TaxStatus has launched two productivity tools designed to help financial advisors and improve accuracy and efficiency ahead of the 2025 filing season. The secure, personalized data solution provider introduced the Tax Prep Checklist and Tax Return History tools to streamline client preparation and data analysis.
The Tax Prep Checklist is a client-facing deliverable that identifies specific documents and information needed by source and document type based on an individual’s prior tax data. Rather than general instructions to find W-2s and 1099s, the checklist shows each specific tax document by category that should be provided to the CPA by name, derived directly from IRS data through a digital client consent process that takes less than a minute to complete.
“Our goal is to make verified IRS data more usable, more proactive and more client-friendly,” TaxStatus CEO Kevin Knull wrote in a prepared statement.
The checklist also provides advisors a reason to secure client consent in January, creating a first-quarter client touchpoint while helping clients feel more prepared throughout tax season.
Tax Return History delivers year-by-year comparisons of clients’ historical 1040 tax returns, providing every line from IRS return transcripts in structured Excel format. The tool allows professionals to analyze trends, surface discrepancies, enhance tax planning and examine tax data efficiently.
In August 2025, Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Engines, and Eric Clarke, founder and former CEO of Orion Advisor Solutions, joined the TaxStatus board of directors.
Founded in 2017, the company originally served taxpayers by checking their IRS standing and by securely sharing related records with financial partners. In 2023, the company pivoted to focus its efforts solely on the wealth management and tax professional space.
Scott Willette joins Docupace as CTO
Docupace has appointed Scott Willette as chief technology officer to lead the wealth management software provider’s cloud modernization and AI initiatives. Willette brings more than two decades of technology leadership experience from companies including Litera, PatientPay and LexisNexis.
Willette will oversee Docupace’s engineering organization, platform architecture and technology strategy as the company transitions to AWS cloud services and develops AI-powered scaling capabilities. His appointment comes as Docupace evolves into what it calls a product-led, AI-enabled organization.
“Scott brings the proven track record of architecting cloud-first platforms and driving operational maturity that Docupace needs as we step into this next chapter of growth,” wrote Docupace CEO Mike Zebrowski in a prepared statement.
The new CTO will lead development of AI agents for advisor onboarding and account management, introduce surveillance and compensation automation tools, and complete the company’s AWS cloud migration. Willette previously held senior technology roles where he scaled software organizations and led global teams of hundreds of technologists.
“Reliability, security and operational maturity are not merely aspirations; they are obligations for an enterprise technology partner,” said Willette. “I look forward to leading a talented technology team to build a modern foundation capable of supporting long-term growth and ensuring Docupace remains the standard-bearer for back-office efficiency.”
Throughout 2025, Docupace delivered platform enhancements, including a redesigned user experience, PreciseFP’s AI-enabled Template Builder for automated fact finder generation, and expanded PreciseFP’s integration marketplace to 39 total integrations.
Earlier this month, the popular workflow automation platform Hubly, now part of Docupace, announced API-based integrations with three other popular AI-driven advisor tools: Pulse360, Jump and GReminders.
Alpaca Becomes a Unicorn, Raises $150M
As reported by our fellow Informa publication, FinTech Futures, the online discount brokerage platform Alpaca this week announced it had secured unicorn status after raising $150 million in a Series D funding round.
The Series D funding round values Alpaca at $1.15 billion and was led by Drive Capital. As part of the investment, Chris Olsen, co-founder and partner at Drive Capital, will join the company’s board of directors.
Existing investors Spark Capital, Portage and Social Leverage also participated in the raise, alongside new investors Ribbit Capital, Tribe Capital, Citadel Securities, MUFG Innovation Partners and BNP Paribas’ Opera Tech Ventures, among others.
While it is often compared to Robinhood and competes with it, Alpaca offers a full-stack brokerage infrastructure that helps companies create apps for investing and trading in stocks, options and crypto.
The company added multi-leg options, securities lending, fixed-income and overnight weekday stock trading to the platform last year.
In a statement, Alpaca says the funds will be used to “further strengthen its global investment infrastructure.” This includes efforts to establish regulatory approvals and a local market presence in “key jurisdictions,” as well as “advancing institutional-grade trading capabilities.”
