Software Advice

[Super Mom]

I'm currently and ATX user. I'm thinking of switching to Refunds Today. I just completed and telephone/computer conference where they reviewed the software with me and I could see it, and I really liked it. It seems to be thorough, and easy to use. I don't know however, how well they will be in actual tax practice. I am a very small practice, so software like Drake and Tax Wise are not an option for me. Anyone have any advice or warnings?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Grumpy]

If you are only doing 1040's you might want to take a ook at Tax Act.

http://www.taxact.com

[erchess]

Social Security Lump Sum

Call up your software vendor and ask them how their software helps you do a Social Security Lump Sum Election.

For any including OP who don't know, here is what I am talking about. Sooner or later you will get a taxpayer whose SSA1099 states that they received a six figure sum from SSA and that some of the money was for previous tax years. In my experience these forms have come only to disabled people who began to draw SSA in the previous year.

Sure the taxpayer could legally ignore the fact that some of the money was for previous tax years, but that could be a gigantic mistake. Instead what a responsible preparer will do is get the client to provide their tax returns (or income information if they didn't file in those years) and calculate any tax increases that would have applied if the SS monies had actually been received in those years. Then you see whether it is better for the client to carry back or not carry back. Notice that you are not amending the prior year returns so you don't care if some of the years involved are closed. Anyway you can get from various places including the IRS a long and tedious but do-able worksheet for making the comparison. And any old software package will have a relatively simple procedure for overriding its calculation of the taxable social security. I personally think doing it that way is appallingly unprofessional. I get software (Ultratax) that has the relevant worksheet and makes the calculations for me after I merely enter the raw data. The price is very affordable in my view - $150 to become a user and $12 to 17 per return.

I will only say this - If you don't stay where you are or go to Ultratax, I believe that you will at some time or other meet a return that you either send away or partially do by hand. I don't want to live with either alternative..I don't think that is simply because my arthritic hands write badly and painfully but type painlessly and well, but that may be part of it.

[Corduroy Frog]

Real World Software

...real world software means having a package accurate enough and economic enough to meet your needs.

If you prepare 300 returns, you will no doubt encounter a return that requires a $3000 software package. Erchess has an example of a lump sum social security payment for prior years -- I have had exactly one such return out of my last 1000, and I do almost exclusively those returns which would not qualify for a short form.

I have a $750 package, which might require me to do such a return by hand. I have had to do one return "by hand" over the last 4 years I've been using this package. The economic impact of balancing this return with the cost of the software means that I would have to charge this customer $2250 for that return.

Another phenomenon coming with software packages today -- practitioners are becoming engrained to the data configuration of the software instead of the income/tax structure presented on the 1040. That means something as common as the child tax credit is associated with the "personal data" section of the software questionnaire instead of the "credits" section of the tax return. I'm probably an old fogey, but I think this is very unhealthy because it disassociates the thought process of cause and effect.

Stated another way - being trained on the 1040 in the pre-software days, I could estimate the effect of information on someone's tax by simply rolling the transaction in my head through the architecture of the 1040 instead of becoming overly dependent on the software package.

When I had the ATX package, this was avoided because the configuration of the ATX was exactly the same as the 1040 and supporting schedules. Data entry was input directly onto the form and updated there.

[LkwdTax]

1040 Data fields

Corduroy Frog,

You aren't any relations to the "Velvet Frog"?? Sorry I think I am dating myself.

A agree with you on the subject of data entry screens vs the 1040 fill in of old days.
I just had this conversation with my son (24) is helping me in the business now. I sent him last year to Libery Tax School, as it impossible to train and teach a blood relative.

They do teach tax law and practice (limited) but it really is a simple method of some tax knowledge and then let the software data screens cathc all the information. We concluded that this fall he will attend the HRB classes. I believe that they do more hand fill in on 1040's. That plus after a full time tax season under his belt he realized his limitations.

We both know that the problem with software today and data entry screens is sometimes you do not that special "feel" that something is right or wrong.

Sorry for the side track on the software. Here is a suggestion regarding the switch to
Refunds Today.

Most Tax Preparers read the boards ( various ones ) on and off all during the summer.
I tend to read them once or twice day this week and then ignore them for two weeks.

SuperMom, run the questions again once or twice in July and August before you make a decision. Unless it is a tax software pricing issue, you might get more feedback that only helps you in your decision process.

Good Luck.................

