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The horses are ring sour at this point from doing nothing but going in circles. Time to take that horse for a nice long trail ride and sample the grass in other pastures along the way. A horse can always find his way back to the barn on his own, if necessary.

Clients don't understand what it takes to put together even the easiest of amended returns, and it's up to us to educate them if we want to get paid. When I have these easy amendments that are no fault of my own, I explain to the client that even though making the correction itself within the program is not that time consuming, I don't work for free and that my time is worth something, that there is simply a certain amount of other time required. Clients seem to think because we can plunk one number into the return to correct it, that that's all there is to it. Explain to them about the time to review the corrected return to make sure that other numbers haven't changed due to threshold limitations, that it takes more time to put a paper returns together with whatever is your customary practice (instructions, envelopes, sign here stickers), and that you have the documentation that is required for your files. Then there's also the state return to be corrected. For something easy to correct like this, it can take less than 5 minutes to fix in the program and 4 or 5 times that for the rest of the handling. I usually end by telling them that its easier to prepare a complete and accurate original return through e-file than it is to amend it later. By the time I get finished my explanation them, they agree to pay without any further questions... probably just to get me to shut up and get it over with. lol For something this seemingly simple, I'd probably charge $50. In your case, I'd call or email. "Sorry I missed you last night when you stopped by, but here's what's involved with that amendment and how much I charge for that type of work.... How would you like me to proceed? Leave it up to them to make the decision to pay you. Then it's their decision, not you forcing it on them.

I keep remembering additional things I picked up along the way. From within the program the user can email Drake directly as similar to ATX. It's in the dropdown from the "Help" menu and by clicking on Email. The extra feature is that from there the user can click on the Rolodex icon or the "To" button that will bring up a list of email addresses. There are addresses for individuals in the support / tech functions and also separate emails for feedback and for each type of return and state so that it routes your email directly to the programmers that work on that type of return. Last week I wanted to make a suggestion for an additional error checking feature that would be helpful to have a warning on the "messages" page (the error checking diagnostics) specific to Delaware returns, so I called in to make the suggestion. The rep took down my notes and promised to route it to the proper person, and then she showed me how I could email the programmers that were directly working on the Delaware part of the program. Awesome idea. I know that it would have eventually been sorted and routed to the proper person, but I thought this was a nifty little bonus feature. I've only called in twice, both times due to my inexperience, and both times I received a follow-up call either later that day or the next day to make sure that my problem had been resolved.

CPE credits, if one chooses to pay for them, are currently $10 per credit hour. I'll probably be doing some of these as self-study soon. Delaware's 2-year reporting period ends 6/30/13, and I still am a few credits short at this point.

Time was also spent going over various ways to set up the billing, by form or by time, and the ways to override it all or make adjustments and notations on the bill. Other topics covered included conversions, organizers, letters and customizing, maximizing data entry through quick keystrokes, hot keys and macros, importing data for Sch D or K-1s, diagnostics, viewing & printing ease, and client tools such as e-mailing to clients from within the return, setting up worksheets, amortization. A bit of time was also spent on the resources made available to preparers by way of the tutorials and training with available CPE, live and prerecorded webinars. The courses are free to all users, and you only pay if you want to have credits earned. I'm not sure if CPE can be earned from a prerecorded webinar, probably only the live ones. It will also track staff training by switching to "quiz mode" that wil track by individual staff members. A RTRP course is also available accessed from the online resources. Instructor would have gone over bank products but only one participant offered them and was already set up for that. No one else was interested so she skipped that part of the presentation and spent more time on other topics.

A couple of other things that I liked hearing about the company in general were: Phil Drake's father was a tax preparer in Franklin and Phil lived out of the area. When the father got older, Phil moved back to help his dad in the tax practice and saw dad was still doing returns by hand with paper and pencil. Phil saw the need for automation and wrote the initial program, so this program was written by a tax preparer from that viewpoint. Phil and his son, Adam, still run the company, so it is still from that perspective that the program is designed. I like that. The company upholds Christian values. Please don't be offended if you aren't a Christian, because whether you are Christian, another religion, or no religion, at least it is refreshing to know that a company has a set of values that it operates by and places more importance on something other than the almighty dollar or bottom line. I think it is one of the few, or maybe the only one now, that is still privately owned. Drake software is the 2nd largest employer in the town of Asheville, NC and keeping people employed in that area where there is so little other opportunity is important to Phil Drake. Phil Drake likes to see revitalization of existing buildings in their local area, and tries to help other local businesses in ways to achieve that goal rather than building lots of new buildings in other locales while the old ones sit idle. He wants to see the locals stay employed. I like that too!

