april tax solutions targets banks and financial institutions.
jody padar, cpa, also known as “the radical cpa,” has exited botkeeper after three years and joined april tax solutions, inc., a start-up that uses an intelligent tax platform to automate the filing process and embed tax prep into broader financial applications.
padar is head of tax and evangelism. april is backed by $10 million in seed capital from a number of venture capital funds.
“it’s time to bring taxes into the digital age,” says padar. “i’m excited to lead the charge and help the next generation of consumers and accounting professionals have a better relationship with tax filings.”
april says it partners directly with banks and financial institutions to do away with the silos traditionally existing between tax and financial planning. the company is rolling out in the first half of 2022 to select customers of leading fintech partners in time to file their taxes for this season.
“the fact that april is using ai and natural language processing to disrupt and transform the tax experience is a much-needed game-changer,” says padar.
the new york-based company was founded by ben borodach, former vp strategy at team8, a venture capital firm, and daniel marcous, a former google cto.
after transitioning out of traditional accounting firms, padar was ceo of new vision cpa group where she helped the firm grow for 13 successive years utilizing the newest technology available. most recently, she served as vice president of partner development and strategy at botkeeper.
“we couldn’t be happier to have joined forces with jody,” said borodach. “her profound expertise and relatability will benefit everyone in the april ecosystem.”
padar has been on the accounting today top 100 most influential people list for the last 10 years. she is the author of three books: from success to significance: the radical cpa guide; the radical cpa: new rules for the future-ready firm, and botkeeper for dummies. top-tier media outlets such as cnn, forbes, the washington post and usa today know they can count on jody for insight and perspective on the tax, accounting and strategy issues facing individuals, entrepreneurs and growing businesses.
april tax solutions inc., calls itself a tech-powered tax platform that simplifies the filing process and integrates tax preparation into broader financial wellness, launched operations today, in partnership with leading financial institutions such as propel.
the new platform has gained the support of notable tech investors and financial leaders, led by team8 with participation from nyca partners, bolt by qed, treasury, euclidean capital, iangels and tech unicorn founders of acorns jeff cruttenden, betterment eli broverman, lemonade shai wininger, and plaid lowell putnam, who contributed towards a $10m seed round.
april says it has created a new standard for tax solutions: helping americans take control of their taxes by utilizing the latest in natural language processing and human-assisted ai. april’s personalized engine provides taxpayers with a fast, frictionless, and affordable tax experience aimed at easing the cumbersome tax process.
“tax filing is stressful and complicated, especially for families with limited income. we’re excited to partner with april to offer these families a simple solution to access benefits such as the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, which are a lifeline for financially vulnerable households,” said jimmy chen, founder and ceo of propel, a mission-driven financial technology company.
unlike legacy providers, april partners directly with banks and financial institutions to do away with the silos traditionally existing between tax and financial planning, and is rolling out in the first half of 2022 to select customers of leading fintech partners, in time to file their taxes for this season.
“the tax prep and filing process isn’t working for most americans,” says borodach. “tax is a crucial asset or liability on the personal balance sheet of the american family that lacks visibility throughout the year. the reality for most americans is that they will need to spend significant time and money just to understand their tax obligation. the time has come for a real-time, continuous, and integrated tax experience that helps the taxpayer make more informed financial decisions, while saving them time and money.”
borodach, former deloitte fintech strategist who led corporate strategy for venture group team8, co-founded april with marcous, the former acting cto of the navigation startup waze, sold to google for $1 billion in 2013, and later served as a lead data scientist at google in israel.
“the tax experience in america is broken: most people don’t understand the tax code, or have any idea how to optimize their returns,” says ronen assia, managing partner at team8 and co-founder of etoro. “april’s holistic, user-centric approach to taxes provides a fantastic opportunity for banks and fintech companies to build equity with their members by simplifying tax prep and dramatically reducing tax-related stress.”
the tax code in the us, while fully accessible to the public, is deeply complex, and only a handful of tax companies have found a way to translate that code into digital applications. april is democratizing the tax engine through modern apis that enable developers to tap into and develop new solutions, ultimately allowing for taxpayers to have greater transparency and autonomy in the process.
on average, about 75% of americans receive more than $300 billion in tax refunds every year. this is money that could be put towards investments, education, or everyday expenses, rather than being needlessly held by the government and then returned in annual refunds.
“the need to avoid overpayments is evident in the fact that roughly 60% of americans can’t afford a $1,000 emergency expense,” said borodach. “giving americans early access to their refund is one way april plans to help taxpayers have greater control of their finances and deal with surprises throughout the year.”