Juno Review
Juno is AI tax prep automation for small and mid-size US tax and CPA firms: it extracts data from client documents, builds workpapers, flags review items and pushes approved data into Drake, Lacerte, ProConnect or CCH Axcess for 1040, 1120, 1120-S and 1065 returns.
Independently scored, one dimension at a time. Every dimension is sourced, and we say whether a claim is published, reported, or estimated.
The pricing page publishes a $50 list price per return, a volume discount to $45 near 2,400 returns, included users and a no-add-on promise, with the same price for 1040s and business returns (checked 9 October 2026). The gaps: 2,500 or more returns is custom, the discount applies to the first order only, renewal is at the then-current price, and unused returns expire after a year. Crunchbase News reported a lower range on 9 April 2026, around $45 falling to the low $30s for high-volume firms.
Juno's pricing FAQ says most firms start prepping returns within minutes of signing up, and the trial gives 5 preparations in one week with no card. The tax software export is connected on an onboarding call after purchase, with no implementation fee (comparison page, checked 9 October 2026). The friction is documented: hosted Drake or Lacerte needs the hosting provider to install the desktop app, Lacerte needs Intuit's 64-bit SDK kept current, and the export cannot be tested during the trial.
The help center's SLA article commits to live chat with a 30 minute first response from 5am to 5pm Pacific on weekdays, email within 8 hours and an AI chat around the clock, for trial users and customers alike. Juno describes its support staff as experienced tax professionals, setup is free, and there are 50+ knowledge base articles and an on-demand Bootcamp. The status page shows no notices from February to April 2026 and three incidents in the past year: a 9 hour login outage on 20 October 2025 that Juno linked to an AWS outage, 19 December 2025 and 24 August 2026 (checked 11 October 2026). No weekend live support is published, even in season, and independent review evidence is thin.
Juno documents exports to Drake, Lacerte, ProConnect and CCH Axcess, with ProSeries marked coming soon, plus QuickBooks Online and Xero pulls, K1x, Box, SmartVault, SharePoint and OneDrive, and practice management links to TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy and Firm360. Most exports work by a desktop app typing into the tax software; CCH Axcess uses a .dat file, and a ProConnect route through Intuit's API is described on a separate page. UltraTax is named in one line of Juno's TaxDome page and in partner copy but has no integration page or help article, journal entries are not exported, and state K-1 data does not export to CCH Axcess (checked 11 October 2026).
Published plans run from 100 to 2,400 returns with 2 users per 100 returns, and 2,500 or more moves to custom pricing with a pilot (pricing page). The CEO told the San Diego Business Journal on 20 April 2026 that Juno would process almost 100,000 returns this year across about 500 firms. Limits are documented: 32 MB per file, 250 pages per brokerage account or K-1, and a desktop export that occupies the workstation for most tax packages. The SLA promises 99 percent uptime measured outside weekends and holidays, which is thin for a tax-season tool.
The trust page (checked 9 October 2026) states SOC 2 certification, IRS Section 7216 compliance, US-only data, anonymized identifiers before model calls and zero-retention terms with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. It names no report type, and the K1x integration page says a Type II audit is underway. The help center documents 2FA on by default, three roles, field-level change history and up to six Binder sign-off levels; SAML single sign-on is not documented. Juno does not e-file, and its terms disclaim responsibility for the return and cap liability at 12 months of fees.
Return types are 1040, 1120, 1120-S and 1065; there is no 1041 or 990 preparation. The help center's supported list for 1040s names 19 IRS forms plus Schedules A, C, E and F and K-1s, against the 97 to 100+ document types in the marketing. K-3 and Section 199A schedules are classified but entered by hand, and Juno does not add state returns, set residency or apportion business income (help center, checked 9 October 2026).
In-product AI is broad: extraction with confidence flags, Reviewer's source-to-return and prior-year checks, and Advisor answers with citations (product pages and help center). Juno's 18 June 2026 engineering post describes a rule-based correction layer and an internal benchmark of 99.9 percent on hard brokerage statements, which is a vendor claim. For outside agents the score is 1 of 5: api.juno.tax is documented only as the endpoint for Juno's own apps, the public MCP registry has no Juno tax entry, and section 2.4 of the terms bars access by bot or script (checked 9 October 2026).
Published $50-a-return pricing and a fast start; young controls, manual gaps and no way in for outside agents.
Written by the Audit Friendly research team. No vendor edits, no sponsored placement.
