Does anyone know where the name ATX originates?

[Margaret CPA in OH]

The program from Maine, depending on the year, could well have been Saber, the predecessor of ATX.  Did it have a roar from the saber when it opened?  Made me smile every time.

[ILLMAS]

So people don't think we are boring, should we start a new post to see how many years each has been doing taxes and what equipment/software they have used in the past?

[JRS]

You really don't want to know how long we have tortured ourselves?!?!  Blank IRS forms, Parsons with pencil and carbon paper, Saber, ATX, Drake.  Couple of others I can't remember.

As far as the number of years, started in 1982.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Ah, JRS, you beat me by 4 years but I was 46 then and had been a molecular biologist so second career for me.  The Parsons I used was already on the compute (I still have the cd, think its worth anything?) , I never had to use carbon paper.  Sorry for you, friend!

[jklcpa]

1981 was my first year working in public accounting and have been here ever since.  My first job in the profession was a temporary position through my college's co-op program and counted as course work.  I worked the same number of O/T hours as everyone else in the firm and took 2 night courses that semester too to finish up my degree. 

[Elrod]

I started with pencil also.  I sure don't miss that huge nub/dent I got on my pressure finger from drawing numbers all day long.  Or that darn  clicking sound of my abacus.

I was surprised when I went through my blank forms today.  I found this....

                                                                        

                                                                      

[Gail in Virginia]

My mom bought the H&R Block franchise here in town in 1969, and I worked for her starting out just copying returns and filing.  By the early 70's I was doing returns by pencil and paper, with a desk top adding machine that you could only multiply by holding down the plus bar for the correct number of times, and adding zeroes as the decimal place moved.  When I graduated high school, I thought that I would never ever do another tax return unless it was my own.  ha ha,

[Abby Normal]

First year doing taxes, 1979 tax season for 1978 tax year. Firm was top 10, just outside big 8. We used the IRS provided paper forms that were so flimsy, you ended up erasing holes in the paper, and had to use white tape to fill the holes. Reviewers used blue lead for tick marks because blue doesn't show on a photocopy.

And, because I was the new guy, I got the 20 lbs adding machine. Smoking was common in the office.

There was a blizzard that tax year. I lived 35 miles west of the office, and when I woke up, my tires were already buried, so I called and said I would not be in. It was a Monday and they always had a one hour staff meeting to start the week... in a windowless conference room. It was only flurries when the meeting started but when the meeting ended, there was so much snow, some people got stuck going home.

[Hahn1040]

Did you "zoom" into the meeting since you could not attend in person?

[Catherine]

5 hours ago, Elrod said:

I was surprised when I went through my blank forms today.  I found this....

I have a 1942 federal form, filled in - with Liberty Bond receipts attached!  It was in my mother in law's files; my husband saved it for me.  Gotta have it framed.

[Catherine]

4 hours ago, Gail in Virginia said:

My mom bought the H&R Block franchise here in town in 1969, and I worked for her starting out just copying returns and filing.  By the early 70's I was doing returns by pencil and paper, with a desk top adding machine that you could only multiply by holding down the plus bar for the correct number of times, and adding zeroes as the decimal place moved.  When I graduated high school, I thought that I would never ever do another tax return unless it was my own.  ha ha,

My family used to make the rounds of all the relatives in winter/spring.  Saturday with X, Sunday with Y, kids would play, moms would yak - and my dad and the other dad would get the taxes done.  Dad would bring along the 30-pound solid iron adding machine - probably a Burroughs Portable, with the side-handle.  

I remember the adding machines where multiplication was sequential adding, and having to keep careful count!  Also remember doing returns by hand when I first started out.  I have always taught assistants on paper; as far as I'm concerned, they are not qualified to touch the software until they understand how the information flows from schedule to form.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

On 5/29/2020 at 11:03 AM, Abby Normal said:

First year doing taxes, 1979 tax season for 1978 tax year. Firm was top 10, just outside big 8. We used the IRS provided paper forms that were so flimsy, you ended up erasing holes in the paper, and had to use white tape to fill the holes. Reviewers used blue lead for tick marks because blue doesn't show on a photocopy.

