A tax preparer in suburban New Jersey has 180 clients. From February to April, her phone rings constantly: 'When can I bring in my documents?' 'Do you have availability Saturday?' 'I need to reschedule.' She spends 2 hours per day just managing her calendar — time she could spend preparing returns at $75-150/hour. That's $15,000+ in lost revenue during the 10-week tax season.
Tax preparation is intensely seasonal. 70% of returns are filed in a 10-week window. During this period, tax professionals become scheduling nightmares: managing client appointments, document drop-offs, return review meetings, and extension deadlines. Calendly and Acuity work for generic scheduling but don't understand tax workflows — they can't differentiate between a 15-minute document drop-off and a 90-minute complex return review, or automatically block time for actual preparation work.
TaxDome ($50-60/mo) offers scheduling as part of a full practice suite, but many preparers already have workflow tools and just need scheduling. The opportunity is a tax-season-specific scheduler at $19-39/mo: appointment types for tax workflows (drop-off, review, consultation), automatic preparation time blocking, client self-scheduling with document checklist, waitlist for cancellations, and season-aware capacity limits. Launch in Q4, target independent tax preparers and small CPA firms. Seasonal pricing model could work: $39/mo during tax season (Jan-Apr), $9/mo off-season for maintenance.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Client self-scheduling, tax appointment types, calendar sync, email reminders
Prep time blocking, document checklist, SMS reminders, waitlist, branded booking page
Multi-preparer, capacity management, team calendar, client portal, analytics
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
Calendly/Acuity are generic, don't understand tax workflows. TaxDome is full suite when you just need scheduling. No tax-specific scheduler at $19-39/mo with preparation time blocking.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Calendly | Free / $10-16/mo | General scheduling, popular |
| Acuity Scheduling | $16-49/mo | Squarespace, appointment scheduling |
| Practice Ignition | $79-399/mo | Proposals + billing for accountants |
| Canopy | $50-100/mo | Tax practice management |
| TaxDome | $50-60/mo | All-in-one for tax pros |
General scheduling, popular
Squarespace, appointment scheduling
Proposals + billing for accountants
Tax practice management
All-in-one for tax pros
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
Copy a prompt into your favorite AI coding tool and start building this idea right now.
Build a SaaS product called "Tax Season Scheduler". ## Product Overview Buffer times and SMS reminders for accountants ## Problem Buffer times and SMS reminders for accountants ## Solution Build Tax Season Scheduler ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Calendly, Acuity Scheduling, Practice Ignition, Canopy, TaxDome ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.