[sea-tax]

I personally use Lacerte in all my offices and love it.
Supermom I would look at lacerte, proseries or ultra tax on a pay per return basis. That way as your practice grows you will be able to move from pay per to full fledged. Why have to resort to retraining yourself and the hassle of switching client data every couple years?

[Holland]

That is not what UltraTax tells me on the phone

<snip>
I get software (Ultratax) that has the relevant worksheet and makes the calculations for me after I merely enter the raw data. The price is very affordable in my view - $150 to become a user and $12 to 17 per return.
<snip>

I just called UltraTax to check on your price quotation. I am told that UltraTax does not normally sell the pay per return package to anyone who does NOT have at least one federal license. Cheapest one available apparently is close to $800. So the correct price would be about $950 to sign on and then a fee for each return.

[Corduroy Frog]

Lkwd Tax

Yes, I'll go ahead and date myself. No Velvet Frog for me. But you'll get to read the whole boring story if you want below:

I was at one time a somewhat accomplished musician on guitar, piano, accordian, and vocals but not really good enough to make a living at it. In my youth, there was a change in contemporary music -- from groups with "plural" names, to groups with "noun" names. And so, popular groups such as "The Seekers", "The Drifters", etc. slowly gave way to the new "noun" groups - a la "Chicago Subway Connection", "Jefferson Airplane", "Creem", and the like.

I was playing in a folk group, "The Concepts" which suddenly found itself with an archaic plural name in the late 1960's. By 1969, our group had started traveling in 3-4 states. Our lead singer came in one day and discussed with us the need to change our name to a noun. We would entertain several ideas, and swore that the one pre-qualifier was that it had to be totally inane - i.e. not make sense to anyone. After sleeping on it, I submitted the name "Corduroy Frog." Since no one could possibly put together a thought process from the title, the name was instantly adopted.

The Corduroy Frog was ill-fated. All of us went to the same college and we were getting ready for summer break. After one practice we said goodbye until August. During the summer the lead singer got drafted and later died in VietNam. The bass man transferred to another school. The girl got pregnant and her suspected lover, the guitarist extraordinaire, left for parts unknown. That left me.

The Corduroy Frog was never registered under copyright, so any of you young tax people who want to play in a group are welcome to use it. Somehow, I don't perceive there are long lines forming to do this, so I will carry this with me perhaps forever as the last member the vestige of the Corduroy Frog, who survived long enough for one practice session.

[LkwdTax]

Corduroy Frog

Corduroy,


This story is priceless.



Thanks .............

[Lion]

ProSeries

Just received a demo of ProSeries. Intuit salesman told me $1,099 for unlimited 1040 and all states, $150 for unlimited efile, and $450 for 20 nonpersonal/business returns as pay per return. I'm looking for good diagnostics and good support and a good message board, as I'll be on my own. An assistant would be in the $3,000 range. So, I'll tune in to their next Webinar in July to check it out and use it on a couple of returns I have on extension and redo some returns I did on ATX. Open to comments from current users. Should I look at Lacerte, too?

[LawrenceGR]

Proseries

I started using Proseries 3 or 4 years ago for me and my practice it works very well. I do all 1040's I used to one 1065 but I lost that one and I'm glad I try to focus on individuals. I do think you could get a better price out of Intuit, they were offering a package of Fed, all States and unlimited E-file for $999 but I think that expired 6/30/07. I don't remember who said it but Ultra Tax is available on a per return basis, you do have to buy the license for $150. I tested that program this year and it is a very good program I don't think it's worth $1500 more than Proseries. As is the always case you really have to find a program that fits your needs and your budget. One thing to keep in mind you often get what you pay for.

[erchess]

At least one Federal License? Normally?

All I know is that they did sell me what I wanted on the terms I specified. What does it mean to have at least one Federal License? What do they mean by normally?

I am an EA, so is that a Federal License? Also people who know me would think of a lot of adjectives to describe me but normal would not be one of them. It could be that the salesman sensed that about me or that he was more than usually eager to make a sale. Ir could also be that they have had a change of policy since making the sale to me. But my guess is that I just ran into a more flexible salesman than the one someone else ran into.

[Joe Btfsplk]

Software

If you do individuals only you might get by with Tax Act. Otherwise, ATX or Drake would be the best. If you can't afford $ 1000 for software based on your anticipated volume of business, you probably should spend it anyway since it won't take many returns to at least break even. If you are only going to do about a dozen returns, you may just break even, but if you do more, and build your business, the $ 1000 will be worth it as a start-up cost.