# How to choose accounting workflow software for a small firm

Source: https://accountingworkflowsoftware.pages.dev/buyers-guide/

> Firmary publishes this site and makes Firmary, one of the products below. It's labeled "Ours" wherever it appears.

This guide is for an owner choosing one tool to run a firm's recurring work. Prices are list prices as of 10 Nov 2026, from each vendor's own page. Example firms and figures are made up and marked as examples.

## Start with a list of your recurring jobs

Before the first demo, write down every service that repeats. For each one, note how often it recurs, the steps in order, who does each step, what you need from the client, and the due date rule.

Due date rules are where tools differ. "The 15th of the following month" for a bookkeeping close and "March 15" for an S corporation return are both common, and a tool has to hold both on the same client.

A 6-person firm might end up with 9 job types: monthly close, quarterly close, payroll filings, sales tax, Form 1040, Form 1065, Form 1120-S, extensions and year-end 1099s (an example list). That list is your test script for every demo, and it tells you whether a plan's template cap is a problem. Karbon Team, for example, allows 40 work templates.[^1]

## The five things to check, and what good looks like

**1. Recurring jobs and checklists.** The template should repeat per client on its own schedule and create each job with its own due date. TaxDome, for example, lets you set a recurrence per client or a default for the whole pipeline.[^2] Ask what happens to jobs already created when you edit the template.

**2. Statuses and handoffs.** You want statuses that match how your firm talks ("waiting on client", "ready for review") and an obvious owner at each stage. Karbon includes workflow statuses on every plan, and TaxDome offers custom job statuses.[^3][^4] Whether the next person is notified automatically is an automation question, and often a plan question.

**3. Capacity.** Check which plan carries it. Karbon includes capacity planning on every plan, and TaxDome's single plan includes workload and capacity management.[^5][^6] Canopy starts capacity planning on Plus and Jetpack Workflow on Premium.[^7][^8] Financial Cents includes time tracking and budgeting on every plan.[^9]

**4. The client side.** If your jobs wait on clients, check how a client answers a request. Canopy lets a client complete a task from a secure link without logging in, Financial Cents uses a passwordless magic link, and Firmary lets a client answer a single request from an emailed link after entering a one-time code.[^10][^11][^12] Jetpack Workflow doesn't list a client portal.[^13]

**5. Switching in.** Ask what comes across, who does the setup and how long it takes. The answers differ by more than $1,000 and by weeks, as the switching section below shows.

## What a 6-person firm with 400 active clients pays at list price

Say your firm has 6 people who all need a login and 400 clients with some activity over a year (made-up figures). Here is the annual cost at list price, as of 10 Nov 2026, on the plan that includes time and capacity tools:

| Tool and plan | How it's charged | Annual cost for this firm |
|---|---|---|
| Canopy Plus | $109 per user per month, billed annually[^14] | 6 × $109 × 12 = $7,848 |
| Financial Cents Team | $49 per user per month, billed annually[^15] | 6 × $49 × 12 = $3,528 |
| Firmary (ours) | Not published[^16] | Not published |
| Jetpack Workflow Premium | $50 per user per month, billed annually[^17] | 6 × $50 × 12 = $3,600 |
| Karbon Team | $59 per user per month, billed annually[^18] | 6 × $59 × 12 = $4,248 |
| TaxDome | Per active client, 20 seats included[^19] | $4,125, TaxDome's own example for 400 active clients[^20] |

Four things move these numbers for a workflow buyer:

- **Seasonal preparers.** Add 2 people for January to April and every per-user tool charges for them. Karbon has no reduced rate for part-time or seasonal users, though it credits unused license time when you archive a user.[^21] TaxDome stays at $4,125 until you pass 20 seats, when Custom pricing applies.[^22]
- **Client growth.** At 1,000 active clients, TaxDome's own example is $9,000 a year,[^20] more than twice Karbon Team's $4,248 for the same 6 people. Karbon's price doesn't change with client count.[^21]
- **Automatic client reminders.** Karbon puts them on Business, which takes this firm to 6 × $89 × 12 = $6,408.[^23][^18] Financial Cents puts auto-follow-ups on Scale, which makes it $4,968.[^24][^15]
- **What the tool leaves out.** Jetpack Workflow doesn't handle billing, and firms that need a client portal or document management add other tools.[^25] Add what you'd pay for those before comparing.

