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About OfficeTools

OfficeTools helps your firm streamline day-to-day operations and work as a unified team.

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Pros:

The ability to have the information all in one place documents projects contact information is perfect.

Cons:

The Lacerte software integration did not work very well.

OfficeTools ratings

Average score

Ease of Use
3.7
Customer Service
3.8
Features
3.9
Value for Money
3.7

Likelihood to recommend

7.1/ 10

OfficeTools has an overall rating of <span class="">4.1</span> out 5 stars based on <span class="">198</span> user reviews on Capterra.

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Filter reviews (198)

Patrick
Patrick
Shareholder in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Was a good value, not anymore.

3.0 7 years ago

Pros:

The software has most of the workflow functions centralized. Time & Billing, Client Database, a watered down document management, and calendar.

Cons:

We have used it for 4 years now. The basic functions work well, unless they push an update and it breaks something. (2018.059) Lots of functions in the software are of zero use to us - Integration with Lacerte (We use Proseries) Integration with QB for billing/collections (We are cash basis in QB) Canon Scanners (We use large multifunction Ricohs) Portal (No better than our website portal) Cost - Abacus took over, gave us no communication, and a month before busy season help us hostage and doubled our cost. Here we are a year later and have doubled our cost again. ZERO improvement in the software since they took over and increased cost. The latest update Abacus pushed out literally broke the software. Printing reports and collecting payments now take extra steps. Doubling the cost twice with zero improvement to the product is how you lose business. We are actively looking for a replacement. Even if it costs the same as Office Tools, having communication, customer service, and trust is worth more. They completely fumbled this merger.

Lyndsey
Lyndsey
Manager in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Office Tools has streamlined our office, we now only use 1 program where we used to use three.

5.0 7 years ago

Comments: Everything is in one place. I can track the progress of projects that co workers are doing, so when someone calls and can tell quicker where we are on there return or other accounting service.

Pros:

Can add To Do's in program for reminders to do several things. Keep track of appointments easily. Documents are easy to find. Can add notes about clients. Can track status of projects and set due dates. Can send documents out for esignatures securely and its easy for clients to sign and return.

Cons:

Wip and A/R balances don't match from end of month to beginning of next month. When adding Wip to invoices, system writes off balance to zero instead of showing profit if billed amount is still over the amount of WIP on bill. Documents for business clients is harder to sort, employees like to have folders.

Jeff
Principal in US
Accounting, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source
Source: SoftwareAdvice

The contract is awful. It's VD. Easy to get and difficult to get rid of.

1.0 2 years ago

Pros:

It indexed documents and had some integration with Lacerte, the tax prep product we were using.

Cons:

The contract is very one sided. Watch out!! You can only cancel during certain renewal periods and it automatically renews, even at higher prices. These people are stealing! And they think they are clever by writing such a bad contract. Everyone should know to stay away from these kinds of bad business people. They display a complete lack of integrity.

CARET Response

2 years ago

We're really sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience with OfficeTools. We'd love to help you specifically with the issues you're facing. Please reach out to our support team at [email protected] and we'd be happy to speak with you further to resolve this issue.

Terri
Terri
Owner in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Long term Office Tools User!

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: We have been using Office Tools for 12 years now. I cannot imagine how we functioned without it before and would not want to go back to those days. It is a very affordable and very comprehensive product. Also, it is very easy to implement and use. Our need to get support has been rare. Without hesitation, I recommend Office Tools!

Pros:

Everything in one place! We have our scheduling, project and deadline management, phone call tracking, time-keeping and billing, and document management all in one place.

Cons:

There really is nothing that I don't like about Office Tools. We did try out their client portal a few years ago, and we went to Sharefile to get some added features. But, we are going to go back to try the Office Tools client portal again before the end of the year. I am hopeful it will be a great change for us.

LaFonda
LaFonda
Owner in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Really helps keep our office organized and know exactly where, when, what and why!

5.0 7 years ago

Comments: We are much more organized and spend much less time trying to be organized. It has saved us time which in turn saves us money.

Pros:

We love that it integrates with our Office365, that we can easily upload docs to a secure portal, get esignatures for a very low price and that it keeps track of who last touched the "file". Very impressed with being able to send email templates to clients with information we are constantly repeating, which saves an enormous amount of time.

Cons:

For an excellent program, you have to put a TON of time in getting it set up. Garbage in Garbage out means you need to have a plan. It would be nice if there was a planning tool to help guide you throught the set up process. The one hour video isn't terribly helpful. An excel spreadsheet would be wonderful, if you do this, you need to do thus kind of thing.

