Abby Normal

MD added a new form and ATX decided we didn't even need it.

My Social Security number may not be considered "private" (whatever that means), and yes my health insurance, employers and many others have had access to it, but that doesn't mean that I'm ok with hackers in Russia having access to it.

I programmed in basic in the 80s. It was both fun and easy.

Except the downside of having all of your clients personal data including Social Security numbers and birth dates is a whole lot worse than having to just restore your data drive.

Follow these instructions CAREFULLY: https://support.cch.com/sfs/solution/000048310/15000

This probably won't help, but here's the latest video from ATX on conversions: https://support.cch.com/videolibrary/sfs#/videoPlayer/RDFPTCWu3og

Lesson: Do your own cloud to a server you control. Hackers won't even know you exist.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-20-000-data-center-management-systems-exposed-to-hackers/amp/

An OS either works or it keeps you from working. You don't make money with your OS, you make it with your apps. I'm still on 8.1 on a 9 year old computer and I couldn't be happier. I may never use Win10 on my computer. Our server has 10 but it just hosts data. I skipped 7 entirely, along with all the failed named OS's from Microsoft like Millennium and Vista. XP was the first great OS from MS. 95 & 98 would freeze multiple times per day. Other OS's I've used in order were NEC, Oasis/TheOS, DOS and Xenix. I don't know what OS's the big mainframes used in college but it was likely something from IBM.

Nope. I still fax them in because it's easier and takes less time. I asked someone at the IRS if the new uploading system would get the POA entered more quickly and was told, no. All POAs go into one queue whether faxed or uploaded, so I always choose the path of least resistance, and least effort. I email POAs to clients for them to print, sign, scan and return to me (or drop off). Then I fax to the CAF unit.

Wait. You've never pulled a transcript?! We do it all the time. Transcripts are instant on eservices but you need a POA on file to get them. The whole 'it's too big so we sent it to your mailbox' is just stupid. When you go to your mailbox you download it just the same as if it downloaded the first time.

The software probably tried to update and failed due to security software. I had that problem with iDrive, which I never really cared for. It kept trying to update and failing, but it failed after it had uninstalled the old version. This is also why they weren't notified. I'm guessing the software does the notification, not the website. It would be better if the website notified you. I have Backblaze set (from the website) to email me backup results weekly. So if I don't get that email, I know something's wrong. But I open backblaze from the system tray several times a week to see how it's going. The lesson is, you can't ignore your computer and assume everything is working. Computers mess up, and you need to be sure what you think is running, actually is running. This is why I'm always looking at my system tray area to see what icons are there, including backblaze.

Same.

I'm picturing you sleeping in front of your server with a rifle in your arms.

Cloud storage is way more secure than a laptop you carry around with all of your data on it. Your drive better be encrypted and you should power off your laptop whenever it's in transport.

Carbonite won't let you backup the folder that contains ATX data. That's why we switched to BackBlaze. Plus we image our server drive overnight when no one is (usually) working. Online backups are not great for databases like ATX. That's why some online backups have a special service for backing up databases. We opted to do local disk images instead. There's no quicker restore than loading a disk image. (https://www.acronis.com/en-us/articles/imaging-software/)

I saw others posting about this issue on another forum. ATX is aware and a fix is coming. I don't have many EIC returns and none of them have come in yet.

If you change software, do you lose access to all your old data? I'm guessing you do. Do you really want to trust someone else with your data? Do you trust that they'll back up your data frequently enough? Do you want your data on someone else's server that is many times more likely to be hacked than your own server? If the internet goes down you can't keep working.

If your windows has a password and ATX has a password, isn't that multi-factor enough?

That's like trying to do a puzzle without all of the pieces. There's probably no difference in tax if you just assume the carryover losses are all ordinary. What I don't quite get is how you can know the total amount of the carryover losses without having the detail.

I don't see how. Distributions reduce basis, but no below zero. Distributions in excess of basis are capital gains, but as far as I know, that isn't passive income, so no passive losses will be released.

Yes, under the newest rules, many, many things are now just an expense. Even a million dollar roof replacement.

I'd probably argue for a 15 year life so I could bonus or 179 them, rather than $200 per year depreciation.

Yes. They offer shred on site for a slightly higher fee, and you can watch them shred.

Between burning up shredders on a regular basis, plus labor to shred, bag and drive to recycling, we found it was much cheaper to hire a service. They want to come once a month but we can skip every other month so only pay a nominal fee 6x per year. But like you said, we have very little to shred these days as we keep very few paper records, so it's more about recycling than security.