And, because I was the new guy, I got the 20 lbs adding machine. Smoking was common in the office.

There was a blizzard that tax year. I lived 35 miles west of the office, and when I woke up, my tires were already buried, so I called and said I would not be in. It was a Monday and they always had a one hour staff meeting to start the week... in a windowless conference room. It was only flurries when the meeting started but when the meeting ended, there was so much snow, some people got stuck going home.

My first tax season was as an intern through college in 1979. We prepared them by hand in pencil, then used copy paper and ink after review. I was the grunt that filed all of the CCH pages in the tax library.

In the early 80s, we had an ice storm and I crawled across the parking lot to get into my car. It slid down my parking lot's hill on the ice and I could not move it for anything. My boss said I had to come in and he would send somebody to get me. A client with a tow truck came and pulled my car up the hill and carried me across to their truck to take me to work! I guess I was essential. 

[Catherine]

On 5/31/2020 at 10:23 PM, NECPA in NEBRASKA said:

I was the grunt that filed all of the CCH pages in the tax library.

That was just about my first paid work.  My dad would bring the big books and the new pages home from his office, and pay me to swap out the outdated pages for the new ones.  I think I was about 9 or 10.  

[Abby Normal]

I was an early adopter of electronic/PDF tax research and, of course, there were those who still "preferred paper," even though you can't do a word search in paper, and you can't copy/paste into a letter or email.

Still we have people who prefer paper newspapers and books, even though the e-versions are superior in every way.

[BulldogTom]

2 hours ago, Abby Normal said:

Still we have people who prefer paper newspapers and books, even though the e-versions are superior in every way.

NOT!.   I just enjoyed reading a new novel my son gave to me.   Sitting in the air conditioned room in an easy chair with a cold beverage on the side table and wasting away a hot day while reading a good novel is superior to sitting in front of a computer or tablet any day.  And not a single ad or popup or message from my book ever happens.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend.

Tom
Modesto, CA

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

29 minutes ago, BulldogTom said:

NOT!.   I just enjoyed reading a new novel my son gave to me.   Sitting in the air conditioned room in an easy chair with a cold beverage on the side table and wasting away a hot day while reading a good novel is superior to sitting in front of a computer or tablet any day.  And not a single ad or popup or message from my book ever happens.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend.

Tom
Modesto, CA

I love real books. I read in the tub every night to wind down and I don't want my phone or tablet in there. I've already had books fall in. I'm currently reading a chapter or two of the Outlander books a night. I'm just finishing the third book and have the next one ready. I know that half price books has opened here and have a large stack to trade in. Our libraries are not open yet, but they are working on curbside pickup. I do read ebooks when I'm traveling or don't want to bother anyone with a light. 

[FDNY]

I started in 1984 after finishing some accounting courses at Queens College and taking a tax preparation course at the old Sobelson School in Manhattan.   My first clients were firemen and their families and I would work on the top floor of a 3 story firehouse in the early hours of the morning when fire calls quieted down.  If I did go out on a run I would have to leave everything on the table, no security of a clients info.  Looking back that was not a good idea, it was a bad neighborhood and one time when we came back from a fire the TV was gone and they stole our shoes.

To this day I still have many of those clients, and if I'm up at 3am, I still go to work on the top floor of a 3 story townhouse, but my shoes are now safe.

[Gail in Virginia]

14 hours ago, BulldogTom said:

NOT!.   I just enjoyed reading a new novel my son gave to me.   Sitting in the air conditioned room in an easy chair with a cold beverage on the side table and wasting away a hot day while reading a good novel is superior to sitting in front of a computer or tablet any day.  And not a single ad or popup or message from my book ever happens.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend.

