The Solo CPA’s Guide to Tax Research Software for 2026

The best tax research software for small firms combines three things: citation-backed answers from authoritative sources, transparent reasoning you can verify, and pricing that makes sense when you’re the only one using it.

For solo practitioners specifically, the tool also needs to handle the full range of questions you face (federal, state, entity-level, individual) without requiring separate subscriptions or modules for each.

This guide covers how to evaluate tax research software, where AI-powered tools outperform traditional databases, and what the shift from manual research actually looks like in practice.

TL;DR

• Solo practitioners lose 6+ hours weekly to research. At typical billing rates, that’s $50,000+ in annual opportunity cost.

• AI-powered research tools aren’t replacing your judgment. They’re eliminating the time you spend hunting for sources so you can focus on applying them.

• Citation quality is the differentiator. Any tool can generate an answer. The question is whether it shows you exactly where that answer came from.

• The real test is to run your hardest question in the AI tax research tool. If the tool can’t handle S-corp reasonable compensation or multi-state nexus with proper citations, it won’t handle your actual workload.

Why does tax research take so long?

The problem isn’t that tax research is hard. You know how to research. The problem is that traditional research requires assembling answers from scattered sources, then verifying that what you found is current, authoritative, and complete.

A typical research question involves:

• Source identification: Finding the relevant IRC section, regulation, revenue ruling, or case law

• Cross-referencing: Checking whether subsequent guidance modified or clarified the original source

• State-level variations: Determining whether state treatment conforms to federal or diverges

• Synthesis: Combining multiple sources into a defensible position

• Documentation: Recording your sources for the workpaper file

Each step adds time and introduces the possibility of missing something.

According to Thomson Reuters’ 2024 State of the Tax Professionals Report, practitioners spend an average of 6.2 hours per week on research. For a solo practitioner billing $200/hour, that’s $64,480 in potential billings spent on research activities rather than client-facing work.

What’s the difference between traditional and AI-powered research?

Traditional tax research databases (Checkpoint, CCH, Bloomberg Tax) organize primary sources and let you search them. You enter keywords, browse results, read documents, and build your answer manually. The database provides access; you provide the synthesis.

AI-powered research tools take the next step. You ask a question in plain language. The tool searches relevant sources, synthesizes an answer, and shows you the citations supporting each point. You verify the citations and apply the conclusion.

Here’s what that looks like with a real question:

The question: Your client owns 100% of an S-corp with $380,000 in net income. She paid herself $85,000 in W-2 wages and took $295,000 as distributions. Is this reasonable compensation defensible?

Traditional approach: 

You search “S-corp reasonable compensation,” find Rev. Rul. 74-44, locate Watson v. Commissioner, read through several court opinions to identify the factors courts apply, cross-reference salary data for her industry, and document your analysis. Time: 45-90 minutes, depending on familiarity with the issue.

AI-assisted approach: 

You type the question. Within 90 seconds, you have the applicable legal framework, relevant case law with full citations, the factors courts apply, and an assessment of your client’s specific fact pattern.

You verify the key citations and apply the analysis to your client’s situation. The difference isn’t that AI is “smarter.” It’s that AI handles the search-and-synthesize step that consumes most of your research time.

What should solo practitioners look for in tax research software?

Not every tool fits a solo practice. Enterprise platforms assume multiple users spreading the cost. General-purpose AI tools lack the tax-specific training to produce reliable answers. Here’s what actually matters:

1. Citation quality and transparency

Every answer should trace back to primary sources: IRC sections, Treasury regulations, revenue rulings, court cases, IRS guidance. The tool should show you exactly which source supports each statement.

An answer without a citation is just a guess. You need to verify the source before relying on it, and you need documentation for your workpapers.

Watch out for tools that give you an answer with “according to IRS guidance” but don’t specify which guidance. If you can’t verify it, you can’t use it.

2. Accuracy and hallucination controls

Look for tools built specifically for tax professionals with guardrails against generating false information. The tool should acknowledge when a question falls outside its reliable knowledge rather than fabricating an answer.