Bernie
cpa in US
Accounting, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Office Tools - a CRM with time tracking and billing

2.0 3 years ago

Comments: Terrible all around - would not recommend to anyone.

Pros:

Office Tools was very good at client tracking, recording activities and histories.

Cons:

There is no project management and their customer service is by far the worst I've ever been in contact with. Our renewal was up in 45 days and I sent them an email to let them know that we had fewer employees now and needed fewer licenses. They said I needed to send them notice via certified mail 60 days before my renewal date and they went ahead and renewed us at our higher seat count for another year. I tried calling and emailing to no avail - buyer beware!

Matthew
Matthew
Enrolled Agent in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Hard to find any other option that's as simple and powerful.

3.0 7 years ago

Comments: Great office hub.

Pros:

70-80% of the features provided are very easy to use and very intuitive. The navigation getting from task to documents to calendar etc is super easy. You feel like a power user almost right away. Documents and the portal system are easy to use and very intuitive. Same with ToDo's, Calls, and schedules. Instant success. Billing is easy at it's basic level but as you get into options and features it can take some time. A fair trade off for the feature set. Time tracking is available for evey screen in the software so that's great.

Cons:

They have an amazing base product. They need to stop shooting them selves in the foot on updates, new feature roll out and customer relations. Examples are: 1. Pacific time support hours only. If your on the east coast and you have a problem in the morning, you get to deal with it until 11am. That's a problem. 2. No user community. Facebook and linked in are not user communities. They need to have a place for users to gather, ask and answer questions, and post information about services and updates so users can be informed. 3. Being proactive when there is a system wide issues. Like every software company, things happen from time to time. I have no problem with that. But when it does there should be an e-mail alert to all users and it should be posted in the user community. I should not have to check face book on the off chance something is posted. 4. Loosen control of system variables. The report function, which is very good, hits strong limits when you can only access certain variables from the system depending on the report type. There is no reason to limit access to variables. Multiple reps from inside the company agree with this and have for years, yet no change. 5. Online helps and training. Office tools has some excellent online videos and resources for using their software. But they tend to not be updated regularly and are hit and miss on what they cover and what they don't. There is little consistency in online help. 6. Out of room!!!

Bessy
Bessy
Immigration Court Interpretrer in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Defense & Space, 1,001–5,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Do Yourself a Favor and Avoid this Software

2.0 6 years ago

Comments: I don't recommend them. Poor customer service, no resolution to issues.

Pros:

In the beginning, this software was great. Great user-friendly product, had some shortcomings with projects and tasks, but it was workable.

Cons:

It has some major glitches they take no responsibility for. We lost like a hundred clients' information. All documents. Office Tools blamed it on us. They said that we had used all caps for the names of the clients, (which they never advised us on) and that had caused the software to malfunction. Customer service and management made no effort to correct the situation. They just wiped their hands clean by saying it was out mistake.

Marsha
Marsha
Office Manager / Accounting Executive/Quickbooks Pro Advisor in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

I have had an amazing experience using Office Tools

5.0 7 years ago

Comments: See my survey

Pros:

The record keeping itself is worth its weight in gold. Having one software that lets you store and organize files, create and follow projects, time keeping and billing as well as schedules. I totally have become solely dependent on this one program to enable me to complete days of work into several hours. Customer support is the best. They taught me and helped me without judgement!!

Cons:

Need it to be cloud based for easier use anywhere work takes me. Pricing is a bit high for smaller clients. I would like to have all of our accounting clients using this product. I also wish the big Vegas Show was on East Coast as well.

Darshan
Darshan
Designated Hitter in US
Verified LinkedIn User
Retail, 51–200 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Number and Data tools for good

4.0 6 years ago

Pros:

This tool helps me to keep my daily accounting and numbers data practice run on time with so many different features like Clients time tracking, scheduling, processing signatures, mass data sharing, and easily get control on data sharing. In long term it helps us to show that where we are standing when seeing our tax returns at the end of year. Also have a good metrics in terms of dollars of where and how we are spending every day.

Cons:

Lots of functions are not used by our company. So they should give an option to the company of what tools will be used based on that payment should be decided. - Canon Scanners (We don't use canon scanners) - Portal not the way we want to organize it or modify it

Sandy
Client Services Coordinator in US
Accounting, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Disappointed

4.0 5 years ago

Comments: Support - was a joke in year 1 of our contract. It took at least 3-5 days or more for someone to get back to us. One day I got lucky and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] called me. She is the best asset your company has. She knows how to provide support. I even tracked down someone at the Abacus Next Conference to make sure they knew how valuable she was. Shortly after, [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] had to inform me that I was no longer allowed to email her directly and I had to go through the ticket system. I complied with her request and now I'm back to hating your support. I know we are just a little guy in your eyes. I am the type of person when I love something I tell everyone about it. I also tell everyone when something is not right. I could never refer your product. We will be switching to another product as soon as we can.