Tom
Modesto, CA

 

14 hours ago, NECPA in NEBRASKA said:

I love real books. I read in the tub every night to wind down and I don't want my phone or tablet in there. I've already had books fall in. I'm currently reading a chapter or two of the Outlander books a night. I'm just finishing the third book and have the next one ready. I know that half price books has opened here and have a large stack to trade in. Our libraries are not open yet, but they are working on curbside pickup. I do read ebooks when I'm traveling or don't want to bother anyone with a light. 

I love my Kindle.  I have a houseful of paperbacks and hardbacks.  But I can have thousands of books on my kindle (which is waterproof, so I can read poolside or in the tub) and at most shows an ad before I open the book I am reading.  I can also carry all those books with me on my Kindle, or have them available instantly for download on my phone or tablet.  The kindle is lighter weight than even a paperback, and I can adjust the font size if I want to read without my glasses.  I can even read in bed without turning on a light and disturbing my husband if he is sleeping. 

I did not think that I would prefer e-books to "real" books, but in some ways I do.  And I know my husband appreciates not having the whole house taken over by books; it gives him more room for his albums. 

[Margaret CPA in OH]

And I am a diehard newspaper fan as is my husband.  I read enough stuff on a screen and do read e-books but news I like at the table with my breakfast and linger with coffee.  Even though I already know most of it, the paper just feels right to me as does the crossword puzzle.

I do have a Kindle Fire and love it for all the books I can carry on trips and read in bed.  I can also watch lots of videos while on the treadmill.  But I need my newspaper!

[Abby Normal]

21 hours ago, BulldogTom said:

NOT!.   I just enjoyed reading a new novel my son gave to me.   Sitting in the air conditioned room in an easy chair with a cold beverage on the side table and wasting away a hot day while reading a good novel is superior to sitting in front of a computer or tablet any day.  And not a single ad or popup or message from my book ever happens.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one my friend.

Tom
Modesto, CA

I can never find the right lighting to read a book, or be comfortable holding a book (hand cramp).

I read ebooks on my regular sized cellphone with white letters on a black page, which is so great for my eyes. The glare from light shining on a white paper page bothers my eyes. And, if I fall asleep reading an ebook, I never lose my place. And there are no popups in my ebook reader, Google Play Books.

If you get books from libraries, be wary of bedbugs. They had to fumigate our local library for bedbugs recently.

eBooks don't have the HUGE carbon footprint that paper books do, cutting and hauling trees, processing paper, waste, transporting heavy books around, etc. Trees are essential for our climate, especially now.

And a lot of smaller authors can create an ebook whereas they could never get a publisher to do a printing.

We're all different, and books just don't work for me.

[Abby Normal]

3 hours ago, Margaret CPA in OH said:

But I need my newspaper

I stay informed online, and every time I watch new or read newspapers, they're reporting things I learned about days or in some cases, weeks earlier. A lot of people do crossword puzzles an Sudoku electronically now.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Oh, I stay informed by many means and agree that newspapers (I never watch news) are a bit behind in reporting but they do provide more in depth reporting and good local reporting.  I am also aware of lots of electronic games but my eyes are not so great on those screens.  So you keep doing you and I will keep doing my crossword puzzles in the paper and folding over the headlines by my coffee cup.  Also, the paper has no glare and I can read it indoors or outdoors.  It's so good to have options and I appreciate mine.

[Catherine]

I love my backlit Kindle Paperwhite, especially at night or when travelling.  But I also love the feel of a real book in my hands.  The people who come to our house for the first time are astounded at all the books in every room (except bathrooms and furnace room - humid and bad for them).  And yes, well over 90% have been read and re-read and will be re-read yet again.  I'd read in my sleep if I could figure out how to keep my eyes open.

[Yardley CPA]

Does anyone remember Parsons Technology?  I thought Parson's was purchased by ATX ultimately.  Maybe I'm wrong.  

[bbstacker]

He sold the company to Intuit, I believe in the mid 90's.  I don't know if he has/had some affiliation with Tax Act.  It may be that some of the former employees of Parson's Technology is the group that started Tax Act