New email from ATX with a little more detail

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I received this today. I have a stand alone machine and am still deciding which way to go.
Dear Valued ATX Customer:

The ATX 2013 Preview wrapped up at the end of last month, and we have been reviewing the feedback we received from your peers who tested an advance version of ATX 2013 software. We asked Preview participants to focus on some features of ATX software.

The Preview participant pool was made up of tax professionals much like yourself and provided a representative mix of the ATX customer base.

• 62% of Preview participants work in firms with 1-5 employees
• 39% file 100-300 returns per year
• 57% use stand-alone computers, while 43% work in a network environment

After using the ATX 2013 Preview software each week, participants were asked to fill out a brief survey focusing on the software features they used during the week. We want to share some of the survey results with you.

Installation and Performance

• Installation is different than in years past, and Preview participants requested more information to guide them through the process. We have already taken steps to modify the setup selections based on their input.
• We asked Preview participants about the time it took to launch the software once it had been installed. 87% of survey respondents said the amount of time it took to launch was acceptable to them.
• The network structure has been redesigned in ATX 2013 to enhance performance and stability. These changes were favorably received and participants were generally pleased with software stability.

Return Manager

• We asked Preview participants to create a new return using the Preview software. 87% of respondents were satisfied with the amount of time it took to start working on a return once a form had been selected.
• 87% of survey respondents were also satisfied with the amount of time it took to add a new form to a return.
• Nearly 70% of respondents were satisfied with the amount of time it took to open returns. Satisfaction with the opening of small and medium-sized returns was high. For large returns (80+ forms), some respondents noted improvement but would like to see additional improvement. We are continuing to work on the Return Open speed prior to the release of the software.
• Participants responded positively to new pagination functionality which should speed up data display on each page of the client return and offered suggestions for additional future enhancements.

Client Letter

• We have provided full editing features for the standard client letter, and participants were very pleased to have this functionality.
• 79% of survey respondents testing Client Letter functionality found the process to apply modifications to client letters globally (across letters for all clients) or locally (specific to individual clients) to be intuitive and said it made sense to them.
• Over 80% of Preview participants use ATX for client letters. When those participants who do not currently use ATX for client letters tried the ATX 2013 Preview Client Letter, 47% of respondents said they would be inclined to use ATX Client Letter in the future. Another 41% said they might use it in the future.
• 50% of survey respondents said the ability to add and remove text was their favorite Client Letter feature, while another 43% ranked the ability to save changes globally or locally as their favorite Client Letter feature.

Printing

• We asked Preview participants to test Print Manager during the final week of the Preview. 93% of respondents found Print Manager navigation to be intuitive. 79% of survey respondents reported favorably on the speed of return printing.
• 83% of survey respondents were satisfied with the speed with which the Print dialog populated forms.

In each of these areas, a number of Preview participants offered suggestions for additional enhancements to ATX software. We will be working on incorporating many of these suggestions into software updates in the coming months or into future versions of ATX. Some Preview participants also identified areas where it would be helpful for the user to have a little more information about a specific feature or process. We are already working on a series of educational tips to guide the user through changes to ATX features and functionality. These tips will be available later this fall.

Preview participants used a variety of operating systems and hardware. Their experience, and yours, will be impacted by the capabilities of their system and equipment. For that reason, we encourage you to check your hardware and software to see how it compares to the minimum and recommended system requirements for ATX 2013. You can do so by using our System Analysis Tool, which you can access by clicking here.

For months, we have been sharing information with you about the changes we have been making to ATX software. We thought you would like to hear from your peers for a change. In the coming weeks we will share their specific comments with you.

Respectfully,




Kerri Gibson
Director, Product Management - Small Professional Segment

I received this today.

© 2013 CCH Small Firm Services. All rights reserved.
225 Chastain Meadows Court NW, Suite 200 | Kennesaw, Georgia 30144 USA
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[Guest Taxed]

If the results are indeed correct, it appears ATX is making much needed progress. Folks who are on stand alone computers should be able to use it without much of the "delay" in opening or printing issues.