General-purpose AI tools hallucinate. They generate plausible-sounding but incorrect information. In tax research, a hallucinated citation or misstatement of law creates malpractice risk.

Be skeptical of tools that always provide confident answers, even to ambiguous or novel questions. Appropriate uncertainty is a sign of reliability.

3. Coverage breadth

You need federal and state coverage, including individual, entity, and specialty tax areas. The tool should handle the range of questions you encounter without requiring add-on modules.

Solo practitioners handle diverse engagements. A tool that only covers federal individual tax won’t help when a client asks about California nexus or partnership allocations.

Avoid pricing tiers that gate state coverage or entity-level research behind higher subscription levels.

4. Research continuity

You want the ability to ask follow-up questions, save research threads, and reference previous answers. Your research on a topic should build over time, not start from scratch each session.

Complex issues require multiple queries. If you can’t build on previous research, you’re re-explaining context every time you return to a topic.

Avoid tools that treat each question as isolated, with no memory of previous exchanges.

5. Pricing structure

Monthly pricing should reflect solo practitioner economics, not enterprise pricing divided by one user. The tool should pay for itself within the first few uses each month.

A $500/month tool needs to save you 2.5 hours at $200/hour just to break even. A $99/month tool breaks even in 30 minutes.

Be wary of annual contracts with no monthly option, or pricing that requires calling sales for a quote.

How do you evaluate a tax research tool before committing?

Run your hardest question through it. Don't use something like “what’s the standard deduction for 2025.” Pick something that actually requires research:

• S-corp reasonable compensation analysis

• Multi-state nexus for a remote employee

• Section 199A qualification for a specified service trade or business

• Penalty abatement for reasonable cause

• Gift tax implications of a family loan

If the tool handles that question with accurate citations and clear reasoning, it’ll handle your routine questions. If it struggles, it’s not ready for your practice.

Most tools offer free trials. Use them on real questions, not the demo scenarios the vendor prepared.

What about traditional research databases?

Traditional platforms like Checkpoint, CCH AnswerConnect, and Bloomberg Tax remain valuable for deep research, historical archives, and complex planning scenarios. They provide comprehensive primary source access that AI tools may not fully replicate.

The question is whether you need that depth for every question, or whether most of your research involves getting a reliable answer to a specific question quickly.

For many solo practitioners, AI-powered tools handle 80% of daily research needs at a fraction of the cost. Traditional databases become backup for the 20% that requires deeper digging or historical research.

Some practitioners maintain both: an AI tool for daily questions and a traditional database for complex engagements. Others find the AI tool sufficient once they trust its citation quality.

How does Bizora fit this framework?

Bizora is built for the workflow described above: question in, citation-backed answer out, with full transparency into the reasoning.

1. Citation-backed answers: Every response includes specific citations to IRC sections, Treasury regulations, revenue rulings, and case law. You see exactly where the answer came from.

2. Transparent reasoning: Bizora shows how it arrived at the conclusion: which sources it relied on, how they apply to your question, and where the analysis has limitations.

3. Research continuity: You can ask follow-up questions that build on previous answers and save research threads for future reference. Your research compounds rather than restarting each time.

4. Solo-friendly pricing: Designed for practitioners who need research-grade answers without enterprise-level costs.

The bottom line

Tax research software should do one thing well: get you from question to defensible answer faster than you could do it manually, with citations you can verify and reasoning you can follow.

For solo practitioners, the math is straightforward. If the tool saves you five hours a month at $200/hour, that’s $1,000 in recovered billing capacity. Subtract the subscription cost, and the rest is margin improvement. Or time you can spend on client development, professional development, or leaving the office before 9 PM.

The 45-minute research session doesn’t have to be standard. Neither does the uncertainty about whether you’ve found everything relevant.

See how Bizora handles your actual research questions, not demo scenarios. Start a free trial and run the hardest question on your desk right now.