Drake Tax Software Reviews & Ratings | 2023 (2023)

4

4

5

4

February 2019

Amazing Customer Support

Great software overall. Occasionally there's bugs (on state and local) but those tend to be resolved quickly once Drake is notified

Pros

If you ever get stuck on a complicated tax return their customer service line is always a great help. I've never had to wait more than 5 minuets on hold and they usually answer in under a minuet. There's options for you to send the tax return to the customer support specialist securely so they can look at exactly what you are. If the problem was especially complicated, they would get back within the week.

Cons

The software looks a little dated. Switching between screens is not intuitive and the screens don't always match up with the forms on the tax returns. There's less accuracy on the state levels and even less on local.

5

5

5

4

September 2022

Drake Tax Software review

Pros

Love the unlimited feature, love that you can add states and prior years at no extra charge. Love the customer service

Cons

The user interface is clunky. Feels and looks like it was written in the 1980s

2

1

3

3

January 2023

I now know why this software is so cheap

Not working anywhere close to how it shouldOnly seeming advantage is price, but that is exponentially vanishing as my time is wasted trying to get it to work as it should.

Pros

So far nothing. The conversion from Ultratax does not work as it should.No basis converted for 1065 & 1120S returns.Has not converted asset information.

Cons

Has not successfully imported my asset data from Untratax, and customer support can not figure out whu

5

5

5

5

November 2022

serious user

The Drake support and sales staff were very accomodating

Pros

The Telephone Support. The depth of the tax product was super

Cons

The Accounting program was not developed deep enough

4

5

5

4

July 2019

Great Software for the Money

Pros

I left my company to start my own tax practice and decided on Drake because of the what it could do for the cost. I was previously using UltraTax which is a great software but compared to price this made sense. It does everything I need it to but at a fraction of the cost. It's super easy to set up. UltraTax was better hands down with the exception of the tax projection in Drake. Drake's tax projection is better than UltraTax for individuals. Also, Drake's customer support is better in that I could get through to someone during tax season very quickly. I don't plan on switching tax software anytime in the near future.

Cons

If filing a business in multiple states and then making sure the income on the personal is correctly allocated to each state was a pain. It's not to bad with a couple states but 5+ states plan on spending extra time just getting the software to do what you need it to do.

4

4

2

4

June 2022

Drake is OK for the price but has flaws and the product support doesn't live up to prior reputation

I tried Drake tax because I received sales calls at least 4 days a week for over a year....so I figured I'd try the PPR version. I also tried it because Drake had a superior reputation for product/customer support (i.e., when something may not appear to report correctly, they respond and address it if so). That may have been true at some point, but I haven't found it so. As a new user, over the course of about 18 months, I contacted Drake maybe 5 times about an issue with either Drake Tax or Drake Portals. In most cases, the first point of contact didn't really understand the issue (which is OK). But, I hardly ever received any callback response from anyone who could respond to the issue (after being told I would). So, as far as I am concerned, Drake has no more support or concern about potential reporting issues than any other competitor (which is generally none). As long as that's the case, it seems better to go with a tax prep software that gets reporting right more often than not, such as Prosystem, Proconnect, or Ultratax if you can afford it.

Pros

For the money, Drake Tax offers more value compared to competitors. It's certainly not the worst. If you can't afford a more robust solution like Ultratax, Prosystem, or Lacerte, and you don't do terribly complex returns, Drake is a reasonable choice, and the Drake portal integration is pretty serviceable. The asset manager in Drake Tax is one of the best I've used, and handles group/bulk sales quite nicely. The built in integration with a document manager which automatically creates client folder structures when a new client is added is also handy.

Cons

Allocating things between states in Drake can be cumbersome, making you create a separate tab for each state rather than allocating in a grid, etc. Certain things do not flow correctly to the return without substantial preparer oversight or adjustment. State specific codes or items, vacation home loss carryovers, QBI reporting, PY basis losses reporting on Sch E among others. Product/Customer support has historically had a good reputation, but I've certainly found the opposite to be true. I've found no more concern for product support and customer inquiries than any other platform, which takes away a big reason for considering Drake in the first place.

3

3

2

3

November 2020

Good but not great

Pros

I like the fact that Drake is not too expensive and it is easy to learn most of the software.

Cons

The company does not do a great job of fixing bugs and issues quickly and their customer support team is a mishmash of very talented people and some very new and inexperienced people. Wish we could give feedback after a support call or have a specific team to answer my questions.

4

4

October 2021

Drake

Pros

The features stay consistent from year to year so it is easy to transaction between years.

