PDF of Drake screen codes

[Guest Taxed]

The attached pdf lists all the enhancements for Drake 2013

Sorry can't attach the pdf. The option to attach is not visible when I edit???

[jklcpa]

The ability to attach a file or document isn't available in these other vendor forums

[Guest Taxed]

It was driving me crazy. I thought I was doing something wrong.

Here is a cut and paste version:

WHAT’S NEW in Drake 2013

Electronic Signatures

The e-signature process is fully integrated in Drake 2013 (Drake e-Sign), making it easy to
incorporate into your existing workflow. This feature allows taxpayers and tax preparers to digitally
sign a variety of documents, including tax forms, bank applications, and consent forms. Drake e-Sign
is authentic, tamper-proof, and securely bound to the document.


Enhanced Calculatiion Results

The EF Status column of the calculation now displays the e-file eligibility off the main form, state
returns, and other e-file able state products. Also, the status of extensions is displayed for all
packages.


Several new indicators are now available in the EF status column on the Calculation Results
window.

Indicator EF eligibility

Green check mark Default product is eligible and no EF messages; other eligible products have been selected for e-file and have no EF messages
Red X Product not eligible for e-file due to EF messages
Accepted Product has already been transmitted and has received an “A” acknowledgment.
Suppressed Occurs on any product included in the return that is ready for e-file (no EF message) but Do NOT send Federal, Do not send any states, Suppress federal/state EF check boxes
have been selected on EF screen or at Setup > Options > EF tab
Not Selected Occurs on any product included in the return that is ready for e-file (no EF message) but has not been selected on the EF screen Not Available Indicates that e-file is not available for a specific state product. Can be used in a federal product for forms that are part of the
federal product but will not be e-filed with the return. (For instance, Form 5227 in the 1041 package. Even though you can complete the form in Drake, the 5227 will receive a “Not Available” indicator because the IRS accepts the 5227 in paper form only.)

Letter Editor

Drake’s letter editor now offers more options than ever to help you personalize letters, from adding borders to adjusting margins to customizing your letterhead. To view these settings, open the Client Communications Editor from Setup > Letters. Next, go to Setup > Letterhead, Margins, and Borders.

Also new for 2013, you can edit the letterhead further, by choosing it from the Open > Individual >
Letterhead option in the Letter Editor.


Organizer Checklist

New for 2013, Drake has added an Organizer Checklist to the program. Automatically printed with an
organizer, the checklist offers your clients a quick way to assure themselves they have gathered the
information you need to file accurate and complete tax returns.


Forms Based Data Entry Based Data Entry

Forms-based data entry allows you to enter a previously prepared 1040 return into the tax software. It
also provides an interesting interface for accessing data entry screens, since what you are doing is
selecting screens from a form. This data entry option has been available for only the 1040 package;
however, for 22013 this option is available for all packages. From the Home window, go to File >>
Forms Based Data Entry. Enter or select the desired return.

Scheduler

Drake’s Scheduler can now communicate with Windows Outlook and with Google so that you won’t
have to enter your appointments in two places. Scheduler can now send appointments made in
Drake’s Scheduler to your Outlook calendar or your Google calendar, and can pull appointments
made in Google or Outlook into your Scheduler.

Drake Status Page

Now you can check the status of Drake Software’s online services including Support, e-file, e-mail,
acknowledgements, bank processes, Online EF database, GruntWorx, SecureFilePro, Drake Zero,
Drake Hosted, Online Filing, and credit card processing.


More Helpful Help

Helps are more extensive and comprehensive now in Drake. When you access Help now, you’re not
only given the help you need, but you’re also given options for learning more about the topic you’re
seeking help for.

Help Videos -Short, instructional video clips have been added to the software, giving you quick “goto”
resources for learning about important preseason chores, such as setting up the software, data
entry, e-filing, letters, archiving, and Drake’s varied tools and products.

Help Links -Click the Help button from the Home window for links to the Drake KB, the Support site,
and your program Help. When you click the Help button on the Data Entry Menu, or when you right-
click any data-entry field within a Drake screen, you’re offered a list of options, among them links to
Program Help, to Navigation Help, to the Drake Support website, to the Drake Knowledge Base (KB),
and to the Drake e-Training Center. The link to the Drake KB includes a list of the eight most
frequently viewed articles.


RESEARCH

Drake Software customers will have a variety of tax research options for the 2014 filing season.
Within the Drake Software 2013 program, there will be access to a custom Internet search tool aimed
at giving you high quality search results from tax resource websites. This customizable tool lets you
manage a library of websites to search, eliminating unwanted search results and returning the
information most valuable to you. To access the Drake Custom Web Search tool, click Research
from the Home window toolbar.


