Canopy Reviews

Integrated Form population - detailed client survey - transcript reports - assistant for innocent spouse and penalty abatement

no chronological record per client to record calls and history of actions taken - no integrated calendar per user per client integrated to a record showing actions taken - email is not very functional or user-friendly at this point.

Clients like the portal. It has helped improve the perception that my firm cares about their info. It also feels very organized. It is easy to set up a portal.

Yegads, what to me seems like obvious items, the organizer doesn’t roll over from prior year to current year. Your current solution is for me to set up customer accounts for each member of a family unit. This seems dumb and a waste of accounts, my and my team’s time, my money and the client perception and experience. If i as a customer was asked by my firm to re enter all prior year into, I would be beyond annoyed. I would wonder what kind of high tech experience Alison isn’t offering me. As a customer, I would also be less inclined to complete it because It is a waste of my time. Your customer service and training library aren’t helpful. Since it is very self serve, I have no idea what to look for in terms of better ways to use canopy because I don’t know what I don’t know. You let us all know at the innovation summit about the 100 new features you have rolled out. My admin and I were dumbfounded to learn this. How did we not know About the cool ways you are trying to make my life better? Do you offer monthly training or “ask me anything” webinars that don’t require me to pay extra or upgrade to a higher level. If you do, why don’t I know about them? If you don’t, why don’t you? It seems like you would help me have a better experience with the software and keep me as a recurring customer. Also, it is hard as nails to get requests followed up on. Customer service isn’t great.

The whole "pull transcripts" thing used to be a draw, but it's really not that unique once you've been in the tax business. It doesn't take that much work to pull transcripts and figure out what's going on with them the 'old-fashioned way'.

Terrible support. Refusal to update and improve software even with known bugs and issues. Not compatible with all screen sizes and they make you do workarounds. Broken buttons/links inside the user navigation. Can't refund through the app.

Customer support. I have questions and suggestions all the time and I love that by using the chat support I get prompt answers and endless follow-up from support staff.

Transferring clients over created several duplicates and ultimately some lost information in the transition.

The thing that i liked the most about the software was that it was easy to use and it was also inexpensive.

I wish I could use more charts in the software but besides that it is amazing

It's so easy to use, the interface is so slick and powerfull.

The price point is not for small tax practices just starting to build their portfolio on tax resolution

Canopy is a great tool for all-in-one tracking of client relations, tasking, workflow, and running a CPA firm. I loved being able to go straight to the client home page and having access to all of the client information. Contact information, notes, tasks, important contacts related to the client, recent files, engagements - all of the information right there! Fantastic. Then I can drill down under communications to all of the client emails and correspondence with the client. Tax organizers are accessible from there too. All the information in one location! The fact that I could request an IRS transcript through Canopy for clients was amazing.

I didn't use the online payment system since I used another system to payments. I wasn't a fan of the pricing plan but it still was comparable with other vendors. Overall there wasn't much about Canopy that I didn't like.

The software is easy to use for us internally as well as for our clients. Our firm has drastically benefited from the workflow, file management and client management features. We look forward to moving over our time and billing to have everything under one login.

We would love to see a more robust Home-Admin page, bulk e-sign requests from templated letters (engagement letters), roles by contact to integrate with tasks to populate assignees (e.g., Partner, Bookkeeper, Preparer, Reviewer, etc.), limit parent task completion to select users (to avoid false completed tasks), share documents with non-portal users, send invoices to non-portal users, parent-sub invoicing, time & billing improvements, allow for folder templates to be applied when tasks are applied, allow for doubling clicking on a file to default to "Edit File" instead of preview mode, allow to search spouses on mobile, allow for additional formatting in Notes section.

I love the project management aspect and the all of the templates. Recurring task and notifications. Email capability.

I would love to see templates for e-signature email notifications, ability to turn on and off different payment methods

It covers all the features I need from my client-facing tech stack in one platform. I can share/receive files, send e-sign requests, manage work, send invoices, receive payments, and pull IRS transcripts all in Canopy. Support has also been very responsive to me and has helped me with all my questions.

It is an evolving and growing platform that comes with occasional bugs and changes to the user experience.

The task management feature is useful in tracking engagements and to help plan for the workload.

Monitoring the number of contacts that are active can be challenging at times. There are was to identify last activity but is missing a feature where you can mark multiple clients as inactive instead of going into each one individually. This is important since the fee is based on the amount of active contacts.

Document sharing, obtaining electronic signatures is simple for us and our clients. Communication tab is also very helpful. This feature keeps communications from clients from getting siloed in individual team member's inbox. Being able to share files with clients and their other trusted advisors is also very helpful. Clients like that they can access data on their computer, their phone or their tablet.

Each module has a separate cost. However, to use certain features you have to have a specific module even if we aren't using all the module features. Also, access cannot currently be given to 3rd parties on a file by file and contact basis. Currently, if we allow access to a client and their advisor to the portal, all files that have access turned on in the portal allow all these parties to view. It would be nice if we could pick and choose which client/important contact has access to which folder. For example, a client would have access to all their tax returns, estimates, and source documents. Their financial advisor could have access to only the tax returns.

