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Also, you can't file for another week. I only roll my clients as they are sitting in front of me, especially in a year when filing season has been screwed up by congress, and forms are constantly updating. So I don't understand the need to roll over 1,000 returns at a time.

I was thinking last night that I'm not sure anybody can tell that this is NOT the official board at first blush. Kinda understand the mistake. I really want to do some tax returns. I am about done with W-2's and payroll reports. Just like all of you, I'm sure. Would love to wake up and the software problems were just a bad dream.

http://www.today.com/moms/waiter-hailed-hero-after-standing-boy-down-syndrome-1B8038223

I figured i'll try this resource as it is the last bastion for any hope of sanity in regards to this software and company. I purchased ATX in order to make a move from Proseries as the total cost has seemed to rise of the past years. From the outset I had nothing but problems, as many of you have, and they continue. The software should have NEVER made it out of beta in this state. Constant bugs, endless conflicts, completely unresponsive in many aspects. Rolling over any large number of returns at a time causes the software to crash. Trying to highlight more than a few returns at a time causes the software to crash. Doing a remote client install from the server causes the software to crash. Clicking on any of the help links takes you to a dead site and causes the software to crash. I have the software installed on a server with more than enough hardware to support programs far beyond the complexity and design of this software so I can rule out the physical side. My network setup is solid with sufficient hardware and cabling so I can rule out the network as a problem. The bottom line is that the software is full of issues. Most likely because the intended time table for its completion was either unrealistic for its designers or that the quality of the software was not a priority. The constant promise of fixes over the horizon is a hollow moan in the face of the tidal wave of customers who pour through my doors with paperwork in hand ready to have their taxes done. When I called customer support today to dig my heels in and demand a response I was told by my sales agent that he was well aware of the overwhelming customer dissatisfaction with the software and that I would not have the same problems with the same companies opposing software, Taxwise. While it seemed absolutely absurd that a company could make one perfectly functioning software suite and one so infused with failure. Not being unreasonable, I agreed to try out the Taxwise software. I was sent a download link for a demo version of the 2011 Taxwise software. A demo of a year older version. The 2011 version of ATX works just fine. I can only assume the same problem is held by this software as well. In my hubris I assumed that a level of quality and accountability would be standard in a product of this size and applicability. Obviously I was very wrong. While I see only a small fraction of your users actually using these boards, I see enough of that fraction using them for nothing more than complaints about the software itself. I myself am only here to feel better about the large amount of time and energy I have wasted this year trying to get something that, by the admission of its own designers, does not work, to function properly. Even in filing for the refund, I found more failure. After filling out the online refund form on the ATX website and submitting it, I was greeted with a server error. I'm not sure if that means that the request was submitted or not. I wish all of you well, and the best of luck with this software. While I assume this post will be in some way censored or removed by the administrators here, if it is not, I bid you beware. Heed my warning. This company is in a major transition phase. I'm assuming that is the source of their issues but in truth I imagine a basic level of detail attention and quality concern is the true problem. I'd suggest if you have something that works for you and are seeking to save a small sum, to simply stick with what you have or find some other avenue than CCH to explore. TL;DR Don't buy this, buy something else. This is broken and they can't fix it.

It is very unfortunate that you came to ATX this year. There is no denying you have a legitmate gripe. There was a time when ATX was a great product at a fantastic price with outstanding Support and Sales. Those days are gone. This is my 12th season with ATX. May be my last, but it is too late for me to switch. I Hate CCH, but the software has been good and this board, not the other CCH maintained board, has been a great help to getting the software to work as it is intended. Good luck with whatever you decide. Tom Hollister, CA

Another big problem folks seem to over look, is what is connect to the computer e.g. external hard drives. I have two external hard drive, one is solely to for windows 7 hard drive backup and the other is for files I want to manually backup and carbonite mirror image, the drive that is used to for carbonite is always running and slows down the performance of the computer, if I disconnect the that hard drive and restart the computer, it loads very quick and it seems to be faster. MAS

Getting a PTIN used to be free. Then came the RTRP program and the PTIN fee or its renewal was supposed to help pay for instituting and monitoring it the program. It's one more fee that I'd like to not have to pay.

What's up with that is that when you first open, it opens everything, then when you close the program, it does not actually close EVERYTHING so when you open it again, some files are still running in the background so don't have to be reopened. This is true for almost every program. That's why, if a computer seems to be getting slower and slower, and you have opened and closed a lot of windows, rebooting will speed it up, because it shuts down all those "close and stay resident" files".