NOTE: For 2013, Drake has partnered with two companies to provide tax reference materials at a
discount for Drake users: TheTaxBook and The TaxBook WebLibrary, and RIA Checkpoint. For
details, visit the Drake Support website (Support.DrakeSoftware.com), Partner Programs page.
These discounts are offered through the provider and your access to the materials will exist outside of
the software.


Searchable Selector Field

The selector field, located at the bottom of all Data Entry Menus, can now search for screens by
screen code, name, or keyword. Enter a screen name or form number to open a particular screen or
enter a keyword to show a list of all associated screens.

Select the desired screen and click Load Screen.

Banking and Financial Services

For more information about banking partners, visit the Partner Programs page on the Drake Support
website (Support.DrakeSoftware.com). For more info and to apply, go to EOM.1040.com.

BANKING PARTNERS

Advent
Refund Advantage
EPS Financial
Refundo
Republic Bank and Trust
River City Bank
Tax Products Group

Drake Hosted

Everything you love about Drake Software, accessible from anywhere. Run your Drake desktop
applications in the cloud with our new service, Drake Hosted. Drake Hosted takes care of the most
critical IT tasks of running a tax office using Drake Software.

[jklcpa]

Thanks! I've been all over the Drake site and didn't see this. Where did you find it?

[Guest Taxed]

I got to admit, Drake does not highlight all the changes as they should in the main website. Mr. Drake you need someone to highlight your products, especially the new features better.

It was hidden inside under update schools section. If you go to the Drake forum, another poster also linked it with all the school materials.

[jklcpa]

Found it, thanks. I saw that post but didn't have time to look at it right then, and never went back to it.

[grmy2h]

Thanks!!!!

[Guest Taxed]

I am going to look into the electronic signature pads, unless they are very expensive. Another gizmo on my wish list is a bar code scanner!

[grmy2h]

Newegg has the first 2 signature pads listed by Drake as recommended - on sale. I don't see an end date of the sale.

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-49-107-006

http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-49-107-029

[Guest Taxed]

The $80 model looks reasonable. Would like to hear from folks using other software that already allowed it their experience.

I mean to ink sign the 8879 and the state version by both spouses takes less than a minute. I don't do any bank products so will not need any more signatures. I only do a handful of paper filings for taxpayers who have some strange objection to Efile???

[jshtax]

Scheduler

Drake’s Scheduler can now communicate with Windows Outlook and with Google so that you won’t
have to enter your appointments in two places. Scheduler can now send appointments made in
Drake’s Scheduler to your Outlook calendar or your Google calendar, and can pull appointments
made in Google or Outlook into your Scheduler.

Almost makes the software worth the switch by itself.

[taxxcpa]

You can use an electronic signature pad if the clients come into your office and sign the pad--both husband and wife if it is a joint return. You can NOT use a digital signature to sign Form 8879. It is possible that this could change, but I think the digital signature might be too confusing for a lot of clients.

Most people on the Drake forum say they usually e-mail the forms to the client and the clients sign and then e-mail, fax or snail-mail it back rather than come to the preparer's office to sign either a form or a signature pad.

The signature pad would be most useful if you have a prepare-while-U-wait type of practice.

[shdytxmn]

New for 2013 does not include forms based entry for any returns except for 1040 and 1120 according to the version I installed last night. I use PRP and perhaps that is a limitation I will have to live with since I don't need the unlimited version.

[Guest Taxed]

Unless you can break old habits and get away from form based entry, you will not like Drake. I had to work hard at it because I too was used to Taxworks, ATX.

[TonyP]

Unless you can break old habits and get away from form based entry, you will not like Drake. I had to work hard at it because I too was used to Taxworks, ATX.

Well I'm and old ATX'er who switched to Drake for the 2013 tax year. Looked at the Form-Based data entry tutorial for 1040s, looks easy to get accustomed-to,... not much different from ATX, if not better. Most of my workload is 1040s with a few 1120Ss & 1041s so it shouldn't be much of a hassle to get acquainted. Has to be better than ATX last year.

[Guest Taxed]

Hopefully folks on this board who are using Drake can help each other out this tax season.

[JohnH]

Forms based data entry is vastly overrated. It's more of a crutch than an efficient means of tax preparation. There are rare occasions when I miss it, but on the whole I'm very glad that Drake helped me break that dependence and utilize data entry screens efficiently.

[grmy2h]

Hopefully folks on this board who are using Drake can help each other out this tax season.

I'm sure I will need a lot of help...I've been playing with the practice returns and it is different. Just will take more practice I hope.

[MAMalody]

Forms based data entry is vastly overrated. It's more of a crutch than an efficient means of tax preparation. There are rare occasions when I miss it, but on the whole I'm very glad that Drake helped me break that dependence and utilize data entry screens efficiently.

Hmmm. I kind of like forms based data entry. Question: do you review the data entry forms or the actual forms before releasing the return to the client?