Check the contract terms too. Every Financial Cents plan is a 12-month agreement, Karbon offers monthly billing only to teams of four or more, and TaxDome bills annually.[^26][^27][^22]

## Run one real month through a trial

Financial Cents and Jetpack Workflow each offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card.[^28][^29] Karbon has no self-serve trial and runs guided demos with a sample of your firm's data instead.[^30] Canopy sets up its trial through a sales demo.[^31] Firmary can be explored with sample data before you add your own records.[^32]

Whatever the format, use your own work. In the trial or the guided demo:

1. Build 3 templates from your job list, with their real due date rules.
2. Create the next 12 months of jobs for 5 real clients and read the dates it produced.
3. Move one job from prep to review to done, with two different people.
4. Open the capacity or workload view with both people's jobs in it.
5. Send yourself a client request and answer it on your phone.

If step 2 produces a wrong date, you've found the problem cheaply.

## Switching cost and getting your data out

**Time.** TaxDome says most firms complete implementation in 6 to 8 weeks.[^33] Karbon says its billing and payments implementation goes live in 3 to 4 weeks.[^34] Canopy refunds its $199 self-guided implementation if six setup milestones are done within 60 days.[^35]

**Money.** Jetpack Workflow includes four onboarding sessions and sells a $1,500 setup and training package.[^36] TaxDome's paid services include workflow optimization at $749 for three sessions and custom automation setup at $399.[^37] Karbon's guided implementation is a one-time fee set by firm size.[^38] Financial Cents lists premium onboarding only on Enterprise.[^39]

**What comes across.** Firmary imports clients, tasks and time entries from CSV, and doesn't import documents, messages, engagements or billing history.[^40] Karbon's data import is self-service on Team and assisted on Business.[^41] Ask every vendor the same question: which parts of our job history arrive, and which do we rebuild? Plan on rebuilding templates and due date rules by hand unless the vendor shows you otherwise.

**Leaving later.** Karbon lists data export as standard on Team and Business.[^41] In Firmary, staff with permission export clients, tasks, time entries and the audit log as CSV, and an owner can export the whole firm as a ZIP.[^42] We didn't find export details on the pages we checked for Canopy, Financial Cents, Jetpack Workflow or TaxDome, so ask each for a sample export of jobs, templates and time before you sign.

## Questions to ask in a demo

1. Build our monthly close template with us, then show the next 12 jobs it creates for one client.
2. How do we set a due date rule like the 15th of the following month, or March 15 for S corporations?
3. If we change a step in a template, what happens to jobs already created from it?
4. Show me where I see who has too much due this week. Which plan is that screen on?
5. How many work templates does the plan you're quoting allow?
6. When a client uploads a document, where does it land, and how does the preparer find out?
7. Can a client answer a request without creating a login?
8. Which features in this demo are on the plan you're quoting, and which cost extra?
9. What would 2 seasonal preparers cost us from January to April?
10. What comes across from our current spreadsheet or tool, and what do we rebuild by hand?
11. Can you send a sample export of jobs, templates and time entries?

## A checklist to print

- [ ] List every recurring job type, how often it repeats and its due date rule
- [ ] Count the logins you need, including seasonal staff
- [ ] Count clients with any activity in the last 12 months
- [ ] Price the plan that includes capacity tools, at your headcount
- [ ] Check the template cap on that plan
- [ ] Check contract length and any monthly-billing minimum
- [ ] Build 3 real templates during the trial or demo
- [ ] Run 5 real clients' jobs through to review
- [ ] Answer a client request on a phone
- [ ] Write down what the tool leaves out and what you'll pair it with
- [ ] Ask what imports and what you rebuild
- [ ] Get a sample export before you sign

