In this guide
TicTie Calculate has been the default tick-and-tie tool for a lot of tax and accounting firms for years. It does the job: tick marks, calculator tapes, cross-references and sign-offs inside Adobe Acrobat. But it is a paid license, it now sits inside the SafeSend product line, and every new preparer is another seat to buy. If you are reviewing your tools before busy season, here is what else is out there and how the options compare.
What TicTie Calculate does
TicTie Calculate is an Adobe Acrobat plug-in sold by SafeSend, which is now part of Thomson Reuters. Drake Software also offers it to its customers. According to its product page, it adds:
- Customizable tick marks, with check marks, OKs, question marks and other symbols built in
- Page sign-offs for a preparer and up to two reviewers, with a sign-off summary
- Hyperlinked cross references to other pages in the PDF
- Digital calculator tapes you can insert on a page
- Automated bookmarking and repagination
- One-click page rotation and multiple-monitor support
Pricing and a trial are available from SafeSend. There is no published list price on the product page, so you will need a quote.
What to look for in an alternative
Most firms use a small core of features every day. Before you switch, check that any replacement covers these:
- Tick marks you can place with one click, including your firm’s own symbols.
- A calculator tape that lives on the workpaper, so a reviewer can see the arithmetic.
- Sign-offs for every level of review your firm uses.
- Cross-references that link a figure on the return to its support.
- Marks that survive when the file is opened somewhere else. Standard PDF annotations show in any viewer.
- Licensing that fits your team. Per-seat or per-workstation costs add up fast during busy season.
The alternatives
1. Debits plug-in for Adobe Acrobat (free)
The Debits plug-in adds a review panel to Acrobat with 40 tick marks (standard symbols, tax and audit codes such as F, XF, TB and PY, and review flags), 10 named workpaper stamps such as Footed, Agreed, Traced to balance and Prepared by client, and up to 24 custom marks of your own. It also has:
- Sign-offs for preparer, reviewer, manager and partner, stamped with initials and the date
- A 10-key calculator tape that can pull figures straight from text you select on the PDF, cross-foot against a figure on the page, export to CSV and stamp onto the workpaper
- Highlight, underline, strike-through, text boxes, sticky notes, arrows, shapes and freehand ink
- Bookmarks, a one-click workpaper index, and cross-reference links between pages
The review tools are free, with no account and no trial clock. Every mark is saved as a standard PDF annotation. It runs on Windows 10 and 11 with Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro. One gap compared with TicTie Calculate: it does not repaginate automatically yet.
If you later want more, the same panel connects to a Debits plan for workpaper binders and for sending returns to clients for e-signature.
2. Scriptor
Scriptor, from pdfplugins.com, is a paid Acrobat plug-in built for accountants. It lists markup stamping with custom marks, a 10-key calculator with an editable tape, sign-off blocks for up to four roles, a document organizer for bookmark trees, and page resizing. It costs $59 a year after a 7-day trial, and you create an account to download it.
3. CCH ProSystem fx PDFlyer
PDFlyer is Wolters Kluwer’s Acrobat plug-in for preparing engagements across multiple PDF files. It lists tickmarks, connectors, annotation and user stamps, a calculator tape, notes and file merging. Pricing is available on request from Wolters Kluwer, so it is usually considered by firms already working in the CCH ecosystem.
4. Adobe Acrobat on its own
You can build custom stamps in Acrobat and use them as tick marks, and Acrobat’s own comment tools cover highlights, notes and shapes. There is no calculator tape, no sign-off block and no one-click cross-reference, so it works for light review but gets slow on a full return.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Debits plug-in | TicTie Calculate | Scriptor | PDFlyer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Priced on request | $59 / year | Priced on request |
| Tick marks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calculator tape on the PDF | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sign-offs | 4 roles | Preparer + 2 reviewers | Up to 4 roles | Not listed |
| Cross-references | Yes | Yes | Not listed | Connectors |
| Automatic repagination | Not yet | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Account needed to start | No | Trial via SafeSend | Yes | Through Wolters Kluwer |
Features and prices as listed on each vendor’s own product page in October 2026. They may change.
How to switch
Switching tick-and-tie tools is less disruptive than switching tax software. Your existing PDFs keep their marks, because those marks are already part of the file. Install the new plug-in, mark up this year’s files with it, and keep last year’s binders as they are. If your firm has its own tick-mark legend, recreate those symbols as custom marks on day one so everyone uses the same set.
See the free Debits plug-in and the full comparison, or download it for Windows.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to TicTie Calculate?
Yes. The Debits plug-in for Adobe Acrobat gives you tick marks, workpaper stamps, sign-offs, a calculator tape, bookmarks and cross-references for free, with no account. It runs on Windows with Acrobat Standard or Pro.
Will my old TicTie Calculate marks still show?
Marks already saved in a PDF stay in that file. Switching plug-ins changes how you add new marks, not what is already on the page.
Does any of these work with Adobe Reader?
Plug-ins like these need Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro. Adobe Reader cannot run them, though it can display marks saved as standard PDF annotations.
How much does TicTie Calculate cost?
TicTie Calculate’s product page points to SafeSend for pricing and a trial rather than listing a price, so you will need a quote.