DRAKE SOFTWARE BEWARE!

[taxguy2040]

I thought it would be worthwhile to the rest of the world to share our experience with Drake Software as we tried to switch from Pro Series for the 2014 tax season.

We went to a seminar where Drake was presented to us and mainly based on the price difference, we chose to give Drake a try.  Here is what we found:

Drake has been in business since 1977 and claims they have only updated their pricing plan one time since then.  We quickly found out how that was possible.  The interface of Drake remains in 1977.  It is not user friendly and definitely makes you think, "you get what you pay for".  On one hand, I may be a little biased because we were trying to switch from the expensive, but overall impressive, Pro Series. On the other hand, I worked in the tech industry for a few years and use technology every day and what they are offering is not up to par.  

Drake is proud of its speed.  I found that the only thing that they have footing on with speed is the software startup time.  Sure it boots fast, but once you are actually using the program, the redundancies and ways of operation make it much slower in the long run.  Why should I have to click a button to calculate the impact of the number I just input?  

For example:  After entering a number for wages or something on a 1099-MISC, you have to switch to the form mode in order to see what actually was reported and the impact on the refund/taxes due.  It is surprisingly easy to duplicate information and not even know where to go in order to remove the duplication.  You have no clue where the numbers reflected on the 1040 are even coming from unless you put them in yourself.  This may not be an issue for others, but we have a larger practice where our front office inputs the data and the CPAs do the analysis/review.  Pro Series is integrated with quickzooms everywhere and makes calculations as soon as the numbers are input.  Given the choice, I would much rather take the slower boot time and fast everything time of Pro Series over the opposite, which is found with Drake.

Another thing that Drake is proud of is their quick response time with customer care.  I actually found this to be true, because I had to call them all the time asking how to do things and to figure out items with the "ripping stitches" transition.  They answered very promptly, but there was a vast spread of knowledge in their support staff.  Talk to one person and they say you can't do something, call right back and a different person will tell you you can.  Crazy.

So we gave Drake an honest effort and filed some tax returns (like anyone would) before deciding we would stick with Pro Series.  I was given the task of telling Drake about our choice and found out quickly that they weren't going to give our money back in full.  I eventually got in contact with one of the VPs and he said that we were not entitled to a full refund because we had filed some tax returns... "What?!  You mean that because we put forth an honest effort in trying to use your software, we are penalized and not longer can get our money back?"  "Yep. We have a policy..."  

Unreal.

Moral of the story is, don't switch to Drake.  Even if the price appeals to you, there are other options in the same price range and granted I haven't tried any of them, I can assure you that they are better than Drake.  If you do choose Drake after all, I really hope you like them, because your money is now theirs and they won't give it back!

Thanks and I hope this helps.

[Catherine]

I have found that the toggling to "View" mode is lightning-fast and not nearly the botheration I had originally worried about before I switched, several years ago.  In general, data entry and return progress evaluation are significantly faster for my office than ATX ever was.  Their tech support - on those rare occasions I have needed it - is unsurpassed.  Phone gets answered in a couple of rings by people who know the software AND taxes.  They make the refund policy very clear - IF you read it. The interface is - in my opinion - clear and reasonably intuitive.  Yes, some areas (and especially their CWU program) still feel a little "DOS-y" but I worked with DOS for years so that is not an issue for me.

Moral of the story:  I switched to Drake and only regret that I had not done it years earlier.  

YMMV.  

Please don't use a broad brush to bad-mouth Drake, though -- because I could do an equal job of bad-mouthing ProSeries, starting with their ownership by Intuit (which company I detest with a deep loathing for many reasons) and continuing through one of the worst interfaces I have ever encountered.  People have different opinions and ways of working.  You didn't like Drake.  You didn't read the refund policy before trying.  OK.  Fine.  Warnings to others - no problem.  Berating a solid vendor for not being what you wanted them to be - seems unprofessional to me.

[jklcpa]

I agree with everything Catherine said.  It isn't for every office, but that could be said of any software product. One size does not fit all.

I have to say that there is no excuse for not knowing the refund policy of any product you are trying, and your not receiving a refund is not the fault of Drake Software.  Drake would have given you the full copy of the prior year software for FREE for you to try out for as long as you wanted. The only thing lacking would have been the ability to e-file, but it would be the fully functional version that would have allowed you to test drive its functionality without any funds outlay on your part.

[Randall]

I got the Drake demo one year and purchased it for the next two years, while keeping and using ATX.  I must be crazy to have done that but I wanted to give Drake a fair chance.  In the end I really didn't stick with it enough and was just too comfortable with ATX.  So I can't give a fair evaluation of Drake.  I'm just a one person office.  For years, I thought any large office would want to use the higher end programs such as ProSeries or Lacerte.  I know they're a lot more expensive but I assumed these firms would also have much greater volume and revenues to budget for that.  They have to evaluate that themselves.  I'll stick with ATX and hopefully ride out my final few years without any major disruption.

 

[Catherine]

4 hours ago, Randall said:

<snip>  I must be crazy to have done that but <big snip>

 

We are tax accountants -- the "crazy" goes without saying!  

[JRS]

"Moral of the story:  I switched to Drake and only regret that I had not done it years earlier."

Totally agree.  For a small one person office with a dwindling client base and retirement around the corner, I regret not changing from ATX sooner.  Though other than price increases, I had no complaints with ATX.   

[JohnH]

TaxGuy2040.  I believe you are sincere when you say you gave Drake an honest effort.  But you are wrong on so many levels.  You gave it a test spin around the block a few times, but you never took the time to really learn its capabilities. Your naïve statement about the "speed" issue is just one example.  Its speed in backing up, navigating from one screen to another, and update time run circles around anything in its price range.  And I haven't even mentioned the huge increases in efficiency (time saved) that learning how to write a few macros can provide.

So you took a cursory look, filed a few returns, threw up your hands, and moved on. Nothing wrong with that. As for the refund policy - everyone has them.  A good businessperson learns the ins and outs of the refund policy before buying anything new.  You failed to do that and then tried to whine your way out. No sympathy here for your failure, but maybe you learned a lesson that will serve you well in business in the future. Learn the lesson and apply it.

Drake takes a little investment of time and commitment to really discover its power.  If you're high on the latest bells & whistles and you like tech gadgetry, then Drake is going to look pretty pedestrian.  But then a 1040 looks pretty pedestrian too. Your software doesn't need to launch the space shuttle - it needs to produce an accurate tax return which is nothing more than a glorified Excel spreadsheet. So I agree that someone like you should look elsewhere for your tech thrills.  Just don't fool yourself or others into the notion that you actually evaluated its capabilities.  You never even came close.