Choosing accounting practice management software for a 2 to 20 person firm
This guide is for the owner of a 2 to 20 person CPA, tax or bookkeeping firm who is choosing practice management software for the first time or replacing a tool. It explains the criteria, works the two pricing models through with real list prices, and covers what moving in and moving out involve. Prices are list prices as of 10 Nov 2026, billed annually unless we say otherwise. The example firms are made up; the prices aren’t.
Which criteria matter for a firm of 2 to 20 people?
| Criterion | What to check | Why it matters at this size |
|---|---|---|
| Client app or portal | Whether clients need a password, whether it carries your brand, whether it works on a phone | Clients who won’t log in become email again |
| Document requests | Whether reminders go out automatically, and on which plan | Chasing documents is the job most owners want gone |
| E-signing | Whether KBA is included or charged per signature | Remote Form 8879 signatures usually use KBA, and per-signature fees add up in March |
| Proposals | Whether an accepted proposal starts the work and the billing | It removes a retyping step at the start of every engagement |
| Billing | Card and ACH rates, recurring billing, autopay | Processing fees are a cost on every invoice |
| Recurring work | Templates, due dates, assignees, plan limits on templates | It’s how a second person knows what is due |
| Time and capacity | Budgets against actuals, and who has room | Under-priced fixed fees show up here first |
| Ledger and tax links | What syncs with QuickBooks Online, Xero and your tax program, and in which direction | A missing link is manual re-entry |
| AI and API | Which AI features are live, beta or coming, and whether staff can connect an assistant | Staff are often using AI already |
| Security attestations | SOC 2 Type I or Type II, as the vendor states it | Clients and insurers ask |
| Export | What comes out, in what format | It sets the cost of leaving |
The security row needs care, because vendors state different things. Canopy, Karbon and TaxDome state SOC 2 Type II;1–3 Financial Cents states Type I;4 Jetpack Workflow lists its hosting providers’ SOC reports and doesn’t state one of its own on its security page;5 and Firmary has not completed a SOC 2 examination.6 A Type I report checks controls at a point in time, while a Type II report tests them over a period, so ask which one you’re being shown.
How per-user and per-active-client pricing work
Per user. You pay a monthly rate for every staff seat. Canopy, Financial Cents, Jetpack Workflow and Karbon all price this way.7–10 Three details change the real cost:
- The plan you need. Canopy’s capacity planning starts on Plus.11 Financial Cents puts automatic follow-ups and task dependencies on Scale.12 Karbon’s task automation and automatic client reminders start on Business, $30 per user per month above Team on annual billing.13,14
- Seasonal staff. Karbon charges part-time and seasonal users the standard rate, and credits unused license time when you archive one.10
- Billing terms. Every Financial Cents plan is a 12-month agreement, and monthly billing needs five users.15 Karbon bills monthly only for teams of four or more.16
Per active client. You pay for clients with activity in the last 12 months, and seats are bundled. TaxDome is the example here: 20 seats included, $1,500 a year for up to 150 active clients, then volume bands from $15 down to $5 per client.17–19 On a per-client plan, the bill turns on how the vendor counts:
- What counts as a client. TaxDome counts each client account on its own, so one person with a personal return and a partnership return is two active clients.20
- What counts as active. Logging in, uploading, messaging or receiving an invoice in the past 12 months all count.17
- Growth during the year. TaxDome counts clients above your plan at the end of each month and invoices the overage from $15 each.21
Add-ons sit on top of either model. Canopy charges $1.25 per KBA credit.22 Karbon sells e-signatures as credits.23 TaxDome’s AI add-on is $200 a month for the whole team.24
Worked through: two example firms at list price
Two made-up firms, priced at list on annual billing, as of 10 Nov 2026:
- Firm A is a 3-person tax practice with 120 active clients, about 40 per person.
- Firm B is a 12-person firm doing tax and monthly bookkeeping for 1,000 active clients, about 83 per person.
| Plan (annual billing) | Firm A: 3 people, 120 clients | Firm B: 12 people, 1,000 clients |
|---|---|---|
| Canopy Standard, $74 per user a month25 | $2,664 | $10,656 |
| Financial Cents Team, $49 per user a month26 | $1,764 | $7,056 |
| Karbon Team, $59 per user a month14 | $2,124 | $8,496 |
| Karbon Business, $89 per user a month14 | $3,204 | $12,816 |
| TaxDome, per active client | $1,500 (the 150-client minimum)18 | $9,00019 |
Per-user rows are seats times the monthly price times 12. TaxDome’s figures are its own published minimum and example. Payment processing, e-signature credits and add-ons are left out.
Firm A pays less on per-client pricing than on any per-user plan in the table, even though it pays for 30 clients it doesn’t have. Firm B pays less on Financial Cents Team or Karbon Team than on TaxDome, and more on Canopy Standard or Karbon Business. Firm B’s TaxDome price would also hold if it added seasonal preparers, because seats up to 20 are included; on any per-user plan each extra seat adds to the bill.18
To run it for your own firm, divide the per-client tool’s annual price at your client count by a per-user plan’s annual price per seat. The result is the headcount at which the two cost the same. At 1,000 active clients, $9,000 divided by Karbon Team’s $708 a seat is about 12.7 people.14 Below that headcount the per-user plan costs less; above it, the per-client plan does. In our reading of these prices, the clients each person carries decides it more than firm size does.
