OfficeTools Reviews

Pros

Can add To Do's in program for reminders to do several things.
Keep track of appointments easily.
Documents are easy to find.
Can add notes about clients.
Can track status of projects and set due dates.
Can send documents out for esignatures securely and its easy for clients to sign and return.

Cons

Wip and A/R balances don't match from end of month to beginning of next month.
When adding Wip to invoices, system writes off balance to zero instead of showing profit if billed amount is still over the amount of WIP on bill.
Documents for business clients is harder to sort, employees like to have folders.

Pros

There are a lot of things I love about this software and it was a vast improvement 3 years ago over what I was using. Love: Project tracking, although not as complete as we would like - we have actually left for one that has a more Kan Ban style visual approach, with the ability to tag colored status tags on a project as it moves through the process. Love: Billing: select all time entries related to a project to mark up and bill, or bill all out marked up for a monthly subscription client. Love: ability to link charge card processing both to portal and to invoice. Love - time reports for easy payroll processing. My clients love the portals.

Cons

Hate: document management presentation - must specifically look for emails or notes related to a project: have since moved to a product that has a chat-style interface perfect for a remote workforce. Hate: could never get project reports to print everything I needed. Matter of filters. I will give them the benefit and say perhaps I didn't learn that part well enough. Hate: tech support used to be terrible before they were bought out, has improved but still not great. I may now be really spoiled by the product I moved to - response sometimes within minutes. Hate: BEWARE: their contract has auto renewal without positive confirmation from user. I left them because I spent countless hours with their tech support, and many many $$ in tech support, and by their own admission, it was an issue they were aware of, and nothing to be done about . Now they want to charge me for the entire year and not let me out of it, unless I spend countless more time and $$ to try to resolve the issue that they already know they could not resolve. We have been receiving an error message when logging in for months. They know about it.
Yes, you can just click through it and log in, but it is another annoyance that they are aware of yet still want to charge me for an entire year when I have limped through the last several like a dedicated customer. The ability to link my calendar in exchange to that in Office Tools was a deal maker/breaker for me.

Pros

The days it works without data loss or speed issues. More often than not, it is extremely slow and non-responsive. We have an amazing cloud environment with more than adequate resources for this basic application. Office Tools is the only program that is slow or non-responsive on a daily basis.

Cons

There are many many little glitches that we have not brought to supports attention because we were told by your support team: "glitches must have been previously identified to exist". Your engineers told my IT consultant that we were not using the software properly, which resulted in the DATA LOSS we were experiencing. This is complete crap, as I witnessed the issue with my own eyes and know that Office Tools has a critical engineering issue that can result in lost data. I have also experienced the data loss issue across two separate companies (and IT environments) and have experienced this issue as far back as 2014. But that's not important, right?

The ABOVE MENTIONED ISSUE IS PROJECT ASSIGNMENTS CAN REVERT TO PREVIOUSLY ASSIGNED ASSIGNMENT WITHOUT ANY PROOF THE NEW ASSIGNMENT WAS EVER CREATED.

THE PROFILE SYNC DOESN'T WORK. THE CEO ACKNOWLEDGED THIS AS A KNOWN ISSUE YET THE COMPANY IS STILL SELLING IT AS IF IT WORKS.

ACCOUNTS WITH THE SAME PRIMARY CONTACT MAY HAVE THEIR FILE NAME CHANGED BY OFFICE TOOLS WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO CHANGE IT BACK TO THE PROPER NAME.

THE SIN (CANADA) NUMBER DOESNT SHOW PERIODICALLY UNLESS YOU HIT THE EDIT BUTTON, THEN IT MAGICALLY APPEARS.

Overall the software is not reliable and the company culture is disappointing. I brought the data integrity issue to the CEO and he brushed it off as a non issue, despite it being mission critical for his customers. Never will we recommend this software to anyone. It sounds better than it is.

Pros

OfficeTools creators have thought of every aspect of the business and that's what we loved. Any questions that we had "can we do this or can we do that" the answer was yes. You can create projects, assignments, To Do and have it set-up anyway that works for your team. You can use it for marketing emails with groups, etc. Very well designed.