[jklcpa]

I can't answer for John, but what I do is I review the actual return on the screen before printing it. When I am finished with my input, I click on "view" that calcs everything and brings up the forms to be printed in a list on the left side of the screen. It isn't all that different that what you see in ATX with the forms tabs over there. I can click on any of the forms, schedules, worksheets, and the letters that are listed to view exactly what the return includes.

[Guest Taxed]

No matter which tax prep software you are using, in my opinion the preparer should review all the lines of the actual paper return copy before giving a copy to the client and efiling. If the return is complicated I actually add up the figures by hand just to make sure. This is even more critical when you are doing multiple states and have prorations.

[JohnH]

I do the same as Judy.

I only use the data entry screens to push the data into the computer.

Then I click on "View" to see the information on the form (the form recalculates automatically when you click on "view" so you never actually use the "calculate" button as far as I can tell).

It's very simple to toggle between "View" and "Date Entry", and the program is so fast that you have the desired screen in front of you at the blink of the eye. It isn't as though you need to go through any steps to toggle back & forth in Drake.

One of the reasons I say that Forms Data entry is overrated is because even in ATX, there are numerous times when you must use a data entry screen anyhow. You either have to jump to a sub-screen or jump to a different form, then back to the 1040. With a few exceptions, about the only time you truly enter info directly onto the form is when you have a small, relatively insignificant entry or when you want to force an override. And the data entry screens in ATX are varied, whereas the data entry screens in Drake generally follow a similar pattern in their layout and how you get into & out of them. So navigating the data entry screens is much easier in Drake since you are so often in familiar territory.

I keep coming back to the old issue of speed. Drake is fast. This is mainly due to the simplicity & efficiency of its design and layout. There aren't many bells & whistles, so you have a program doing what it is supposed to do - produce an accurate tax return as fast as possible.

[joelgilb]

JOhn,

That really sums it up well

I do the same as Judy.

I only use the data entry screens to push the data into the computer.

Then I click on "View" to see the information on the form (the form recalculates automatically when you click on "view" so you never actually use the "calculate" button as far as I can tell).

It's very simple to toggle between "View" and "Date Entry", and the program is so fast that you have the desired screen in front of you at the blink of the eye. It isn't as though you need to go through any steps to toggle back & forth in Drake.

One of the reasons I say that Forms Data entry is overrated is because even in ATX, there are numerous times when you must use a data entry screen anyhow. You either have to jump to a sub-screen or jump to a different form, then back to the 1040. With a few exceptions, about the only time you truly enter info directly onto the form is when you have a small, relatively insignificant entry or when you want to force an override. And the data entry screens in ATX are varied, whereas the data entry screens in Drake generally follow a similar pattern in their layout and how you get into & out of them. So navigating the data entry screens is much easier in Drake since you are so often in familiar territory.

I keep coming back to the old issue of speed. Drake is fast. This is mainly due to the simplicity & efficiency of its design and layout. There aren't many bells & whistles, so you have a program doing what it is supposed to do - produce an accurate tax return as fast as possible.

John,

That really sums it up perfectly. ATX is essentially using data screens as well, just not clean and consistent ones.

Like both you and Judy, I find viewing the return after entry works well and is fast. When I think about it, it took more time to get back to the forms screen to see what my input did in ATX, than it does in Drake using the view return. This really makes you wonder about the supposed advantage of forms based tax software.

For example, schedule E input in ATX is all done on an input sheet and you have to go back to the form view to see what happened. Even if you start on the form, you end up drilling down to the input sheet and then having to go back to see what changed.

[Guest Taxed]

And remember the Data Entry Tabs ( General, Income, Adjustments, Credits, Taxes, Other Forms, Misc. States) are organized like the sections of a 1040 so it is relatively easy to figure out which tab the entry should go. Obviously there are a few exceptions, but entering the form # at the bottom brings it up.

Once you break the old habit and get used to it it works great especially with the short cuts, hot keys etc.

And to boot, it is lightning fast from the time you click view to see and then print!

This fall I had to do a few 1040X for 2011 and instead of doing them in ATX, I converted them to Drake and did the 1040X in Drake just for the practice.

[JohnH]

Right now I can't remember the name of the box at the lower part of most data entry screens (maybe I'll come back and edit this later when I'm in the office). Anyhow, learning how to springboard from that box directly to the desired data entry screen is really essential in Drake. (The closest thing I can think of in terms of usefulness is to compare it to the time I first learned the power of the "Fill Handle" in Excel). In exactly the same way, your speed increases exponentially when you master that little feature. You use it virtually every time you do anything significant in the software. As Taxed pointed out, sometimes it's simply the form number you enter, but in many cases you have to memorize an abbreviation (or keep a cheat sheet handy).