Lacerte is Intuit’s desktop tax software for professional firms. “Lacerte hosting” means running that desktop program on a server in a data center, so your preparers sign in over the internet instead of installing and updating it on every office computer. This guide explains the options, what Intuit requires of a hosted setup, and what to ask before you choose one.

Your Three Options

1. Intuit’s own hosting. Intuit sells Hosting for Lacerte and ProSeries as a monthly add-on, powered by Rightworks. Intuit says that if several people need to work at the same time, the matching Fast Path licenses are needed, and without them a hosted session allows one user at a time.
2. A third-party hosting provider. A provider installs Lacerte on a Windows server it manages and gives your staff a remote desktop to sign in to. You bring your own Lacerte license. Cloud Innovics offers this: see Lacerte Hosting.
3. A server you run yourself. You set up Windows Remote Desktop Services or Citrix on your own server and look after it, including updates, backups and security.

What Intuit Requires for a Hosted or Terminal-Server Setup

Intuit’s published requirements for tax year 2025 say the following about Lacerte in a hosted environment:

• Supported setups: Intuit’s Hosting for Lacerte, Windows Remote Desktop Service, or Citrix. A self-managed Remote Desktop Service or Citrix server must run a supported server operating system: Windows Server 2016, 2019 or 2022.
• Memory: at least 2 GB of RAM for each user, on top of the program’s general minimums.
• Network: a local network speed of at least 50 MB per second, with 1-gigabit switches recommended.
• Storage: Network Attached Storage (NAS) drives are not supported. File sync and sharing services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive are not supported for storing, backing up or sharing Lacerte data.
• Backups and antivirus: backups should run on a schedule and not continuously, and antivirus software should be set to skip Lacerte program files and folders. Intuit notes that its Lacerte support team does not help with these settings.

Requirements change from year to year, so check Intuit’s current Lacerte system requirements page before you plan a setup.

Questions to Ask Any Host

• Which server version do you run, and how much memory is set aside for each user?
• Do I bring my own Lacerte license, and do I need Fast Path licenses for several users at once?
• How and when are Lacerte updates installed?
• How often are backups taken, and how long are they kept?
• How do I get my data back if I leave?
• What support is available during filing season?

A Note on Licensing

A hosting provider supplies the server, not the software. You need your own valid Lacerte license, whichever option you choose. Cloud Innovics is an independent hosting company and is not affiliated with Intuit.

Related Reading

See What Is Drake Tax Hosting? for how hosting works for another tax package, and Our Security Measures for how we protect hosted environments.

Source: Intuit’s Lacerte system requirements (tax year 2025) and its Hosting for Lacerte and ProSeries pages. Check Intuit’s current pages for the latest details.