# OfficeTools Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is OfficeTools the right Billing and Invoicing solution for you? Explore 196 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/165549/OfficeTools/reviews --- OfficeTools 4.1 (196) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/165549/OfficeTools/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of OfficeTools Ease of use 3.7 Customer Service 3.8 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews CF Carlos F Academic Computing SpecialistInformation Technology and Services, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “OfficeTools software offers a range of benefits tailored to accounting and tax professionals, making it a comprehensive practice management solution.“ October 21, 2024 Russell B CEOAccounting, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “They didn’t secure their SendGrid relay properly resulting in several clients getting emails from a hacker (falsely) claiming that their data had been hacked.“ December 2, 2021 BT Bernie T cpaAccounting, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Office Tools was very good at client tracking, recording activities and histories.“ July 30, 2021 Joshua S PartnerAccounting, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “After working with support for over 1 year to fix issues, we asked to be let out of contract only to be told we need to submit a formal complaint and they get 30 days to fix the issue. Unless you like wasting time with support, look elsewhere.“ April 11, 2022 EC Edeler C CeoAccounting, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I love it I use it every day it keeps control of all my work that we have to do it allows me to keep tabs on my staff on their jobs and projects that need to be finished“ May 14, 2020 Joshua S PartnerAccounting, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “They decided to do maintenance on the product during the last two weeks of tax season, we couldn't run payments for a day.“ April 11, 2022 AH Anne H PartnerAccounting, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Easy to learn and it does so much.“ June 21, 2022 Joshua S PartnerAccounting, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Payment system is also hiding payments, so we cannot tell which clients have paid.“ April 11, 2022 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 196 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Terri S. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Long term Office Tools User!" October 23, 2018 5.0 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. Review Source LaFonda M. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Really helps keep our office organized and know exactly where, when, what and why!" October 17, 2017 5.0 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. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Partner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Misleading Sales Information and Poor Support" April 11, 2022 2.0 OfficeTools Workspace is almost a hit if they could get the back end programing right. The slowness of the product, features breaking all the time, and the poor response time of support make this a hard pass. Sales also sold us on several features that was confirmed by tier 1 support only to find out after signing the contract that those features are not possible. After working with support for over 1 year to fix issues, we asked to be let out of contract only to be told we need to submit a formal complaint and they get 30 days to fix the issue. Unless you like wasting time with support, look elsewhere. Pros Love that this product marries time tracking, project management, document management, and billing in one software. Cons Desktop program is built on an old 32 bit sql server which makes the program really slow if you have more than 2 people using it at the same time. The integrated APX payment feature is a plus if it would work. They decided to do maintenance on the product during the last two weeks of tax season, we couldn't run payments for a day. Payment system is also hiding payments, so we cannot tell which clients have paid. Support has been working on this for two months with no end in sight. Alternatives considered [Aero Workflow](https://www.capterra.com/p/158169/Aero-Workflow/)[Jetpack Workflow](https://www.capterra.com/p/135007/Jetpack-Workflow/)[Karbon](https://www.capterra.com/p/156181/Karbon/) Review Source Marsha N. Office Manager / Accounting Executive/Quickbooks Pro Advisor Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I have had an amazing experience using Office Tools" October 17, 2017 5.0 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. Review Source Darshan P. Designated Hitter Retail Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Number and Data tools for good" October 8, 2018 4.0 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 Review Source Bessy V. Immigration Court Interpretrer Defense & Space Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Do Yourself a Favor and Avoid this Software" January 20, 2019 2.0 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. Review Source Steven C. Owner Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "High Expectations, Low Results" October 23, 2017 1.0 None. Pros When the product worked (and yes, I said "when") it was sleek and efficient and brought the management of several key elements of our practice under one integrated tool. Cons The product was incredibly buggy, it typically took at least a day to get connected with anyone in Tech Support (and 24-36 hours can feel like a lifetime during tax season!) and then the "fix" frequently didn't work. We had the same issues come up again and again, we would implement the proposed solution, only to have it not work. We spent thousands of dollars having our own IT firm work in conjuncture with their tech support people, and lost thousands of dollars of productivity. Worst of all, management (and yes, we escalated our issues up the chain of command) seemed utterly indifferent to our issues, seeming to believe our problems were "User Error" - despite the fact that ~everyone~ in our company was dealing with the same issues, and that we were using several other specialized applications with zero difficulty. This was a terrible experience, and I would caution anyone against using it. There are better, cheaper options in the market, sold by companies that stand behind their product and value their customers. Review Source Katie H. Tax Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "The Practice Management we have been searching for!" October 17, 2017 5.0 The amount of information this product can provide has been a powerful tool for our firm. It has significantly reduced the amount of time it takes to setup new clients because we have been able to reduce the amount of software our company uses. It also is a time saving tool with the automatic