[jshtax]

Blah blah blah....where is discussion of speed as it pertains to working within a return.

[Guest Taxed]

Why don't you give them your perspective and post it here for other ATX users to compare your experience. Those people who are waiting for a review by the beta testers may appreciate a wider perspective before they make their final decision for 2014 season.

[jshtax]

It is simple. The larger a return gets the slower the software runs. This is due to the software having issues clearing cache. Until this is resolved the larger returns will always suffer. Unfortunately for me 80% of our returns are large enough to cause the program to run slowly. I built a return from ground up and once the client file got above let's say 1MB the input lag started showing up. These returns had k1, rental schedule and depreciation. I would willing to bet it has something to do with how ATX communicates with FAM. Has anyone else tried this exercise of building a return from ground up seeing if and when slowness begins?

[Guest Taxed]

Just a suggestion. Unless you have confidential taxpayer info in your large test plan, perhaps some other beta testers can run that same plan on their system and compare the timings. If it varies significantly, that is something ATX should worry, just like this year some users were relatively trouble free compared to others and it had to do with their setup.

I think at one point Eric suggested the same thing and he was willing to provide some space on his server to store the test plans.

[JohnH]

Blah blah blah....where is discussion of speed as it pertains to working within a return.

Could it be that there are some things they just don't want to talk about?

[Guest Taxed]

Could it be that there are some things they just don't want to talk about?

That is why this forum is helpful.

[JohnH]

You're correct.

It's even helping me and I'm no longer an ATX user.

It's helping me make a decision about my backup plan.

[Richcpaman]

Speed is of concern...

But they have not *really* discussed installation on a network and how that will work....

So, its easier to install, and they had to provide more info....

But does it run on a network like it did prior to 2012?

That is what I need to know...

Rich

[jklcpa]

Several users over on the official forum are reporting that the system analysis tool that is accessed by the link in the letter does not run. One person that called in was on hold for about 20 minutes until the rep provided a different link. Sheesh!

[Margaret CPA in OH]

I downloaded that tool several days ago without incident and ran it. My system passed with flying colors except for the screen resolution. Well, I can put it back to teeny, tiny numbers and not be able to read it or leave as is for my convenience. Not worried about that.

[jklcpa]

Margaret, did you run it from one of the links in the ATX blog or from the letter? The letter only came out yesterday is the one that contained the faulty link.

[Jack from Ohio]

So much conjecture and speculating!!!

[mcb39]

Margaret, did you run it from one of the links in the ATX blog or from the letter? The letter only came out yesterday is the one that contained the faulty link.

Judy, I did mine from the link in the blog. No issues downloading or using. My system only failed on speed of Internet. Can't do much about that since the service I have is my only option.

[Guest Taxed]

My system only failed on speed of Internet. Can't do much about that since the service I have is my only option.

Friends, a lot of companies that are promoting cloud based software assume that you have fast internet. Many of us don't have fast internet for any number of reasons beyond our control. So getting stuck with such a vendor is asking for trouble when you need that service during tax season. I am staying away from cloud based systems.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Margaret, did you run it from one of the links in the ATX blog or from the letter? The letter only came out yesterday is the one that contained the faulty link.

I believe it was from the blog. There was some announcement, perhaps even mentioned here, that led me to that. I still have it on my desktop and downloaded it Oct. 10.

[jshtax]

Why don't you give them your perspective and post it here for other ATX users to compare your experience. Those people who are waiting for a review by the beta testers may appreciate a wider perspective before they make their final decision for 2014 season.

There is no formula or details to the return. Just make something up. Work on the rental schedule early in the process go add more forms and schedules throw in some depreciation and come back to the rental schedule. When I came back i noticed what was taking less than half a second to go from cell to cell was now taking 3-4 seconds.