ProSeries

[Black Bart]

Got a letter offering ATXers the whole nine yards at locked-in price of $1,065.00 for three years if we'll switch:

Unlimited fed and state/indidvidual/business/all states + unlimited e-file.

Tempting. Wonder what "regular" price is?

[jimmcg]

Intuit ProSeries

$1,099 plus sales tax. Have used it for years, excellent program.

[KBTS]

Proseries offer

I think the offer for ATXers to switch is what would normally be their Power Tax Bundle, which is listed on their website at $3,999. The $1,099 price is a three year locked rate as well. I need to call them to renew my software - hope they come up with some good discounts for me as well!

[sea-tax]

I think the offer for ATXers to switch is what would normally be their Power Tax Bundle, which is listed on their website at $3,999. The $1,099 price is a three year locked rate as well. I need to call them to renew my software - hope they come up with some good discounts for me as well!

Good luck , On another tax msg board people were saying that they called Pro series and they said only for atxers. These people were upset to say the least. Apperantly they don't feel the need to honor loyalty.

I use Lacerte and I know same company but what am I to do. I am so used to the program and it really is the best program available. Only complaint I have ever heard about it is it is too expensive.

[Unregistered]

I have used Pro Series for years, wouldn't think of changeing for any price. I locked in with Pro Series at a discount 2 yrs ago.

[jainen]

in your face again

I use Lacerte and it is a fabulous program, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone used to ATX because the interface is so different and the tech support is... well, basically it isn't. I ALSO use ProSeries on one group of returns. It is also fabulous and it's much easier to work, and I think an ATX user would be comfortable with it.

Since I don't have a team to check and produce my ProSeries returns, I appreciate it's strong diagnostics and easy printing, two factors I've always found deficient in ATX. I expect that CCH will focus on competitive issues like that. I see no reason to worry that CCH will discontinue the product. ATX users are obviously more likely to switch to ProSeries than to ProSystem, so the acquisition wouldn't make sense if that were the plan.

Black Bart, if you are satisfied with ATX and aren't planning any radical changes in your practice, stay with them. Intuit's trying to grab you before you realize that ATX is in fact here to stay. It's a good offer, especially if you do many business returns, but if and when ATX were to be discontinued you can be sure Intuit will get right back in your face again.

[Black Bart]

I had Lacerte too and

the best program available. Only complaint I have ever heard about it is it is too expensive.

that's the only gripe I ever had or heard of about it.

[sea-tax]

that's the only gripe I ever had or heard of about it.

BB just a thought , if you got any tax friends in the area that use Lacerte why not see if you can share the cost of the program with them. Also I know they will give like a 50% discount for a branch office or affiliate company.

[Black Bart]

Copyright?

if you got any tax friends in the area that use Lacerte why not see if you can share the cost of the program with them.

Cheaper no doubt, but isn't that a breach of the copyright laws and wouldn't the sharER (whoever's name it's in) be taking all the risk rather than the sharEES if anything happened to come up about the infringement?

[Black Bart]

"Rashomon"

(a) Lacerte...is a fabulous program, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone used to ATX because the interface is so different and the tech support is... well, basically it isn't.

(b) I appreciate it's strong diagnostics...factor...I've always found deficient in ATX.

(c) Black Bart, if you are satisfied with ATX and aren't planning any radical changes in your practice, stay with them. Intuit's trying to grab you before you realize that ATX is in fact here to stay. It's a good offer, especially if you do many business returns, but if and when ATX were to be discontinued you can be sure Intuit will get right back in your face again.

is a famous Japanese movie in which four people witness the same crime and give widely and wildly varying and mutually contradictory accounts of it. I think you and I have arrived at that Rashomonic point since:

(a) I bought ATX because the format was so similar to Lacerte's and I was hoping their tech support would be only half as wonderful as Lacerte's.

(b) One of the excellent features that I like most about ATX is their strong diagnostics.

(c) Here we harmonize -- it's a good offer, I don't plan any changes, I don't do many business returns, I think it's a marketing ploy, and you seem pretty sure ATX will keep on truckin', so I'll stay with them. But if they do disappear, you are herewith absolved of all responsiblity (I promise not to sue). And...thanks for the tip.

