Frequently asked questions
Answers on the TaxFirm Studio offer: what is included, revisions, articles, the AI Engine, hosting, domains, moving your current site and billing.
The offer
What does TaxFirmWebStudio actually build for a tax practice?
A custom-coded website with a page for every return type you prepare, a page for every office, a document intake form that routes into your CRM, and a season readiness checklist your firm controls. It is fully managed after launch: weekly detail updates, researched articles, and hosting are all included in the monthly fee.
Do you prepare tax returns or give tax advice?
No. TaxFirmWebStudio is a website design and management company. We are not a tax preparation, tax resolution or accounting firm, we hold no preparer credentials, and nothing we publish is advice for a specific filer's situation. Your preparers handle every tax decision; we handle the website that brings clients to your door.
Can the site support multiple offices or a seasonal location?
Yes. Every plan includes a page per office with its own address, hours and map, and a seasonal office can open or close as a weekly detail update rather than a revision. A firm running three storefronts for four months a year is a normal build for us, not a special case.
How long until my site is live?
7 days on The Front Desk, 10 on The Busy Season while the AI agents are trained, and 15 on The Year-Round Practice with the Content Engine running. The clock starts at the onboarding call, not at purchase, so the sooner the form is in, the sooner you are live.
Getting started
What happens straight after I buy?
You fill in the onboarding form and submit it. It asks for the return types and services you offer, your office addresses and hours, your document checklists, your brand and where enquiries should land, and it takes about 15 minutes. If something is missing, submit anyway: you can send the rest by email or raise it as a ticket in your client portal, and it will not hold up the build. We then run one onboarding call to fill any gaps and agree the launch date.
What is the client portal?
It is your account with us, and you get it the day your site goes live. From the portal you request revisions, raise a support ticket for anything that needs attention, send us files you still owe us, and message our team directly. Everything to do with your site runs through it, so nothing gets lost in an inbox during a busy week. You never log in to the website itself; we handle that side.
Can the site go live before filing season starts, or does it have to wait?
It can go live any time of year, and most firms are better off launching before the season starts rather than during it. Building in the quieter months means your onboarding form and calls happen when someone at the firm has time to answer questions properly, and the site is already indexed and ranking by the time search interest picks up.
What do you need from me to build the office and location pages?
Each office's address, hours (including any seasonal hours), phone number, and which preparers or services are based there. If hours differ by office or change once the season opens, send the update separately; it is published as a weekly detail update rather than held for the initial build.
Revisions and the client portal
What counts as a revision, and what happens after five?
A revision is any change request you send, and there is no limit on how much goes into one. New page, new return type, updated fees, a different photo, a colour change: each is one revision. So is something much larger. "Build two new office pages, here is the copy and the photos for both" is one revision, not four. 5 are included every month. After the fifth, each additional revision is a flat $20, with no cap on how many you can buy and no hourly billing anywhere. Every revision is completed within 2 to 5 working days of you sending it, whatever the size.
How do I actually request a change?
Raise it in your client portal. You describe the change, attach anything we need, and it lands with the team as a tracked request so you can see where it is. You can also email us or reply to any thread with our team, and we log it for you. Unused revisions do not roll over to the next month.
Do hour or fee changes during the season use up a revision?
No. Office hours, fee schedule changes, a preparer joining or leaving, and other weekly details are published on our regular update cycle without touching your revision count. Revisions are for new pages, redesigns and content you are adding, not for keeping existing facts current.
Articles
What do the researched articles cover for a tax firm?
General-information pieces written for someone deciding whether to book an appointment: how a filing category generally works, what a first appointment with your firm involves, what documents a return type typically requires, and how to read a notice before deciding to call a professional. Every figure or claim in an article points at a cited source, and each one is reviewed by you before or shortly after it publishes.
Do the articles give tax advice or state deadlines as fact?
No. Articles describe general information and cite their sources; they never state a filing deadline, a form number or a refund timeline as settled fact, because those details change and vary by situation. Anyone reading an article who needs an answer for their own return is directed to book a consultation with your firm.
How many articles a week, and who approves them?
2 a week on The Front Desk and The Busy Season, 3 a week on The Year-Round Practice once the Content Engine is running. Each is 2,500 to 3,200 words. You review every article; if something needs a correction, that goes through your client portal like any other revision.
The AI Engine
What does the AI Engine actually do for a tax office?
On plans that include it, an AI receptionist, site chat, and text messaging agent describe your services, take contact and document details, and book an appointment into your calendar. Every call is summarized into a written note before you call back, so nothing is lost between a missed call and a returned one.
Does the AI Engine ever answer a specific tax question?
No. It is configured to describe your services and take intake details only, and to hand anything that sounds like a question about someone's return, deadline or notice straight to a person at your firm. It never states a rule, deadline or outcome as fact.
What is the AI usage charge on The Busy Season and The Year-Round Practice?
Usage, meaning the minutes answered and messages handled, is billed monthly in arrears at what our providers charge us, with a running total visible in your client portal. There is no markup and no estimate required upfront; you pay for what the AI Engine actually handled that month.
Hosting and management
Is hosting an extra cost?
No. Hosting is included in the monthly fee and never billed separately. Your site runs on a global content delivery network with SSL, DDoS protection and unmetered bandwidth included. There is no hosting invoice, no SSL renewal, no bandwidth overage and no surprise line item during your busiest month.
Domains
Do I have to pay for a domain?
No. One domain is included free for as long as your plan is active, registered in your name through Cloudflare Registrar or Spaceship, so you own it outright. If you already have a domain we point it at the new site instead and nothing changes for people who know your current address. If you ever leave, tell us where to send the domain and we transfer it at no charge.
Moving from your current site
I already have a website from a previous filing season. Can you move it over?
Yes. Send us the current site address and any content you want carried forward, such as return-type descriptions, staff bios and existing articles, and we rebuild it inside the new structure. Old page addresses are redirected so a returning client's saved link or a search result still lands on the new site.
What happens to the search rankings my current site has?
We redirect every old page to its new equivalent and keep the same core content ideas in place, which is the standard way to preserve ranking signal through a rebuild. Local searches in your area are guaranteed to start ranking within 3 to 5 months of launch, or the search work continues at no extra charge until they do.
Billing and cancellation
What do I actually pay, and when?
You pay the monthly fee for the tier you choose up front: $137, $297 plus AI usage, or $747 a month. The $797 one-time build fee is invoiced only after your site is live and you are satisfied with it. Domain and hosting are inside the monthly figure.
How do I cancel, and how much notice do you need?
Email us and say you want to cancel. Your message must reach us at least 2 business days before your next invoice date, during business hours, which are 9:00 to 17:00 Central Time, Monday to Friday. A message sent outside those hours counts from the start of the next business day, so a weekend email does not give 2 business days of notice for an invoice due Monday or Tuesday. With valid notice, no further invoice is raised and your site runs to the end of the month you have paid for. With late notice, the next invoice is charged as normal and the cancellation takes effect at the end of that month.
Do you offer refunds?
No. All sales are final, and that includes monthly fees, the build fee, extra revisions and any cost we pass through at what our providers charge us. We do not refund for a change of mind or for a month you did not use. The one exception is a duplicate or incorrect charge made by our billing: tell us within 30 days and we correct it within 10 working days. The build fee is charged only after you have approved your site, which is exactly why it is not refundable afterwards.