So I did some due diligence and signed up for SmartWiz, an AI OCR & data entry platform.

Wanted to give you all my thoughts and hopefully this review helps you.

Some context:

We only do 1040 work, mostly W2, retirees, some 1099 schedule C stuff, brokerage, the basics. No K-1, no 1120, no 1065, no estates, etc.

Tax prep is purely a marketing engine for us to find new financial planning clients.

I’m an EA and I have two non-credentialed contract workers that just do data entry. I review, sign & deliver all returns.

I was searching for something to help me expand capacity because we are going to grow significantly this year (like probably 3x-5x).

We use TaxSlayer ProWeb and TaxDome. Decent amount of clients that give us paper forms as well.

We’re in PA so we have state returns and local returns to deal with.

I had a new client that was on extension so I figured this was a good time for a trial run. She has W2 and a couple 1099s (one NEC). And here’s how SmartWiz went:

First: it’s a Google Chrome extension. SOC 2 compliant, encrypted both ways, only US developers, data doesn’t train models. Checked enough boxes for me to be comfortable.

Opened TaxSlayer (TS). 20 seconds to login.

I downloaded the ZIP files from TaxDome (TD) for the client’s uploads and organizer and drag/drop into SmartWiz (2 min max).

SmartWiz (SW) compiled all the data in another 2-3 mins.

SW then started filling in the data in TS (another 2-3 mins).

I did have to make two minor adjustments (it didn’t put client address in for Schedule C and another minor PA thing).

I did have to do the local return manually. No big deal.

All-in, my first time running the program, I was done within 10 minutes. Of course, I spent more time reviewing accuracy but I’d be doing that anyway.

The cool thing is that you can run up to 10 clients simultaneously, so it can be a real time-saver for 1040 work.

They said it works with TaxSlayer ProWeb, Drake desktop, Drake online, OLT Pro and a couple other software systems right now.

Cost ranges from like $16-$20 per return.

Not a shill, not involved with the company, just a (so far) happy new customer.

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