You are buying a data-entry and review layer that sits between client documents and the tax software the firm already runs. Staff upload W-2s, 1099s, brokerage statements and K-1s, or pull a P&L and balance sheet from QuickBooks Online or Xero for entity returns. Juno extracts the fields, a person validates the ones it flags, and the approved data is pushed into Drake, Lacerte, ProConnect or CCH Axcess. Binder (workpapers), Reviewer (source-to-return and prior-year checks) and Advisor (planning answers with citations) come in the same price. That price is public: $50 a return at list, falling to $45 near 2,400 returns (pricing page, checked 9 October 2026). About 500 firms were using it by April 2026, per the San Diego Business Journal.
The catch is how much still sits with the preparer, and how young the company is. The help center's supported list for 1040 work names 19 IRS forms plus Schedules A, C, E and F and K-1s, well short of the 100+ document types in the marketing. K-3 and Section 199A schedules are recognized but keyed by hand. Journal entries are left out of the export. Juno does not add a state return, set residency or apportion income. Its own guidance says to treat it like a second-year preparer. UltraTax CS, GoSystem Tax RS and CCH ProSystem fx are missing from Juno's integration list. The tax product launched in July 2025 (Crunchbase News), the trust page gives no SOC 2 report type, and there is no public API or MCP server. Speed and accuracy figures are the vendor's claims.
Before signing, get three things in writing: the SOC 2 report and its type, the list of return types and K-1 fields that export to your tax software version, and confirmation that exports run in your hosted environment. Then read the terms. Returns expire after one year, purchases are non-refundable, renewal is at the then-current price, and Juno's liability is capped at 12 months of fees. Section 3.3 also lets Juno use data about the service, including information about customer data, to improve its offerings, and to use aggregated or anonymized customer data to develop new services, which reads wider than the trust page's promise never to train on it. Run the five free preparations on your messiest prior-year files, ask for a live export on your own setup, then negotiate the volume block.
- A 3 to 30 person tax or CPA firm on Drake, Lacerte, ProConnect or CCH Axcess that keys 200 to 2,400 returns a year by hand.
- A firm that wants admin staff to run document intake and data entry so CPAs and EAs start at review.
- A practice on TaxDome, Karbon, Canopy or Firm360 that wants client documents to flow into prep without downloads and re-uploads.
- Firms on UltraTax CS, GoSystem Tax RS or CCH ProSystem fx. None has an integration page or setup guide on Juno's site as of 11 October 2026; a help center FAQ lists ProSystem fx as coming soon, and UltraTax is named only in one line of the TaxDome page.
- Practices heavy in 1041, 990 or multi-state apportionment work, since Juno prepares only 1040, 1120, 1120-S and 1065 and leaves state setup to the preparer.
- Firms that need SAML single sign-on, a named SOC 2 Type II report on day one, or an API or MCP connector for their own agents.
The jobs a tax team actually hires Juno for
Jobs, mapped to how finance teams actually buy.
Automate 1040 data entry into the tax software you already run
Staff upload source documents and validate the fields Juno flags. Juno then enters the approved data into Drake, Lacerte, ProConnect or CCH Axcess. Juno claims 95 percent of data entry is automated and 50 percent less time per return; neither figure has an independent test. The help center's supported document list is the real boundary, so check your common forms against it.
Shift prep from CPAs to admin staff
CMPD Wealth Advisory and Tax moved document intake and validation to admin staff and left the CPA to review (Juno case study, 19 March 2026). Juno says 90 percent of 1040 prep can be handled by staff without credentials. These are vendor-selected results, and the reviewer still owns every flagged field and the sign-off.
Prepare 1120, 1120-S and 1065 returns from the books
Juno pulls the P&L and balance sheet from QuickBooks Online or Xero, maps accounts to tax lines, applies rules such as the 50 percent meals limit, and suggests journal entries. Business returns opened to every account at the end of May 2026. Journal entries are left out of the export; they download as Excel or PDF for manual entry in the tax software.
Run a first-pass review before the reviewer opens the return
Reviewer reads the draft return PDF, compares it with validated source data and the prior year, and produces a review plan with action items. Firms can add their own checks and set 1 to 6 sign-off levels in Binder. It covers only documents Juno supports, and Juno shipped a major update in March 2026 after users said it over-flagged.
