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I just did a refi, and when talking with the loan officer about open items, she said, "oh, we'll since you ARE a CPA, I guess you do your own tax return" and I guess checked off the CPA letter on her list. Of course, I'm the only one for whom I would write a CPA letter. :)

An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger." The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?" "Oh, I don't know," said the atheist. "How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?" as he smiled smugly. "Okay," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?" The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea." To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss God, Heaven and Hell, or life after death, when you don't know shit?" And then she went back to reading her book.

You are right, IF THEY ARE RIGHT. But based on what I've found so far, there was a legit business settlement, after a significant legal battle, not a gift. And just thinking logically, this is someone who has tons of top legal advice, and could certainly have paid any tax he actually owed. So I just don't buy the IRS position.

This here. I am a sole prop, and just got my first part time assistant. I do, however, have a couple of returns that would work better on more advanced software, and having used ProFx & Lacerte at jobs in times past, I know what top line software is capable of doing. Since you mentioned in your blog about having 'CPAs and paraprofessionals' I'm wondering why you were using ATX to begin with, unless it was simply a holdover from when your firm was smaller. I'm doing about 300 returns now, and have not had many issues so far this year.

I agree completely. I told them I would be using 2012 through the end of the filing season, and I expect that product to continue to improve and restore some level of confidence that they are on the right path.

Let's see if they demonstrate a prototype version of their 2013 version at the IRS Nationwide forums this summer. What is the point of doing those enhancements if they can't demonstrate to their existing and potential new users? Like you I too am NOT comfortable with "trust me, it will be there"!

There was no indication made to me by any CCH SFS employee about the price of the product, discounts, etc. I would suggest an individual conversation with your rep, and if you are not happy with that you can certainly escalate up the chain. I would expect retenton is important to them. I was clear that they need some real communication - I am hoping after they get back from the NY and NJ shows, they will elvaluate all that they heard and show us something. After talking in depth with the technical team, I left feeling that they understand what went wrong and that they have a plan in place to address it. The way it was shared with me is that some of the improvements are pretty significant and could not be rolled out during tax season and will probably not be seen until next year's product. My message to them is that I am going to need more evidence than that and a simple "trust me" is *NOT* going to cut it. They listened - they took notes - let's see what comes out in the next couple of weeks. I know if I don't see anything before month end, Mr. Marx and I will be chatting again!

OK, here is what I would do, 1. Determine if you are going to get paid. Is this charity work or are you going to get paid. Because it is going to take a lot of your time. Can they compensate you. Of course, if it is pro bono, or at a very reduced rate, then decide if you can give away those billable hours. If you take this on, they will need you and you should not quit on them. 2. Take a total inventory of everything they have. Make sure you know if they have family silver, grandpa's gold watch, china from the 20's that great grandma passed down. You need to know what they have. Everything. 3. Determine what they will sell to get out of this mess. If they won't sell their stuff, they aren't serious. It won't do any good to go on from here. 4. Either you do the books or have them get someone in who will. IRS will never believe the numbers if there isn't some degree of competence behind them. The wife was part of the problem. Need to show that there is someone the IRS can trust to give accurate business results. 5. Call the IRS and ask for a very reduced payment plan. I think you said they could come up with between $500 and $2000 per month. Put them on a payment plan at whatever they can afford and get the collection activity stopped. Convice the IRS that the new bookkeeper is straightening them out, that compliance is now in place, and that with better business management, more payments will be coming down the road. Buy some time. 6. As soon as the wife has surgery, file a new offer. Try again based on the serious illness causing doubt as to collectability. Hopefully you will have a year or so of timely payments and a better picture of what the future looks like for the business. Get a business valuation to show the value. If she is going to be 65, can she get on social security? How far is he from social security. If all the IRS can see is two sick people on social security and medicare who are willing to sell their business and live on government benefits, you might have a chance. This is my plan. I give it a 30% chance of success. Like I said, this is not going to be easy. Tom Hollister, CA

I get 10-15 rolls at a time once a year (usually just before the rate goes up), so the delivery charge is inconsequential. Agree with all you say!