Cons

It has glitches and it takes some time to learn how to use it. For instance, I don't need to use Lacerte, but I had to have it installed so I could use OfficeTools, otherwise, I kept getting error messages. And then, you have to make sure you are logged in to Lacerte every morning or the program won't work properly and the only way you realize that is when you are looking for an assignment or a document and you don't see it - then you inquire from your team and they say "Oh, it's there, I can see it..." then you realize you need to log back in for the software to refresh and show you everything. It doesn't notify you that Lacerte has been logged off.
Also, the training module and how it works was a bit confusing for us.

Alternatives Considered

CCH Tagetik

Reasons for Choosing OfficeTools

JetPack was a good product for a start, but it doesn't have all the capabilities that OfficeTools offers. We are a growing business and we needed something that allows us to do that.

Switched From

Jetpack Workflow

Reasons for Switching to OfficeTools

OfficeTools had more options for projects and assignments. It also works with Lacerte.

Pros

Everything in one place! We have our scheduling, project and deadline management, phone call tracking, time-keeping and billing, and document management all in one place.

Cons

There really is nothing that I don't like about Office Tools. We did try out their client portal a few years ago, and we went to Sharefile to get some added features. But, we are going to go back to try the Office Tools client portal again before the end of the year. I am hopeful it will be a great change for us.

Pros

Purports to be an all in one practice management solution

Cons

Clunky, inefficient, outdated, not cloud based, and hogs a ton of local computing resources - impacting every other program we run.

Lacerte integration (a key reason we choose OfficeTools) is spotty and glitchy.

They push ridiculously long contracts - I’m stuck in a five year contract even though I stopped using OfficeTools after four months.

Their portal is very limited and doesn’t easily offer permanent access to client files.

They didn’t secure their SendGrid relay properly resulting in several clients getting emails from a hacker (falsely) claiming that their data had been hacked.

Pros

We love that it integrates with our Office365, that we can easily upload docs to a secure portal, get esignatures for a very low price and that it keeps track of who last touched the "file". Very impressed with being able to send email templates to clients with information we are constantly repeating, which saves an enormous amount of time.

Cons

For an excellent program, you have to put a TON of time in getting it set up. Garbage in Garbage out means you need to have a plan. It would be nice if there was a planning tool to help guide you throught the set up process. The one hour video isn't terribly helpful. An excel spreadsheet would be wonderful, if you do this, you need to do thus kind of thing.

Pros

The record keeping itself is worth its weight in gold. Having one software that lets you store and organize files, create and follow projects, time keeping and billing as well as schedules. I totally have become solely dependent on this one program to enable me to complete days of work into several hours. Customer support is the best. They taught me and helped me without judgement!!

Cons

Need it to be cloud based for easier use anywhere work takes me. Pricing is a bit high for smaller clients. I would like to have all of our accounting clients using this product. I also wish the big Vegas Show was on East Coast as well.

Pros

This tool helps me to keep my daily accounting and numbers data practice run on time with so many different features like Clients time tracking, scheduling, processing signatures, mass data sharing, and easily get control on data sharing.
In long term it helps us to show that where we are standing when seeing our tax returns at the end of year. Also have a good metrics in terms of dollars of where and how we are spending every day.

Cons

Lots of functions are not used by our company. So they should give an option to the company of what tools will be used based on that payment should be decided.
- Canon Scanners (We don't use canon scanners)
- Portal not the way we want to organize it or modify it

Pros

We love that is a one stop shop for all of our practice management needs. We have been able to reduce the number of programs our company uses because of this. The software is also incredibly easy to navigate. The team at OfficeTools is great if we ever have an issue that we can not resolve ourselves or with the online support.

Cons

The only con we have found with this software is with some of the reports we want to see, it doesn't appear the program can produce. Luckily, there are workarounds for this.

Pros

OfficeTools can be great. Our firm likes that all of our client information can be kept in one program. From the client's contact information to their documents it is all easy to access. We like being able to record their calls, take notes, and create reminders for a specific client. The activity list is a great way for each staff member to keep track of their tasks. We like that we can record almost any interaction with the client so that we always have something to reference or refer back to.

