Best Tax Software for Seasonal Preparers in 4 Steps (2027)

The short answer for seasonal storefronts

A seasonal storefront tax office is a short-term location that prepares federal returns for pay during the filing season, often with temporary preparers who need their own log-in and their own PTIN. The category decision comes before any brand decision: you are choosing between per-return billing and a fixed bundle, and your return count and seat count decide which one costs less.

Our direct answer for an office that files mostly individual 1040s is to start with TaxAct Professional's plans and use pay-per-return only below the crossover point shown in the pricing section, then move to a TaxAct bundle. For an office with many business returns, compare Drake's Tax Pro tiers, TaxAct's Complete bundle and the Professional plan on ProSeries on the same basis, because those are the top plans that cover business returns. Drake leads the survey evidence on support, so pick Drake when support and training matter more to you than the lowest published total.

TL;DR: Use per-return billing only for a small or unpredictable count, move to a fixed plan once the count is known, and clear every seasonal hire's PTIN before they prepare a return.

Key Takeaways

• The per-return versus fixed-bundle choice matters more than the brand, because the two models cross over as the count grows.

• On TaxAct's published rates, pay-per-return only wins at small counts, and the crossover points are in the pricing section.

• Drake has the strongest user-side support evidence in this set, and its tiers come out lower than TaxAct's multi-user Complete bundle for some business-heavy mixes.

• Seat costs differ: ProConnect charges a fee for each user access license, Drake charges for each additional user on its online product, and TaxAct prices single-user and multi-user plans separately.

• Price timing matters, because some discounts end November 30 and several TaxAct prices move to retail in January. The dates table lists each change.

• TaxSlayer Pro and ATX have no verified prices in this review because their vendor pages did not open, so budget from written quotes for those two.

Who this is for and where it breaks

Who this is for: an owner or operations lead at a small accounting business who will add temporary preparers during the filing season, must choose a tax product and seat plan before the season opens, and wants the terms in writing before signing.

Red flags: you cannot export a return count from your current software; nobody is named to approve purchases or client-data access; you plan to add seasonal preparers without checking their PTINs first.

If you prepare only a handful of returns and never add staff, a single pay-per-return plan is the honest answer, and the rest of this guide is more detail than you need.

How we evaluated these tools

The weights below are our judgment for a seasonal storefront, not market statistics. We built them from the terms each vendor publishes and from the questions those terms raise: what a return costs, what a seat costs, which return types are in scope, and whether user support is proven. Where a vendor page would not open, we say so rather than fill the gap.

Vendor pages are written to sell, so we also used independent evidence from a 2026 survey of AICPA members who prepared 2025 returns for a fee. ATX price cited as top dislike: 35% of its users according to Journal of Accountancy (2026). In the same survey, Drake Tax earned the top technical-support ratings, which is why support carries weight in our scoring.

Which products cover the features a storefront needs

This matrix uses only what the vendor pages we could open say. "Not confirmed" means we could not verify a feature, not that the product lacks it.

Two rows matter most for seasonal staffing. ProSeries sells hosting as a monthly add-on, so remote access is a separate line item, and its page says a separate network license is required once an account has two or more users. Drake prices its portal and e-sign package per user, so client-portal cost grows with headcount.

What the published prices add up to

Pricing checked November 10, 2026. Every figure below comes from the vendor page linked in its Source column. Where a page would not open, the row says "Not confirmed" and prints no number.

The Tax Pro plan on Drake for a 250-return tier costs $2,375 through November 30 and $2,495 from December 1, according to Drake Software (2026). The Essentials 50 bundle on ProConnect costs $2,478 a year, and each user access license adds $210, according to Intuit (2026). The Professional plan on ProSeries starts at $2,605 a year for unlimited 1040s, and the Basic plan for 20 returns starts at $729, according to Intuit (2026).

For individual-only storefronts, the table below sets the published rates against a single example: 120 individual 1040 returns this season. It is our arithmetic on the rates in the pricing table above, and it excludes business returns.

Pay-per-return also charges $44 per state edition, while the TaxAct 1040 bundles cover all states, according to TaxAct (2026). Our arithmetic on those rates puts the crossover at about 18 individual returns, where pay-per-return stops being cheaper than the Twenty bundle, and at about 41 returns, where the Twenty bundle plus per-return overage stops being cheaper than the 1040 Bundle. Once state editions count, the crossover moves lower, because pay-per-return pays for each state and the bundles do not.

Dates that change the math this season

Current PTINs expire: December 31, 2026 according to IRS (2026), and the IRS says online renewal takes about 15 minutes. PTIN renewal fee: $18.75 per PTIN according to IRS (2026), and the fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

The general rule on the IRS PTIN page covers anyone paid to prepare or assist in preparing federal returns, and the page does not carve out seasonal staff. Start PTIN checks during hiring, not the week before the first client.

Vendor-by-vendor profiles: fit, limits and evidence

Each profile separates what the vendor publishes from our read on fit.

