Don't pay for more licenses than you need

[Abby Normal]

I'm saving $400 this year on ATX due to changes in licensing:

This year you have the ability to purchase user license bundles. You can purchase 1 License for $99 or 5 Licenses for $299. You can buy the 2 additional Licenses for $198 but you get a better deal by adding 5 Licenses for $299

 

[Pacun]

How many clients do you have? How many states? Unlimited efile?

[Abby Normal]

How many clients do you have? How many states? Unlimited efile?

​Almost 400 clients. Mostly one state but I have clients in about 8 different states. Unlimited efile. I buy the Max package which gives me 3 users, but I needed 5. In 2013 I had to buy unlimited users for $600. This year I can buy 2 users for $198. Last year I paid 1,939 and this year it's 1,615, so I'm happy.

I was going to switch to Total Tax Office package which has 5 users but with the licensing change it's cheaper to stay with Max. I don't know what other pluses TTO has over Max, but it only looks like a different research system.

Edit: So I was incorrect about saving $400. I'm only saving just over $300. Still, I'm happy!

Edited May 1, 2015 by jmdaviscpa
Clarification

[Margaret CPA in OH]

I like the idea of not paying for more licenses than you use or need.  Unfortunately that isn't an option for me.  I need only one but am paying for the minimum of 3 - wish I could have given them to you, jmdaviscpa!  Because I have 6 trusts to do for the next 4 years plus 2 p'ships, I'm stuck with MAX again.  All other combos are more expensive. And I'm really ticked about the efile fee for payroll returns now.  That's another charge to remember to pass along, I guess.

[Pacun]

Same here. I won't be able to save because I have the bare minimum requirement and it costs me about 1.2K.

[B. Jani]

I always use MAX as even though small practice of around 100 mix returns. I always believe that a good software save lot of time in productivity and that is must for me. Yes it feels expensive but time saving pays off.

[Abby Normal]

1200 / 100 returns is 12/return. Don't know how anyone could complain about that.

[Tax Prep by Deb]

How much are they charging for Max  to efile w2 andm1099?

[Lee B]

There is conflicting unclear information on the  ATX site about this. I have been trying to find out and ?

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Kyle, my rep, told me $1.50 each. 

[Lee B]

Kyle, my rep, told me $1.50 each. 

Is that $1.50 per client or $1.50 for each W - 2 & 1099 ?​

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

Bill Fox, my account representative just called me, trying to jump start my renewal.  I asked him about these fees, and his response:

1 - no fees to efile W2's (not sure why but that's what he said)

2 - fees to efile 1099's are not per 1099, but per client.  So if you have 10 clients, each with 10 1099's, you will pay 10 x $1.50 to efile the 100 1099's.

3 - he said my Max renewal is up about $60, compared to 2014's cost.

4 - cost for Max will increase by about $140 on 6/1.

Hope this helps, Lynn

 

[Jack from Ohio]

Bill Fox, my account representative just called me, trying to jump start my renewal.  I asked him about these fees, and his response:

1 - no fees to efile W2's (not sure why but that's what he said)

2 - fees to efile 1099's are not per 1099, but per client.  So if you have 10 clients, each with 10 1099's, you will pay 10 x $1.50 to efile the 100 1099's.

3 - he said my Max renewal is up about $60, compared to 2014's cost.

4 - cost for Max will increase by about $140 on 6/1.

Hope this helps, Lynn

 

​ATX does not e-file W-2's.  The program creates a file and you upload them to the SS site.

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

ok, Jack; thanks  - that  explains why there's no fee for efiling W2's.  I never do them that way - I enter directly on bso.SSA.gov website.

[Jack from Ohio]

ok, Jack; thanks  - that  explains why there's no fee for efiling W2's.  I never do them that way - I enter directly on bso.SSA.gov website.

​Double work.  Create the e-file, download the free accuwage tool which checks the file, then upload the file to SS.  I despise double entering data.  One more chance for me to make an error.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Jack from Ohio

[mcb39]

I mail the few that I have just to aggravate somebody.

[Lee B]

Bill Fox, my account representative just called me, trying to jump start my renewal.  I asked him about these fees, and his response:

1 - no fees to efile W2's (not sure why but that's what he said)

2 - fees to efile 1099's are not per 1099, but per client.  So if you have 10 clients, each with 10 1099's, you will pay 10 x $1.50 to efile the 100 1099's.

3 - he said my Max renewal is up about $60, compared to 2014's cost.

4 - cost for Max will increase by about $140 on 6/1.

Hope this helps, Lynn

 

​Lynn, Thanks for the info.

 

I think I am going to request this in writing before I renew.  We all know that the ATX Sales Department and the rest of the

company don't seem to be working with the same information often enough for all of us to be wary.

 

"Trust but Verify !"

[Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana]

Jack, I have never gotten the AccuWage to work right - so gave up on that. 

CBSLEE, yours is a great idea.  I will ask Bill Fox to provide the efile fee information in writing.  We'll see how much he waffles.

 

[Jack from Ohio]

Jack, I have never gotten the AccuWage to work right - so gave up on that. 

CBSLEE, yours is a great idea.  I will ask Bill Fox to provide the efile fee information in writing.  We'll see how much he waffles.

 

​You check the .zip file.  That is also the one you upload to the IRS.

[jklcpa]

Jack, I have never gotten the AccuWage to work right - so gave up on that. 

CBSLEE, yours is a great idea.  I will ask Bill Fox to provide the efile fee information in writing.  We'll see how much he waffles.

 

​Accuwage is recommended but not absolutely required. For example, it gives me a warning every year when I file my own W-2 from my firm because the employer EIN and ERO's EIN are the same, and it asks if I'm sure that I want to continue.

Using ATX for the W-2  and 1099 filings is well worth the $1.50 per client, if that is all the charge is, because of the rollover feature that saves time and reduces the chance of typos when entering names, addresses and EINs each year into the BSO area of the SSA site.

 

[Lee B]

​Accuwage is recommended but not absolutely required. For example, it gives me a warning every year when I file my own W-2 from my firm because the employer EIN and ERO's EIN are the same, and it asks if I'm sure that I want to continue.

Using ATX for the W-2  and 1099 filings is well worth the $1.50 per client, if that is all the charge is, because of the rollover feature that saves time and reduces the chance of typos when entering names, addresses and EINs each year into the BSO area of the SSA site.

​

Not a single one of the 20 -  2014 W - 2 efiles that ATX created for me passed the Accuwage checks 

Finally, I filed them thru BSO/SSA anyway and they all were processed without problem.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

All of my W-2s have passed the Accuwage checks and I prepare all of them through ATX. I prepare around 150 for various clients. It is so easy to prepare them and the 1099's with the Uni-form. I really miss when they did everything, including sending them out for you for a fee. I always have so many more things to work on in December and January that I would love not to have to mess around with them. I really miss having employees that took care of all of the payroll stuff for me.

 

[Abby Normal]

We print them out of QuickBooks on plain paper and mail them in.

[Jack from Ohio]

Kyle, my rep, told me $1.50 each. 

 

 ​And you can verify receipt by SS how?  USPS rate of non-delivery/loss of mail is increasing exponentially.  When I file them electronically, I get a verification of each one from SS. 

Edited May 5, 2015 by jklcpa
moved poster's comment out of quote box

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Hmmm, Jack from Ohio, I don't understand how you could quote me on something I didn't write.  The first sentence above isn't from me although the second one is.  I even looked back to the original just above. 

Eric, how can someone quote something that wasn't originally stated?