What firms mean by a spreadsheet tracker
A shared workbook or Google Sheet with columns the founder added over time: case name, stage, assigned rep, fee quoted, CSED note, last contact. It is flexible, familiar, and costs nothing on the license line.
What a spreadsheet row can represent
- That a case exists and someone owns it
- A status label the team agreed on in the Monday meeting
- Numbers someone typed — not necessarily tied to a refreshed IRS account
What Brevitax holds instead of a row
The spreadsheet records that work happened. Brevitax holds the work: parsed transcripts, financial intake, strategy, documents, billing events, and attestation on the same case.
- IRS evidence parsed onto the record — not a link to a folder
- Three deliverables that bill advisory work and defend fees: Discovery, Strategy, Work Verification
- The same workflow on every case — methodology enforced by the system, not by hero operators
- Brevitax Pro is $79/mo per seat with unlimited cases, for tax professionals only.
The hidden cost nobody columns
Re-quoting from client memory, rebuilding the story at every handoff, refunding fees that could not be defended, and partner time answering questions the record should have answered — those costs rarely appear in the spreadsheet budget line.
About vendor names on this page
Product and company names on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. Descriptions of other vendors paraphrase their public marketing as of 2026. Brevitax is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any vendor named here.
Frequently asked questions
Can we export case data from Brevitax?
Deliverables are PDFs your firm holds. Case records live in your tenant. Firms evaluate export and retention during onboarding — the leaving question is worth asking before you sign, not after a dispute.
When is a spreadsheet still enough?
A solo practitioner with a handful of matters can personally hold the standard. The spreadsheet breaks when a second operator, a fee dispute, or a partner review needs evidence instead of memory.
How to compare tax resolution software fairly
Most comparison pages list features. Resolution firms should compare workflows: how transcript facts become a client-ready Discovery report, how Strategy options are tied to IRS reality, and how the firm proves work when the account changes or a fee is challenged.
- Run the same redacted transcript through each vendor and time the path to a quotable Discovery summary.
- Ask whether balances and enforcement signals are parsed from the account transcript or re-keyed.
- Confirm whether deliverables are versioned on the case or exported as one-off PDFs.
- Check refresh behavior when IRS posting changes the story after you quoted a program.
Where spreadsheets and CRMs break down
Spreadsheets are flexible but they do not enforce authority tiers or preserve decision history. CRMs are strong at pipeline and tasks but weak at transcript semantics, CSED inputs, and governed deliverables. Brevitax is purpose-built for the resolution lifecycle rather than generic practice management.
Trademark and independence note
Third-party names on this site identify tools firms evaluate alongside Brevitax. Brevitax is not affiliated with those vendors unless explicitly stated. Product names belong to their respective owners.