Zapier?

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#1
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Does anyone use Zapier in their practice?

I am planning a transition to TaxDome from ShareFile later in the year, and have been thinking about also implementing Zapier as well.

Zapier, at a high level, integrates different apps and platforms so that they might function more like a unified platform and less like discrete apps.

For example, with Zapier, I believe I could create a rule so that updating a client's contact information in the TaxDome CRM would also update the client's contact info in Outlook online contacts and also in Constant Contact / Mail Chimp. The process would be automated and in the background. It would remove the need to manually update in three different areas. This also removes confusion for staff -- now there's just one area to update.

That's just one example. My ongoing administrative/back office goal is to lean heavier on automation through software and remove unnecessary touch points.
 

#2
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I use it but the currently available functions via Zapier for TaxDome are pretty limited. Yeah, you can send TD contacts to MS365 and others using Zapier, but it'd be better if you could update your accounting software (unless you plan on using TD for invoicing, too).

Right now, I mostly use it to update or add new contacts to Exchange when a new one is created in a QBO company. I do have a Zap for new contacts in TD to be added to MS365 (Exchange), but it is still pretty limited.
Last edited by CornerstoneCPA on 24-Jan-2022 3:02pm, edited 1 time in total.
 

#3
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See my revised post.

I use Outlook for Desktop and iOS, I hate the cloud version but my Exchange is in the cloud via MS365.
 

#4
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I admit I haven't really looked too closely at TD's invoicing yet. Currently using QBO and I don't know if I want to change that. I'll have to see how well TD's invoicing integrates with QBO to make the decision.

I like the idea of using TaxDome for CRM, and a new client or updated client's info automatically flowing to Outlook contacts as well as Constant Contact through some kind of integration/automation software like Zapier.

I'm looking forward to how much TaxDome is going to automate my various processes, but I'm not looking forward to building everything out. I imagine it's going to be a lot of work, but it'll pay dividends once everything is setup.
 

#5
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It's a PITA, but I am already seeing HUGE time savings from it. And I love how TD continuously works to improve the software, though I think that will eventually result in a huge price increase.

And the TD invoicing function integration with QBO sucks. It is a one-way sync to QBO, only. So, if you receive a check, you have to post it to Stripe or CPACharge if you locked a document to an invoice, for example, or simply to record the payment.

As of now, I have no integration with TD and QBO because no actual integration exists.
 

#6
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CornerstoneCPA wrote:As of now, I have no integration with TD and QBO because no actual integration exists.


Like you said, they're constantly improving incrementally so we don't know what the future holds. My main concern is automating processes and removing firm touch points, particularly in the prospect process and annual tax compliance process. Billing and bookkeeping is ancillary and I could look past those issues if the automation of processes makes my life easier.

I've thought about the price as well. TaxDome clearly has a compelling product, however it does not scale as well as its competitors. For example, I'm paying $145/month for ShareFile, which includes 5 firm users. It also includes RightSignature and something like 500 KBAs per month. While again, TaxDome is clearly superior in terms of automation and firm management IMO, I'm paying more on a per firm user level for TaxDome than ShareFile.

Now there may be some behind the scenes horse trading for a firm with a lot of users, and some discount given, but I just don't know.

TaxDome will undoubtedly have pricing power due to their offering, but I doubt they could substantially increase their pricing without attrition, particular from large firms due to the above dynamic, which would be their material customers.

At least, that's my take on it.
 

#7
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Well, it is only the FIRST license that is the annual fee. Others are monthly and can thus also be seasonal based on additional staffing needs. That is one nice thing over some others, such as SmartVault. For me, I am now paying a lot less than SmartVault while getting a heck of a lot more.

I have gotten into actually utilizing the automations and pipelines and it is truly stunning how much time it saves. I'll continue making recommendations for improvements and I am still tracking a few things the way I did in the past, but that is only until I make sure I am not overlooking anything within how I set up TD. One thing I would like to see, and I am not quite sure how TD could achieve this, is to view all completed organizers and contracts in one place rather than BY ACCOUNT or JOB in a pipeline.
 

