Our tools are the reason engagements actually work.
Most tax firms inherit whatever software each new client brings. We don't. Two platforms are mandatory (Basecamp for client comms, Kick for books). Three are strongly recommended (Relay primary banking, Bluevine secondary, Gusto for payroll). We help every new client migrate from dinosaur banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo) and broken bookkeeping platforms during onboarding. It's not extra work; it's the engagement.
Dinosaur banks don't even let you add an accountant.
Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo: big banks let you add a view-only user, but it can take more steps. Relay and Bluevine make it quick. That friction still creates weeks of delay every quarter: screenshot bank statements, PDF exports, broken CSV downloads, missing transactions. Multiply across 50+ active clients and that's a part-time job we'd rather spend on actual tax strategy. Same problem with stitching together QuickBooks Online, Wave, or "I do my books in Excel"; they don't tie to the return, they fail an audit, and they slow every engagement to a crawl.
Our stack solves most of that. Relay + Bluevine make it quick to add accountants. Kick auto-categorizes and exports the chart of accounts the way a tax return actually needs it. Gusto runs the payroll once we set your salary. It also files state payroll taxes; multi-state payroll needs its Plus plan. The tools aren't optional. They're how we deliver work in the timeframes we promise.
Required to engage. Non-negotiable.
If you're not on these two, we'll migrate you during onboarding. They're how we run the firm: every client, every engagement.
Basecamp
Every document, every recap, every message, permanent and yours.
Every ETS client gets a private Basecamp project. Documents, meeting recaps, advisory threads, your full history. Permanent. Yours forever, even if you stop being a client tomorrow. This is how we run the firm and communicate with every client, not optional.
See how we use it →
Kick
The only bookkeeping platform we'll do work on.
Kick is the bookkeeping platform we use for every ETS client. AI-assisted categorization, multi-entity friendly, books that tie cleanly to the tax return without a six-hour reconciliation. We don't do bookkeeping work on QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, or anything else; Kick is mandatory if you want ETS handling your books, and strongly recommended even if you're doing them yourself.
See how we use it →Highly pushed. We help you migrate during onboarding.
Not strictly mandatory, but if you're on a dinosaur bank or a clunky payroll provider, we will push (hard) to switch. Migration is part of the engagement, not extra cost.
Relay
Built for small-business operations. Adds your accountant in one click.
Relay is the #1 banking partner we push to every new client. Multi-account architecture, automatic categorization that flows directly to Kick, free incoming wires, low outgoing wire fees, no minimum balances, and critically, the ability to add your accountant or bookkeeper without paperwork. The bank we'd open first if we were starting a business today.
See how we use it →
Bluevine
High-yield business checking when yield matters more than feature breadth.
Our secondary business-banking option. Higher-yield checking, sub-accounts, and clean accountant access. Fees and rates depend on your plan. Use Bluevine when interest yield matters more than the operational breadth Relay offers.
See how we use it →
Gusto
The payroll provider that S-corp clients almost never have to think about.
Default payroll provider when we set up S-corp election + reasonable comp + accountable plan. Multi-state friendly, automatic federal + state filings, year-end W-2s + 1099-NECs included. Strongly recommended for every S-corp client. We can also support Run, Patriot, or your existing provider, but Gusto is what we set up by default.
See how we use it →Optional, but they pair well.
These aren't pushed, but they integrate cleanly with the mandatory + recommended stack. Worth considering if you fit the use case.
You don't move stacks alone. We migrate with you.
Onboarding includes the moves below. We do this every month for new clients: the process is dialed, the timing is short, your business doesn't go down.
- Bank → Relay (or Bluevine). 5-10 business days. We help you open the account, transition direct deposits + auto-payments, add the ETS team as accountant-users, close the old account once everything's flowing. Your dinosaur bank stays open for 30 days as a safety buffer.
- Books → Kick. 7-14 business days depending on bookkeeping complexity. We pull the prior-year transactions from your old system, set up the chart of accounts the way the tax return needs, and start fresh on Kick from your new bank's first transaction.
- Payroll → Gusto. 2-3 business days. We help you migrate employees, sync state filings, set up reasonable comp + accountable plan if you're an S-corp. We plan the switch so your team is paid on time.
- Client portal → Basecamp. Day 1. We create your private project, upload your existing returns + working files, and you get logins. This is how every communication happens from then on.
Total migration time: ~2-3 weeks. Done in parallel with the actual tax-engagement work, not added on top. The reason we're firm about the stack is the reason every engagement actually finishes on time.
One Discovery call. We map your current stack to the right one.
Bring a list of what you're using today (bank, books, payroll, cards). We'll tell you what to keep, what to migrate, and what order to do it in so you're never down for more than a week.
Book a free call →