email and text appointment reminders. Pros We love that is a one stop shop for all of our practice management needs. We have been able to reduce the number of programs our company uses because of this. The software is also incredibly easy to navigate. The team at OfficeTools is great if we ever have an issue that we can not resolve ourselves or with the online support. Cons The only con we have found with this software is with some of the reports we want to see, it doesn't appear the program can produce. Luckily, there are workarounds for this. Review Source Gina T. President Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great software, could use some improvements" October 30, 2017 5.0 Having all my firms client info in one place. Being able to track projects through the office. Pros I like having everything tied together, having all a single client's info in one place, being able to link related clients, have all notes in one place, etc. Cons There are some bugs, it's also a very hefty program so it sometimes runs slow on our aging server. Also it's pretty complex to learn and some features are counterintuitive. Review Source T. Marshall R. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Workflow that works for us!" December 12, 2018 5.0 Excellent -- we rely on it to keep our systems working. It offers a lot of functionality including communication among the office and ease of retrieving prior information. Pros We appreciate the ability to have one software that provides so much utility -- Contact info, Notes, Documents, Projects, Calls, etc Cons There is a learning curve on how to use the software fully. And the reports are a bit difficult to decipher. Review Source KS Kyle S. Partner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Horrible. Unreliable. Blindfolded company culture. " October 17, 2017 1.0 It taught me not to believe the features you read on websites. Pros The days it works without data loss or speed issues. More often than not, it is extremely slow and non-responsive. We have an amazing cloud environment with more than adequate resources for this basic application. Office Tools is the only program that is slow or non-responsive on a daily basis. Cons There are many many little glitches that we have not brought to supports attention because we were told by your support team: "glitches must have been previously identified to exist". Your engineers told my IT consultant that we were not using the software properly, which resulted in the DATA LOSS we were experiencing. This is complete crap, as I witnessed the issue with my own eyes and know that Office Tools has a critical engineering issue that can result in lost data. I have also experienced the data loss issue across two separate companies (and IT environments) and have experienced this issue as far back as 2014. But that's not important, right? The ABOVE MENTIONED ISSUE IS PROJECT ASSIGNMENTS CAN REVERT TO PREVIOUSLY ASSIGNED ASSIGNMENT WITHOUT ANY PROOF THE NEW ASSIGNMENT WAS EVER CREATED. THE PROFILE SYNC DOESN'T WORK. THE CEO ACKNOWLEDGED THIS AS A KNOWN ISSUE YET THE COMPANY IS STILL SELLING IT AS IF IT WORKS. ACCOUNTS WITH THE SAME PRIMARY CONTACT MAY HAVE THEIR FILE NAME CHANGED BY OFFICE TOOLS WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO CHANGE IT BACK TO THE PROPER NAME. THE SIN (CANADA) NUMBER DOESNT SHOW PERIODICALLY UNLESS YOU HIT THE EDIT BUTTON, THEN IT MAGICALLY APPEARS. Overall the software is not reliable and the company culture is disappointing. I brought the data integrity issue to the CEO and he brushed it off as a non issue, despite it being mission critical for his customers. Never will we recommend this software to anyone. It sounds better than it is. Review Source AA Ashley A. Operations Manager Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Abacus is bring Office Tools down " March 21, 2019 2.0 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. Review Source LB Lynn B. Office Manager Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Many good features" May 5, 2020 3.0 Pros When Office Tools works well, it's great. Everything is in one place, including storage for documents. It includes billing, and time and project tracking. It's easy for staff to use, and there are multiple ways of completing tasks so employees can use the way that works best for them. Cons Our biggest frustration has been with the reporting. While you can technically export reports to Excel, they're in a Crystal reports format with multiple lines and merged cells. The system often doesn't provide the reports we want, which is frustrating because the information is in there. Sometimes we can get what we need between 2 different reports, but the Crystal format makes it impossible to merge them. Sorting reports in multiple ways should also be a breeze, and it is . . . after we remove all the formatting. Since the acquisition of Office Tools by Abacus, tech support quality has declined significantly. We haven't seen many upgrades to the program, and it's hard to get help on the few occasions we need it. Review Source Nathalie M. Tax Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Office Tools - Good for Small Companies" May 16, 2019 4.0 I had a very positive experience with Office Tools. It was very easy to use and could store a lot of data. Opening, copying, and saving documents was also very efficient Pros I liked how user friendly the software was. It was easy to store and save data as well as track workflows. Cons Creating workflows wasn't very intuitive Review Source Response from CARET May 17, 2019 Dear Nathalie, Thank you for taking the time to review OfficeTools. We're so glad you found the software to be user-friendly, and we appreciate your feedback about creating workflows. Thank you for your patronage; we look forward to being of service for many years to come. Best, Katie Ternes Marketing Coordinator AbacusNext (858) 882-4882 VR Verified Reviewer Principle Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Without this software our office wouldn't be able to function. " October 23, 2017 5.0 keeping everything straight. with so many clients and "projects" its imperative to know where everything stands. who has it, whats being done, whats missing, etc. having the documents in the system attached to everything (be it a meeting, a call a project) is a huge positive. Pros Everything you need to know about any client, contact, etc. is all in one place. whether it be an email, a phone message, document, meeting notes, client files, projects, time and billing. we can research anything and find anything on them. one stop shopping. Review Source PS Peter S. Staff Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great all-in-one tax office tool!" October 17, 2017 5.0 Having everything needed to help/work on a client at your fingertips in one piece of software. We consolidated 4 programs into one when we moved to OfficeTools. We could FULLY consolidate 2 