What switching costs, and how you get your data out
Moving in has four parts: the client list, your templates and open work, your clients’ first sign-in, and payment setup. Vendors describe very different amounts of help:
- Canopy’s self-guided implementation costs $199, refunded if you finish six setup milestones within 60 days.27
- Financial Cents lists premium onboarding only on its Enterprise plan.28
- Firmary imports clients, tasks and time entries from CSV and shows the rows before anything is created. Documents, messages, engagements and billing history aren’t imported.29
- Jetpack Workflow gives every account four onboarding sessions and sells a $1,500 setup package.30
- Karbon runs free group onboarding sessions and charges a one-time fee for guided implementation.31 It says its expert-led billing and payments setup goes live in 3 to 4 weeks.32
- TaxDome expects most firms to be fully set up within 6 to 8 weeks.33 Importing the client list is free and unlimited;34 workflow setup sessions cost $749 for three.35
Before you sign, check what you could take with you if you left. Here is what each vendor’s pages say you can export:
| Tool | What its pages say comes out |
|---|---|
| Canopy | The client list as a CSV, if your role has the export permission36 |
| Financial Cents | Projects, clients and time tracking data (help article dated 2021)37 |
| Firmary | Clients, contacts, tasks, time entries, aged receivables and the audit log as CSV, documents as a ZIP, and the whole firm for an owner38 |
| Jetpack Workflow | Projects and tasks as CSV, up to 1,000 records per export, plus clients and contacts39 |
| Karbon | Export listed as Standard on Team and Business, Custom on Enterprise40 |
| TaxDome | Accounts, contacts, jobs, tasks, organizers, invoices, payments and time as zipped CSVs; documents copied out of TaxDome Drive41 |
We’d run a full export during the trial and open the files. Check whether message history and the audit trails on signed documents come out. None of the export descriptions above lists message history.
Choosing by firm size
2 to 4 people. Watch the minimums. TaxDome’s $1,500 floor applies below 150 active clients,18 and monthly billing at Karbon needs four users.16 A one-person practice can start on Financial Cents Solo at $19 a month, billed annually.26 At this size, we think the client side matters most, because you are the person chasing documents.
5 to 12 people. The plan tier starts to matter more than the list price. Price the plan that has automatic client reminders, not the entry plan, and count who will maintain templates and automations.
13 to 20 people. Check the caps. Karbon Team allows 40 work templates, 3 teams and 1,000 contacts.42 TaxDome’s standard plan covers 20 seats, and firms that need more go on custom pricing quoted by sales.43 Capacity planning becomes a real need here; Canopy puts it on Plus.11
What Firmary covers, and what it leaves out
Firmary is practice management software for US accounting, bookkeeping, and tax firms.44 We make it, so weigh this paragraph accordingly. It covers client requests and documents, forms, tasks, messaging, automations, proposals, e-signing, invoices and payments, and time tracking, with PocketFirm as the client side.45 Staff can connect Claude to it today as a custom connector; Claude acts as that staff member, within their permissions, and changes are recorded in the firm’s audit log.46 It doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks, Xero or tax software,47 it has no published pricing, and it is available only through a waitlist.48,49
Questions to ask in a demo
- Show me a client who hasn’t uploaded what we asked for. What reminders went out, and when?
- Which features in this demo are on the plan you’re quoting, and which need a higher plan or an add-on?
- What is our annual bill at our headcount and active-client count, billed monthly and billed annually?
- If we add two seasonal preparers from January to April, what changes on the bill?
- How do you count one person who has a personal return and a business return?
- Can a client sign Form 8879 with KBA, and what does each KBA signature cost?
- What syncs with QuickBooks Online or Xero, and in which direction?
- What data does your connection to our tax program move?
- Can you run a full export now and show us what comes out, and in what format?
- Who moves our client list, templates and open work, how long does it take, and what does it cost?
- Which features shown today are beta, early access or coming soon?
- Is your security report SOC 2 Type I or Type II, and can we read it?
A checklist to print
- List the jobs the software takes over and the ones that stay elsewhere
- Count staff, seasonal staff and clients active in the last 12 months
- Price each tool on the plan that has automatic client reminders
- Add e-signature, KBA, payment and AI add-on costs
- Check monthly billing minimums and contract length
- Confirm the QuickBooks Online, Xero and tax-software links you rely on
- Have a client upload and sign on a phone during the trial
- Run a full export in the trial and open the files
- Get the migration timeline and fee in writing
- Note which features are beta or coming soon
- Ask whether the SOC 2 report is Type I or Type II
Join the Firmary waitlist
Firms join the Firmary waitlist and are emailed when they can join.
Sources
Each product fact on this page links to a numbered source. Quotes are copied as the page’s text reads on the date shown, spacing included.