Cons

This software has a lot of bugs and glitches. We have contacted customer service several times due to a bug or glitch and we have had to wait months to get an answer because they weren't sure why the problem was happening. Most features functionality is great, but we feel the documents area is lacking as far as ease of use and functionality go. We also have completely stopped using certain features due to them continuously not working properly such as the eSigntures feature. We also have trouble with our schedule's. Each individual staff member's schedule will occasionally change on its own. Either appointments will be moved or deleted completely.

Pros

I have been using Office Tools for years and it has helped tremendously with keeping all of my company's client data and projects in order. The reports are somewhat customizable and easy to read. The Projects tab enables us to have a good audit trail of all work by using the Work List, Project Definitions and Project Assignments.

Cons

Since Office Tools has been taken over by Abacus the price of the program has gone up significantly while the features have barely been updated (the updates it did get aren't that great) and the customer service has gone down significantly. In the past I would call customer support and be helped on the spot or given an appointment no later than the next day. Now I call in and am told they will put in a case and I'll get a call back shortly, which really means in hours or the next day or the day after. I recently put in customer service requests on 2 separate issues and was repeatedly told that I'd get a call back or that my case was escalated. One issue was never resolved and I put in the case in January. The other is going on 2 weeks now with no results. Its ridiculous that Abacus expects us to pay higher prices and sign contracts, but not give us the customer service we need. I've even reached out to the sales manager and am given the same answers.

Pros

When Office Tools works well, it's great. Everything is in one place, including storage for documents. It includes billing, and time and project tracking. It's easy for staff to use, and there are multiple ways of completing tasks so employees can use the way that works best for them.

Cons

Our biggest frustration has been with the reporting. While you can technically export reports to Excel, they're in a Crystal reports format with multiple lines and merged cells. The system often doesn't provide the reports we want, which is frustrating because the information is in there. Sometimes we can get what we need between 2 different reports, but the Crystal format makes it impossible to merge them. Sorting reports in multiple ways should also be a breeze, and it is . . . after we remove all the formatting.

Since the acquisition of Office Tools by Abacus, tech support quality has declined significantly. We haven't seen many upgrades to the program, and it's hard to get help on the few occasions we need it.

Pros

I like the recurring invoice feature and that I can find documents easily. It doesn't alter your files the way eFileCabinet does and so if you want to change software, no exporting is necessary. I also like that it syncs with Lacerte, QuickBooks and Outlook.

Cons

It is very difficult to figure out on your own. You have to pay for training and there are not enough online resources to figure out how to change settings yourself. Since the middle of 2017 support does a terrible job of returning your call or email. You will have a very long hold time. I left a message to schedule training (which I will have to pay for) and they never returned my call. Though most of their clients are CPAs they took presidents day as a holiday, even though it is tax season. I have an immediate need but will have to wait until tomorrow to even get an appointment to get on the schedule.

Pros

Office Tools provides all the elements required to manage my small accounting practice. Contact management, document management, time, billing & collection are seamlessly interfaced. The Office Tools modules that I do not use do not interfere with the use of the elements that I do use.

Cons

it is difficult to find something to dislike about Office Tools. It is sometimes difficult to find where, in the program, adjustments to certain settings should be made. Also, occasionally, it seems that updates are promulgated, of which I do not received notice.

Pros

I like the document management service. The scheduling software. And I like the notes. We also used the to dos quite a bit.

Cons

The cost. And the fact they update the software year during tax season. Because of the cost, this will be the last year that we will be using Office Tools Pro. Also, the cloud-based features are severely lacking. In order to be able to view your schedule online, you have to have Outlook and an outlook sync subscription with Office tools pro. And even that feature is very clunky and works very rarely. We had many preparers in our office miss Appointments because they did not show up on the outlook schedule on their phones. The only effective way to see appointments was to remote in to the computer to see the scheduling within the program directly.

Pros

We bought the Program because it interfaces with QuickBooks and had a scheduling program. I gave customer support the best rating bc they are lovely and patient when you talk to them. The employees really are your best asset.

