Innovating with the Intuit® ProConnect™ Tax team fulfills vision for a tech-savvy firm of the future

When Paris Banisaeid, EA, MS, acquired another accounting practice in 2017, she knew the filing cabinets had to go.

Paris envisioned a technologically savvy firm for herself and her clients. It would be a firm with freedom and flexibility in the way she and her employees work, where geographical boundaries are irrelevant and client files live in the cloud. There was just one hang-up, she thought.

“I’m not tech-savvy,” says Paris. 

Armed with her future-forward vision for merging the new firm with her own, Power Tax Consultants, Paris’ first task was clear to her.

“I started looking around for software that could give us what we need to go into that next level of being able to work from anywhere, not rely on a server, and be bound to paper. I knew that a lot of this was going to be trial and error because I didn’t have the tech-savvy or the knowledge to say, oh, I know this is the best product.”

Paris and her growing team experimented with solutions; whatever they ended up with had to  be cloud-based and something that they could transfer their new client information to, from nearly a dozen filing cabinets, boxes and stacks of paper. Paris tested out a few solutions before landing on a winner: Intuit® ProConnect™ Tax.

“The more we embrace the technology aspects, the more we’re going to be able to consult and give that to our clients. That’s our future.”

“We loved the Intuit platform,” she says. “But we also enjoyed the education and background information Intuit provided; in other words, they just didn’t send us off on our own to figure it out. They were willing to assign us people we needed to move ahead.”

Growing in tandem with ProConnect Tax

With Intuit’s customer support and eagerness to work with her firm to develop product improvements, Paris’ team began transferring their clients … but they had help.

“Several teams from ProConnect took a look at what we had created; they really wanted to be hands-on in the process with us,” she said. “That’s really amazing!”

Together, they innovated and faced whatever challenges they encountered. For example, the firm and the Intuit team figured out a way to eliminate duplicate client entries, and built out more reports that accountants can use. The teams also worked on features to help Paris’ clients feel more comfortable with the technology.

“The reality of our industry is that artificial intelligence is probably going to take care of a lot of forms and filings, but when it comes to money, taxes, and finances, I believe there’s still a human element that’s really important to the client.”

It’s true, says Boris Shmukler, one of Intuit’s senior product managers. “Paris has her name on a dozen or more enhancements and features within ProConnect Tax.”  

Paris continued to build out her operating systems around ProConnect Tax, QuickBooks® Online, and a customer relationship management tool — all cloud-based and enabling her dream of a tech-savvy, future-focused firm with remote freedom. ProConnect Tax grew with her firm as Intuit developers integrated new features, and she realized her team was already able to offer so much more than tax services.

In 2020, Banisaeid upgraded her business name to one that truly reflected their growth as a future-forward, full-service firm: 360 Tax & Business Solutions.

At a Glance

Customer: Paris Banisaeid, EA, MS

Firm: 360 Tax & Business Solutions

Location: North Babylon, NY, and remote

Niche focus: Small business

Intuit software: Intuit ProConnect Tax, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Payroll

Ensure you’re always delivering the best for your clients and discover why Intuit ProConnect Tax is the #1 online professional tax software.* Try it free at proconnect.intuit.com/tax-online/try-pto — no credit card required to get started — or call us at 844-779-1133 for a fast, free consultation.

*Based on Intuit internal data of the number of paid users of ProConnect for tax year 2020 compared to publicly available statements from competitors for the same time period.