Workflows, Not Workarounds: What Flexible Software Doesn't Tell You

Switching tools. Managing multiple logins. Trying to figure out where to get help when something breaks. That’s the cost of software built on endless integrations. 

Karbon’s strategy is to indiscriminately integrate with everything and everybody. And in the other corner, Canopy builds the features firms actually use, under one roof and under one contract. 

While both are practice management solutions, you are choosing between two very different philosophies and the results show up in your workflow, your support experience, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Built-In vs. Bolt-On: What's the Difference

There really is a difference between software that’s built intentionally to work together and software that’s stitched together haphazardly. 

Karbon’s approach is bolted on. They rely on integrations with third-party tools for intake, document management, portals, reporting, engagements, and more. You’re expected to glue it all together yourself, pay for each piece separately, and pray the connections hold year after year.

Canopy takes the built in approach. Every major function you need to run and grow your firm like workflow, billing, CRM, document management, e-signatures, client portal, is natively developed, maintained and supported by the same team. It’s designed to work together from the start.

Canopy vs. Karbon Match-Up

What 80+ Integrations Really Feels Like

Karbon wants you to think its 80+ integrations are a selling feature. But for a lot of firms, it’s a full-time headache. 

Because what that really means is you’re juggling disconnected systems that never fully play nice… and could even have overlapping functionality. You’re constantly managing:

• Sync errors that mysteriously break
• Multiple logins and user permissions across tools
• A fractured experience that’s confusing for your staff. And even worse for your clients

And it’s not just about the integrations breaking. It’s about how they make your entire workflow feel. Disjointed. Inefficient. Unpredictable.

That’s why more firms are switching to Canopy, a single, unified platform built to replace all those extra tools. No more chasing down problems across five different vendors. No more syncing nightmares. No more cobbled-together workflows.

Just one login. One source of truth. One platform your team and your clients actually enjoy using.

Workflows, Not Workarounds

When your software stack is stitched together from third-party tools, your “workflow” quickly turns into a patchwork of workarounds.

Every task becomes a hop between tabs. Every handoff gets delayed by another broken sync. And every new hire has to learn not just how to do the work—but how to navigate the workaround circus.

We hear it all the time from firms trying to juggle disconnected tools: project management in one app, client communication in another, time tracking in yet another. Nothing is connected, and everything takes longer than it should.

That isn’t a workflow. It’s a survival strategy.

With Canopy, your entire process lives in one place, from client requests to document management, task tracking to billing. That means no more duct-taping systems together or relying on someone’s memory to close the loop.

Real workflows mean: 

• Every client task automatically moves through the next step
• Your team always knows what’s next and what’s on their plate
• Time gets tracked while the work is happening
• Nothing slips through the cracks
  
  

With Canopy, your entire process lives in one place, from client requests to document management, task tracking to billing. That means no more duct-taping systems together or relying on someone’s memory to close the loop.

Why Simplicity Wins During Tax Season

When deadlines are looming and client questions are piling up, the last thing your team needs is to be bouncing between half a dozen disconnected tools.

That’s the reality for firms using Karbon. Need to invoice a client? You’re switching to Ignition or QuickBooks. Want to collect eSignatures? Open up Dropbox Sign. Time tracking? That’s another tab. Every function lives in a different place, and that friction adds up when you’re deep in tax season.

Canopy takes a different approach.

We’ve built core functions (workflow, billing, document management, client portal, eSignatures, time tracking, engagements, and intake) into a single, connected platform. No syncing issues. No missing data. No wondering which app has the right version of the file.

Here’s what that simplicity looked like this past tax season:

• 15 million+ tasks created and tracked in one system
  
  
• Over 800,000 invoices generated and sent from the same place
  
  
• 30 million+ files uploaded—no jumping between cloud drives
  
  
• 410 years of billable time tracked directly within workflows

This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about peace of mind. During the 2025 tax season, Canopy  ran with 99.999% uptime and zero outages during peak season, so firms weren’t left scrambling when it mattered most.

When everything lives in one place, your team moves faster, communicates better, and delivers a smoother client experience. 

When Integrations Do Make Sense

Integrations aren’t inherently bad. They’re necessary when you’re connecting purpose-built tools, like tax software. 

Let practice management software be practice management software, and let tax software be tax software. You need a bridge between your practice management system and your tax engine, and that’s where integrations come in. 

Integrations can break down when they’re used as a substitute for core functionality. 

As Jason Staats put it:

"I burned 3 years of productivity choosing the WRONG system (Practice CS) because I got suckered by a sales person and the marketing trap of 'integrations'.” 

It’s a trap many firm owners fall into: chasing flexibility and “connect-anything” systems, only to realize they’ve built a brittle tech stack that creates more maintenance than momentum.

At Canopy, we’ve taken the opposite approach by building the core tools natively, and then integrating where it makes sense. That means:

• Deep, secure connections with key work service software (like your general ledger)
• API access for custom use cases

Because the truth is, you don’t need 20 best-in-class apps. You need one system that just works and the flexibility to plug in where it counts.

What Accountants Really Want

Most accountants aren’t asking for more software.

They don’t want to learn five new tools just to get one job done. They don’t want to manage a growing stack of apps or spend hours figuring out why something isn’t syncing.

They want software that works the way it should right out of the gate.

That’s why many accountants are skipping the mix-and-match systems you have to assemble yourself, and choosing a single platform that covers the core functions firms use every day. 

Because what firm owners really want is:

• A consistent, reliable user experience for their team
  
  
• Fewer logins, fewer support tickets, fewer workarounds
  
  
• More time for clients, strategy, and growth and less time troubleshooting software
  
  

And the numbers back it up. Fifty-seven percent of accountants say they want to be using just 1–5 tools three years from now, signaling a clear shift toward simplicity, efficiency, and better accuracy through software consolidation.

At some point, simplicity wins.

Trade ten different tools for one system that your team can trust.

Ready to learn more about Canopy?