CPA Firm Basta & Company: ‘I Wish I Knew About You a Long Time Ago’

Welcome to #TestimonialThursday! This week’s interview is with Samy Basts, founder of Basta & Company, a San Francisco based accounting firm that provides a wide range of tax and accounting services for small business owners.

Why did you choose TaxDome?

I was looking for an online tax organizer, and TaxDome came up during my Google search. Up until then, I’d never heard of you.

I explored it and saw that you provide more than an organizer. TaxDome is a unique platform. When I reached out to your support, I got an answer right away—a live person, immediately.

I feel you have a deep understanding of tax and accounting needs, and it shows in your product. TaxDome provides efficiency and structure, accommodating for the kind of urgency accounting firms deal with.

We decided to go with you for those reasons among many others. 

Had you used other practice management systems in the past?

I had a bad experience with Accelo.

I’d been planning on switching to Karbon and was just about to sign up when I came across TaxDome.

Karbon is a great platform, but TaxDome offers far more. I really like that it’s one product with more than one function. We had been using SmartVault, which we are transitioning away from as we move all of our files over to TaxDome. That will be another software subscription I can cancel.

With TaxDome, I get a client portal, an interactive organizer, and a full-blown practice management system for our firm’s internal use. I can substitute three platforms with one, which saves money and allows us to be more efficient..

What’s been the feedback from your clients?

Really great! This season, I’m dealing with a minimum amount of technical support and calls, which makes life much easier for us. Our clients’ support issues with SmartVault and Intuit ProConnect slowed things down.

Since using TaxDome, I have not had these issues. Our clients have found TaxDome very easy to use. What I also love is that we can include a link to our TaxDome portal on our website, and clients can go there and set up their own account by registering. This is great—and saves a lot of time! We don’t have to help them with the sign-up process.

We’re more efficient now. Communication with clients and organizing documents has become much simpler.

How has integrating your business process with TaxDome made a difference for your firm?

We’re still in the process of fully integrating. Right now, the flow of communication has improved both internally and with clients—it’s much easier than before. The ability to request a document or missing item and know the client is instantly notified offers peace of mind.  This saves time and reduces the amount of back-and-forth communication and calls with clients about what they need to complete.

Are you using pipelines or any of the task-management tools?

We use pipelines for each type of tax filing—1040, 1120, 1120-S—and it’s so helpful! I like the way you can link the tasks and see the deadlines, along with the visual helpers indicating when tasks have become overdue. They really work great.

Has it been a big learning curve?

Not really. It’s very user-friendly. I love the YouTube videos: When I hire someone, I send them a link to the videos. It’s straightforward. We didn’t have any problem learning the software, especially compared to other platforms I’ve used in the past. 

Do you all work remotely or in an office?

We are a virtual firm; everyone is remote. We’ve found it easier to manage our team with TaxDome. I don’t have to log in to each of my staff member’s email account: I can see all of the communication in one place. This is a big time-saver and helps me better manage my team.

What do you like most about TaxDome?

One of my favorites is the reminders feature: It’s really great. And I can control the frequency of reminders and not bug the client over and over.

I like that you can give access to documents to a third party without creating an account for them. If a banker or mortgage officer needs a document, I can send it to them securely and easily.

I also want to mention the ability to save email attachments—that is awesome! We don’t have to scour millions of emails to find them; they’re automatically stored. Big time-saver! 

There are a lot of features I like, but those are some of my favorites.

Are you billing through TaxDome?

Not yet. I’ve been using QuickBooks, and we’ve been billing through them.

We also use Practice Ignition. I would love to see API or the ability to use Zapier for that—it would really be great to make that connection.

We always consider making improvements to TaxDome and like to let you know about our updates and expected roll-out dates. Are there features that you feel are missing? Or features you wish we would add?

The time-entry filter is great, but I’d like to be able to add more specific data—along with bullets and other formatting—in the time-entry notes. I’ve requested this from the team and am told you are working on it.

I would also like a way to document our processes that are not specific to one client.

The improvements that are happening all the time really help, and we’re always excited about new features on the way. 

Right now, we’re excited to soon be able to offer you a firmwide wiki! Anything else you’d like to add?

No, you guys are doing a great job. I only wish I knew about you a long time ago—would have saved me both time, pain, and money.

Do you know other people in the industry who use TaxDome?

Not many, but I’m talking to all of my peers and colleagues. I’m definitely spreading the word!

Thanks so much, Samy, we very much appreciate that! And, it just so happens, we recently introduced a referral program. Check it out!