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One of my favorite clients brought in a German Pink tomato for me one year, cradling it like a baby. I thought I might have to wrench it out of his hands.

This makes me really angry, because aside from the potential harm to the public, the programs and monitoring that came about because of previous ethical violations actually costs me a lot of money in peer review fees and annual enrollment fee into the program that administers those reviews.

Around here we call it “Hillbilly Estate Planning”. Why pay a lawyer $1,000 to do it right when all you need to do is follow the recommendations of some random stranger on the internet? (But then, from time-to-time we’ve also seen lawyers some up with some pretty quirky arrangements as well, often involving trusts)

I have been with them from the beginning and really don't plan on ever leaving. Overall, I am very happy with the program and my sales rep is the sweetest ever.

Yes, you need to file. I had a client with a 1099 B with an even trade; no gain and no loss. They called him on it because they only had a record of the sale; no record of the basis. And, we had filed a return because of other issues but they billed him for tax on the total sales price of the stock exchange that my assistant failed to report.

Same here, here, here. While there have been issues in the past, I must say the program has been working well for me the last few years.

I have entered the start up costs as an 'other expense' and then amortized the amount that exceeds the $5,000.

IMHO, problems tend to arise when CPA Firms are providing multiple services to clients i.e., Auditing, Consulting and Tax Planning/Preparation, because conflicts of interest develop which can result in bad decisions being made.

Of all the exams to cheat on....

The message suggest that one of the values your ATX program is looking for while launching is not there or has been corrupted. Today is Tuesday, it's possible that a MS update is causing the problem. You need to call Support.

Subtract 5,000 from the cost basis of the asset you entered, then expense the 5,000 as other exp, and amortize the remaining 3,653.

I have had ATX for over 20 years - many times I swear I am going to switch - but their service has been incredible the last couple years - and the issues we have had - were mostly related to single glitches with a client, not overall. It has all the forms I need - I do about 70 S corps and about 800 total returns. I have tried a few others but do not like the format nor the price. This is easy to teach - even to remote preparers. and it does have the interview available. It has "lost" some features I dearly loved - calculator in the line, cannot open more than 1 return in the current year, - can in prior years! Compared to another program I had, I wish it had a timer on!! I have even stepped down a version as I did not need all the extras. I think! D

Same here, here.

Not quite. Rather, it's because the answers actively HIDE until you give up and ask. Then they pop out at you, snickering, as if they had been there the whole time.

I too have had ATX for 20 some years. I actually tried out Drake and didn't like it. ATX is a good software for a small business. I like that I input from a screen that looks like the form. But I started out old school filing in the blanks on a tax return by pencil. So I feel comfortable using the forms and not relying on input prompts. I haven't had any complaints (since that little issue in 2012.....) (2012?) (The older users will know.....)

Where the heck do our clients get ideas like this

I use Drake's Depreciation module which is part of their tax software, so I can either set it up with the placed in service date blank or under depreciation Method I can select "Not Depreciable" then either enter the placed in service date the next year or change the depreciation method.

"Ernst & Young, one of the top accounting firms in the world, is being fined $100 million by federal regulators after admitting its employees cheated on their ethics exams. For years, the firm's auditors had cheated to pass key exams that are needed for certified public accountant licenses, the Securities and Exchange Commission found. Ernst & Young also had internal reports about the cheating but didn't disclose the wrongdoing to regulators during the investigation. "It's simply outrageous that the very professionals responsible for catching cheating by clients cheated on ethics exams of all things," Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC's Enforcement Division, said in a release." After Enron, Worldcom and Global Crossings should we be surprised. The pressure on partners in large CPA Firms to obtain and keep clients apparently creates a corrosive atmosphere