Drake

• Published: Drake offers a pay-per-return option, a multi-user Tax Pro, and an online product priced per additional user. Its FAQ says Drake Tax is an annual license, while Pay-Per-Return and Drake Tax Online are pay-as-you-go.

• Our read, best fit: offices that want an annual license, strong user-reported support, and a business-return mix that makes the unlimited plans worth comparing.

• Limitations: the page does not label every user option or return tier, so match the product to your seat count before buying. Drake Accounting, Drake Pay, bank products and audit defense have no published price, so ask for a written quote on any of them.

• Implementation: confirm the tier and user count against the product list, decide before the discounted window closes, and get quotes for add-ons you plan to use.

• Evidence: Drake's official pricing page, plus the survey data in the evaluation section. Drake price cited as top like: 86% of its users according to Journal of Accountancy (2026).

ProConnect

• Published: bundles from Essentials 50 up to an Advanced multi-user tier, pay-per-return bands by volume, a per-license user access charge with a flat rate for larger teams, and a price-lock option for buyers who purchase a set volume upfront. The highest-volume tier is contact-sales.

• Our read, best fit: offices already working in Intuit's tools, or offices expecting enough returns that a bundle beats the per-return bands.

• Limitations: the user access charge is per license, so seat count moves the total. The bundle discount and pay-per-return discount are both time-limited, and the custom bundles are quote-based.

• Implementation: add the user access charges to whichever bundle you pick, then set the purchase date against the discount windows in the dates table.

ProSeries

• Published: pay-per-return, a Basic plan for 20 returns, a Professional plan for unlimited 1040s covering individual and business returns, a hosting add-on priced monthly, Intuit Sign with no added charge, and a deferred payment option.

• Our read, best fit: an office that wants a desktop-installed professional product with business coverage and unlimited returns in one plan.

• Limitations: the page does not show hosting prices or per-return fees beyond the starting price. The free trial covers the prior tax year and cannot e-file or print on the desktop version.

• Implementation: get hosting and network-license quotes before you add the first temporary user, and note that the hosting discount window closes January 31, 2027.

TaxAct Professional

• Published: a 1040 pay-per-return plan with a base fee, per-return charges and per-state editions; a 1040 Twenty bundle; a 1040 Bundle covering all states; a Business Forty bundle; a Complete bundle; and Document Manager and cloud data storage in its multi-user plans.

• Our read, best fit: offices where individual 1040s dominate and the count is predictable. On published rates, its 1040 bundles are the lowest totals in our individual-return example.

• Limitations: the 1040 plans do not cover business returns, pay-per-return charges per state edition, and several asterisked prices move to retail on January 1, 2027.

• Implementation: pick the plan from a forecast count using the crossover points above, keep per-return logs for the in-app charges, and price a business plan separately if business returns are part of the mix.

TaxSlayer Pro

• Published: nothing verified in this session. The vendor's pricing and product pages returned access errors. Third-party listings describe three editions, which we could not confirm on the vendor's site.

• Our read, best fit: offices that want a cloud-oriented product and are willing to request a written quote before comparing.

• Limitation: without a verified price, we give no budget figure for TaxSlayer Pro.

• Implementation: request a written quote that covers your forecast seat count and return mix.

ATX

• Published: the vendor page returned an access error, so we could not verify ATX's current package scope or price. In the survey, ATX drew a small share of respondents, and its top-dislike rate is in the evaluation section.

• Our read, best fit: offices whose current staff already know ATX, where switching cost is the deciding factor.

• Limitation: the survey's top-dislike rate for ATX is high, and we could not verify current pricing.

• Implementation: ask the vendor for a written package comparison and renewal terms before you compare it with the others.

UltraTax CS

• Published: Thomson Reuters' help page says per-return licenses are available. Return types covered by an unlimited license carry no per-return fee, and a per-return code is needed before a return can be viewed, printed or filed. Costs are listed in a CS Professional Price List we did not open, so we print no figure. See the Thomson Reuters per-return help page.

• Our read, best fit: offices already working in the CS Professional suite that want per-return licensing.

• Limitation: no verified price in this review.

• Implementation: ask for the price list and a per-return estimate that lists the return types your office files.

Where a proposed workflow fits the seasonal pain points

The painful handoffs in a storefront are hiring, PTIN checks, return counts and client follow-up, not the return itself. US Tech Automations can configure the three workflows below as proposed designs. None describes a live deployment or a measured result, and each one keeps the human review points named here.

Hiring to PTIN check (proposed). Trigger: a seasonal hire is added to the roster. Action: the workflow creates a verification task with the hire's name, role and start date, and routes it to the office manager. Output: a roster row marked ready or blocked, with the reviewer's initials. Prerequisites: a roster export from your HR or spreadsheet system. The IRS PTIN pages we reviewed describe no export or API for PTIN status, so the verification itself stays a manual check in the IRS system. Review point: a named manager confirms the PTIN before the hire opens a client file.