Cons

When updates happen they are automatically done in the software. If you didn't have a physical copy printed out, it would be hard to answer why the IRS did an adjustment to a client's taxes due to a tax law change.

3

4

5

3

January 2020

Lot's of problems with converted files

So far, I'm worried that I'll have to manually do each return to be sure Drake is doing things correctly.

Pros

At present, I'm worried. The customer service is prompt and very helpful.

Cons

Can't see what the results for entries are without going through the steps to view the return, a waste of time and needless works. To many black boxes, can't find out where the numbers come from. Problems with MA wages for gov't employees and estimated tax payments can't be self computed or rounded no am I certain they can be e-filed. K-1 inputs should have the same entries as the K-1 forms. MA part-year resident returns are not properly prepared. Not as easy to use as the tax form filled programs

5

5

5

December 2022

Simple to Compex

Pros

The price and ease of learning the program

Cons

Can't think of anything I don't like, lol

5

5

5

5

September 2019

The Best Tax Softwere ever

Like a good perfume !

Pros

Excellent customer service Beautiful people Friendly Softwere Cheap however better the CCH

Cons

In my 7 years using this Softwere I have never found any Cons yet

3

5

5

5

January 2021

Once you're up to speed it's a great cost effective product!

I've got 15 returns in progress at the moment (990, 1120S/H, 1040, 1041), and now know where to find the entry points for the data I need. When you calculate and view the return the program spits out notes on what is wrong and tells you how and where to fix things. You can print right to the portal so client communication is great. There are multi prepared, billing, and client management functionality I don't need and can't comment on. Once you're up the learning curve you are in an excellent cost effective tax return package!

Pros

I was a long time ATX user and do only a small number of returns yearly in my private practice. The yearly cost kept going up and up and my sales person was unresponsive to my cost concerns. Drake has an ATX conversion program which I tried on 2019 and it brought over some large asset lists correctly so I took the plunge. I also bought Drake's portal software and will end up spending less than half of what I spent on ATX without the ATX portal. There are lots of video tutorials and an nice set of help functionality. Usually I just played with entries until I got the tax form to be right and that was how I learned the program. The Support is GREAT. A real person answered the phone instantly(!), and they knew what they were doing.

Cons

I've used TaxSlayer, TurboTax, and ATX. ATX's big advantage is you can click on a form and go directly to the input screens and it is in general more user friendly. I learned Tax Slayer last year as an AARP Tax Aide Volunteer. With Drake there was a tougher learning curve than Tax Slayer to figure out where and how to enter data and how the program thinks with the override entries, but once you get the hang of things it becomes straight forward. There is a search bar at the bottom of the main screen which is often helpful pulling up the correct data entry screen.

5

5

November 2018

Drake is great !!

Pros

Drake is software is really so easy to use, I been working on this software for about 2.5 years now, the most I like about it, is that all the tax forms are included, very easy to navigate around the software, in the calc window its shows you almost everything , if the return is eligible for E-filing, all the errors that need to be clear, the fees, the refund or the balance due, if there are any notes before E-filing it will show you so that you can go check that, I can even Email the returns to the taxpayer, I can use the signature pad, if the return got rejected for any reason it shows you exactly what's wrong, in order for you to resolve and resubmit , I can even set limited access to other tax preparers and adjust all that ... Drake is great, so recommended

Cons

what I really need on the software to support the remote signature ,other than that all good.

1

1

3

1

April 2020

This product is terrible - DO NOT BUY

This is a terrible product. Preparing returns takes a lot longer with Drake than it did with Pro Series.

Pros

The customer service people speak english.

Cons

I think I could do returns more effectively with an excel workbook. This software is very difficult to use and unable to handle complex business returns. In pro-series when you receive an error message Pro Series provide a link to the issue. Drake simply says "error on schedule..." Drake does not explain the error and at times Drake references a form that is not even available on the Drake software. Additionally, when you convert Pro Series accounts to Drake, Drake does not transfer all of the information so you have to review the forms to determine if the correct data was transferred. You might as well reenter all of the data if you have to go in and fix it. The sales person pulled a bait and switch telling me that payroll products were included for a flat fee and then charged me for the payroll product and told me she made a mistake. When I make a mistake I acknowledge it and take care of the issue on my dime. Not Drake, they put it on the client. Drake also has a no refund policy after December 31. I do not know any tax preparers that would be using their 2019 tax preparation software before 12/31/2019. I suppose if I made such a poor product I would also limit the ability for customers to return it. Honestly if I wasn't so busy I would file suit for the refund of the price just because it infuriates me to be scammed like this. Maybe this summer my schedule will open up and I will do so.

