Drake Vs. Lacerte: How to Choose The Best Option

Tax preparation software for your accounting firm or tax practice comes in many forms. For most tax professionals, Drake and Lacerte are top-rated brands that come readily to mind.

Both software programs have a rich feature set, and when compared, they each have something unique to offer.

This guide will compare Drake and Lacerte, focusing on pricing, features, ease of use, support, and customer reviews as a comprehensive guide to the best choice for your practice.

Overview of Drake Tax Software

This is one of the most inexpensive Drake software programs for ease of use.

With a cost-effective pricing model and an all-rounded array of capabilities, it can be a great choice for smaller firms and independent tax preparers.

Drake delivers complete tax preparation services, whether federal, state, or other, for individuals, businesses, partnerships, or nonprofits.

Key Features of Drake

• Affordable pricing: Drake is much more cost-effective than Lacerte and, therefore, usable for small-scale tax practice.
• All-in-one package: This all-around package has everything you need to file federal and state tax returns without additional costs for different modules.
• Fast processing: The software is known for its speed in processing tax returns, making it useful during busy tax seasons.
• Easy and user-friendly interface: Not very modern, Drake’s interface is user-friendly, straight to the point, and gets the job done efficiently.
• Customer Support: The reliability of customer support is an area where Drake already scores well. Most users praise the technical assistance provided by Drake for resolving their problems quickly.

Also Read: Drake Accounting Software Overview and Features

Overview of Lacerte Tax Software

Lacerte is Intuit’s high-end tax preparation software, targeting the complex requirements of larger firms.

It is ideal for firms experiencing a heavy client load or processing some rather complex returns. Lacerte excels in the competencies it has put into it and its capabilities with QuickBooks.

Key Features of Lacerte:

• Comprehensive tax solutions: Lacerte, compared to Drake or Pro Series, is built with more advanced features and detailed tax forms. It is ideal for firms dealing with complex individual or business tax returns.
• QuickBooks integration: Integration is a significant advantage for firms using QuickBooks for accounting purposes.
• Customization options: Lacerte allows for more customized tax reporting. It has direct applications in firms with special requirements.
• A wide library of tax forms: Lacerte can support a much wider library of forms than Drake; this may be most valuable for more complex cases, such as multi-state filings, trusts, and estates.
• Premium Support Options: Lacerte offers far more comprehensive support options, including training resources and dedicated account management for larger firms.

Also Read: Lacerte Essentials, Plus, and Advanced — Which One is Right for Your Business

Pricing Comparison: Drake vs. Lacerte

The most significant contrast between Drake and Lacerte is in pricing.

Drake Pricing:

• For about $1,800 per year, the firm provides an all-inclusive package that includes unlimited e-filing for federal and state returns.
• On top of this, there is also the pay-for-return package, which starts off at $345 and rises to a larger fee for every additional return filed.

Lacerte Pricing:

• Lacerte is much more expensive, with its most basic package costing about $3,000. It only accepts a few returns; additional returns must be purchased at an additional fee.
• Larger firms with very high-volume return filing needs will pay significantly more based on Lacerte's pay-per-return model.
• Whereas Lacerte charges according to the number of returns processed, Drake charges a fixed amount for unlimited returns, which is very costly for firms with bigger volumes.

Ease of Use

Drake is characterized as an easy program because it is simple. Hence, it is ideal for small firms and even single proprietors. It is straightforward and requires little training to operate using an all-in-one package.

On the other hand, Lacerte has hundreds of more features, which are, of course, complicated. So, there is a learning curve.

This software can be quite customizable, so it might be more difficult to learn, but it is ideal for larger firms that have specialized needs and well-trained staff who are accustomed to more complex taxation procedures.

Support and Customer Service

Customers also praise Drake's responsive and helpful support. In addition to this, users can always see live support, an extensive knowledge base, and community forums in which they can troubleshoot to solve the respective issues.

Since it has fewer users, there are fewer requests for support, and Drake normally tackles the requests much faster.

As part of the Intuit company, Lacerte also has much more extensive support, including live training, webinars, and account managers for larger clients.

However, because of its size market, Lacerte sometimes finds wait times for customer support increased during busy tax season among some users.

Pros and Cons: Drake vs. Lacerte

Advantages of Drake:

• Affordable
• User-friendly and easy to work with
• Quality customer service
• It has an all-in-one package with all federal and state forms included.

Disadvantages of Drake:

• The functionality is not comprehensive enough for complex return tax cases

Its user interface is very old-fashioned

• bad integration with third-party accounting software

Advantages of Lacerte:

• The best suited for big firms needing complex operations of tax
• wide selection of tax forms and customization ability
• It integrates well with QuickBooks.
• Premium training and support offered
• They offer the highest quality customer care

Disadvantages of Lacerte :

• Extremely expensive. Hard to afford, especially for small firms.
• Pay-for-performance model can quickly add up
• Steeper curve to learn

Which Should You Choose?

The choice between Drake and Lacerte depends hugely upon the size and complexity of your tax practice.

Choose Drake if you are a small to medium-sized firm or an independent tax preparer working on a budget. It offers all the core features in tax preparation at an infinitely lesser cost than Lacerte.

If the firm is large and does lots of complicated returns or high volumes of clients,

Choose Lacerte. Advanced features are a definite plus for firms with specific needs. Lacerte also offers a comprehensive form library and integrates well with QuickBooks, making it worth the investment.

Conclusion

Drake and Lacerte both have strengths that are suited for specific tax professionals. If you are opening up a smaller firm or building one from scratch, then Drake includes all the tools within one package, but at a sensible price, most would agree.

For large corporations with ever-complicated clients, Lacerte does it all, offering functionality alongside integration to streamline tax preparation.

So, evaluate your firm's needs well to confidently choose the best software for your business.