Atmos Financial, a midsize Canadian tax firm with three partners, was facing a recurring problem: every tax season, they found themselves behind schedule. Critical prep work, checklists, emails, folders, and billing was often pushed to January or February, creating a stressful, fire-fighting environment.
Challenges:
Garett, one of the partners at Atmos Financial, explained the impact:
“We had a disastrous tax season. We needed to make sure that we could be prepared well ahead of time. I wanted confidence that we were ready and things were working the way they should.”
The firm had previously worked with an automation agency, but the promised systems failed. Clients were receiving incorrect reminders, data was lost, and no one knew the status of work.
Before jumping straight into a large-scale implementation, we successfully completed a proof of concept project. For Atmos, it was the first sign that automation could actually be trusted when designed with the right expertise.
Garett reflected on the difference:
“I had worked with a contractor through Upwork. This one project ended up dragging and costing us more and more money ($5,000+). The developer kept wanting more access to our system and it just wasn’t happening. I shared this in my first call with Opzer and they had it built in a week without asking us for more information! That was a big selling feature. The fact that you were willing to invest in us to prove that you could do what you said you could.”
That initial success created the buy-in needed to move forward with an ongoing engagememt.
Solution:
We implemented a fully integrated system to ensure tax questionnaires, client reminders, and tax preparation workflows operated seamlessly. Key actions included:
- Establishing a pre-tax season checklist to ensure every human critical step was executed.
- Designing a tax organizer that even the least tech savvy of clients could complete easily
- Automating client communications and internal reminders that effectively prevented the crunch at tax deadline.
- Built custom dashboards that gave the team real-time visibility into workloads and client profitability.
- Standardized workflows that could be easily scaled across the firm.
From a technical perspective, the tech stack used included Jotform, DocuSign, iFirm Taxprep Web, ActiveCampaign, and Zapier. Data flowed automatically from intake to preparation to review, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring partners and preparers had visibility at every stage.
Results:
Comparing year on year, the results are measurable:
- Effective hourly rate increased 47%: from $226/hr to $333/hr.
- Average time per tax return normalized: previously 51% over budget, now 3% under.
- Distraction-free tax season: partners focused on high-value work, and urgent issues were minimal.
Garett summarizes the benefits numbers can’t capture:
“This year was a distraction-free tax season. When there were issues, you guys showed up and fixed it immediately. I could just work (and I’m the guy with the highest billing rate).”