- 1
Canopy
SOC 2 type II compliant
- 2
Karbon
Karbon’s web application product is SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
- 3
TaxDome
TaxDome completes the PCI DSS Questionnaire A (SAQ A) and holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation.
- 4
Financial Cents
Financial Cents is SOC II Type I certified by AICPA
- 5
Jetpack Workflow
These providers maintain compliance with the following certifications:
- 6
Firmary Ours
Firmary has not completed a SOC 2 examination or a third-party security audit.
- 7
Canopy
Starting at $34 credit/client annual billing; volume discounts available ... $10 connected client/month annual billing; first 5 connections included
- 8
Financial Cents
Financial Cents pricing is per user. ... Month-End close, our tool for managing uncategorized transactions, is an add-on for $5/month per client, billed annually.
- 9
Jetpack Workflow
Unlimited projects & clients
- 10
Karbon
Karbon is priced per user. ... Your client count and document volume do not determine the subscription price.
- 11
Canopy
ALL STANDARD FEATURES + ... Capacity planning and forecasting ... Custom reporting
- 12
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
- 13
Karbon
Includes everything in Team, plus: Automatic Client Reminders Task Automation Industry Integrations
- 14
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
- 15
Financial Cents
All plans are a 12-month agreement. ... Minimum 5 users required for monthly billing.
- 16
Karbon
Monthly subscription only available for teams of 4+
- 17
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.
- 18
TaxDome
Pricing starts at 150 active clients, which is $1,500 a year, or about $0.83 per client a month. That minimum applies even if you have fewer than 150 active clients.
- 19
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)
- 20
TaxDome
Each client account counts on its own. If one person has a personal return and a partnership return, they count as two active clients.
- 21
TaxDome
At the end of each month, TaxDome counts any active clients above your plan and invoices the overage, starting at $15 per client. You can also pre-buy a volume pack at any time to bring the per-client rate down.
- 22
Canopy
$1.25 per KBA credit
- 23
Karbon
Each eSignature request with knowledge-based authentication uses two credits.
- 24
TaxDome
Available for $200 per month.
- 25
Canopy
Standard $74 user/month ... Plus $109 user/month
- 26
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)
- 27
Canopy
Self-guided implementation costs $199 dollars. You receive a full refund when you complete six setup milestones within 60 days.
- 28
Financial Cents
Premium training & onboarding Dedicated customer success manager
- 29
Firmary Ours
Firms import clients, tasks and time entries from CSV, review the rows before anything is created, and inviting clients is a separate step. Documents, messages, engagements and billing history aren’t imported.
- 30
Jetpack Workflow
4 complimentary onboarding sessions for every account.
- 31
Karbon
guided implementation is an optional paid service led by a specialist. Its one-time fee depends on your firm’s size and scope
- 32
Karbon
Go live with Karbon Billing & Payments in 3-4 weeks, with expert-led setup, data imports, and training.
- 33
TaxDome
Most firms complete TaxDome implementation in 6–8 weeks.
- 34
TaxDome
Importing your client list is free and unlimited, and contacts without activity cost nothing.
- 35
TaxDome
Get for $749, or included with a 12-month Account management package.
- 36
Canopy (help)
Check if your role has the “Export client & contacts” permission enabled. ... Your clients will be downloaded to a .CSV file named
- 37
Financial Cents (help)
You can easily export the following data from Financial Cents. ... All your client work/ projects ... All your clients and their information ... Time tracking data
- 38
Firmary Ours
Staff with permission export clients, contacts, tasks, time entries, aged receivables and the audit log as CSV and documents as a ZIP; an owner can export the whole firm.
- 39
Jetpack Workflow (help)
use the Export Table button in the top right corner to download your current filtered view as a .csv (up to 1,000 records). On the Clients page, use the Export option to download your client and contact data.
- 40
Karbon
Data Import Self-Service Assisted Fully Managed Data Export Standard Standard Custom
- 41
TaxDome (help)
To export all the data from your active accounts to a CSV file ... You’ll receive a zipped CSV file containing all your time-tracking data ... If you want your documents to be stored on your computer, copy their folders from ... then paste them to your local drive.
- 42
Karbon
Work Templates 40 75 Unlimited
- 43
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.
- 44
Firmary Ours
Firmary is practice management software for US accounting, bookkeeping, and tax firms.
- 45
Firmary Ours
Firmary covers client requests and documents, forms, tasks, secure messaging, automations, proposals, e-signing, invoices and payments, and time tracking, with PocketFirm as the client side.
- 46
Firmary Ours
Staff can connect Claude to Firmary today as a custom connector. It acts as the staff member, within their permissions and the firm’s AI rules; Claude asks before running a change unless the staff member has set that tool to always allow, and every change made through Claude is recorded in the firm’s audit log.
- 47
Firmary Ours
Firmary doesn’t integrate with accounting software (such as QuickBooks or Xero) or tax software.
- 48
Firmary Ours
Firmary’s pricing isn’t published.
- 49
Firmary Ours
Firmary is pre-launch: firms join a waitlist and are emailed when they can join. There is no self-serve sign-up.