Jack, ATX Support Email: [email protected] Kim Manuel VP, Customer Relations Email: [email protected] CCH Faxes Fax: 1-888-815-7587 Fax: 1-800-834-4859

I posted a lot of notes that I took at the Drake seminar this morning and that post is located in the Drake subforum found under "other vendor" so I won't repost here. The one thing for those of you evaluating or purchasing this summer: the company offers a full refund up until the initial program's release that comes out around Thanksgiving. The other thing is that this year for anyone that purchased on a PPR basis, the program won't be unlocked to unlimited use until 10/25/13. Here's a link to the other thread:

i attended the Drake seminar this morning. It was more of a sales pitch but I did pick up these few things that will be helpful: Drake currently doesn't convert 1041 from other tax software but might add this for the coming year or in the near future It is network ready and works in either a peer-to-peer or client-server environment If using per form charge, these carry over to the next year. These can be increased or decreased across the board using eiher a percentage change or dollar amount Letters can be converted to Spanish either globally or on a per return basis data entry block settings can be magnified for easier viewing can combine electronic filing steps into one step instead of 3 separate ones re: changes to program in future, as asked by former ATX user - Drake uses "Power Basic" platform, so has no current need in the foreseeable future to upgrade or rewrite the program on a different platform as ATX did. (I don't know all that this means, only stating what the presenter said) with business returns, can easily change the type of entity from one to another (eg: a partnership that incorporates and goes from 1065 to 1120 return) already beta testing to offer cloud storage pressing F1 in any input field brings up the help function for that screen with lots of helpful information use F1 in the business code field brings up list separated by category (dropdown list isn't separated). Scrolling down that list, a second section appears that is alphabetical. Right-click in the business code field brings up a search box. Entering a word to describe business will bring up all related business codes (ex - enter "florist" and program will bring up codes for florist, flower shop, etc) pressing F10 within a field brings up a built-in calculator and from there can insert the calculated result into the input field. Press F10 again and a display will show what looks like an adding machine tape with the individual entries that make up the amount entered in the field. K-1s from 1065 and 1120S prepared within Drake can be imported into the individual returns. I used this feature this year. Tech support staff doubles during tax season but are not temporary staff. During the busy season every employee, including Phil and Adam Drake, answer phones and all know how to use the program. Adam is also frequently on their forum. Price is fully refundable until the product ships around Thanksgiving, so give those demos a good workout this summer. For PPR users this season, the program will be unlocked to unlimited use on 10/25/13. Previously the planner was included but separate from the program. It is integrated within the program for the 2012 tax return year and allows for 2 year's calcs, either 2012 or 2013. I've used this and if doing 2013 it has a comparison feature to show changes from 2012. If buying the research for $89, it integrates with the program and includes the 1040, small business and states' guides. There was a lot more covered and was geared toward its use by new preparers. About the first 2 hours covered basic set up of the program and all of the ways that it could be customized to the users' styles of practice, and during roughtly the second 2 hours, the speaker did show the basics of inputting and filing a 1040 return. I came away with a few tips that I might have found if i'd watched all the tutorials. I haven't watched all of those yet. I will also receive 4 hours of CPE that were available to CPAs but not to others. I'm not sure why that is.

I hardly ever lose anyone. I could charge more because no one ever complains about a bill. That is one indication that the bills aren't high enough. I picked up some new clients this year that were all very pleased with the service they received and promised to send referrals. It is nice because much of my client base came from the firm I once worked for and those clients have found me over the years, but they and I are all getting older, so it's nice that some of the new clients are of a younger set. I had only one tax prep client not come back this year, and I suspected she was a one time return from the get go. She came because of installation of a $30K geothermal heat system, the kind that required excavating a significant part of her back yard. She'd previously called HRB and was told that it wasn't eligible for any credit at all. She'd actually done all the research and had the exact model printed out from the websites to match her original invoice before she ever came in. She made my job on that return an easy one. I suspect she went back to preparing the return herself, but she was also happy with my services and may return in future when the returns become more complex with the changes that are coming.

I plugged my old HP laser printer, a 2420d, into my Win 7 computer and it works just fine. No download of drivers needed. I think the printer is about 6 or 7 years old now, still working well.

I have a TI calculator from 1995 sitting on my desk. The last time I replaced the ink roller it must have been some generic thing so the machine doesn't print numbers clearly any more. I hardly ever need to use it, and I never need a tape of numbers any more. I'm cheap. I'm not replacing it.

It makes it easier to find their content and PM them.

And don't forget the 1099-misc, if needed, depending on the type of entity the accountant is operating as.

Joan might be correct. The very day in March that I got my ATX refund back against my credit card, I also received a call from an ATX sales rep. My rep is no longer with the company, and this gentleman wanted to know if I could be enticed to come back to ATX.

Jack, I don't know enough of the technicalities of software to know this, but you seem to, so here's the main question - If the base (Raven) that the program it is written on is not suitable for the program in general, is any amount of good developing, restructuring, or patching really going to solve the problems with this program? In another thread you said that they chose a little boy program (Raven) to do a man's work and should have used something like Oracle or SQL.

