joelgilb

As reported in the Progressive Accountant Software Glitches: Some Fixed, Some Not http://www.theprogressiveaccountant.com/tax/software-glitches-some-fixed-some-not.html “ATX still has its critics and reports of serious problems have continued into the last week. But it also has its fans.” ' "There have been some glitches, like the dropped ‘complete' checkbox (which was fixed with a downloadable utility), memory issues, and a bad Schedule E update that slowed down all of the returns with Sch. E a lot, but in whole, most of the ‘problems' have been with getting used to the new platform,," says CPA Joan McHugh, who is based in Sacramento, Calif. "For example, I thought prior depreciation was calculating incorrectly with a 50-percent-owned rental, but I hadn't checked the prior year use box - it's on a separate page this year - and when I corrected that, the ‘error' cleared up." She likes the enhancements and believes that many who are complaining have outdated computers.'

ROFLMAO Thanks for the levity! I trust that this was a facetious comment.

Thanks Lynn and CB. Will take a look at those as well after season. The initial look at Drake sort of look similar to EasyAcct, with a more difficult setup, but all I had done is take a few minutes to skim it. When TAASC owned EasyAcct I had quite a bit of write-up work and I loved that program. DOS based (yea DOS), quick and very customizable. Payroll tables could be updated by the user since it used the percentage method in minutes, so no payroll subscription either, and had a separate Payroll software for the return generation. But when Intuit took them over I was not happy with how they both changed and handled it and just kept using the DOS version until it got too outdated.

Well, maybe the new reporting rules will protect the preparers from clients like this one that want to avoid the law.

Not sure if you saw my earlier post above. Was wondering what you use and recommend. I once used TAASC's Easy Accounting. Dropped when Intuit took it over. I haven't done more than look at it at this point. No time to get up to speed on it with the tough season we are all having. Also, when did you demo it? Is it possible they have improved it? Just looking for options here and my write-up work is a pretty minor piece of my practice. Mostly I do IRS representation and Tax Court.

lmao

SFA, I don't think my last post above yours even once mentioned ATX or bashed it, but if it is being taken that way I am truly sorry, And no, I don't think you are out of line. your post was pleasant and respectful. BTW, I am not bitter at ATX. Disappointed yes. I have been a user since 1999 and loved the software. If it does not get fixed or CCH has to discontinue it, I well be even more disappointed. {Well actually I used it when it was first published and was little more than a Free Forms Software}.

Already received IRS notices that the refund is different. When determining why, went back in the ATX 2012 and the return is now different than printed.

No I am not in the blush of a new relationship and giddy in love. I am a realist. In telling others about my experience with Drake, I am just offering my personal experience to help them make a decision. Drake is not for everyone, but none of the products are. I have tried every other software out there before I "SETTLED" on Drake (including little known ones like QRS). Every software has pluses and minuses. All have their own quirks and ways of doing the same thing. Each software presents us challenges and compromises, because of the way developers and programmers think. And none of them think like preparers. I don't always like the way Drake does things, and have already submitted to Drake 3 pages of suggested improvements and enhancements. Well I didn't try TaxWorks this year (did last year) or TRX, as it was a new unusable product out of the gate. Programs I liked the best were of course the most expensive ones; ProSystems FX and Lacerte (I didn't like Thomson Reuter's UltraTax CS though), but my practice can't really justify the cost of these. I am primarily an Attorney representing clients before IRS, The U.S. Tax Court and working with Criminal Tax Lawyers in the main Federal Court. So tax preparation work is only a small piece of my practice. I have been in this business professionally since 1979. Have used and tried many of the programs. Was one of the first to move from Service Bureaus to In-House tax preparation using of all things the Single Return Version of TurboTax. At the time (1983), I wrote along with the assistance from a programmer friend of mine a Custom Return Manager to allow the basic TurboTax to enable us to prepare multiple returns, automatically backing up files and logging into client files, switching between new blank returns and client returns transparently. Simplistic by todays standards, but at least it was a workable alternative. I installed this very system in almost a dozen of my friends offices in this very business. Shortly thereafter, I went around the Chicago area setting up In-House systems for a number of the small to medium sized offices, along with a Systems Consultant and Accounting Software Programer. Every office had different needs and we set their offices up accordingly. In none of which I installed TruboTax btw. In those days, there were hundreds of Tax Software options. Over the years these either were bought up for the User Bases or simply went out of business. I can't tell you how many of those I tested and worked with, just because of the consulting end of the business. When the market narrowed, so did that business, and I dropped it from my practice. Now I am just doing what I have to!

