TaxStatus has introduced two new tools aimed at financial advisors. The Tax Prep Checklist and Tax Return History are designed to improve accuracy and efficiency before the 2025 filing season begins.
The Tax Prep Checklist is a client-facing document. It identifies specific tax documents needed, based on an individual's prior IRS data. The list shows each required document by name and category, rather than giving general instructions. Clients can provide consent through a digital process that takes under a minute.
"Our goal is to make verified IRS data more usable, more proactive and more client-friendly," wrote TaxStatus CEO Kevin Knull in a statement.
The checklist also gives advisors a reason to contact clients in January. This creates a first-quarter touchpoint while helping clients feel prepared for tax season.
The Tax Return History tool provides year-by-year comparisons of clients' historical 1040 returns. It delivers every line from IRS transcripts in a structured Excel format. Professionals can use it to analyze trends, find discrepancies, and enhance tax planning.
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.
The company was founded in 2017. It originally helped taxpayers check their IRS standing and share records with financial partners. In 2023, it shifted focus solely to wealth management and tax professionals.
Docupace has named Scott Willette as its new chief technology officer. He will lead the wealth management software provider's cloud modernization and AI projects. Willette has over twenty years of technology leadership experience from companies like Litera, PatientPay, and LexisNexis.
He will oversee engineering, platform architecture, and technology strategy. This comes as Docupace transitions to AWS cloud services and develops AI-powered scaling capabilities. The company is evolving 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 statement.
The new CTO will lead development of AI agents for advisor onboarding and account management. He will also introduce surveillance and compensation automation tools, and complete the company's AWS cloud migration. Willette previously held senior roles where he scaled software organizations and led global teams of hundreds.
"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. These included a redesigned user experience, PreciseFP's AI-enabled Template Builder for automated fact finder generation, and an expansion of PreciseFP's integration marketplace to 39 total integrations.
Earlier this month, Hubly, now part of Docupace, announced API-based integrations with three other AI-driven advisor tools: Pulse360, Jump and GReminders.
PPB Capital Partners announced a major enhancement to its Private Investments Exchange technology platform, PIX. It is transitioning to a new underlying technology provider, Delio. The move is meant to give advisors a faster, more efficient way to access alternative investments.
The enhancement allows advisors to explore, transact and monitor private market strategies more clearly and efficiently through a significantly upgraded digital environment. Advisors will gain access to the improved platform starting this month.
"Enhancing PIX is a critical step in delivering the sophisticated, intuitive technology experience advisors expect," said Bannon. "This evolution strengthens the entire PPBx program and allows us to pair PPB's investment expertise and high-touch service with a modern, enterprise-grade digital platform."
The upgrade delivers more efficient workflows through streamlined subscription processes with automated data sync. It also provides enhanced transparency via real-time dashboards and multi-level portfolio views, and a modern interface with tailored workflows and improved navigation.
PPB's technology strategy focuses on improving advisor workflows, strengthening transparency and reporting, streamlining subscription processes and integrating more seamlessly with advisor systems. The firm partnered with Delio to leverage enterprise-grade technology while maintaining focus on advisor service and investment expertise, rather than building costly in-house infrastructure.
"We're excited to support PPB as they elevate the Private Investments Exchange for U.S. advisors," said Gareth Lewis, co-chief executive of Delio. "Delio's infrastructure gives PPB the ability to customize, control, and continuously enhance their private markets experience."
PIX remains PPB's platform and strategy. Delio provides the technology layer that enables faster innovation, while PPB continues to own the roadmap and integration strategy.
The online discount brokerage platform Alpaca announced it had secured unicorn status this week. It raised $150 million in a Series D funding round.
The Series D funding round values Alpaca at $1.15 billion. It 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. New investors included Ribbit Capital, Tribe Capital, Citadel Securities, MUFG Innovation Partners and BNP Paribas' Opera Tech Ventures, among others.
While often compared to Robinhood, Alpaca offers a full-stack brokerage infrastructure. It 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."