Yes, their refund policy is in writing and right before the 2/28 deadline for requesting the refund CCH SFS extended it to the end of March, so they changed it mid-season (yes, more time allowance, but they changed it nonetheless.) Had I known that it was to be extended I would have paid for a lesser rate of postage to send their "materials" back to them instead of paying a higher price to make sure the package was in their hands before 2/28. The day after I mailed it was the day they changed their policy and Kimmie told me that sending them back wasn't necessary! Still mad over that.

I got my renewal in the mail today and I am no longer a user. You will NOT get every penny back because the "processing fee" is not refundable. I renewed on 5/27 last year at $1700 ($1779 - $178 discount + $99 processing). My refund from ATX was $1601 and didn't show up on my credit card until 3/30/13 even though the ATX website showed it was refunded on 3/13, the date it was approved by their accounting dept. It took another 2 weeks to release the funds after numerous calls to them and my credit card company. Technically I only processed one return through ATX server even though I had some dummy and real returns in the works with a variety of problems. The one return I processed was considered free and ATX refunded my purchase price without charging me the $20 per return fee, but they kept the $99 processing fee. That one return really cost me $99 plus the amount I could have made on a $1700 investment, plus the amount it cost in postage to send their materials back (per their refund policy) and then Kimmie said that wasn't necessary!

Oh yes, it's a *very* nice fee. The broker is with Wells Fargo and has large enough client base to retain an entire group within Wells Fargo structure. They will not provide any data in spreadsheet or any other electronic format because they fear that someone could manipulate the data and make it look like that's the way they reported it. I've asked every year for many years, but they are adamant about not providing it. This was the first year that all of the data was even complete. Prior years there were the details of the proceeds and then each of the fund managers would provide their analysis, but there were always pieces missing from their summaries that wouldn't completely tie in for things like the fractional shares, return of capital, basis was missing. I'd photocopy their summaries and add the missing parts by hand with adjusted totals and submit that with the return. Still, it was very time consuming. Oh, and one of the managed funds is entirely in foreign investments. It sure made for lots of work for the Form 1116 too. The investments were spread over about 26 countries. This year the wife didn't think I charged her enough and added an almost $200 *tip* along with her payment. Sweet!

It does! I only had one large enough to consider doing the import. My client's broker doesn't provide an electronic file, so I took the time to set up a file as a template in excel. If your clients don't provide the data in electronic format, the excel file can be reused over again for other clients once you know the columns link up properly with the Drake screen. My particular client had 6 different brokerage accounts. Some accounts were titled in husband's name, some in his grantor trust, and 2 managed accounts...that all had sales activity. Entering into excel was a nice way to make sure all of the totals tied in before they went into the tax program. The first time I did the import I didn't have a column lined up properly with the sequence that Drake wanted and it threw off all the columns and inputs to the right of that column. I deleted the input screen in the program, fixed my error, reopened the input screen and redid the import. It worked beautifully and saved me a substantial amount of time on that return because the two managed accounts were both liquidated on the same date so many of the transactions were on the same date. It was very easy to use the "fill down" feature in excel for that date and for the T/S/J column too.

I think we need to start a "research materials" thread. I used PPC & RIA for years and dropped those when ATX incorporated the Intelliconnect. I never cared for it and never totally got the hang of using all its features. Also, I was annoyed each time I'd get their newsletter email that wouldn't let me open up the full article because I didn't purchase it separately, only through ATX. I had Tax Analysts for a couple of years and didn't like that either. I still have PPC for my accounting books and research.

I'm already using Drake and I'm planning to go to the seminar in Philly on 5/10. I'm hoping to pick up some tips that I haven't stumbled on or haven't found through the video tutorials (haven't watched all of those). I like what Taxed said about using the input screen based program being partly an attitude change. I've found that many of the input screens are laid out exactly like the form with the boxes in the same order. For example, if you look at the W-2 input it is the same as an actual W-2 would appear if you take away the form's overlay. I had no trouble converting to Drake or learning to use it, converted in mid-Feb 2013 and prepared returns without having to look at the manual. I was satisfied with the return and then watched the e-file tutorial prior to filing. I know, I know, not the best way to do things, but I'm simply saying that for me the program was easy to learn. I was feeling pretty comfortable with the whole process after only a couple of returns. The program is lightning fast, with e-file creation and filing as fast as a click. Print selection is easy, print the whole thing or only pages you request.

Taxed, I didn't have that because I was on PPR with Drake for this year. JohnH, did you have the Taxbooks research? I'd like to know about this too.

I'd really like to get back to a discussion of the ACA since that was the original topic of the thread. I am planning to take one or more courses to try to not be bewildered. One of Jack in Ohio's posts mentioned formulas and tables that will be problematic. I'm hoping that most of that will be built into our software much like all of the other fomulas and tables that are incorporated into the software for the returns we now prepare. Maybe I'm being naive, but why would I have to manually go to a table to plunk in a number into my program or form? I could see that if I was preparing a return with paper and pencil, but I really don't think that will be the biggest hurdle. I think it will be getting the required information from the clients and that they won't want to pay one cent extra in fees for our time to prepare these returns in future.

... or some frackin' bananas if you are a BSG fan.