more if they were reliable and user friendly enough for staff and clients (AIME and the portal). But as it stands we have to have backups for both to function properly. Pros The best thing about OfficeTools is the integration of contact manager, schedule, time/billing tracking project management, billing, and documents. There are lots of other features that are included as well but those are the big ones. It's great going to one client and having access to everything you need. Cons There are some quirks that you just have to live with, but overall it is a solid piece of software. There are times when support just cannot figure out a solution to a glitch we are having and we just have to wait to see if it will be resolved in a new release. Another thing that is quirky is having to go to another client and then back into the one you are working on the get the system to update. Mostly small little things that aren't that bad and they do seem to attempt to address issues as they go so it is by no means a dead software. Review Source SM Suzanne M. Office Manager Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Experienced User" May 20, 2020 4.0 I like OfficeTools and will continue using it. I wish they would work on some issues and make it more user friendly. Pros I like that it works with QuickBooks and Lacerte. I like the reports that it offers in order to track performance and efficiency. Cons I am not happy with customer service. We I have a problem or issue it takes days and sometimes over a week to return my call. I wish it was more user friendly. It can do a lot but it is difficult to figure it out. I would love to use the Pay Now feature but it locks the invoice and you can't add or delete time to it. Reason for choosing OfficeTools Compatible with QuickBooks and Lacerte and it offered so many features. Review Source aB akore B. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Saves me thousands of dollars and hours every year!" October 16, 2018 5.0 I used to track projects by emails in my inbox and files on the shelf, constantly putting out fires and dealing with what ever client was "on top of the stack".spending HOURS every day figuring out what I had to get done.....now the minute a project comes in (Via email,mail, or phone) I create a new Project in OfficeTools and I have an easily accessible, up to date task list of EVERYTHING I need to do. And I can assign tasks to staff, so my staff knows what to work on WITHOUT having to ask me. I cannot begin to quantify the dollars and hours this software has saved me. Pros The ability to quickly create and add items to a "ToDo list" and assign tasks to staff w/ documents attached (dragged straight from Outlook). Cons There is a learning curve - but that is to be expected with such robust software and customer support was great helping me learn features I couldn't figure out myself (since I refused to do the training and like to figure things out myself). Plus, the online tutorials were really great. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Owner Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Adequate" October 24, 2017 3.0 We try to use it for everything. Pros The software works well but somethings are hard to set up. Overall the system does what it is suppose to. Cons Instructions are weak. I still have not been able to use so people could schedule online. New features are sometime weak. Review Source JD Jeffery D. Accountant Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### " Software was Valuable to our firm first. But then it became cost prohibitive. " October 27, 2017 4.0 Practice management in one platform. Pros I like the document management service. The scheduling software. And I like the notes. We also used the to dos quite a bit. Cons The cost. And the fact they update the software year during tax season. Because of the cost, this will be the last year that we will be using Office Tools Pro. Also, the cloud-based features are severely lacking. In order to be able to view your schedule online, you have to have Outlook and an outlook sync subscription with Office tools pro. And even that feature is very clunky and works very rarely. We had many preparers in our office miss Appointments because they did not show up on the outlook schedule on their phones. The only effective way to see appointments was to remote in to the computer to see the scheduling within the program directly. Review Source AT Andrew T. owner Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "I just wanted to drop a quick note to let you all know about exceptional customer service." August 1, 2018 4.0 Pros  I'm a long time Office Tools user who was MAD when I got my renewal quote. The quote included 2 more users than our small firm has, and I misunderstood it to mean that you only offered the program with a minimum of 5 users.  The initial quote represented a 162% increase over the prior year and I was informed that the Office Tools user agreement, we would lose access to our data once the subscription expired. I immediately went shopping for alternatives.  Long story short, he was willing to work with me despite my very vocal displeasure. He was very professional and took the time to answer all my questions thoroughly, as result he helped you retain a long time customer. FYI, I'm very happy to learn that under Abacus's user agreement, we'll retain read-only access after the expiration of our subscription. Cons I do not feel there are any cons worth mentioning at this time, or things I like the least about the software Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Manager Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "OT" September 3, 2018 5.0 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. Review Source RC Richard C. President Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Generally good - but concerned about the future." October 27, 2017 4.0 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 Review Source DG David G. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Program When it works" July 11, 2019 3.0 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 Review Source SM Steven M. Owner Accounting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Lots of Value - Great Price " August 7, 2017 5.0 Pros I'm a sole practitioner. I've used the product for over 8 years. I mainly use the billing, due date monitoring and portal. Office Tools makes my billing process easy. I have set up standard paragraphs and just insert to complete the invoices. Due date monitoring keeps me aware of due dates and will roll forward projects when completed. I have Thomson Reuters Practice included in a subscription package for essentially no cost, but choose to continue using Office Tools as it is a straight forward robust product. Cons I really don't have any "Cons" per se. On rare occasions, the software will freeze and I'll have to restart. 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