Jack from Ohio

Exactly the reason I will not put out even $.01 until I know the software will be viable for 2013. rfassett, you are giving in to sales talk and not logic. 2012 was not an anomoly, it was a tragic blunder that has not yet been fixed.

YES, both. Database instability caused by internal structure problems. You are now experiencing what us high volume users have experienced since 2006. Hopefully, the new influx of developers will be able to overcome this.

I get it now. You can adapt to OTHER different software, but not a new version of THIS software. The computer, tax and technology world will NEVER go back to 2011. The tax preparation business is highly technical and complex. As computer technology also advances, as a business that is totally dependent on computers and constantly changing technology, you either learn to adapt, become tech savy or hire people that can. ATX did a lousy job of changing the engine of their software for 2012. However, reality of our business is that it was a hobbled dinosaur that would not be compatible with up to date hardware and operating systems. This career field, due to the increasing dependence on complex software and the necessary hardware, will soon become "too much trouble" for those unwilling to adapt and change, and the herd will thin, making more business opportunities for those of us who chose to keep learning, adapting and changing with the job. The slow speed of the latest "speed increase" of 2012 is what we here have experienced with ATX for the last 5 tax years as the number of clients passes around 500. Granted, the Raven database engine was not the right choice for domain networks, or networks for that matter, but I think the majority of ATX users are standalone, which may have had too much influence in the choices the developers made. So whether you stay with ATX or choose another software, you WILL be adapting, one way or the other. (sorry to disappoint you)

Ditto! I would like to have all the updates for 2012 and the 2013 beta the moment they have one. I will give it the REAL test.

Is anyone planning to attend any of the IRS forums this summer? I went to my first one last summer and it was immensely informational. None are close to me this year, so it will be plane trip, and probably staying at the hotel where the forum is so I don't need a car. Just wondered if anyone else was planning to go? Sharing a room would be an option to help lower costs. Just wondering...

They is not a single chance of them going back to the old version of ATX. Get that thought out of your mind. It will never happen. Have you not been reading all the reasons for changing? The program was based on 1995 technology. By my last check, it is 2013. Either grab the idea that you must adapt to new or different software, or go back to doing returns by hand. IT IS 2013!!!

My experience: If you do a backup to a totally new folder (doesn't matter where, as long as it is not in the same folder the program, is installed in), the backup will not be corrupted. All return information and e-file information will be saved. The downside is, that it will only backup the current version of the returns, where the original backup keeps up to the latest 5 backed up versions of each return. Exporting still protects all the return information, but the e-file info for each return is hit and miss. I have checked these processes out and know that this information is solid. There is no way to change the default setting for the backup folder, so backing up to the new location must be done manually. With about 3,100 returns now, the backup takes 11 1/2 hours. Exporting takes a little over 16 hours.

It appears to me that amongst all the replies on this thread, you should easily be able to develop a 1,2,3... process. 1. Get a huge retainer. 2. Abandon the OIC idea. 3. Help your client set up a payment plan that will satisfy the IRS because one way or the other, they WILL get the trust fund money.. 4. Tell her to hire a capable accountant to do the company bookkeeping, or you will dump her. 5. Talk to your E&O insurance company about your liability here. 6. Realize that YOU did not cause the problem, and them choosing NOT to be informed (ignorance) was their own choosing and you are not responsible, despite the tears and bad turns their life has taken. This has been going on for YEARS & YEARS!! They cannot plead ignorance, in my estimation. 7. Tell them the IRS is not going to relent on any of the items. 8. Take some of the huge retainer and treat you and your significant other to a nice dinner out. 9. ...you can take it from here. Just my observations....

How do we get everyone to consent to a background check? And how is that going to prevent a person of criminal intent from obtaining a gun illegally? Give me a PRACTICAL answer...

Look up the statistics about what weapons cause the most deaths.... But then, why bring facts and reality into this discussion?? You have not yet responded with how to get the criminals to line up for background checks, or how to get them to turn in their guns and ammo. I know, criminals are not necessarily the brightest bulbs in the place, but do you think ANY of them will allow a background check to be done?

I will be holding our rep's feet to the flame!! We will see if all the talk about "Wanting to keep our customers" and other drivel is fact or not. Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me; Fool me 12.15 times, I am a blithering, mindless moron!!