[jimmcg]

License Agreement

BB you are probably correct. All the software companies have their own licensing agreements which they ask the user to agree to. One would have to read this particular agreement to be absolutely sure.

[jainen]

the hat trick

>>the format was so similar to Lacerte<<

I concede the point. I used ATX for several years in the 90's when Lacerte was still DOS-based. Instead of re-writing the program for Windows, Lacerte just gradually morphed over to the new platform while we switched back-and-forth to take advantage of various features. It's no longer true, but for some reason I still think of and use Lacerte as if it were all white on black.

>>hoping their tech support would be only half as wonderful as Lacerte<<

I concede this point too! I'm not really the one who makes the tech support calls in that office. I just know the tax program crashes the network a couple times a month and we reboot a lot and I can never authorize pay-per-returns from my workstation. With ProSeries I don't ever rely much on tech support. I just call customer service (a.k.a. sales) and they get the job done.

>>strong diagnostics<<

I concede this point as well (the hat trick!) We probably need different kinds of reminders. I tend to leave things out. I admit it's unreasonable to demand my software tell me that I forgot to, for example, report interest from a particular bank, but somehow ProSeries always gives me a long list of stuff like that and ATX was more, I suppose, likely to assume I knew what I was doing. I really have no idea if what I am doing is right, because ProSeries doesn't seem to care what exactly I fill in as long as it is some non-zero number. ATX was much more sniveling about things like overrides. Maybe they're cool now; I haven't loaded the 2005 demo yet. Or maybe I shouldn't override so much.

[S T]

Lacerte

I though Lacerte was the greatest until the price increases when Intuit took over, Then they tried to convert me to ProSeries, I demo'd and it was so different from Lacerte I couldn't see my way to make the change, and price differential was not that much, so totally changed to another software.

Yes no doubt, they will "sell out" too in the next few years. But I did cut my cost by 50% and I still have 90% of what Lacerte has to offer.

BB, could be that Pro Series might work for you after ATX, so maybe the offer is a sound offer, but then again, maybe you just need to see what CCH has to offer and ask for a several year committment. Prior to Lacerte I had a rep that provided me with a special deal at CCH, and that product was really good. Of course now the rep is gone. That is when I made the change to Lacerte in 1996.

With the Pro Series offer you need to really investigate what they are offering, how many 1040's, one local state, out of state or multiple states, efile, extensions, are business entities extra on pay per, etc.

Sandy

[S T]

Pro Series

I haven't demo'd Pro Series for a couple of years, but it seemed to be light years apart from LaCerte. Diagnostics being one, but as I recall Depreciation was another.

ATX, I know a lot of you have used it, but coming off Lacerte couldn't quite get there.

Sandy

[Black Bart]

st / jc

jc / If I start conceding because some of my brain's data base is out-of-style or old-fashioned, then I'll be here all week (lotsa my info's dated). These attitudes about software are strictly subjective -- based on our individual experiences with a particular software and possibly not truly representative of the product, but enough to gladden/sadden us sufficiently to either praise/curse it. I never used Lacerte when it was DOS-based, so I don't know about that and, also, my program never crashed. Re PPR, I did do some state pay-per-returns which were confusing/difficult to get into. About tech support, I never talked to any Lacerte rep who wasn't knowledgeable about tax prep and I've never talked to an ATX rep that is. On the other hand, I've seen board comments from posters who were absolutely dee-lighted with ATX support. Companies and reps change, or maybe they were lucky and I wasn't -- who can say?

st / I too demoed ProSeries and it didn't seem like Lacerte's. I saved 75% going from Lacerte to ATX (but later thought -- "The things I do for money!"). Still, when it runs, it runs very, very well and I think I'll stay with them until someting changes. I used their "1040 Office" last year (cost-$635). I do very few business returns and don't really need a "Cadillac package" like ProSeries is discounting (it "sounded good" -- why do we always prefer "super-max" versions?)