# UltraTax CS Review: Pricing, Features, Alternatives UltraTax CS: Thomson Reuters' full-entity tax engine at the centre of the CS Professional Suite. Pricing from On request, SOC 2 unconfirmed, and how it compares to the alternatives, for US accounting and bookkeeping firms. Source: https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/ultratax/ --- [Accounting Tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/) · [Tax Preparation](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/) # UltraTax CS Top Pick · Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters' full-entity tax engine at the centre of the CS Professional Suite [Visit UltraTax](https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/ultratax-cs) [All 18 tax preparation tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/) Best for Firms of 5 to 50 with entity, fiduciary and multistate returns that want one vendor for the whole workflow Starting price On request (Thomson Reuters publishes no list price. Its own FAQ states pricing is custom and based on number of users, tax returns, and states and jurisdictions. Scan-and-populate is sold separately as SurePrep 1040SCAN) SOC 2 Unconfirmed Multi-factor auth Yes Ownership part of Thomson Reuters Integrates with CS Professional Suite, Practice CS, Accounting CS, Onvio Firm Management, SurePrep 1040SCAN, SPbinder, +4 more The read ## What UltraTax does Thomson Reuters will not tell you what UltraTax CS costs. Its own FAQ says pricing is custom and depends on the number of users, the number of returns, and the states and jurisdictions a firm files in, and there is no ladder, no bundle table and no entry price anywhere on the site. What the vendor does publish is form coverage, and it is the broadest in this batch: 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120C, 1120S, 706, 709, 990 and 5500, plus more than 371 electronically fileable state and local returns. The features that earn the price are the ones that reduce keystrokes across a whole client group rather than inside a single return. Data sharing keyed to tax ID numbers pushes K-1 figures from a completed 1120S, 1065 or 1041 into the linked individual return without manual linking. The preparation checklist opens each year with every field that carried an entry last season and has none yet this season, which is a practical way of catching a missing 1099 before review rather than after. Business returns use a single-screen apportionment grid, and Schedule C or K-1 income spreads across states through an allocation grid. Depreciation handles multiple methods with automatic asset classification. Preparers can run synchronised views of input, forms, prior-year data and diagnostics across up to four monitors. E-filing goes out through CS Connect, with login verified through the Thomson Reuters Authenticator app. Two things a buyer should price separately. Scan-and-populate is not in the box: Thomson Reuters sells that as SurePrep 1040SCAN, with SPbinder for the resulting workpapers, and its own claim is that 1040SCAN automates four to seven times as many documents as the alternatives. A firm budgeting for automated document extraction is budgeting a second line item. Deployment is the other gap. The pages accessible without a login describe a CS Connect button on an UltraTax CS toolbar, which is a Windows client, and they do not set out the hosted options or what hosting adds to the bill. Nothing is published about what a conversion from a competitor preserves either, which is where prior-year depreciation and carryforwards go wrong, so that question belongs in writing before a firm commits. Against CCH Axcess Tax the products compete for the same firm, and the split is broadly cloud-first against suite depth. Against Lacerte the calculation capability is comparable and the difference is which vendor's practice management, document storage and client collaboration tools a firm wants to standardise on, since both are effectively suite decisions rather than tax software decisions. Against Drake Tax, UltraTax offers more entity and multistate depth and no published price at all, where Drake publishes a full ladder from $379.99 to $3,295 unlimited. Top-pick stands. The form coverage, the multistate grids, the cross-return data sharing and the suite around it make this the strongest fit in the category for a firm whose work is genuinely mixed, and the customer references on the vendor's own site are multi-decade users of exactly that profile. The reservation is real and should be said plainly: a firm cannot compare this against anything on price until it has been through a sales process. Capabilities ## What you get Forms 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120C, 1120S, 706, 709, 990 and 5500 plus 371+ e-fileable state and local returns Data sharing by tax ID so 1120S, 1065 and 1041 K-1 data flows into the linked 1040 Prior-year comparison checklist that flags every field entered last year but not this year Apportionment grid for business returns and a multistate allocation grid for Schedule C and K-1 income