Key takeaways
- Test the export on one real client before you sign anything.
- Price a switch by the busiest month, not by the annual total.
- Count the rebuild of templates and reminders, not only the client import.
- Do not start a cutover while Form 1099-NEC work for 2026 payments is open.
Test the export before you sign anything
Export is the factor vendors describe least. Ask the current vendor and the new one, in writing, which of these come out as files: client records with IDs, every document with its folder path, version history, e-signature certificates, request answers and message threads. A CSV of client names is not an export of the firm's records.
Then export one real client. Open every PDF and check that folder names, file names and document dates survive, and count the files against the old portal. A gap found in a test is a line in the migration log. A gap found in March is a client problem.
Decision rule: if the vendor cannot give a file-level export with folder paths, budget a manual rebuild of every client folder before you decide.
Judge the client portal by the client who never logs in
Demos show the staff side. The test that matters is whether your slowest-responding client can send a document without a phone call. Time the gap from the invitation email to the first successful upload for three of those clients.
Compare login methods on the client's terms. An emailed magic link means no password to forget, but it works only if the client recognizes the sender. A password with multi-factor authentication is stronger and adds a step on each visit. Choose per client type rather than per firm.
Check what a client sees. The client should see only the folders you shared, and uploads should land in the folder you named. The IRS urges tax professionals and taxpayers to use multi-factor authentication on tax software accounts, so ask each vendor what it enforces for clients as well as for staff.
Compare pricing models against the busiest month
Alternatives price per staff seat, per active client, as a base fee with modules, or as a flat firm fee. A per-seat plan bills every seasonal preparer. A per-client plan bills every client on the list, including the ones you file for only once a year.
Worked example: 120 active clients, 4 year-round staff and 3 seasonal preparers from January through April. Per-seat pricing bills 7 seats in February and 4 in July, unless seats can be removed mid-term. Per-client pricing bills 120 clients all year. Compare the February invoices, when both peak, not the annual averages.
Ask three things and get the answers in the order form: is a seat or client added mid-year prorated, is there an annual minimum term, and is any module you need in March priced separately?
Bookkeeping sync means four separate things
For a firm running the monthly close, separate four questions. Which clients exist in QuickBooks Online or Xero, and under which ID? Are ledger transactions read, written or both? Can a receipt a client uploads attach to the QuickBooks transaction it belongs to? Can an uncategorized transaction become a question to the client?
Competitor comparison pages disagree on how far their connections go. One describes Double with two-way QuickBooks Online and Xero ledger sync, and Financial Cents with QuickBooks Online sync and Xero routed through Zapier. Those are vendor descriptions, so test them on a live client.
Decision rule: if the close depends on client receipts landing on the right transaction, test attachment push-back first. If the firm only needs the client list and the document store, a native sync is not a reason to move up a pricing tier.
Which tax year the thresholds apply to
For 2026 payments, reported on returns filed in 2027, Form 1099-NEC covers nonemployee compensation of $2,000 or more. The IRS instructions say that figure applies to tax years beginning after 2025 and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in 2027. Payments made in 2025 use the earlier threshold, so do not apply $2,000 to the 2025 return.
Box 10 of Form 1099-MISC still covers gross proceeds of $600 or more paid to an attorney in connection with legal services, so a vendor list cut at $2,000 will miss those payments unless the firm checks them separately. Attorney fees for services are a different line: they go in Box 1a of Form 1099-NEC and follow the $2,000 test.
Form 1099-K uses a different test: more than $20,000 in gross payments and more than 200 transactions, per the current IRS instructions. The IRS states that the dollar limit reverts to $20,000. Keep the two tests in separate columns of the migration log.
Count the rebuild, not only the import
The import is the easy part. The time goes into rebuilding request templates, recurring schedules, staff assignments, reminder timing, portal branding and the sending domain for email. Migration estimates on vendor pages disagree. One comparison gives both 2 to 6 weeks and 5 to 7 business days for the same vendor, so time your own firm.
Worked example: 120 clients at 15 minutes each to check folders, open requests and contacts is 30 staff hours before any client email goes out. Add a test client per staff member and a week of parallel running, and the switch is about a month of part-time work for one person.
Decision rule: do not start a cutover while Form 1099-NEC work for 2026 payments is open. That deadline is January 31, 2027, and a vendor change now puts the vendor records, the W-9s and the recipient copies in motion at the same time.
The migration checklist, in order
Week 1. Request the full export in writing, along with a list of what it excludes. Log the answer with the date.
Week 1. Export one test client, open every file, and record the file count and folder paths in the log.
Week 2. List each open request with its owner, due date and item count. Finish the nearly complete ones in the old portal and re-send the rest in the new one.
Week 2. Build the client list from the export. Match on EIN or client ID, not name, so that Smith Holdings and Smith Holdings LLC do not become two clients.
Week 3. Rebuild request templates, one per engagement type, and map each field to its old template. Send a test invitation to a staff member's personal email and check the link, the sender name and the spam folder.
Week 4. Send the client message below at least 14 days before the first client moves. Move clients in batches of 25 to 30, so the first complaints come from a group you can call back the same day.
After cutover. Keep the old system read-only for as long as the retention policy requires, and keep a copy of each signed Form 8879 with the return it supports. Form 8879 is the declaration document and signature authorization for an e-filed return.
The message to send clients
Send it from the managing partner's address, not the new vendor's no-reply address, because clients ignore no-reply senders.
Use this wording, filling in the brackets: "Starting [date], we are moving our document portal to [new platform]. You will get an email from [sender name] with a link to set up your login. Documents you sent through the old portal before [date] are still in your file, and we will tell you if anything is missing. If the link does not work, reply to this email and we will send a new one." Nothing else needs to change.
Decision rule: if a client has an open request on the day the message goes out, finish it in the old portal before that client moves.
Failure modes and the fix for each
Folder structure lost in the export. Map the export's folder paths to your template before the import, then check one client's folder tree against the old one.
Clients treat the new login email as phishing. Send the message above in advance, with the sender's name in it.
Duplicate clients created by a sync. Merge them before the first request goes out, matching on EIN or client ID.
W-9s and taxpayer ID numbers moved as portal attachments. Move them as files into the firm's secure storage and log each one. Do not send them by email. The guide on collecting 1099 and W-9 information covers the log.
A security plan that still describes the old vendor. Federal Trade Commission regulations require professional tax preparers to create and enact security plans, as the IRS states. Update the written information security plan for the new vendor, its data location and its access list.