Okay, the TRX software is a working software. I have already completed one individual 1040 return without the State. The fact that my State forms are not ready, doesn't fall on TRX. The fact that multiple congressional changes took place January 2 that has caused IRS delays and numerous problems with each and every software company in their attempt to have their program's up and running by the time filing season begins is not the fault of TRX. There have been several posts on the general board about other software companies and their issues as well. I have seen this happen in the past and if certain forms aren't ready that the IRS has released, no one and no software company can process those forms and the IRS doesn't make exceptions to HRB and JH to take care of them first regardless of what they advertise. If you want a refund, call TRX or e-mail Doug to start the process. All the negativity on this board doesn't help anyone. Yes, Doug does answer his e-mails. He didn't even know who I was or that I existed until two weeks ago. I sent him an e-mail regarding installation problems with 2011 after a windows re-install. Doug did go out of his way to ensure that I was taken care of and even had one of his best tech's call me to get me up and running with every issue that I had at the time. Like the rest of you, I am waiting on the next update and do I expect the program to be 100% and the best thing since mom's apple pie??? No I don't. What I do expect is when a problem is discovered that it is addressed and fixed which I am sure it will be. Just stop and think about it. If you were having a computer problem in your office that caused processing returns to go haywire, would you want your clients burning you at the stake for it or would you want them to be understanding and have some patience? Better yet, what if you had a client who you made a mistake and you did everything you could to right the wrong, went on a public discussion board and burned you, turned you in to the BBB, and told everyone they meet what kind of a non-working, inexperienced, no good @$%^^ you were and that you couldn't process anything if your life depended on it and just goes on and on. We have all had these kind of clients so now, put yourself in Doug's shoes. I like quite a few of us received a different software than what I pre-paid for last year. Am I happy about that? No, Am I concerned about this season? Yes. But I believe patience is of some virtue and am keeping a positive attitude. Enough is enough already.

I'm single with no children, and I have 15% of my home for my office. Two full rooms. 40% is really, really high, and a big red flag.

I feel and share your pain but why don't you install the ATX2012 as a network install whereby you will have a central repository on the server to save to one location from all workstations. That is what will alleviate all the mentioned above issues you are having. Rather than exporting and then importing from various machines independent of each other...

ATX basically released a "Beta" version to all of us for testing. Maybe that would be OK if this were September or October....but NOT January!

It would be a complete and utter lie if I said I wasn't as nervous as others and genuinely concerned about the tax season. I have experienced some of the same issues with the TaxExact product. I did my first individual tax return this afternoon with the full understanding that I could not transmit the return and the State wasn't complete. Fortunately, this client was very understanding. I completed 2011 using TaxWorks without a hitch. I did complete 2012, minus the State, and didn't experience any issues with inputting information. As a professional, I ususally don't use the interview part of any software and just jump right to the forms. But, I did use the interview process this time and I must say I didn't experience any difficulty. With that said, I have checked the calculations and all check out. This is a basic 1040 with Sch A, no interest income,and the client has to bring additional information from missing 1099R forms. At this point all is well and yes I am nervous and double checking each and every calculation. While I am not experiencing major problems yet, dont' count me as a cheerleader for TRX. I am just going to wait a bit longer before making a final decision. Here are my concerns that I would like to see addressed as soon as possible. 1. Cannot proforma any clients 2. My S-Corps, partnerships, and Trusts do not show under the proforma nor can I place a bullet in by the selected forms to proforma. 3. The custom letter thing is basically useless. 4. I haven't found any way to create a detailed statement to go with the return nor do I see any tab that shows me the detailed statements. Sometimes, I create these on my own using excel but prefer not to. 5. Don't see any way to arrange the print order. TaxWorks was able to create a client return that I could change the print order. It sure was nice to reach to the printer and it was all in the order that I wanted. 6. I don't see any slip covers, so I created a return cover page which doesn't print right at all. I thank God at this time that most of my clients will begin to call during the middle and closer to the end of next week. Hopefully, some of this is fixed. However, some of my business clients have already submitted thier QuickBooks files, rental information; etc but I cannot work on them. Again I hope this gets fixed sooner than anything else. I am will to be patient just a little longer to see if TRX comes through. If not, then this will be the last year for me. I too feel slighted with the fact that I renewed early last year and didn't get the product that I paid for. I hope Doug is listening to what is happening and comes up with something to keep the ship from sinking completely. Biting the bullet with some kind of offer that is solid now may very well ease the pain that will come later. Doug, we all know you are trying hard to get this thing working correctly. I can only imagine the programming nightmare involved in creating a good or any workable tax preparation product. I support you in your efforts and I hope others can relax a little and hang in there. I am sure you know that once frustation sets in, any means of clear thinking is gone and no matter how hard one tries, nothing seems to work. It appears alot of folks are at that level and once January 30th hits and we don't have a reliable product, your customers will probably drop like flies. I know you know this but, we have an awful lot at stake here. So much that it is very difficult to risk any portion of it.

What is happening to ATX? We received the new program early this month with all the so called new features yet it still does not have half of its features operational. This week I received an e-mail from CCH telling us to install the program and learn all about its new features and operations yet we cannot run the program without having shell loaded shutting down the program and we do not have schedule C, D, 4552 etc available to practice with. I cannot edit the billing form & the price list because these changes will be deleted(according to tech support) when the updates come next year (hopefully next week). I have daily checked for updates but receive only a few forms. None of the critical ones needed to really work with the program and learn the new features. In prior years, (I have used ATX since 1997) by this time of year I have had everything ready for tax season, including the years that congress delayed updateing tax laws. I also have TRX software (also a new program) and they are way ahead of ATX in form releases and functionality.