The Canopy team is amazing at assisting with troubleshooting issues (very quick turnaround time) and are always working on new innovations. The fact that this is not just a set it and forget it system means that Canopy is always working to be a top competitor. They have a few Beta features (namely automation) in the works currently that as an Ops Manager I am thoroughly excited to see roll out. Their staff is always a pleasure to chat with and they hold quarterly 'First Look' webinars to explain what is new with their product and where they are going next - this team is always on the go.

They have a few drawbacks such as the inability to send text messages (we use a third party system), lack of complex reporting (though easily created on the users end by CSV export and a little Excel wizardry), and a few other minor gruffs, but Canopy does have these on their radar (go check out the forums!) and is working on building these in over time.

We luckily chose Canopy as our client portal system pre-pandemic. When the shut down occurred, we were ready to continue servicing our clients during this very termultuous time. AS we move forward from the pandemic, our clients have found they like having a single source to share documents virtually. We as a firm continue to develop our skills in Canopy and now use it for engagement letters, tax documents and any communications with our clients

Wish there could be better isolation of reminder emails or emails when a client performs as action.

Frankly, I purchased Canopy in November of 2019 when I opened up my practice in my home office, and didn't have a full grasp of it as the pandemic hit. 3+ years later - with much of the transition in the last few months - I can't imagine my practice without Canopy. The interface is super user-friendly, there are many options providing the user with a more personalized approach.

Sometimes certain shortcuts aren't available, or the desktop software errors etc. but it's small things and so far I've managed fine; needless to say Canopy is continuously improving so (not a con) once the "Print" or "Save" option directly to Canopy was available and my contacts were set integrated with emails etc. it's been a breeze.

Cool features, outstanding customer service, constantly updating to make it better. I love that I can upload files easily to a secure client portal and we don't have to email files anymore. Clients love that they have 24/7 access to their files. We have saved on paper and toner costs. Having all our client information in one place is incredibly valuable. Engagements keep you focused on what you need to do and makes things less likely to fall through the cracks. The integration with gmail makes tracking/finding email conversations easy! Absolutely can't imagine not having this software.

There are only a few minor issues that I know Canopy will fix as they learn from their customers. I can make suggestions and I know that they will address these requests in future versions of the software:
1. Mobile Access is not perfect. An app would be great. Some screens just don't show up on my iPhone.
2. Tasks take way too long to create. I think it could be easier to create tasks.
3. Inability to print notes
4. Search engine is limited. It would be better to be able to search for partial names. Currently you need to really know the name of the person you are looking for. I have a business client who I can't search for the name of his business or DBA.

Communication tab, organization of tasks.

We would like to be able to integrate ability to update worksheets/ documents in internal files, just like you would in sheets or docs (if you want to edit, you have to do so outside of Canopy and re-upload. We would like to be able to quote in the system.

I like the ability to produce documents that are ready to deliver to clients or the IRS once I have completed the required forms. Additionally, I like the ability to make changes without having to reproduce documents. The link that can be sent directly to clients for data input has been very helpful. Having tax transcripts that are readily accessible on my desktop is a very important feature.

I think that the software should include a feature that will allow you download transcripts overnight. I think the software would be enhanced if some of the additional features that follow are included in the software: Case Diagnostics, Fee Calculator, Searchable IRS Manual and IRS Contact List. It would be very helpful if other users within the same office could utilize Canopy at some add on rate or multiple user environment. Some of the tax resolution practitioners are part of small office environments. It would be good to have a product that could better fit the needs of the smaller office environments. T

This Software makes my Firm efficient and I cannot see running my practice without this software.

Software has trouble reading some MAC Files.

File sharing and ease of uploading from anywhere.

Time tracker is my least favorite as it's hard to remember to turn it off sometimes.

Even my over 80 year old clients were able to 'start up' their online account and download/view/E-Sign their returns without much assistance from my office. It was that easy for them! AND a very small percentage of clients (less then 5%) had difficulty

You have many features we have not implemented. Time is of the essence any classes you offer during the tax season are difficult to attend. I guess more communication regarding all the product abilities.

I love the client portal as well as the transcript feature. My clients like the ease and security of the portal, and being able keep all their documents in one place is a wonderful feature.

Recently the request transcript tool is not working when trying to request new updated transcripts.

I've transferred all my tasks that I used to have on a big spreadsheet to Canopy tasks and organizing them has been so easy. I love the ability to make custom views of the tasks so I can make sure I am working on the most important things.

The one thing I really liked about my old document management software was that I could view the files offline on my computer. It made it so easy to work with the files. I haven't seen that with Canopy.
I also liked how my tax software, Proseries, could import the tax returns directly into my old document management system, but I will be able to print them into Canopy, so it won't be too much different.

The client portal system allows for high level encryption and immediate availability of necessary documents with particular emphasis on Transcript retrieval - wonderful to work with on source document retention and back checking transcripts to ensure accuracy in reports/returns.

The documents needs to be searched chronologically and does not allow separate folders for organization.

I love the communication feature that connects everyone's correspondence with all clients. That has deemed to be more useful than I originally thought. Also, being able to store information on all of our clients in one easy to use place has been great. The client portal is amazing and easy to use.

When trying to complete things it will often have apologetic issues, like "sorry we are having trouble at the moment". Tasks should work more like engagements. Also, the alphabetic order of things is not exactly alphabetic and no one can seem to make sense of that for me but as our cient list grew the search tool is now the go-to for finding clients so it doesn't cause much of a hassle it is just a little odd.