I get 10-15 rolls at a time once a year (usually just before the rate goes up), so the delivery charge is inconsequential. Agree with all you say!

Should we also require background checks for anyone selling ANY deadly weapon? Knives of every variety, box cutters, baseball bats, crowbars, lug wrenches, pipe and the list goes on... "Sorry ma'am, I cannot sell you that kitchen carving knife without fingerprints and a background check." "Sorry son, all little league games have been cancelled because there was no background check done on the people that purchased the bats." REALITY AGAIN!! A gun is only a deadly weapon when in the hands of a criminal with deadly intent. I took one of my pistols and placed it on a chair in my bedroom. Two weeks later and not a single shot had been fired. If the gun is the deadly weapon, I would have been dead a long time ago.

Another reality check question.... WHO will run and oversee such a program? Who will enforce such a law? Who will enforce the protection of personal information when these background checks are done? How will such a law be enforced? Best last question... How will you get the criminals to line up for the background checks when they obtain the guns they have illegally? La La land is the source of the idea that these kind of laws will ever make a small dent in criminals obtaining and using guns.

Go find some frickin bananas! They will improve your mood!!

What OS is on your server? What OS is on your workstations? How many workstations? How many clients on your program now?

So, lets increase the testing and make background checks required to obtain a drivers license? Your statement SUPPORTS my position!! People who choose to break the law, do not care what the law(s) say.

It is not illegal for one person to sell another person a firearm. Whether they are in the parking lot of the gun show, or the driveway of the seller of the parking lot of Wal-Mart. No laws are broken. The law requires gun dealers to perform background checks on all buyers. This is also in place when the dealers sell at a gun show. Still looking for that "Gun Show Loophole"..... All you have given me is liberal drivel hyperbole and propaganda.

They do NOT exist. Please direct me to someone. I am speaking of a TRUE domain server environment. No tech person that I spoke to had ANY advice about the server incompatibility issue. Their only advice was to scrap the domain and make your system peer to peer. Easy if ATX is the only program you use on your server and network. Not so easy if you have a true business environment with 10 workstations to take care of. They chose a boy (Raven) to do a man's (SQL or Oracle) job. Now they are seeing the results of not fully thinking ahead.

Very good question. I have asked many times this question: "What law can be passed to make criminals give up their guns?"

I create all package shipping labels online and print them on my printer. No monthly charge, no special printer or labels, and a 5-8% discount. USPS delivers rolls of first class stamps to me for a single $1 service charge. In the last 5 years I have shipped over 800 packages both first class and priority, all with delivery confirmation and many with insurance, and have gone to the Post office maybe 20 times. My postal carrier picks up my packages, scans them, takes them to the processing point and I rarely travel to the post office. Our local post office is staffed properly, but it is typically 30 minutes to get to the window because they have no incentive to be efficient. Same thing for Fed Ex or UPS. Create the shipping labels here, carrier picks them up.

Define and document for me the "Trade Show loophole?" More liberal propaganda....

I personally don't think he should be approved for ANY OIC. He spent the employees money, and that money would/should have been in the treasury. Sorry, no sympathy here! Not filing tax returns incurs civil penalties for a reason. There is no excuse on this earth for not filing taxes for that length of time. The reason is he/they wanted to keep and spend the money. "But we needed it to keep the business open..." is the biggest line of Male Bovine Scat ever pronounced as an excuse for not paying trust fund monies. If it was that bad, closing the business or restructuring is the proper course of action. Not stealing employee's payroll withholdings. NO SYMPATHY! NO OIC.

There is no way I/we are paying for ANYTHING until September or October when we will know whether they have actually corrected the flaws or are just desperately trying to keep customers. No more believing anything they say, no matter how sweetly the sales rep says it. I have my own database expert dissecting the program and the issues. By September, I will know as much about how poorly the program is designed and whether the program can be fixed. No more taking the word of the people who took our money last year and cost our company so much this tax season. I have told my sales rep exactly the same thing. Waiting for her response from her supervisor. Film at 11.

Methinks you have had your head in the sand too long!!! That comment makes you seem VERY uninformed!! You have no clue about the problems faced by large tax businesses using ATX this year. The software is still VERY FAR from acceptable.