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Drake software is located in Franklin, NC, which is directly in the path of totality for the upcoming solar eclipse. Today they sent out a memo to all users that their customer support will be closed Aug 21 between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm so their employees can enjoy the eclipse. They also sent a link inviting others who can't get to the path of totality to join their live stream. How cool is that? I'm betting it will be a top-quality feed, because Drake has been instrumental in getting high-powered internet service in what's otherwise a sleepy little mountain community.

Clearly we have too much time on our hands, are bored, or tired, or looking for diversions, or ....

Randall has now earned the title of Math GURU.

The runs?

Absorbed into the Zero Point Energy that sustains the universe. mwa-hah-hah!

The real question is "who absconded with the .0012?" This is really turning into a full fledge mystery. We need a title for this new founded novelette.

8.3330 + 0.6666 + 8.9996 T Where did the .0004 go?

They didn't pay $9 each for the room, only $8.333 each, total $25. Then they paid $.6666 each for the tip, total $2. They paid $9 each total and $27 altogether.

This is all making me number nuts.......................But....Precious....

What's wrong with these guys? They should have bought extra bait, or snacks, or beer.

Regarding the "never delete" policy --I keep my electronic records all the way back to 1990. This year a long time client (since 1993) sold two mutual funds and his broker listed the cost basis for each as the infamous "n/a." He knew what he bought the funds for back in 1995 and 1996 and had not sold any of either fund since the purchase date, but all dividends and capital gains were reinvested. I was able to reconstruct his cost basis by looking back at his returns form 1993 through 2016 and finding the dividends and capital gain distributions from each fund, since I had them listed separately on schedule B for each year. His broker had told him that the only way to calculate the basis was to obtain complete histories from each company, and that he, the broker, wanted no part of that. This, by the way, was a full service broker who had purchsaed the funds for my client originaly, but had purged some of his old records. Needless to say, I scored major points with my client and tremendous word of mouth advertising. By the way, I keep the 1990 - 2000 returns on an old XP computer and the newer one on my Windows 10 computer.

OK. That settles it. This thread has set a new record for diversions. It has now chased more rabbits than my dad's old redbone hound dog did in his entire life.

Diabetes

ROFL - you win for the funniest post of the day.

Billy has 32 candy bars, he eats 28. What does he have now?

Cost of Room =$30. After returning $5, Cost = $25. After $2 tip, cost = $27 or $9/each. Remaining $3 is split up.

What's his actual cost of the $70 in goods sold? If the cost was $20, he lost $50 pus some opportunity cost.

Just curious. How many keep data beyond the legal required time? Some might call doing so "providing evidence for the prosecution". What I mean is if you are required to keep data for X amount of time, what reason would you have for keeping it X+1 minute? No good can come from having "extra" data which can be used against you. Does not mean there is not some "other" source of the material, away from subpoena, for times when you have concern. A never delete policy, to me, is unacceptable.

Yes but we mostly use them to clip envelopes to payment vouchers. Gotta get those clients into using Direct Pay.

Aw, okay; you've got a point and I yield. If it saved $3K, then I'd Just curious, but are there any paper clips in your office? Regards, Pop

Oh, yeah, baby....

I know. All accountant types are/were addicted to office supplies. Just think how excited you get with a free highlighter! You know it's true. But... I'd rather have that 3 grand at the end of the year. Oh, and I love you too! <mwah>

Abby, you know I love you. And I'm just a "mom" organization. But I love file folders, sharpies, labels, sticky notes. I also spent a good chunk on hum dinger presentation folders and it makes me happy. It makes me happy to pull out a file when a client comes in with a question, and I can show them my notes of the phone call we had a month ago that might as well have been with Kim the Young'Un cause they recall ZERO of what we discussed. There's room for all us. Merica. (I'm also not deleting my data files and am not sure how that rumor got started...)

An acquaintance of mine lived in the UK for some time and had an ancient Mini Cooper (one of the original, really tiny ones) that was so old it only had three gears left: reverse, first, and third. Second and fourth were toast. No key needed, either - ignition system was also worn out. He left it unlocked and (when not raining) with windows open. It was stolen a number of times; each time he found it abandoned at the side of the road within two blocks of its parking spot. It became almost a game to him, searching for his car.

---> And, as a deputy sheriff client once told me, "They steal because they're too lazy to work." <---- Reminds me of an incident a few years ago when someone stole my Ford Crown Vic from a parking lot where I had left it while driving a rental car on a trip. The Crown Vic had about 200K miles on it and the front & rear seats didn't even match. The ignition switch was so worn that you didn't even need the key inserted to start it. They drove it about 8 miles, then abandoned it in an industrial park after kicking in the windshield. I was more amused than upset about it, and I asked the police officer why he thought someone would steal that car when there were so many nice ones sitting around it. He replied "Hey, I never said they were smart."

Possible, but unlikely. Anybody can lift a computer, but you'd need a dolly and a willing workman for locked, heavy file cabinets. As Rita points out, it's a lot of work. And, as a deputy sheriff client once told me, "They steal because they're too lazy to work." Wouldn't that also destroy your storage devices if you keep them in your office or home? Offsite storage by a vendor is an option, but who knows who works there and has full access to your stuff? That "cloud" I hear so much about might work, but unless God's tending to it along with the moon and stars I'm not interested. That happens, so I'll 'fess up. After closing each night we backup two copies of all clients on flash drives and then stash them under a 50 yard blanket of blown loose particles insulation if intruders care to climb up in the uncooled/unheated attic and search. One copy stays there - one later goes to a safe deposit box with prior years' clients. I think they'll be okay there unless Kim the Young'Un pops off that EMP. Well, as a friend of mine once told an electronista, everybody "runs his shop" a different way. I like paper; you and Jack like electrons and it's alright with me. I didn't mean to offend with my above outburst of cussin' and know y'all were just trying to be helpful, so thanks to both of you for that. P. S. I have to disagree about the "ton" of savings; this season cost $90-paper, $200-toner, plus our mom and pop wages are zero. I can live with that.

Rita B Even tho I take many precautions, if that computer got stolen a reasonably good hacker can get past all the precautions. That's why I wanted to get them off and have only the program there. I suppose we could contact ATX to see what they recommend.

Respectfully, I investigate paper copies every time a new client hands me a prior year return. If I find a error, I can fix it.

Besides, a small scratch won't render a paper copy useless.

Yes, I know that, but it's too much trouble to reinstall for just one client. That's why I'm interested in TAXMAN's remembrance of a way without killing off the program. While Will R. might see danger and huge problems in deleting them; I don't. To me, a paper copy is functional for investigation and checking as long as I can read English. If change is needed, I'll do a 1040X from scratch. Too, I'll keep the last three years' clients until refund times expire. Thank you for the friendly advice, but I don't want want to abandon the old days. While I have no doubt your office is fully equipped with 6TBs of warp drive and a memory bank which won't expire until the twelfth of never, I much prefer software that suits me instead of some damned machine.