The Truth About ProConnect Integrations Most Vendors Won’t Tell You

For firms trying to prep, file, and deliver hundreds (or thousands) of returns, these broken integrations are a serious bottleneck that adds time, risk, and frustration during the busiest season of the year. Below, we unpack the most common claims made by third-party vendors about their ProConnect integrations — and the truth about what those connections actually look like.

4 empty promises you’ll hear from tax software vendors

1. “Integrations are free.” All too often, “free” ProConnect integrations still require firms to spend time, money, or both just to make things work:
   • Setup often comes with hidden fees: Many integrations require paid onboarding, custom configuration, or internal IT resources to get off the ground. For small and midsize firms, this can quickly become a budget line item nobody planned for.
   • “Free” usually means limited: Free ProConnect integrations might let you send a file, but anything beyond the basics (e.g., batch uploads, auto-organizing by client name, or syncing eSign status) will cost extra — or not be available at all. In some cases, read-only or summary-level data is all that comes through.
   • Costs scale with usage. Some vendors charge by the number of API calls, connected users, or even the size of your client list. What starts as “free” can become a recurring expense as your firm grows.
   • “Support” often isn’t included: With free ProConnect integrations, support is typically limited to help center articles or slow email queues. When something breaks mid-season, firms are left scrambling to find a workaround or waiting days for a response.
2. “It’s a native integration.” Your tax software might say “integrates with ProConnect” in the marketing copy, but what that actually means varies widely.

   In some cases, there’s no real integration at all. Too many vendors use the term “integration” loosely, banking on the assumption that firms will see it and assume it means something more. What’s being marketed is just a “Save As” function — the user finishes a return, manually clicks through folders, chooses where to save the file, and hopes someone else on the team can find it later. That’s not a workflow, just basic file management.

   A true native or direct integration is embedded directly into the software interface. It doesn’t require manual exports, folder picking, or extra clicks. It automates the behind-the-scenes tasks (like creating folders, naming files, setting user permissions, and maintaining consistency) without the user ever needing to think about where something goes or whether it was saved correctly.

3. “It’s a one-click sync.” That phrase might look slick in a demo, but syncing systems often create more manual work than they eliminate. Even when the connection is technically an integration, what’s marketed as a seamless experience still requires hands-on oversight at nearly every step:
   • Only basic fields typically sync: Most ProConnect integrations handle just the essentials (like file name and type), while attachments, comments, tags, and custom fields get left behind. That means staff are still re-uploading files, re-adding client notes, and reorganizing folders manually.
   • Setup is rarely seamless: Even basic configurations can become a project — mapping fields between systems, building folder structures, setting user permissions, and then testing all of it to make sure it works. For larger firms with layered client lists and access rules, what’s marketed as a “quick setup” often turns into a multi-day effort.
   • Syncs don’t always stay synced: Expired logins, re-authentication prompts, and silent errors occur more than most vendors admit, especially during busy season. Even worse, these sync errors often happen silently, with no alerts warning that something has gone wrong. By the time anyone notices, documents are missing, clients are frustrated, and staff are redoing work they thought was finished.
4. “You can easily switch software later.” Vendors love to downplay the risk of switching platforms when pitching ProConnect integrations. But in reality, changing tools midstream can be far more disruptive than expected.

   If your sync setup is custom, outdated, or poorly documented, there’s a good chance it won’t transfer cleanly — or at all. Attempting a migration can wipe out your existing workflow. Folder structures, naming conventions, and automations often need to be rebuilt from scratch, costing your team hours of rework.

   And when ProConnect integrations are built by third-party vendors, long-term support isn’t guaranteed. These developers may stop updating the tool, shift focus to newer platforms, or discontinue support without notice.

   In many cases, your vendor can’t step in to help because they didn’t build or maintain the integration. And once they know you’re planning to switch, timely support for the transition typically isn’t a priority, leaving firms to navigate bugs, sync issues, and broken workflows on their own.

Don’t fall for these empty promises. Choose SmartVault x ProConnect instead

If there’s one thing tax professionals don’t have time for, it’s a patchwork tech stack. Yet, too many third-party tools that claim to “integrate with ProConnect” leave firms picking up the slack — from broken syncs and manual folder setup to costly add-ons that barely function during crunch time.

SmartVault x ProConnect is built differently. It’s the only jointly developed integration between a document management system and Intuit’s cloud-based tax platform.

With SmartVault x ProConnect, firms can:

• Print directly from ProConnect to SmartVault, with client folders, naming conventions, and security permissions applied automatically. Rest assured that your documents are routed to the right folder automatically — no renaming, dragging and dropping, or double-checking whether they actually saved.
• Eliminate double data entry across every step, from client intake to prep and signature to delivery.
• Automate everyday tasks like eSign requests, client reminders, and document routing.
• Scale with confidence, thanks to unlimited storage and no surprise sync or API usage charges.

Ready to ditch the duct tape? Join the waitlist for SmartVault x ProConnect.