Cons

The software has had several technical problems. It doesn't seem to easily showed budgeted time for scheduling purposes like we thought. It doesn't sync with QuickBooks easily (invoices show up skewed). There are so many boxes to click and items to fill out that it makes entering information time intensive. And some of those items really don't do anything (click the Extension box on a project, but there is no Extension report to show who you have on extension as an example). Crystal reports are clunky to work with. I gave training a higher score because they are lovely, patient and informative, but an issue we have with training is sometimes the trainer will tell us to do "x" but doesn't explain how that will effect "xy&z" down the road. I really wanted the software to work well for us but it really has been difficult.

Pros

Good Product. OTP good service - but only on West Coast Time - need to expand hours . Staff, particuliary Mike G and Jarred F, are great to work with.

Cons

Company bought by Abacus 5/31/17. Sales now handled by Abacus. They want a 3 yr contract!! No upgrades of any kind since Abacus - but price increase and they want a 3 yr contract. Seem to be pricing themselves out of market for small firms. First comments were that I should just pay the increase because of the buyout. I think they should improve my value before raising prices! Three year contract is not competitive!
Like the new weekly training classes, hope they will keep these archieved so we can use them for staff training

Pros

I love the phone call section and the to-do section the most. These features make our office run smooth as silk. It is so nice to create a tax season to-do, with thirty-two items on it. I finish the thirty-two items and I am now ready for tax season. Then I change the date on the to-do and it pops up next year. This saves me so much time!

Cons

Sometimes it takes a little while to fix small problems. Large problems are fixed very quickly though. I wish they would fix the amount of characters possible on the first name line. There really hasn't been too many cons for us, as we love the software!

Pros

good across the board time billing and project managment

Cons

Abacus, software declined, they called and got new credit card and then our costs went up by four times the rate we were paying without notice. I have a dispute and they would not talk to me about it. I have a dispute into their legal department. I also put in a dispute with my credit card to stop charges as they did not let us know the charges would be more with the new company. If they don't resolve I will go somewhere else even if it cost more. I am very very upset. I would recommend you find another software.

Pros

We like that OT combines many tools into one system, including time & billing, project management, document management, and client portal. The system is very easy to use and doesn't require a lot of training for new staff. The interface is modern and the system really works well for our firm of about 40.

Cons

There are a lot of predefined reports and filters, but we wish there was more customization available, such as a report writer feature.

Pros

It has most of the features one might look for in a practice management software. Time keeping, billing, and customer data.

Cons

Pricing triples out of the blue, customer sales and service is worse that dealing with the IRS, Tech support is typically unavailable, and a lot of quirks with how it reacts with other programs on your computer. Time for us to move on to something else.

Pros

The ability to record client contact. Having client documents at your fingertips. No more paper files to haul around. Office staff can check on the progress of a clients tax return just by looking for their name. Notes about missing documents needed to complete a tax return are right there so anyone can pick up where someone else left off.

Cons

Could have better client reporting options. Maybe a way to bypass steps in the project to jump ahead without doing each step individually.

Pros

Time tracking is great. The project and assignment system is a great way to organize and maintain accounting and tax clients with multiple employees. Central location for all clients, information and documents. Syncs with Lacerte tax software. We also do all invoicing through the software.

Cons

Hasn't been updated in a long time with no new features in two years. Desktop based and they are not building a web product. Does not sync with QuickBooks Online. This is not leading edge software.

Pros

When the product worked (and yes, I said "when") it was sleek and efficient and brought the management of several key elements of our practice under one integrated tool.

Cons

The product was incredibly buggy, it typically took at least a day to get connected with anyone in Tech Support (and 24-36 hours can feel like a lifetime during tax season!) and then the "fix" frequently didn't work. We had the same issues come up again and again, we would implement the proposed solution, only to have it not work. We spent thousands of dollars having our own IT firm work in conjuncture with their tech support people, and lost thousands of dollars of productivity. Worst of all, management (and yes, we escalated our issues up the chain of command) seemed utterly indifferent to our issues, seeming to believe our problems were "User Error" - despite the fact that ~everyone~ in our company was dealing with the same issues, and that we were using several other specialized applications with zero difficulty. This was a terrible experience, and I would caution anyone against using it. There are better, cheaper options in the market, sold by companies that stand behind their product and value their customers.