3

3

1

3

April 2019

NOT FOR TAX PROFESSIONALS

Pros

Costs; easy to update yearly; efiling is accurate and timely.

Cons

Tech support is hit or miss depending on what person you get. I have dealt with clearly untrained support reps throughout the years. If you are a tax professional with a substantial number of clients, I would NOT recommend this software. Drake will not work with you at all regarding the default selections and the program is very limited when it comes to customizing it for a larger practice. Even when we point out obvious coding errors, many of them are never corrected despite repeated calls and emails to their support. Every year they seem to get worse. They really do not seem to care about the concerns and feedback of their customers. The only reason we have not changed from Drake is the investment in time it takes to change platforms. Moving thousands of clients requires a substantial investment of time even with the conversion softwares provided by other platforms. Maybe that is why Drake seems to care less for the concerns of their customers.

5

5

5

5

November 2021

Easy and straightforward

Highly recommend

Pros

I like how simple it is to use Drake and to train new employees. It is a very straightforward software and simple to use.

Cons

Honestly this is a great softwares and I don’t have any negative feedback on it.

4

5

5

January 2019

Drake Tax 2017

Pros

Easy to navigate and use. All client information was saved and available in an easy to read format. Inputting information was quick and easy to save.

Cons

Updating/rolling over to the new year. Took a couple minutes.

5

5

5

5

October 2019

So Far So Good- bye bye Taxwise

Customer service picks up on the second ring every time I call!! (and that is a bunch)

Pros

The functionality of the software, and the fact that i can select what forms to print. NY forms are included!!

Cons

So far the only thing I do not like is that I am still not a pro at it! I have to continue to look at the cheat sheet for shortcuts.

5

4

5

4

March 2020

Great tax product for the price

Top quality tax program and phone/chat support. Best I have seen for a tax program even during tax season.

Pros

This is a very good and well thought out professional tax program. Laid out in an easy way for professionals to navigate.

Cons

The only word of warning the messenger in secure file pro does not have a live notification so you are not notified until the next days email.

4

3

1

3

February 2022

Tax Practice Review

Pros

Drake Tax Software relatively inexpensive and easy to use for small businesses such as ours. Support for the Tax Software ok if you get the right customer service representative.

Cons

Drake's securefilepro is a disaster. It is extremely slow and very difficult for users to use. Support is nonexistent. Management could use a refresher course in customer service.

3

3

5

3

October 2018

Drake Tax

Good experience. Not great, but not too bad after all.

Pros

The software isn't hard to use, the user-interface looks fancy, and the customer support is great and responsive.

Cons

The lack of support for external gadgets like scanners. in addition to that , it lacks remote access possibilities like remote-signatures, and mobile apps that taxpayers can use to submit their data to the tax-preparers without sending them any physical copies. The user interface isn't hard, however it needs to be simplified a little.

3

5

3

December 2018

Drake is for beginners

Drake's ultimate appeal is the price. I would not use Drake if it was free. I use a more professional level software product that anticipates my needs as a tax professional.

Pros

Drake has the best customer service in the tax business, and is the most affordable professional tax software on the market.

Cons

It lacks a tremendous amount of features available in other tax software products. It lacks ease of use in every feature. The diagnostics are not user friendly, and are only designed to fix the most basic problems. Drake is not designed to help you along the process. It is best for a tax professional that knows exactly what result is expected. When it is wrong, you have to know exactly what to do. There is little guidance, which can lead the user to a wrong result. The printed forms do not look like a professional product.

5

5

4

5

June 2021

Where's my refund

Overall, my experience was good. The product is easy to use and has excellent customer service.

Pros

I love how easy this program is to use. I was able to sit down and start entering return information immediately without much training

Cons

The thing i liked least is the search feature. I feel like it could be more user friendly. Being able to sort by many different fields would be super helpful

1

3

1

3

March 2022

Drake believes that they are always right

Awful

Pros

In years prior it was easy to use. Now it is no longer user friendly. Forget about that part.

Cons

The inability to overwrite the amounts in the software that I want to be reflected on the tax returns.

4

5

5

December 2019

Great Tax Prep Software for General Practice

Drake was easy to use, and didn’t Nicole and dime you for extras like different state returns.

Pros

I like the tips and hot links that help you make decisions about tax returns. Also there are many features that help with filings.

Cons

Finding things can be a challenge sometimes until you get used to the software. The software makes some guesses about estimated payments etc that a new user may think was intentionally input. Accepting these green fields will result in inaccuracies in filings.