Depreciation with multiple calculation methods and automatic asset classification Synchronised views across up to four monitors Pricing, security, integrations ## What it costs and what it connects to Thomson Reuters does not publish a price for UltraTax; it is quoted per firm, usually on firm size or entity count. We could not confirm a SOC 2 report for UltraTax from public sources, multi-factor authentication is available. Ask the vendor directly before it touches client data — an absence here means unverified, not absent. UltraTax does not integrate directly with a general ledger. Beyond that: CS Professional Suite, Practice CS, Accounting CS, Onvio Firm Management, SurePrep 1040SCAN, SPbinder, SafeSend One, Checkpoint, CoCounsel Tax and Protection Plus. [Vendor pricing page](https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/ultratax-cs) Our rating ## Why we rate UltraTax a Top Pick UltraTax is one of 3 tools we rate a Top Pick among the 18 tax preparation products in this directory. What we would shortlist first in this category: proven with real firms, actively developed, and priced and integrated in a way that suits a US accounting or bookkeeping practice. [How these ratings are decided](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/methodology/). Same vendor ## More from Thomson Reuters ### [1040SCAN](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-workflow/1040scan/) Scan-and-populate OCR that turns 1040 source documents into workpapers and tax software input Dated ### [Accounting CS](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/general-ledger/accounting-cs/) Firm-side write-up, trial balance and payroll ledger for accountants running many client books Dated ### [Accounting CS Payroll](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/accounting-cs-payroll/) Multi-client batch payroll engine sold to firms that run payroll as a service line Dated ### [Thomson Reuters Checkpoint](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-research/checkpoint-ria/) Thomson Reuters tax research library built on RIA and PPC content, quoted per firm Strong Option Alternatives ## UltraTax alternatives ### [CCH Axcess Tax](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/axcess-tax/) Wolters Kluwer's cloud-native tax compliance engine and the successor to ProSystem fx Strong Option ### [CCH ProSystem fx Tax](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/prosystem-fx/) Wolters Kluwer's on-premise tax engine and the suite of audit and workflow tools around it Strong Option ### [GoSystem Tax RS](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/gosystem-tax-rs/) Thomson Reuters' browser-delivered compliance engine for the largest firms and corporate tax departments Dated ### [Intuit ProConnect Tax](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/proconnect/) Intuit's browser-based professional tax product, priced per return with a published ladder Top Pick ### [Aiwyn Tax](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/aiwyn-tax/) Venture-backed cloud tax system aimed at firms replacing CCH Axcess or GoSystem One to Watch ### [CrossLink](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/crosslink-professional/) High-volume 1040 software built around refund transfers, with desktop and browser versions Strong Option [Compare all 18 tax preparation tools](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-preparation/) Sources ## Where these facts came from Researched from public sources. Pricing and security claims change without notice, so check the vendor before you buy. Last reviewed September 8, 2026. ### [UltraTax CS product page and FAQ](https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/ultratax-cs) Retrieved 2026-09-08 ### [UltraTax CS features](https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/ultratax-cs/features) Retrieved 2026-09-08 Keep browsing ## Other categories [Practice Management (49)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/practice-management/)[General Ledger & Bookkeeping (26)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/general-ledger/)[Tax Workflow & Document Automation (26)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-workflow/)[Payroll & PEO (19)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/payroll/)[Tax Planning & Advisory (13)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-planning/)[Tax Research (13)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-research/)[Month-End Close Automation (11)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/close-automation/)[Proposals & Engagement Letters (9)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/proposals-engagement/)[Spreadsheet Reporting & Ledger Sync (6)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/spreadsheet-reporting/)[Tax Resolution & IRS Representation (6)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/tax-resolution/)[AI Meeting Assistants (5)](https://node8.ai/accounting-tools/meeting-assistants/) ## Got the stack, still doing the work by hand? 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