Return counts against plan limits (proposed). Trigger: a scheduled export of filed returns from the tax product, once a week during the season. Action: the workflow counts individual and business returns against the plan you bought and flags when the count nears the next tier boundary. Output: a weekly count sheet and a purchase alert to the owner. Prerequisites: a report export by preparer. We did not confirm that export format for each product here, so ask each vendor for a sample file before you buy. Review point: the owner approves any plan change, and a missed export should surface as a failed run, not a silent gap.

Client reminders (proposed). Trigger: a document request passes its due date without an upload. Action: send a text through Twilio using an approved template and write the message record to the return file. Output: a log line per text containing the message's date_sent timestamp. Twilio's Message resource documentation defines that field as the time the message was sent. Prerequisites: a Twilio account, documented client consent to texts, and an API key whose access is limited to the reminder step. Review point: a preparer reads the template before the first send, and any reply that mentions money or a deadline goes to a person.

Zapier, Make and n8n can run the same three steps, and when configured they can keep run histories, retries, error branches and audit evidence. The buyer still has to design idempotency, escalation paths, access controls and ongoing maintenance, and to own every failure. A proposed US Tech Automations design would configure run history, an exception queue and approval gates for these steps, but it would need the same export access and the same human review points. It is a design, not a deployment.

When NOT to use US Tech Automations: a simpler tool wins in three cases. If you file only a few returns and the tax product's own reports answer every question, a shared checklist is enough. If your only staffing change is one seasonal preparer who needs a seat, the vendor's own user setup is faster than any workflow project. If you need a client portal or e-signature flow, buy that from the tax vendor first, because the proposed workflows here do not replace it.

One storefront's numbers, step by step

Take a storefront with three seasonal preparers that expects 120 individual returns and 15 business returns this season. On Drake's Pay-Per-Return plan, the $379.99 base covers 10 individual returns, so the other 110 individual returns cost $49.99 each in-app, which is $5,498.90, and the 15 business returns cost $74.99 each, which is $1,124.85, for a total of $7,003.74 before any charge the page does not list, according to Drake Software (2026). That is more than the 250-return Tax Pro tier in the pricing section, which covers 135 returns if the tier counts both return types, though the page does not say which types it counts, so confirm that before relying on it. The proposed reminder step would log each client text's date_sent timestamp in the return file, so the office can show when every request went out. The three preparers also need seats, and the Drake page does not say whether one pay-per-return license covers three people, so confirm seat terms before you count them as one license.

Common mistakes that cost storefronts money

• Comparing list prices and ignoring promotion end dates, which is how a November purchase turns into a December one.

• Forgetting per-state charges on pay-per-return, which can erase the per-return advantage once states count.

• Buying a 1040-only plan for an office that files business returns, then paying for a second product mid-season.

• Adding seasonal preparers before confirming each one holds a valid PTIN.

• Assuming an automation layer replaces the tax product's own audit trail, instead of pairing the two.

Four steps to choose before the season

1. Count last season's individual and business returns, then forecast this season's using the same counting rule. Export the counts from your current software so the forecast is traceable.

2. Count seats: how many temporary users need access at the same time, and for how long. Ask each vendor whether it charges per user and whether a multi-user plan changes the price.

3. Match the plan to the scope you file: 1040 only, business returns, or state returns. Price state editions separately, because some plans include all states and others charge per state.

4. Lock the dates and PTINs: write down each promotion end date, confirm every seasonal hire holds a valid 2027 PTIN, and get a written quote wherever the vendor page says to contact sales.

Questions owners ask before they buy

Do seasonal preparers need their own PTIN?

Yes, anyone paid to prepare or assist in preparing federal returns needs a valid PTIN before preparing them, and the IRS PTIN page states that general rule without a seasonal exception.

Which product is cheapest for individual returns?

Among the products with published per-return rates, TaxAct's 1040 plans come out lowest in our arithmetic, before state editions, but pay-per-return is cheapest only at very small counts.

Is pay-per-return always the cheaper option?

No, pay-per-return is cheapest only below the crossover point, and above it a bundle covers more returns for less money.

Can seasonal staff share one license?

It depends on each vendor's user terms, and the products in this set price multi-user access differently, so confirm seat terms in writing before you count staff as one license.

Do I need automation software to run a storefront?

No, a storefront can run on the tax product's own reports and a shared checklist, and automation is worth considering only when hand-offs repeat often enough to be a real burden.

Why are some products missing prices in this guide?

TaxSlayer Pro and ATX have no printed figures because their vendor pages did not open, and UltraTax CS has none because its price list was not opened. We did not substitute third-party numbers for them.

Where to land on this decision

For most seasonal storefronts, the decision starts with the return count and the seat count, not the brand. TaxAct's published bundles look strongest on individual-return volume, Drake has the strongest user-side support evidence, and the Intuit products suit offices already on those tools. Settle the PTIN checks, lock in the promotion dates, and get written quotes for any vendor whose price you could not verify here. Teams that want the three workflow steps configured can see how US Tech Automations configures this as a proposed design, with prerequisites and review points listed.