Pros:

Firm has been using for 4-5 years. It has served us well and we use most of the functionality.

Cons:

Lack of technology development. When it was announced there was a QB online integration we were very excited and converted. Our 150 clients are on QBO, however we remain on the desktop version due to Office Tools. We then learned it does not integrate with QBO Accountant. We then had to convert back to QB desktop version as it was our only option. We patiently stuck with Office Tools on the belief that the software would continue to be developed and evolve. At this point we wished we had not signed our last 3 year contract. With the signing of the 3 year contract we were given/comped 3 hours for training. When we went to use them we were told those hours had to be used in the first year - WHICH WAS NOT TOLD TO US. I had our sales rep check into it and the "board" advised the hours were expired. WOW was I shocked. I had never been given something from a company that was complimentary to then not advise me that the hours had to be used in the first year. Who ever made this decision just made our final decision for us. We will NOT be renewing our software when the contract ends. Too many disappointments.

Ashley
Operations Manager in US
Accounting, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Abacus is bring Office Tools down

2.0 6 years ago

Pros:

I have been using Office Tools for years and it has helped tremendously with keeping all of my company's client data and projects in order. The reports are somewhat customizable and easy to read. The Projects tab enables us to have a good audit trail of all work by using the Work List, Project Definitions and Project Assignments.

Cons:

Since Office Tools has been taken over by Abacus the price of the program has gone up significantly while the features have barely been updated (the updates it did get aren't that great) and the customer service has gone down significantly. In the past I would call customer support and be helped on the spot or given an appointment no later than the next day. Now I call in and am told they will put in a case and I'll get a call back shortly, which really means in hours or the next day or the day after. I recently put in customer service requests on 2 separate issues and was repeatedly told that I'd get a call back or that my case was escalated. One issue was never resolved and I put in the case in January. The other is going on 2 weeks now with no results. Its ridiculous that Abacus expects us to pay higher prices and sign contracts, but not give us the customer service we need. I've even reached out to the sales manager and am given the same answers.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Office Tools has been a value add to our accounting and tax group. Great product for the price.

4.0 7 years ago

Comments: Office Tools helps our accounting and tax team stay organized and able to prioritize work without missing deadlines. We use the system to allocate resources to streamline the busy season workload and the workflow to make sure we know the status of every project along the way.

Pros:

It is a great way to track project progress and make sure deadlines aren't missed. It is also a simple solution to time tracking, although our firm doesn't use the system for billing purposes, it is helpful in budgeting resources.

Cons:

My biggest complaint is that reports can't be exported to Excel, and not every pre-built report has all the data required. Without having a custom report prepared by the developers at Office Tools, you are somewhat limited on reporting flexibility.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting, 5,001–10,000 Employees
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

Fantastic Software

5.0 4 years ago

Comments: I think the interactivity of this program makes it a winner and puts it at the forefront of innovating in its industry.

Pros:

All client information is available to each member of the team, and viewing the progress of the tasks being completed is very easy. In a virtual environment it has become more important to be able to monitor one another on a team without “micromanaging” and constantly having status meetings, so this is fabulous.

Cons:

Sometimes the video tutorials are a bit confusing, so I prefer speaking to someone through the phone support. Reading the articles isn’t as self explanatory as it is made out to be, but this can be different based on who is using this software.

Anne
Partner in US
Accounting, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Love Office Tools

5.0 3 years ago

Comments: Great software just expensive.

Pros:

A powerful product. A Swiss Army knife for tax office management. Easy to learn and it does so much.

Cons:

1. Expensive. 2. Client portal not as intuitive as Drake. 3 Setting should be set to make sure client documents are not accidentally deleted.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

OTP is relatively easy to use. It is quite forgiving.

5.0 7 years ago

Comments: Much easier for billing purposes, tracking projects and allowed us to reduce the number of software products used in a day.

Pros:

Quick and easy entering new contacts. Many ways to classify and group contacts. I'm also a big fan of the "bill to contact" feature. It's easy to focus on the clients you need to contact.

Cons:

Only one email can be utilized per contact. Not easily managed when contact name has to change and they often do in cases of marriage, divorce, death of one of a couple or sale of company etc.

Christine
Office Management in US
Accounting, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Office Tools has been great. We can't imagine running things without it.

