
But by far the highest representation of any product in any of the firm- size cohorts was the nearly 73% of respondents in the largest firms, those numbering more than 500 preparers, who used CCH Axcess Tax, which correspondingly predominated in the largest firms as measured by number of clients: 62% of respondents with over 5,000 clients used it. Nearly the same percentage of respondents in firms of the next tier, two to five preparers, used UltraTax CS, and among those in the next tier, six to 20 preparers, UltraTax CS was used by one- third of respondents. The chart shows that Drake Tax is the leading product among sole practitioners, used by nearly 28% of respondents in single- preparer firms. For more information on correlation of product with number of preparers in a firm, see the table "Favorites by Firm Size." More information on all 13 products is available here.

UltraTax CS is a Thomson Reuters product. products, while ATX, CCH Axcess Tax, and CCH ProSystem fx are Wolters Kluwer products. Correspondingly, 2020 responses from members in medium to large firms, generally the province of CCH ProSystem fx users, were slightly fewer: 9.4% in firms of 21 or more, compared with 11.4% in 2019. The 2020 survey sample featured a higher percentage of single- member practices (37.2%) than in 2019 (32.7%), which could account for the greater number of users of ATX and Drake Tax, both associated with smaller firms. Some products are favored by smaller firms, others by larger ones, and the sample's overall profile of respondents by firm size can affect relative representation of each product. However, the ranking order by usage of all seven "major" products was unchanged. ATX and Drake Tax both gained 1.2 points from 2019. CCH ProSystem fx's representation was three percentage points below that in the 2019 survey, and Lacerte slipped by 1.4 points. The remaining 10.7% was divided among Intuit ProConnect Tax Online, TurboTax, GoSystem Tax RS, TaxAct, TaxWise, TaxSlayer Pro, and others.

The survey invited respondents to select their software from among 13 products and write in others not mentioned of these, the same seven products as in past years accounted for most of the responses, led by: PRODUCTS COVERED AND PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS The survey also for a fifth year asked about respondents' experience with clients whose tax- related identities were stolen, indicating that this issue, once in the forefront among those disrupting tax season, has continued to recede. The COVID- 19 pandemic and federal disaster declaration that resulted in that postponement and many other legislative and administrative relief measures affected CPA tax preparers' tax season as well (see the sidebar, "Amid a 'Brutal' Tax Season").

For perhaps the first time ever, the survey had to couch its questions about tax season in the present tense, for the simple reason that, with the IRS's postponement until July 15 of the April 15 return due date, tax season was not yet over, as it usually is when the survey is deployed. Hardly anything about 2020 could be considered normal, and the annual tax software survey of AICPA member tax preparers by the JofA and The Tax Adviser is no exception.
