GoRefer vs Canopy
Canopy is an established accounting practice-management suite: CRM, document management, client portal, task workflows, invoicing and payments, sold per user with optional modules for tax workflow, close automation and tax resolution.
Pricing model
GoRefer
Flat plan price per firm with seats included (5, 12 or 30), not per user.
Canopy
Per user, per month, billed annually: Standard $74, Plus $109, Premium $149. Enterprise is custom. Add-ons are priced separately (e.g. Tax Resolution $50/user/month).
Source: www.getcanopy.com/pricing · read 2026-09-06
Core use case
GoRefer
Growth and operations around the return: referral attribution, commissions, preparer incentives, AI-assisted intake, and autofill into supported browser tax software.
Canopy
Practice management: client records, documents, portal, tasks and billing for accounting firms.
Source: www.getcanopy.com/pricing · read 2026-09-06
Tax-software strategy
GoRefer
Works alongside your existing tax software. The AutoFill extension fills OLT Pro and TaxSlayer's web products from approved intake data.
Canopy
Not verified by us. Check Canopy's site.
Referral attribution
GoRefer
End-to-end: unique links per referrer, attribution through to conversion, and the commission that follows from it.
Canopy
Not verified by us. Check Canopy's site.
Commissions and preparer incentives
GoRefer
Progressive commission tiers, six bonus types, competitions and leaderboards, with Stripe Connect payouts.
Canopy
Not verified by us. Check Canopy's site.
Choose Canopy when
- You want a broad, mature practice-management suite and are happy to pay per user for it.
- Document management, client portal and task workflow are the problem you are solving, and referral or commission tracking is not.
- You need tax resolution case management, which GoRefer does not offer.
Choose GoRefer when
- Your growth depends on referrals and you cannot currently say who referred whom.
- Commissions are calculated in a spreadsheet and disputed at the end of the season.
- You want to keep the tax software you already use rather than move preparation.
- Per-user pricing is painful because you add seasonal preparers.
Can you run both?
These are not mutually exclusive. GoRefer does not manage your document workflow or billing, so a firm running Canopy can add GoRefer for referrals, commissions and intake without moving anything out of Canopy. Client and preparer lists import from CSV.