One more thing. As for me, I have noted at least 3 returns so far that changed upon efile, submitting different numbers than the prepared and printed returns. These are returns I now have to amend, because ATX dropped out information input into the package. I can no longer trust the accuracy of this product. I hope mine were isolated incidents, but warn others to carefully check to make sure this does not or has not happened to them I have two friends using ATX. one of my friends has noted similar problems, the other seems to be ok.

Although I am using Drake for all my returns now, I was one of the unlucky few to have filed too many to get a refund, so still have ATX. I installed ATX 12.12 just to test and it is not one IOTA better or faster than the previous versions. Still not a viable tax product anymore. 2 minutes to load software and about the same to load client returns on the server and about 7 minutes for each task on the workstations is not even close to acceptable. Lag between input is also still a problem. As even the people at RavenDB have said: "{Quote Oren @ RavenDB} It is simply that this is not a supported configuration, it is going to cause problems, from the slowness that you already noted to data corruption bugs to a lot of other stuff. You are not supposed to use this on a network share." Since it took them essentially 4 years to give us ATX 2012, I wouldn't expect them to fix it much faster.

Thought I was being helpful Joan, apparently not. And after rereading your posts, I see that Drake probably won't do the trick for you and that ATX is probably your best bet.

What do you use or recommend?

And CA, I have never had an easier time prepping a CA return! ATX was so much more effort for the same thing. Just not sure who is feeding you all this bad stuff about the other software companies out there. Must be CCH! Stop putting up that mental block to change! It is necessary and you will find your life is better for it. As for RDP returns, I wish I could answer that one, but I have yet to create one in Drake. So, I suggest you call them! They will not only answer the phone in SECONDS, they will honestly answer your questions. Again, I have never received better Tech Support for any software, not just Tax software! As for your friend not being able to do things in Drake, maybe your friend didn't take the time to learn how Drake does things. I have found a few times I wasn't able to do something, until I contacted support and they showed me how. Once I new, it all made sense too!

Joan, The only thing that Drake can't do BETTER than ATX is the 1000's of forms. And really how often do we use them. Well me more than most because I am an attorney and do a lot of other things in my practice. For that I can and do subscribe to CFS Tools and can add a Superforms Subscription if I really need it. Don't let CCH and ATX convince you of something that is just not true! In fact, today I found out that I have been preparing the 1116 incorrectly as long as I have used ATX! In Drake I have the option of not preparing the 1116 if the Foreign Tax is less than $300 for single and 600 for MFS (the majority of them). When not using the form in this return I got my client (correctly) a $53.00 FTC. When using the form it limited the FTC by allocating the sched A itemized deductions, reducing the credit to $31.00. ATX has never done this correctly!

Joan: His problem is that he is still using ATX!

Well, I tried TaxWise for Free and it was so bad I bought Drake. Instantly the pressure went down!

None, when this happens your only solution is to exit and restart ATX. This is because the DB grabs all your PC's reseources and then doesn't even have any remaining resources to run its own modules. Shutting down ATX and restarting clears these resources. In some cases you may even need to reboot your entire system.

A developed ATX Developer

The ATX PDF driver even now is flawed. I recommend using a third party PDF driver. Either one of the few Good Free choices aor one of the many reasonably priced Retail versions.

But it is ok to line CCH's pockets, when they sell you an unworkable Alpha version of a tax software, causing all your problems in the 1st place?

Huh?

I hear that ATX version 12.76.11.123458 will work like a charm! Estimated release date 03/30/2017!

Joan: Once again John is right!

Time to switch software people! ATX and TaxWise (yes I tried this one-ATX gave me a simultaneous free license to it. Piece-O-Crap!) are just not usable products.