Clear complex K-1s without re-keying
Juno extracts most boxes of 1065, 1120-S and 1041 K-1s and exports them by tax package, with complex packages routed through partner K1x. The help center says K-3 and Section 199A schedules are classified but entered manually, and that accuracy falls below 99 percent when state data is included. State K-1 data does not export to CCH Axcess.
Know what a client still owes you at intake
The expected documents checklist, released in July 2026, reads last year's return, lists each W-2, 1099 and K-1 it included, and ticks them off as files arrive from uploads or a practice management portal. One button drafts the client request email for a person to send. Since the 27 August 2026 release it can also start from a returning firm's prior-year preparation in Juno. It is documented for 1040 work only; nothing similar is documented for entity returns.
Watch the same task in each tool
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Compare on what matters
What it actually costs
Here's what it really costs: published rates where a vendor lists them, aggregated quote data where they don't, plus a path to your own number.
One price for 1040, 1120, 1120-S and 1065 returns, with Preparer, Binder, Reviewer, Advisor, all integrations and 2 users per 100 returns. The calculator gives $50 at 100 returns, $49 at 500, $48 at 1,000 and $45 at 2,400.
Custom volume pricing with a dedicated onboarding team and an enterprise pilot. Crunchbase News reported prices in the low $30s per return for high-volume firms in April 2026.
One week, no credit card. Each preparation is capped at 25 documents, and the tax software export is excluded until onboarding.
Free setup and onboarding with no implementation fee, plus live chat and email support from tax professionals.
Tax software, practice management, document storage, QuickBooks Online and Xero connections carry no add-on fee. K1x handling of complex K-1s was included for up to 25 K-1s per client in the 2026 season.
Finance charge on unpaid invoices under the terms of service, or the legal maximum if lower. After a repeat default of 60 days, Juno may cut the plan to what the fees paid would buy at list price.
What it actually takes to go live
The pricing FAQ says returns are valid for the period purchased, one year for new customers, and the page notes that discount pricing applies to the first order only (checked 9 October 2026). The terms of service make all purchases non-refundable, auto-renew the term unless either party gives 30 days' notice, and renew at the then-current price. A return is consumed when document processing starts, even if the preparation is deleted afterward. Size the first block conservatively and write a renewal price into the order form.
The home page cites 100+ document types and the pricing page 97. The help center's supported list for 1040 work names 19 IRS forms plus Schedules A, C, E and F and K-1s, and only a P&L and balance sheet for entity returns (checked 9 October 2026). K-3 and Section 199A schedules are recognized but entered by hand, while the integration pages say Juno reads K-1 statements and footnotes. Files over 32 MB and HEIC photos are not supported, and brokerage statements are clipped at 250 pages per account. Test your ten most common document types in the trial.
Juno's help guides for Drake, ProConnect and ProSeries describe the integration app clicking and typing on screen, with warnings to leave the mouse and keyboard alone during a scan or run (checked 9 October 2026). CCH Axcess works through a .dat file exchange, and a faster ProConnect route through Intuit's API is described on a separate page. Hosted Drake or Lacerte needs the hosting provider to install the app, and Lacerte needs Intuit's 64-bit SDK updated through the season. The export cannot be tried in the free trial, so ask for a live run on your own setup before buying.
A help center article lists what Juno does not do: add or activate a state return, set resident or part-year status, allocate income between states beyond what a document shows, apportion business income, or enter state credits and adjustments (checked 9 October 2026). The tax software builds the state return from the inputs. Journal entries on business returns are also left out of the export. Multi-state firms should budget review time accordingly.
The terms of service (checked 11 October 2026) provide the service as is, state that the customer is solely responsible for preparation and review, and cap Juno's liability at fees paid in the prior 12 months. Section 3.3 lets Juno use data about the service, including information about customer data, to improve its offerings, and to use or disclose customer data in aggregated or anonymized form, while the trust page says client data is never used to train models. Section 14 licenses the firm's name and logo for Juno's marketing, and claims must be brought within one year. Ask for a data processing addendum that matches the trust page, and strike the logo clause if it matters to you.
The trust page says SOC 2 certified without naming the report type, and the K1x integration page says a Type II audit is underway (checked 9 October 2026). Sign-in is email with 2FA, or Google or Microsoft; SAML SSO and SCIM are not documented. There are three roles (Org Admin, Admin and User), every user can use every tool, and client-level restrictions are not described. Uptime is promised at 99 percent outside weekends and holidays. Request the SOC 2 report under NDA and confirm how access to client files can be limited.
Scored on what an outside agent can actually reach: the documented API, how it authenticates, and whether the vendor ships an MCP server.
