OT - Drake in CA

[BulldogTom]

OK, this should go to the other board on the site, but I never read that one, so I am posting it here.

Are any of you CA ATXers going to the Drake 4 hour seminars in CA. They are doing a bunch of them. I think I will go to the Burbank one on the 25th. Since I am going to SoCal anyway that weekend, I can make this a deductible business trip. And 4 free hours of CPE doesn't hurt.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[kcjenkins]

I would never have thought about moving or deleting it, Tom. But now that you mention it.........................

AND ON APRIL THE FIRST, AT THAT! VERY TEMPTING...........

[Catherine]

OK, this should go to the other board on the site, but I never read that one, so I am posting it here.

Are any of you CA ATXers going to the Drake 4 hour seminars in CA. They are doing a bunch of them. I think I will go to the Burbank one on the 25th. Since I am going to SoCal anyway that weekend, I can make this a deductible business trip. And 4 free hours of CPE doesn't hurt.

Tom

Lodi, CA

They gave out a really spiffy pen when I went to one last fall.

[BulldogTom]

KC - you wouldn't?????

Yeah - you would.

tom

Lodi, CA

[JRS]

I went last year, then played with the software. Had a hard time, since I am used to the forms input. I kept bouncing back and forth from their worksheets to the forms to check how everything was flowing. My main problem was capital gains input. It was bulky and I did not feel comfortable with it. All of my clients are investors and I just am more comfortable looking at the results with a click. Their personnel were great and very helpful. I had a few more questions that they answered by email and in person at the CSEA seminar in Reno. I was close to switching, but kept having problems with options (puts and calls). They connected me with their CPA back East, but he was totally lost and could not answer me. So, I went back to ATX.

Interesting side note, I went to the ATX booth to renew and was told, "we can't do that here."

The 4 hours CPE was nice.

[kcjenkins]

KC - you wouldn't?????

Yeah - you would.

tom

Lodi, CA

Nah, not really. Just teasing., Tom.

[David1980]

I may attend the May 7th or 8th one in Seattle. My past esperiences of the software haven't been "good enough" for me, but truthfully the list of software that fits my perfect model is coming up short. It either has problems (ATX delayed forms), plain sucks (taxwise, taxslayer), stopped existing (IntelliTax, OrrTax), or costs a lot. I've been giving Proseries a more thorough look.

Drake though continues to have really high praise. It's the input that I stumble on. I also didn't like the printing on the 2007 software, but that has improved to my satisfaction on the 2008 software. I think if I could get used to the interface it would be fine. I just don't see that happening, I'm a forms person and want something that at least is somewhat forms based.

For those who have attended these, do they showcase any of the "new" stuff or just go over what the current year software does? It would be interesting to see what new features are in the 2009 Drake software to see if they're going to have anything really amazing. I know turbotax online is getting pretty good with W-2 importing all the data by entering just the EIN and control numbers off a W-2, would be sweet to see that sort of functionality get picked up in tax software.

[JohnH]

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Interesting side note, I went to the ATX booth to renew and was told, "we can't do that here."

Many trade shows have strict rules about this. As a condition of exhibiting, vendors must agree not to sell their product at the exhibits. They can only hand out literature, showcase their products, and obtain sales leads for later follow-up. They are prohibited from taking orders during the trade show. Sounds like thia was the case at the show you attended.