Tech news: TaxPlanIQ adds new features

TaxPlanIQ adds new features

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Tax planning solutions provider TaxPlanIQ rolled out several new features. A Multi-1040 Uploader and Opportunity Analyzer allows bulk upload of up to 100 client returns at once. TaxPlanIQ reads and analyzes the 1040, and proposes tax strategies for the plan alongside the potential tax savings, while also offering the ability to rank clients by potential tax savings, so people know exactly who to prioritize. A redesigned client management portal gives clients easier access to their plans and action items. Another feature will auto-redact client information on upload. A marketing newsletter System (for Growth Plan users) includes a 20+ page step-by- step marketing guide and access to over 100 prewritten email campaigns. Ten new client-ready emails are added every month to help firms stay top of mind. The company is also offering a 100% money-back guarantee for subscribers to its TaxPlanIQ Growth Plan who, over 12 months, complete 12 trainings, present 10 tax plans to verifiable clients or prospects, and participate in five 1:1 tax plan reviews with a TaxPlanIQ Concierge CPA Consultant.

Ignition announces plans for AI pricing solution for firms

Courtesy of Ignition

Practice management software platform Ignition announced plans to soon release AI-powered pricing suggestions for service-based businesses. Instead of relying on guesswork, gut feel or outdated references for service pricing, Ignition's AI solution, currently in development, will draw from real billing data across thousands of services, to deliver tailored pricing suggestions. The AI model will provide dynamic, contextual suggestions based on specific service attributes entered by a customer. This could include the industry, service name and description, billing type and frequency, and region. Currently in early development and testing, Ignition's AI-powered pricing intelligence will be built into the proposals workflow, showing where prices sit within the expected range, and the suggested price for those services. Customers decide whether to adjust prices at their own discretion before sending the proposal. The broader release is expected by the end of 2025. In the future, Ignition envisions expanding pricing intelligence to include personalized pricing suggestion reports across a customer's entire service offering.

Financial Cents introduces advanced reporting features

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Accounting practice management software provider Financial Cents announced a new reporting suite to help firm owners manage their team performance, revenue generation and profitability more precisely. It includes a Revenue Insights Report, so users can analyze revenue per client, employee, or service item, and view recurring vs. one-time income trends; an Accounts Receivable Aging Report, allowing users to identify and act on overdue payments across clients with integrated reminders and filtering options; a Work Insights Report, enabling users to monitor completion rates, project timelines and client-specific workloads to improve delivery; a Realization Report that helps users understand how billable hours translate to collected revenue and spot where margins are thinning; and a Utilization Report, which breaks down team time into billable and non-billable categories to guide staffing and pricing decisions. These reports are now available to users on the Team and Scale plans.

Instead launches tax reports feature

Valery Kachaev

Tax management platform Instead launched an AI-driven tax reports feature. Reports include a Tax Return Analysis Report, which reveals tax-saving opportunities in tax returns for individuals (1040) and businesses (Schedule C, E, F, 1120, 1120S, 1065); a Tax Plan Report, which provides a real-time summary and action list of all tax strategies across all entities in a tax year, including potential and actual savings, summaries for each tax strategy, and IRS and court case references; and numerous Tax Strategy Reports, one for every tax strategy, with detailed calculations of deductions and credits, supporting documentation, and an actionable plan including common pitfalls and steps to file. Instead users can invite their tax professional to collaborate on tax strategies or search the directory of firms who support the Instead platform and offer tax planning and advisory.

ADP rolls out new resource center for accountants

An ADP sign at the TechFair LA job fair in Los Angeles.

Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

ADP announced its new Accountant Connect Resource Center, a centralized destination designed to help accounting professionals strengthen their advisory services and support client growth. The Resource Center features a broad range of expert content from continuing professional education opportunities and exclusive ADP-created certifications to thought leadership and practical tools. Certifications cover a range of topics, from mastering payroll essentials and becoming proficient in the ADP Accountant Connect SM platform to innovative selling strategies. It also provides a free, complete platform for payroll, tax, HR and data-driven insights. There is also information on a program where accountants can earn up to 75% revenue share plus ongoing residuals when they refer eligible ADP solutions to your clients for payroll, HR, benefits, tax credits and more.

Invoice Cloud releases AI Report Generator

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InvoiceCloud, a provider of online billing and payment services, introduced an AI Report Generator, a new tool designed to provide utility, government and insurance billers with real-time reporting using natural language processing. The AI Report Generator enables billers to create custom reports by typing simple, plain language prompts, which return complete, filterable reports. Billers can generate reports instantly using simple, plain-text queries such as "list payments received by method this week"; access tailored data to drive decisions and customer interactions; view and filter data in a sortable, on-screen grid, and download reports to Excel for deeper analysis; and access built-in examples to help users get started with ease. This release is the first under InvoiceCloud's recently announced AI Product Strategy.

Partnerships and integrations

Compliance solutions provider Sovos has partnered with Shopify to launch Shopify Tax automated filing, a new feature that automates the preparation, filing and remittance of sales tax returns for Shopify merchants. This feature is now available to eligible merchants in the United States using Shopify Tax. … Tax automation software provider Avalara announced an integration with e-commerce SaaS provider Shopline. With this integration, Shopline merchants can now seamlessly connect their existing Avalara account—or create one quickly if they don't yet have one—and automate tax compliance directly within the Shopline platform. … Indirect tax solutions provider Vertex has been selected to participate in Oracle's enhanced partner program at the highest level for independent software vendors. This enhanced collaboration with Oracle enables tax automation to be embedded within existing ERP workflows.

Other news

Accounting platform Sage and Village Capital announced the winners of $170,000 in grants awarded to six startups from the inaugural cohort of the Sage Impact Entrepreneurship Program. They include Mi Terro (Los Angeles), which leverages big data to create compostable, fossil-fuel alternative biomaterials made from plant-based agricultural waste; Cellsense (Somerville, Massachusetts), which transforms algae and cellulose into compostable beads to offer a sustainable alternative to microplastics used in design and cosmetic industries; and Witching Hour (Knoxville, Tennessee), which helps power companies prevent wildfires using a robotic system to install advanced materials over existing power lines. … Time tracking platform Laurel has raised $100 million in Series C funding led by IVP, with participation from GV (Google Ventures). Laurel will leverage this investment to scale its AI time platform and accelerate to solve what it calls the "time intelligence challenge"—the inability for knowledge industries to accurately map time to business outcomes.