Exists: No. Juno publishes no API documentation and no MCP server. The public MCP registry returns no Juno tax entry, juno.tax has no developer or docs page, and the help center describes api.juno.tax only as the endpoint for Juno's own web and desktop apps (checked 9 October 2026). A GitHub organization named trueprep, matching the company's legal name, holds a documentation starter template from February 2026 with only sample content.
Scope: Nothing to assess. No document describes outside read or write access to clients, preparations, extracted fields, Binder sign-offs, Reviewer flags or exports. The ProConnect API route on Juno's site is Juno writing into Intuit's system, with no interface a customer can call.
Turnkey: Not applicable. People sign in with email and 2FA, or with Google or Microsoft. Section 2.4 of the terms of service has the customer warrant that it will not access the service by bot, script or other automated means, so driving the web app with a browser agent would breach the contract.
In-product AI: Preparer classifies and extracts documents and marks each field as validated, flagged for review or possibly missing. Reviewer compares the draft return with source data and the prior year. Advisor and Assistant answer tax questions with citations and draft client decks. Juno says it uses OpenAI, Anthropic and Google models under zero-retention terms and strips personal identifiers first. Its accuracy figures (over 99 percent on core forms, 99.9 percent on an internal brokerage benchmark) are vendor claims, and its own help center says K-1 accuracy falls below 99 percent when state data is included.
Juno, kept current
Release notes dated 27 August 2026 add SharePoint support and the Firm360 integration, along with wider automatic document type recognition and multi-document sign-off in Binder.
A prior-year 1040 upload now builds a checklist of expected source documents, with a button that drafts the client request email for missing items.
Preparer, Binder and Reviewer now support the three entity returns, with exports to ProConnect, Lacerte, Drake and CCH Axcess. Juno prices them the same as a 1040.
Juno announced a $12 million seed round with Impression Ventures and Xfund. Crunchbase News reported nearly 500 firm customers and per-return pricing starting around $45.
Juno announced that K1x would extract and validate complex K-1 packages inside the Juno workflow. Juno's season review says the integration went live in January.
Juno launched Binder on 5 December 2025: a workpaper binder built from uploaded documents, with tax markup and sign-offs. The CCH Axcess export also went live that month.
Juno FAQ
Juno publishes a flat price per return. The pricing page calculator shows $50 a return at list, with a volume discount that brings it to $45 near 2,400 returns (checked 9 October 2026). On that calculator a firm buying 500 returns pays $24,500 a year and one buying 1,000 pays $48,000 (Audit Friendly calculation). 1040s and business returns cost the same, and Preparer, Binder, Reviewer, Advisor, integrations, setup and support are included.
Plans cover 2 users per 100 returns. Firms at 2,500 returns or more get a custom quote, and Crunchbase News reported in April 2026 that high-volume pricing dropped to the low $30s per return. The discount applies to the first order only, so ask what the renewal price will be.
Firms buy a block of returns for a term set in the order form, one year for new customers. Unused returns expire, purchases are non-refundable, and the term auto-renews at the then-current price unless either side gives 30 days' notice (terms of service, checked 9 October 2026).
The return of record lives in the firm's own tax software, so leaving Juno does not strand a filing. Binder workpapers download as PDF with or without annotations, workpapers and journal entries export to Excel, and a usage CSV lists every return counted. The terms say the customer owns its data but set no export or deletion duty for Juno at termination. Write a deletion certificate and an export window into the order form.
The web app is self-serve. Juno says most firms start prepping returns within minutes of signing up, and the free trial gives 5 preparations over one week.
The export to tax software is connected on an onboarding call after purchase, at no charge. For Drake, Lacerte and ProConnect a desktop integration app is installed where the tax software runs; CCH Axcess uses a file import instead. For hosted Drake or Lacerte the hosting provider installs it, and IT can deploy it silently on Windows. Buy before January if you can: the export cannot be tested in the trial, and Lacerte's SDK is updated several times between December and February.
No. Juno has no public API documentation and no MCP server, and its terms of service bar access by bot, script or other automated means (checked 9 October 2026). Sign-in is built for people, with 2FA on by default.
Claude can still help around it. A person can download the Binder PDF, the Excel workpaper or a journal entry export and have Claude summarize open items or draft client requests. If agent access is a requirement, peer Filed markets a hosted MCP connector, though its developer guide still said the server was not live in production when checked on 9 October 2026.
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