[^1]: Karbon, "Work Templates 40 75 Unlimited" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^2]: TaxDome, "TaxDome allows you to have jobs repeat as needed, automatically generating them in your pipelines. You can set up a default schedule for all jobs you add to a pipeline or configure it separately for each recurrence. Make your jobs recur daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually." https://help.taxdome.com/article/290-adding-recurring-jobs (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^3]: Karbon, "Assign tasks, create work from templates, schedule jobs, and view dashboards." https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^4]: TaxDome, "End-to-end processes for tax, bookkeeping, and CAS." https://taxdome.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^5]: Karbon, "Time Tracking Work Budgets Capacity Planning" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^6]: TaxDome, "Set time estimates per job. ... Monitor capacity, prevent bottlenecks." https://taxdome.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^7]: Canopy, "ALL STANDARD FEATURES + ... Capacity planning and forecasting ... Custom reporting" https://www.getcanopy.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^8]: Jetpack Workflow, "Time Tracking & Time Logs Budget & Actuals Reports Capacity Management (Weekly & Yearly)" https://jetpackworkflow.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^9]: Financial Cents, "Time tracking Invoicing & billing Proposals & engagement letters QuickBooks Online Integration Budgeting & reporting" https://financial-cents.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^10]: Canopy, "Provide secure, login-free access to Canopy tasks via single-use links. ... Secure links use 256-bit encryption and expire based on predetermined timeframes" https://www.getcanopy.com/secure-links/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^11]: Financial Cents, "With our secure magic link technology your clients will be able to access the portal without ever having to create a username or password" https://financial-cents.com/accounting-client-portal/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^12]: Firmary, "Clients use PocketFirm in a web browser on a computer or phone, and can add it to their phone's home screen. ... For a single request, a client can also respond from an emailed link after entering a one-time code, without signing in to PocketFirm." https://firmary.app/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^13]: Jetpack Workflow, "Jetpack Workflow is a workflow tool, not an all-in-one practice management suite." https://jetpackworkflow.com/llms.txt (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^14]: Canopy, "Standard $74 user/month ... Plus $109 user/month" https://www.getcanopy.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^15]: 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)" https://financial-cents.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^16]: Firmary, "Pricing isn't published." https://firmary.app/llms.txt (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^17]: Jetpack Workflow, "**Starter** – $49 per user per month billed monthly, or $40 per user per month billed annually." https://jetpackworkflow.com/llms.txt (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^18]: 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" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^19]: 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." https://taxdome.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^20]: TaxDome, "Clients beyond 150 are priced in volume bands, from $15 each on their own down to $5 each in the largest band. ... 400 active clients: $4,125 per year ($0.86 per client a month)" https://taxdome.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^21]: Karbon, "Karbon is priced per user. ... Your client count and document volume do not determine the subscription price." https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^22]: TaxDome, "talk to sales about Custom pricing any time your firm grows past 20 seats or 3,000 active clients ... Not right now. Plans are billed annually." https://taxdome.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^23]: Karbon, "Includes everything in Team, plus: Automatic Client Reminders Task Automation Industry Integrations" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^24]: 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" https://financial-cents.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^25]: Jetpack Workflow, "Firms that need billing, a client portal or document management either pair Jetpack Workflow with the tools they already use, or choose a broader platform." https://jetpackworkflow.com/llms.txt (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^26]: Financial Cents, "All plans are a 12-month agreement. ... Minimum 5 users required for monthly billing." https://financial-cents.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^27]: Karbon, "Monthly subscription only available for teams of 4+" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^28]: Financial Cents, "Financial Cents offers a free 14-day trial with no credit card required." https://financial-cents.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^29]: Jetpack Workflow, "14-day free trial. No credit card required to start." https://jetpackworkflow.com/llms.txt (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^30]: Karbon, "self-serve free trials are not available" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^31]: Canopy, "Schedule a demo and talk with a sales representative to set up a trial." https://www.getcanopy.com/pricing (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^32]: Firmary, "Explore Firmary with sample data. Try the workflows and client experience before adding your own records." https://firmary.app/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^33]: TaxDome, "Most firms complete TaxDome implementation in 6–8 weeks." https://taxdome.com/migration-guidance (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^34]: Karbon, "Go live with Karbon Billing & Payments in 3-4 weeks, with expert-led setup, data imports, and training." https://karbonhq.com/services/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^35]: Canopy, "Self-guided implementation costs $199 dollars. You receive a full refund when you complete six setup milestones within 60 days." https://www.getcanopy.com/implementation/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^36]: Jetpack Workflow, "4 complimentary onboarding sessions for every account." https://jetpackworkflow.com/how-it-works/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^37]: TaxDome, "Get for $749, or included with a 12-month Account management package." https://taxdome.com/add-ons (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^38]: Karbon, "guided implementation is an optional paid service led by a specialist. Its one-time fee depends on your firm's size and scope" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^39]: Financial Cents, "Premium training & onboarding Dedicated customer success manager" https://financial-cents.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^40]: Firmary, "You can import clients, tasks, and time entries from CSV files. ... Importing clients doesn't invite them. Documents, messages, engagements, and billing history aren't imported." https://firmary.app/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^41]: Karbon, "Data Import Self-Service Assisted Fully Managed Data Export Standard Standard Custom" https://karbonhq.com/pricing/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)
[^42]: Firmary, "Staff with the matching permission can export clients, client contacts, tasks, time entries, aged receivables, and the audit log as CSV files, and download documents as a ZIP file. A firm owner can export the whole firm as a ZIP file of CSV files and documents." https://firmary.app/ (checked 10 Nov 2026)