Crank

I used to have a client who came to the tax appointment with his own copy of J.K Lasser's Your Income Tax. This is when IRS used to mail complete 1040 booklets. He did not like the IRS lingo!

I really like J.K Lasser's Your Income Tax book and have purchased it since the early 80s. For ~$15-$20 on amazon its a great plain language resource.

Thank you. I keep to .pfd files for easy reference.

Excellent question, hopefully someone who has experience with this will jump in. I believe that there could be goodwill to the extend that the sales price exceeds the book value of the assets (or owners equity). However, that is just an off the cuff guess as I don't have any real world experience with this and haven't done the research. Just drawing on past accounting education ... which was almost 20 years ago.

I'm one of the individuals who would like to store client files on a different drive. The reason is because my C: drive is a 250GB solid state drive which is much faster for booting the operating system and doesn't require defragmenting. I store my other programs and data files on my D: drive which is a 3TB HDD which is slower and requires defragmenting. However since 2013 ATX required installation to the C: drive I have decided to leave the data files there so there wouldn't be any issues if tech support were to be required.

This year the IRS has imposed new regulations, and in order to avoid “potential issues” I will be spending more time doing “due diligence” on every return.

I believe this statement will lead to questions regarding which new regulations have impacted their specific tax return.

I used TaxWise in 2008 and ATX in 2009. Only the basic info converted for use in 2009. Since I wanted my 2 year comparisons to have the right data, I practically had to redo each return. I had "assumed" that since each was a CCH program, the conversion would go better - because they would know the inner workings of each program (regardless of who developed them). I truly hope they've improved the conversion in the last 4 years.

Thanks Kea. I'm also hoping the conversion has improved but I'm expecting that it hasn't. If it has I will be truly elated.

I use the two year comparison for most clients. It's very helpful in explaining what has transpired but it can lead to detailed discussions of both tax years.

I cant speak for ATX to anything other than TaxWorks and it went great. However from TaxWorks to TaxWise there was some erroneous data such as carry forwards and depreciation. I'll soon find out how TaxWise to ATX goes when they release the conversion. One would assume it would be a smooth, clean conversion since both are CCH companies but it's a bit perplexing that it still isnt available while ATX has already released the conversions for most of the other major tax prep software programs.

I've been happy using Deloitte Dbriefs webcasts. Usually 1 or 2 hours, a variety of topics and free.

http://www.deloitte.com/us/dbriefs

TaxExact is TRX's in house software. It's the same software they shipped for the 2012 tax filing season, in place of TaxWorks (which customers purchased and expected to receive as in previous years). TaxExact was useless in 2012! I wouldn't purchase any software from them

As most know I've moved on to ProSeries. But I checked with both ATX and ProSeries in June before I got my Win 7 machine both advise me to get the Win 7. The new software will work on Win 8 but the older TAX software might be a problem. If you need to do a 2011 return for example you may have to do it on another machine to make it work. Both companies told me this. I called them and ask before I purchased.

August

I appreciate your/their comments but my feeling is that they usually say that to avoid many tech support issues same as they do with the recommended system hardware requirements. Win 8 has a compatibly feature for older programs. The only issues I have run into since about the windows vista release was getting older DOS based programs to run natively and there are other programs that will allow you to do this.

Well it certainly would make each day just a little bit more memorable. Or build the anticipation of each day.

Thanks Taxed. I always re install my OS every year before tax season and download updated drivers.

For the record I have had machines running:

MS-DOS

Windows: 3.1, 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7 and soon 8. I find that the gripes are usually overblown and if justified they issue an update. Most people are just afraid of change.

Linux - I prefer Linux Mint and dual boot my machines with it. If the tax software ran on Linux I just might abandon Windows all together. That's how much I prefer it. Cleaner, faster, updated and always FREE.

I ran Vista for 6 years without any issues.

I just ordered a new system with windows 8.1 and don't expect any issues. if you watch some YouTube videos on it it is really quite easy with a mouse. They just added the tablet functionality to it which confuses some people but you don't have to use the apps if you don't want to. If you use a smartphone or tablet you will be familiar with how Apps work. You have your installed programs and Apps on it. Like Taxed said win 8.1 got good reviews. Its really your preference but I prefer to use the newer OS's.

Oh, also with windows 8.1 they added back the start button for those who want it and you can boot directly to the desktop and not the "Tiles Start Page" (Apps) if you prefer. I just read today that Microsoft is moving to a yearly update schedule with their software and another update to Win8 is expected by June of 2014.

Well I know he monitors this forum after MainStreet picked up quite a bit of business last year due to the ATX, TRX & TaxWorks fiascos.

I just received an email from Mr. Cooper apologizing for the confusion and stating that he contacted ATX and had my account released. I will contact ATX tomorrow to see if things have been cleared up.

Taxed, That crossed my mind but I believe they id you by EFIN/PTIN.

I have already spoken to three people at ATX over the past month. They claim there is nothing they can do and that I should contact MainStreet. I am going to try attempt to go up the ladder to an executive at CCH. I emailed and called MainStreet's president, Tony Cooper <[email protected], but they are closed today. He contacted me a few weeks ago and pushed their other product "CheckPoint" I believe it is called.

I never signed anything and brought this up to ATX. They claim that there is an internal agreement between resellers of CCH products regarding their clients. AMAZING!

No.

I have used ATX since the mid 90s (Sabre at first). For 2012 I used TaxWise through reseller Mainstreettaxsolutions.com I would like to return to ATX for the upcoming 2013 tax filing season and have been trying to schedule a live demo with ATX since mid October with no success. Today I was informed by ATX that Mainstreettaxsolutions.com is refusing to release me so I can use other CCH products. I have to now call MainStreet and beg to be released.

This is unbelievable!

A couple of years ago I purchased a Cannon (LIDE110 I believe) flatbed scanner for under $100 and I really like the included software. Of course it is probably not as feature rich as this product but it suits my needs just fine.

thanks

Can anyone tell me anything about CrossLink tax prep software. Any reviews would be helpful. Thanks

Yes, they did use us as beta testers. Id love to see their sales figures this year. BTW I filed a claim against them in their bankruptcy case. I still cant believe that no one, from my credit card company to the BBB to the AG, could get my money back and they arent in jail, amazing.

Now I feel left out. I never received this email. I believe the last email I got from them was back in April to renew for 2013. I hope I didnt offend them.

Sounds great.

Now if I could only get mainstreettaxsolutions.com to release me from that TaxWise client list I would be able to talk to ATX about possibly returning to ATX this year. I have only been tring to get this accomplished for the past two weeks with numerous calls and emails that assure me each time that it will be recified ASAP. I guess ATX doesnt want my business.