#8
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CornerstoneCPA wrote:Well, it is only the FIRST license that is the annual fee.


I didn't see that on their website. Is it discounted per user, or is it a straight $50 per user per month regardless of number of users?
 

#9
AlexCPA  
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I sat through a demo of TaxDome a while back and was impressed by the number of third-party tools that TaxDome could potentially replace at a much lower cost. However, the "all-in-one" nature of the product also terrifies me. We've all had the experience of attempting to log into a website and getting some obscure error (ex. 502 error, etc.) which prevents use of that service for a while. When I use a number of separate services, I have flexibility. If my CRM is down, I can prepare tax returns. If DocuSign is down, I can still send emails and call my clients as needed.

If TaxDome goes down, then what? ManVsTax, I'm curious as to how you've reconciled this concern and whether there is a specified way to address this issue with TaxDome.

Also, is there a way to "export" the information from TaxDome to back it up (preferably off-site on a cloud-based backup platform and/or a physical drive)?

Quite simply, having my entire business relying on a single platform without significant backup options would keep me up at night to say the least.
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#10
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Just to be clear, TaxDome isn't a true all-in-one solution. It isn't prep software. I'm not sure if it can handle targeted eblasts, but I'm planning on retaining Constant Contact in the short-term.

Maybe Cornerstone can touch on the backup abilities and any downtime he's noticed.
 

#11
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Correct, it is only a practice management system--not an all-in-one accounting, tax prep, client portal, website, etc. I have not encountered downtime but I have seen some users mention it. I have experienced slight slowness as I am trying to do a lot at once, but it is not terrible.

Everything residing in TaxDome should also be stored elsewhere--yes, the intent is to consolidate information for efficiency, but it simply should not be where you exclusively retain critical documents, client contact info, etc. If TaxDome is down, yeah, I may temporarily lose access to files I have not yet downloaded from the portal, the instant messaging function, or perhaps access to electronic signatures, but it is not anything overly concerning to me. I save all of the documents to OneDrive as soon as I see I have received them and those are backed up via multiple methods. The same risk of losing files in the portal exists with SmartVault, ShareFile, etc. Again, it is not a document management solution--it is an EXCHANGE portal, meaning not intended for permanent storage (yes, I know some people use it for that and that is their call to walk such a slippery slope with any vendor).

I am not using the time entry and invoicing functions, so I cannot comment on that other than from what I have seen, it is pretty lackluster. I am seeking a true integration with QBO, as are others, and QBO can be backed up (though QBOA users are currently SOL with the native backup solution).

The biggest thing I would lose if I lost data in TD or lost access is where various jobs stand within pipelines, but I can mentally recreate most of it at any given time. For tax prep, I even have automated e-mails sent out with a nice little image that shows where in the tax prep stage a client is, so I could always pull up those e-mails if I cannot quite remember. This risk exists with all practice management systems and cloud software in general.

This is what TD has to say about backups: https://help.taxdome.com/article/278-ho ... count-data
 

#12
AlexCPA  
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Thank you for the information, I appreciate it. My last task at the end of each day is to export all of the information out of my CRM (Pipedrive) into Excel documents. That way, if the CRM goes down, I can continue right where I left off. I'll have to look into the backup/export functionality available through TaxDome a bit more.
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#13
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Love Zapier. I think every business these days can use it. I use it with qbo,Google sheets, Gmail workspace and our crm software. Zapier will be like qbo one day where if you buy an online software, you will ask does it connect to zapier. I highly recommend learning it.
 

#14
smtcpa  
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I use Zapier to notify me of changes to a database in Insightly I will be dumping soon in favor of Airtable. But that's it. How do you use it?

By the way, if you like Zapier, Integromat is even better. I use that to send us to create a task in Clickup when we get a file uploaded to Sharefile. But would love to hear more uses for tools like this.

wwwcpa1biz wrote:Love Zapier. I think every business these days can use it. I use it with qbo,Google sheets, Gmail workspace and our crm software. Zapier will be like qbo one day where if you buy an online software, you will ask does it connect to zapier. I highly recommend learning it.
 


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