GeneInAlabama

Don't look back. What you charged seems pretty low to me. I don't know how long it took you,but I'll bet the time involved would have been more than your hourly rate, expecially at this time of year. My rates here in rural Alabama are low, but it probably would have been more than the $370 you charged. I try to base my fees at $100 per hour for ACTUAL work done.

Taxed, Doug did not admit that he did a poor job on the software, he admitted he did a poor job on the proforma part of it and you jumped right on it. Have you never done a poor job on a particular part of your job? I have. If you aren't happy with the software, you have the option to move on. Why do you feel that you need to keep bashing it over and over and over? Yes, there are problems with the software but I have confidence that it will be fixed. If it isn't, then I will have to do something else. Look at the problems ATX is having. My understanding is that the other companies are having problems too. Enough is enough.

A problem I haven't seen listed before: for unpaid preparer the only choices are "IRS prepared" and "IRS reviewed". We also need "self prepared" for my own return and "unpaid preparer" for returns we do for relatives and friends that we don't charge for.

Terry, I agree with you 100%. I haven't taken my test yet, but had intended to right after tax season. My clients don't care if I have any initials after my name, but the testing would have put some out of business that should not have been there to start with, and I think that would be good for all of us, especially the victims of the incompetent preparers. What would really be good is if something could be done to get rid of HRB, Liberty and JH. As you said, a LOT of people have been victimized by those people.

Doug, in setting up an employer for the payroll module, there is no place to put the employer's SSN. I have 2 or 3 clients that I prepare 1099s for that do not want an EIN and do not want to apply for one. They want to use their social security number even though I advised them that they should have an EIN. Could it be set up to accept a SSN?

Washington is an exception. All the rain keeps everything beautiful and the legislators don't even think in the directrion of a state income tax.

>>Generally I don't charge my kids to prepare their tax returns. No income, no expense.<< Why not? Doesn't that come under the same category of deducting loss of rent for the months rental property is not rented?

No profession is secure. Times change. Remember the engineers in the space program (I can't remember the type of engineers at the moment) that lost their jobs in mass? I certainly thought their jobs were secure at the time. Remember the office machine repairman? They had to change their skills from mechanical to electronic and then even that faded away. Not too long ago I would have to have the copier repairman come in to repair my copier. Now, when something happens to my copier, I throw it away and buy a new one. How many copier repairmen are out there now? We have no way of knowing what will happen to our profession. We can only roll with the flow.

Thanks Taxed. I do use the overrides very sparingly. Only when I can't find any other solution and am absolutely sure of the figure that is supposed to go in that space. Being able to override is very helpful in those cases. TaxExact had that capability on the original demo, I assume it is still available. I haven't tried it yet.

I used TaxWorks for the last two years and didn't like it at all. TaxExact is more to my liking. I had used ATX since about 1993 and if you could do a tax return with pencil and paper, you could do it with ATX. With TaxWorks, the worksheets threw me for a loop. They didn't follow logic for me, but that is probably due to my age. Older people think differently from younger people. Also with TaxWorks, you couldn't override entries. You had to search through the worksheets to find a box that was or wasn't checked. TaxExact is more like ATX as for entry. I know there is still a lot of work that needs to me done on TaxExact, but I am confident that it will be done and on time. I expect problems, but that would be true for any software, at least for any that I can afford.

Hmm, I hadn't thought about using hanging folders with individual folders in them. I'll have to think about that. That with the smead alphabetical and year labels on the hanging folder might be a better way. Thanks.

I was trying to print labels for mailing. I am a little confused about printing new client folders. Are you saying that some print new client folders each year? I use one folder for each client and put the return for each year in that folder. When it gets too large to manage, I make a 2nd or 3rd folder for that client. If there is a better way of doing it, I am wide open for suggestions. Sometimes when working alone, you miss some simple and obvious ways of doing things. That is what is so great about this board, you aren't completely alone.

Taxed and Kea, you have made an old man really, really, really happy. I did as you said and it worked beautifully. Thank you so very much. Gene

I'm trying to print labels from my 2011 TaxWorks program and less than half of clients are showing up. What am I doing wrong? I have been using the TaxWorks program for 2 years and I don't like it at all. TaxExact looks like it is going to be a lot better, at least for me. Any help will be appreciated.

Looks like my computer is going senile too. I had typed more to the above post and the computer forgot the rest of it. Maybe the problems I have been having is the computer's fault and not the software. The computer is getting quite old.

>>may be going senile!

I had forgotten about that one. Yes, that was a racket, but I have used it.

>>Still remember dropping a dime in the payphone<< A dime!!! Payphones used to be a nickle. :huh:

>>I have had situations where they would not release the refund until all due years were filed.<< Sounds logical to me. But when did the IRS start doing things that are logical? :dunno:

>>You can't tell me you don't like music now!!!!<< Actually, I don't. I don't hear high or low frequencys and music is just noise to me. The people I go to church with probably think I am some kind of reprobate or something.

Doug, what part of Alabama are you from? I'm a country boy living between Gadsden and Anniston.

Doug, I'm afraid I'm not ANY kind of sports fan. I saw a football game one time and I figure if you have seen one, you have seen them all. Everyone thinks I am really weird, but I am what I am. I'll try not to dampen anyone's spirits. :P

Terry, there is a thread on the "General Chat" section about this. The warning posts only show up on your own post and only when you post something. Almost everyone is "0".

But you do have to renew your PTIN each year.

When I try to print a 1099, I only get a blank 1099 when I use the "print preview" button and I get a blank page when I use the "print" button even though informatiion is entered on the 1099. When I try to print a W2, I get a notice to insert the form in the printer and it then only prints the information without the form. I don't see any way to print the form with the information in it. Is this something that will be corrected later, or will we only be able to use the program with pre-printed W2 and 1099 forms? I'm not complaining. The program is a bargain even without the payroll section, but it sure would be nice if it will print W2s and 1099s on plain paper. It would keep me from having to buy a separate program.