5.0 7 years ago

Comments: Office Tools replaced separate document management software, a time keeping/billing software, and a project tracking software. It's streamlined our process and allowed us to save tons of time for billable work.

Pros:

The integration of difference functions has been the best part. Having contact info, project tracking, document management and time tracking/billing in one package has made things so much easier and streamlined our process.

Cons:

The reporting in general is limited. The inability to combine information types (Contact, Billing, Project, Staff) into a single report is difficult. Currently, we create 2 different reports, export to excel and use formulas to combine the information. Skipping these extra steps would save so much time. Also, allowing a custom recurrence pattern for projects (i.e. every 2 years) would be great. Finally, many clients want to be able to specify a "Billing Only" e-mail address. Right now, I have to make that change manually for those clients each billing run.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Good product, but not always cost-effective for smaller firms

5.0 7 years ago

Pros:

easy integration with various programs, easy to use portal and effective DMS system. Add to the easy of setting up the annual engagements and you have a great system.

Cons:

Least is the cost and required training. further, the program is not yet Cloud-ready. also, the server-based DMS does not provide for security of the data files

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Great tool

4.0 7 years ago

Pros:

Works great and is very easy to use even for team members that are technology challenged. Tech support is amazing so quick to reply and great!

Cons:

Wish it connected to other accounting tools, we use lots of applications and it doesn't work with any other application

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 201–500 Employees
Used the Software for: 1+ year
Reviewer Source

Affordable and useful

4.0 6 years ago

Comments: We have improved our organization with customer files thanks to Office Tools. Time saving and cost effective software have resulted in better productivity numbers.

Pros:

Easy tracking of customers data, project status, schedules and due dates. Helpful customer service team.

Cons:

Some generated reports can not be export to Excel spreadsheets. Length of contract could result an inconvenience, specially when you are trying to explore some other software.

Alfred
President in US
Accounting, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Comprehensive Practice Management Solution

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: Overall, I've been very satisfied with Office Tools. In the past, I was a member of the firm that developed its own computer-based time and billing system. Office Tools offers all the recording and analysis tools we strove to provide in our package and integrates nicely with document management and contact management.

Pros:

Office Tools provides all the elements required to manage my small accounting practice. Contact management, document management, time, billing & collection are seamlessly interfaced. The Office Tools modules that I do not use do not interfere with the use of the elements that I do use.

Cons:

it is difficult to find something to dislike about Office Tools. It is sometimes difficult to find where, in the program, adjustments to certain settings should be made. Also, occasionally, it seems that updates are promulgated, of which I do not received notice.

Priddle-Luck,
Priddle-Luck,
Owner in Canada
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting
Used the Software for: 6-12 months
Reviewer Source

We like the functionality of the software - everything is in one place

4.0 7 years ago

Comments: Improves workflow.

Pros:

The interface between it and quickbooks. The layout is good. The search function is good. The project management work flow is good, it just took us a while to tweak it to how we like it.

Cons:

The reports are a little cumbersome and difficult to find what you need. The work list at the bottom, it would be better if is could be a sidebar like the client list. The support is not very good, you call and you have to make an appointment. I would prefer if I could have instant support.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Accounting, 11–50 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

OT

5.0 6 years ago

Comments: concentration of several tasks in one program is good

Pros:

Easy access to time, client base, projects.

Cons:

lack to run custom reports across different areas, jobs assignments hard to follow sometimes.

Richard
President in US
Financial Services, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Generally good - but concerned about the future.

4.0 7 years ago

Comments: Document/contact management

Pros:

Good Product. OTP good service - but only on West Coast Time - need to expand hours . Staff, particuliary Mike G and Jarred F, are great to work with.

Cons:

Company bought by Abacus 5/31/17. Sales now handled by Abacus. They want a 3 yr contract!! No upgrades of any kind since Abacus - but price increase and they want a 3 yr contract. Seem to be pricing themselves out of market for small firms. First comments were that I should just pay the increase because of the buyout. I think they should improve my value before raising prices! Three year contract is not competitive! Like the new weekly training classes, hope they will keep these archieved so we can use them for staff training

David
Owner in US
Accounting, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Great Program When it works

3.0 5 years ago

Comments: It was initially great integrating one CRM database between QB/Lacerte. Recent updates has caused the office staff to update multiple databases which increased error rates of different client information in OTPS and QB and Lacerte. Prior to the update we would update one database.

Pros:

The database it creates and the custom project tracking for accountants and tax offices

Cons:

Customer support and the ballooning cost year over year. The more I pay the quality of the support goes down as well as the ability/reliability to synch with other software