W-2 readers or scanners.....

[AZ-Tax]

Does anyone use them and if so how reliable are they in grabbing all data from a W-2 accurately?

Do these scanners or readers scan or read any other tax forms like 1099-R, etc?

Any other info would be helpful like manf names of scanner or readers, prices etc.

[Lion]

Cch

CCH has a Scan & Flow, two parts really. The Scan reads many tax forms and bookmarks and labels them in the order of a tax return as well as scanning client notes and other items to keep in the same file with the tax return documents. The Flow will drop the information into a tax return and compare it to the prior year return to flag missing documents, etc. Both give you screens to check for accuracy. In fact, Scan flags items it wants you to check, is this a 6 or an 8 kind of things. Scan turns things around and straightens them out. Haven't had time to give it a work out but had a demo at their user conference and another on line with a live instructor. Pricey but the renewal price drops and they make deals from time to time. Check out their website and schedule a demo.

[Lion]

Links

Copy & past the following links in your brower:

http://tax.cchgroup.com/FlashDemos/scan/main.htm

# ProSystem fx Scan. - The winner of a 2006 Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Award, see how Scan simplifies the compilation and preparation of client source documents, streamlining processes and empowering your professional staff to concentrate on value added client services.

http://tax.cchgroup.com/FlashDemos/scan_autoflow/main.htm

# ProSystem fx Scan v4.0 with AutoFlow Technology - Together, ProSystem fx Tax, ProSystem fx Scan, PDFlyer and AutoFlow Technology give your firm a complete paperless 1040 solution, with the 1040 data import capability you’ve always imagined.

[AZ-Tax]

Looks like those CCH ones require changing Tax Software

I use ProSeries and I would prefer not to change tax software. To clarify a little more what I am inquiring about is a reader or scanner that pulls data from W-2, 1099-R, etc. and auto enters into my W-2 worksheet within my ProSeries.

[BOB W]

I wouldn't give this process any consideration.... Some one still needs to check all info any way. But I'm a sole tax person so I do everything myself. Now if I had a staff person/people who know nothing about tax returns and all they had to do was scan in paper it may have some merit.

[Lion]

Intuit

If you want the scanned info to flow into ProSeries, then you should be asking Intuit to show you their product.

Bob, you can put 50 documents in your feeder and return to work; when they're done, you can look them over on your screen and flow them into your software. I'm a fast typist and would never use it for one W-2, but for my little old ladies with dozens and dozens of Forms 1099-INT and DIV, it could be a time saver. Or, for my self-employed who bring me pages of handwritten notes that I want to keep without my filing cabinets overflowing. No time filing, no manila file folders. I want to give it a workout.

[JohnH]

I don't see how this type of technology can ever be reliable unless the info is bar coded or in some manner digitally repeated somewhere on the forms. It certainly would save a lot of time if it could be trusted. Seems to me that anyone using it in its present form is just volunteering to be a beta test site for the manufacturer.

[BOB W]

If you want the scanned info to flow into ProSeries, then you should be asking Intuit to show you their product.

Bob, you can put 50 documents in your feeder and return to work; when they're done, you can look them over on your screen and flow them into your software. I'm a fast typist and would never use it for one W-2, but for my little old ladies with dozens and dozens of Forms 1099-INT and DIV, it could be a time saver. Or, for my self-employed who bring me pages of handwritten notes that I want to keep without my filing cabinets overflowing. No time filing, no manila file folders. I want to give it a workout.

About those little old ladies, does the scanner open the envelopes too?

[JohnH]

I like to open the envelopes myself. Then pull all the boilerplate out and cram it directly into the shredder while I'm keeping them occupied with conversation. Watching the expression on their faces as the shredder grinds away is priceless.