"The whole thing is just so easy to navigate, which makes it easy to train my staff — which is actually one of the main reasons I chose Canopy over the other software I tried." —Emilia McAfee

Background

Adopting new tax software can be an intimidating process. Updated technology can provide tons of benefits, but training your staff on the new system can be frustrating and time-consuming.

Now, it doesn’t have to be.

We talked to Emilia McAfee of We Legal, APC in Corona, California about how choosing the right software made that transition easier.

What changed at your office that made you decide to start looking for a new tax software solution?

Well, we’re in the process of making the switch from bankruptcy law to tax resolution as our primary focus, and that’s part of it. We were just kind of testing the waters for a while, but now that we’re committing to tax resolution, we’re tired of doing it old school. We were doing everything by hand — printing off all the forms and writing all the information in.

Using software makes everything easier for us. I mean, if we made a mistake before, we had to use white-out to fix it. It was either that, or fill out the entire form all over again, and no one has time for that. 

Now, no one has to know if we made a little mistake when filling out a form. We just use the delete button and make it right. It’s more efficient. It’s easier for both the staff and myself to get things done in a quick and professional manner.

Tell us a little about why you chose Canopy.

Ease-of-use makes a big difference for me. I actually took several different tax resolution software solutions for a test drive before finally deciding to go with Canopy. The others were just so hard to navigate. Maybe other people are more tech savvy than me, but I like simple things. So many other parts of my job are complicated. I just want my software to be simple, and Canopy does exactly what you say it’s going to do.

Do you have any specific examples of how Canopy has simplified your job?

Well, we use Canopy for everything, so it’s hard to just pick one. I like how easy it is to share information with the notes feature. I like how simple and intuitive the billing is. The whole thing is just so easy to navigate, which makes it easy to train my staff — which is actually one of the main reasons I chose Canopy over the other software I tried.

Why was ease-of-use so important for you?

I like to have some of my assistants help collect data, and the other options were going to require more of my time to properly train my staff on the software. A solution with minimal training is especially important for me right now since we’re transitioning to tax resolution. I want us to hit the ground running.

The other thing that made a huge difference for us was the Canopy support team. When we had questions — and when I first joined, I had a lot of questions — they were always ready with an answer. That kind of support is important to me.

More About Emilia

Emilia McAfee is a tax attorney at We Legal, APC in Corona, California. Her firm has specialized primarily in bankruptcy law since its foundation, but Emilia is taking advantage of her Master's degree in Taxation and adding tax resolution to the firm's services.

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