc. as returns are saved. And, within each of those, more sub-directories to sort returns by year. Beautiful. I can open File Explorer and scroll down to view the simplicity of it.
TaxCycle is going to have to get pretty shitty before I go back to my pre-2017 nightmare. But, I never use DoxCycle, so I should ask if I can renew without it and save some cash.
That’s my take on the topic.
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All:
Just to chime in on my experience, I have noticed no drop in customer support with taxcycle and they were quite hands-on to deal with a technical issue using a remote server. I was worried about this as well when Xero took over but they have been consistent.
On the other hand, my experience with Wolters Kluwer has been the complete opposite. To put into context, I’m a small customer to them and only purchase literature and some of their research subscription products. My experience over the last couple of years is that they have really dropped the ball on customer support: slow to respond, indifferent to concerns, spout policy, won’t discuss or negotiate, many levels of bureaucracy to find someone who might be able to affect a fix or correction. In the end, though my most recent concerns were relatively minor, they did such a poor, blaming and inconsiderate job, I’ve dropped them and will not be using their products and services going forward. I hope your experience with them is better and that my situation is an isolated one.
Greg.
Gregory Marko PEng, MBA, CPA CMA
P:416.527.4431 | F:416.850.4600
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Your experience is not isolate. I used Cantax from 2086 until I switched to Tax Cycle in 2020. My only regret is that I waited so long. Wolters Kluwer seems to think they are something special. Charge $149 plus tax for any webinar and seldom make changes to the software from the release until next year. And you have to pay a bunch for previous year’s software if you haven’t already purchased it.
Pat Gamborg
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1354 Fed Rd.
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902-467-3358
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I was afraid that the support would tank like the support for Profile did when Intuit bought them. This certainly wasn’t the case.
Good point on “one install vs. a module and year based” is very straightforward for my one person office and much appreciated that was one of the things that moved me from Cantax the 2nd year TC was around.
Also use PDF files and save in folders rather then Doccycle… it was not what it was suggested it was going to be.
Easily encrypt the PDF to send it to the bank when required… for clients I use Client Track for secure send.
Been there, done that - won’t ever go back!
If you enjoy bleeding money, spending way too much time updating and getting shoddy Customer Service - fill your boots! I’m here to stay.
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When you call for a software programming issue, ask for tech support - they can fix little things like that. AND they put glitch fixes into the next update.
@norm1 that is definitely a different experience than I have had. I switched to TaxCycle back in 2013 and have had nothing but superb service. I too was hesitant when TaxCycle was sold to Xero, but so far I have not seen any decrease in customer service.
If you are basing your decision on one instance where you felt support lacked, I would suggest posting your inquiry here in this forum, you are sure to find an answer.
Hope things work out the best for you
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