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Beyond Document Storage: How To Consolidate Your Tax Tech Stack with SmartVault

Beyond Document Storage: How To Consolidate Your Tax Tech Stack with SmartVault

Published: August 8, 2025

For 15 years, SmartVault has been synonymous with document management in the accounting and tax industry. And yes, we do that.

But calling SmartVault “just document management” undersells what it’s become for modern tax and accounting firms: a secure, integrated platform that makes your work easier and quicker (for yourself, your teams, and your clients). Plus, it replaces a growing list of disconnected tools.

With the launch of SmartRequestAI™, SmartVault provides even more value. It’s now where your entire tax prep process begins, not just where it ends.

Let’s talk about how.

The Problem: Tax Prep Tools Have Multiplied

In the last few years, most firms have added more tech to their workflow than they’ve removed. And now?

Well, you might not notice it at first. A few extra clicks. A few more tabs. Another password to remember (your 47th this year, but who’s counting?). Then come the Slack messages: “Hey, I can access the client data in the DMS but not in the proposal tool…can you give me access so I can start this return?”

But eventually it’ll hit you: you’re spending more time managing software than actually doing the work you earn all these CPE credits for. You’re trying to convince your team and your clients to embrace yet another new tool. Trying to get your workflow to work across all those apps.

The cost of tech sprawl adds up fast. You end up with document silos, click-heavy workflows that require redundant data entry, and too many logins for your staff and clients. Everyone starts developing what we call “app fatigue” — that glazed look they get when you mention implementing “just one more quick solution.” Ultimately, in an attempt to improve things, many firms find themselves creating more obstacles and confusion.

It’s obviously inefficient. Yet somehow, that’s where most accountants find themselves.

In fact, according to the 2025 CPA.com + Bill Growth and Technology Survey:

  • 97% of accounting firms believe they’re not using tech efficiently
  • Nearly 50% say their current stack actually increases manual work
  • 38% blame lack of system integration for workflow breakdowns

And that’s just the internal side of the problem. Clients feel it, too.

They’re juggling multiple apps just to submit documents, struggling with different login credentials for each step of the process, and getting frustrated by the lack of visibility into where their tax prep stands. When you send them three different links — one for document upload, another for e-signatures, and a third for accessing completed returns — they start questioning whether your firm has its act together.

And honestly? Can you blame them? They’re paying for professional service, yet you’re making them navigate an obstacle course just to get their taxes done.

The True Cost of a Fragmented Workflow

This tech sprawl impacts every stage of your tax prep process.

  • Client engagement suffers when onboarding spans multiple platforms and clients get confused about which link to click
  • Document collection becomes chaotic when files live across different intake tools and portals
  • Preparation and review slow down when your team has to hunt for documents across systems
  • And archive and compliance become a nightmare when you’re trying to maintain audit trails across multiple vendors

Just ask Carolle Ryan from Liberty Tax Services. Before consolidating with SmartVault, her firm relied on Microsoft-based tools and multiple separate programs. “The cumbersome processes… made it difficult for my team to stay organized and responsive to clients,” she explains. Sound familiar?

So, How Can Accountants Consolidate Their Tech Stack?

Start by looking for tools that support multiple workflows, not just one sliver of your process. A smarter tech stack isn’t made of random solutions duct-taped together. It’s made of connected tools that:

  • Handle more than one part of the tax process
  • Are built specifically for accounting workflows
  • Protect your data and reduce vendor sprawl
  • Simplify the experience for your staff and your clients
  • Seamlessly integrates with other tools for a smooth workflow

That’s what SmartVault was built to do.

Consolidate Your Tech Stack With SmartVault

SmartVault isn’t “just document management.” It’s a comprehensive platform that handles your entire tax workflow from client engagement to long-term archive, making every step quicker and easier.

Documents flow seamlessly into customizable folder templates with auto-filing, while integrated eSignatures handle everything from engagement letters to completed returns. Your team works efficiently with direct integrations to tax prep software (including UltraTax CS, Lacerte, ProSeries, ProConnect Tax, Drake, and more). And we can’t forget the clients…they get a simplified experience on one platform and a faster turnaround.

Carolle saw immediate results after consolidating: “SmartVault has become a one-stop place for storage, portals, encrypted email, auto-filing, electronic signatures, and proposals,” Carolle explains. Her firm was able to discontinue two other programs, saving thousands of dollars per year while delivering a better client experience.

Introducing SmartRequestAI: Taking Client Intake to the Next Level

You’ve just learned how SmartVault can consolidate multiple apps across the tax prep workflow into one platform. Now we’re excited to show you our newest feature that makes the very beginning of that workflow even more powerful.

SmartRequestAI makes one of the most painful, manual parts of tax prep — gathering documents and information from clients — dare we say, enjoyable. While SmartVault has always handled client document requests, SmartRequestAI uses artificial intelligence to make this process incredibly smart and personalized.

Here’s how it works:

  • Auto-generated questionnaire based on prior-year returns
  • Clear client instructions — no more “what do you need from me?” emails
  • Mobile-friendly uploads via SmartScan
  • All documents auto-routed to the correct client folder, every time
  • Clean, formatted workpapers compiled automatically
  • Full visibility into which clients have submitted, and what’s still missing

No more generic checklists that don’t match your client’s situation. No more manual questionnaire creation. No more guessing what documents you need.

What You Eliminate When You Consolidate

When you move your firm’s intake, document management, client collaboration, and delivery into SmartVault, you eliminate:

  • The friction of context-switching
  • The risk of third-party apps accessing client data
  • The headaches of “where’s that file?”
  • The inefficiencies of manual rework
  • The sprawl of tools that don’t integrate

And even better? You simplify the experience for your clients:

  • Fewer links
  • Fewer logins
  • Faster turnaround
  • Better support

SmartRequestAI: Win Tax Season

When firms hear “document management,” they tend to jump to the end of the workflow: where files end up. But with SmartVault, it’s where your work starts…securely, efficiently, and without the chaos of cobbled-together apps.

SmartRequestAI uses private AI that never trains on your customer data, delivers >99% accuracy when analyzing 1040s, and keeps everything within one secure, compliant platform. You’ll reclaim hours spent chasing documents, reduce client confusion, and start every tax season with organized, complete files instead of chaos.

Simply put: SmartRequestAI is how you make tax prep simpler from the start.

Coming Fall 2025. Be the first to know when it’s live. Join the waitlist here