Intuit announced a partnership with SmartVault, provider of SaaS online document storage and secure file sharing solutions, to offer an integrated document management solution for Intuit Lacerte and Intuit ProSeries tax preparation applications.
Available in limited beta since March 2014 and to all Lacerte and ProSeries customers starting June 25, SmartVault for Intuit Lacerte and Intuit ProSeries automates tax preparation workflow, from receiving source files securely to clients printing and sharing tax returns with a built-in client portal.
Intuit transitioned 80 clients to the new online process with SmartVault this past tax season, according to Intuit Accountant’s council member Darrell Layman, who was part of the initial pilot.
“We are committed to finding new and innovative ways to save our customers time,” stated Karen Stroup, vice president of product management at Intuit. “We look for strategic partners like SmartVault who are best of breed in their category and can help us automate key parts of the tax prep workflow that can often be costly and time-consuming. Client portals are an important piece of the big picture in that they save our customers time and enhance their relationships with their clients.”
Features automating the tax preparation workflow include:
- Document management capabilities built into Lacerte and ProSeries
- An integrated client portal that can be custom-branded for securely sharing tax returns and other documents with clients
- Use of existing client data and templates to automatically set up users, security permissions, and folder structure for each client
- Batch email functionality using customizable email templates
- Audit reports to track employee and client activity
- Automated email alerts to notify when files have been uploaded or viewed
- Cloud storage benefits such as continuous offsite backup of documents, mobile access and professional security monitoring and management
“The integration with Intuit is a huge opportunity to deliver a truly automated, highly secure end-to-end workflow that will deliver massive efficiency gains for tax professionals,” stated SmartVault founder and CEO Eric Pulaski. “Bottom line, if you are involved in the chain of custody for documents, then you are responsible for the security of that data during the entire tax preparation process. This partnership gives Lacerte and ProSeries customers an integrated solution to automate the tax prep workflow and maintain data security compliance at all times.”
