joelgilb

Too many issues with Vista and I have old DOS software I am told won't run on it. Staying away from Vista. Now if only the Apple OS became more mainstream

Using Quickbooks Merchant Services and their Billing Solutions. The combination allows my clients to pay me by credit card directly on the web and automatically sends payment reminders with no effort on my part. Also puts the payment directly into my books and I don't have to take the extra step to record it. Discount fees are competitve and helps me get paid by those slow or never pays. Joel

Can't do insurance, certified mail delivery confirmations though with the Dymo. Joel

Guess I was just trying to let everyone know I speak from experience and education and didn't have a BF or a bowl movement for that matter! And I also think I have most of those other initials after my name as well including MF! BTW Booger, read many of your posts. You always seem to add a sense of humor. So don't ever get serious, we need your humor around here. Joel

OK, John, technically you are correct. On examination, however, the Service could invalidate the extension if it determines that the taxpayer failed to make a "bona fide and reasonable" estimate of its liability based on the information available at the time the request for extension was made (Crocker, supra). Regs. Sec. 301.6651-1(C )(4)(ii) -- which provides that for purposes of the failure-to-pay penalty, reasonable cause is presumed if the amount of tax shown on the extension is at least 90% of the amount of tax shown on the taxpayer's return With current agressive posture at IRS I would still think it is safer to file a return by 04/15/08. As for the 9465, I agree with you there, but I tend to take a conservative approach and try to avoid the IRS issuing notices. Further, everytime a notice is received, you know the client is going to call his tax adviser and ask to have it looked at, running up fees and wasting our time for no good reason. Joel

Just a comment regarding your clients thinking you are their "Best Friend, etc.". As an attorney, I routinely give advice to CPA's and other professions regarding malpractice issues. Best advice (I once taught this seminar to CPA's) is to make your clients your friends. Then when and if they get mad at you and think, even if you did not do it, that you have committed malpractice, they are more likely to yell at you and stop using you, but not sue you. Time and time again I get new clients that think that they were the friend of their former tax accountant and tell me things like .. "Well I could have sued him, but he was my friend for years, so I just decided not to use him anymore..." Protect yourself and be their friend, it works more often than you would think. From one that has sued accountants for malpractice. Sorry everyone, it is part of what I do for a living. Joel CPA JD Attorney at Law

BTW. I have seen recent ads from CCH for ATX. Wonder if they are trying to build the base of users and do intend to support this product. Joel Although, Mel I do think we still need you and whatever you can do for us.

OOOPS! I knew that. Full Edit, 10 seconds and he fixed to she! Thx Taxbilly And the doctors think a sex change takes hours of major surgery! Joel CPA JD

Looks to me like he just became a builder and his income belongs on Schedule C, which I think is what "Income Taxes" is asking. And as for putting in Part V of schedule C, this is not only a large number for this section, it is for OTHER EXPENSES. The land should be part of COGS and belongs in part III along with the other construction costs. Oh, and Oldjack, usually I agree with you, but is time I think you had the Brain Fart. He did not say he was rehabbing anything nor that this was investment property. He said that the client bought land and then Built a House on it. He also said the guy was a carpenter. Now not knowing more of the actual facts. This looks like Carpenter just became a Builder, thus schedule C and SE tax. Joel CPA JD

I decided not to add the postage but have increased their fees slighty each year (5%) to cover things like this. Clients get to pissed off at little things like extra charges for postage, but don't seem to mind a cost of living bump. Also, since you are no longer sitting in the typical 1 to 2 hour appointment you can probably do their return in 1/2 to 1/4 of the time and get 2 to 4 more returns in the same time frame. Now isn't that a better answer than charging them for shipping, either losing the client or getting the to push you into an appointment next year? Joel

Must file the return on time to avoid penalties. An extension does not extend the time to pay and therefore does not avoid the penalties. Set him up with a 9465 installment agreement and some small amount and he can pay more when he gets it. This will keep IRS off his back. And I believe the 9465 will be automatically accepted if its for 12 months or less. Joel

BTW everyone, this was supposed to be more that a walk down memory lane when I started this topic. Now KC has even changed the topic name to protect the innocent! LOL Or maybe she is protecting me....hmmmmm. Anyway, just took a cursory review of the 2006 Drake tax software. Although the software is reasonably priced and appears to perform the calculations competently I find a few things that I don't like with this software: 1. Entry is all input sheet oriented. I prefer to see the actual tax forms. Although it is not essential in my opinion to provide direct input onto the forms Like ATX, at least having the form in the background with instant updates would help see the flow (as TAASC did before Intuit discontinued the product). a. A drill down feature from the form would also greatly help. 2. No where near the depth in forms that ATX has. Maybe I could prepare individual and business taxes with this, but all the other forms i would need to buy additional software for, such as Superform Tax Forms. 3. Had difficulty find where to enter several things, but this I believe is just the typical learning curve. Although, I might add that I did not have the learning curve when I switched from TAASC (when it was discontinued) to ATX, as I can follow a tax form and the drill down eliminated the curve for me. Didn't spend much more time with this software due to the time of year, so that's all for now. Guess I have one more thing. Looks like Drake might not be for me. (thinking out loud) Geesh I would hate to have to look at ProSeries and go back to using that product again. Joel

Mel: Nice to see that you are attempting to create a replacement to ATX. Was wondering if it it would be created in a similar fashion with Excel, Visual Basic and Access? Also (putting in my request here), are you looking to add the customization that ATX has now? Where we can open a form and change it. It is a feature that is very useful (and I don't change the look of forms to make sure it meets IRS standards). Also, I have long asked ATX to provide the ability to do more than create a simple crosslink and actually allow us to create a formula link between forms like the developers do now. Well, I understand that to get something as complete as ATX in the first year is a big job, so good luck with the project. (QUOTE:kcjenkins) "Well, the first year I will buy both your program and ATX or some other program, so that I can learn yours and offer what help I can as a tester, etc. I'm really serious about it, as I think are quite a few others. Keep us posted, and of course, feel free to ask if we can do anything along the way. We are rooting for you, Mel." I agree with KC. Although, Mel, I hope you can create enough that we don't have to buy both, KC's option is a good one and I think everyone out here should consider it for our future ... and well Mel's too! As for the tech support concerns I have seen you post elsewhere Mel, maybe a number pf the members of this community can help until the substructure can be set in place. I know that this may take a season or 2. Joel Tired of Changing Tax Software :-( BTW while writing this post, on hold with ATX 25 minutes for tech support at 8:00 am. Geesh!

So far CCH has continued to tell us that they plan to support ATX in the future. We can all agree that the changes they have don't appear to be very positive. It is possible that they are only trying to consolidate management and reduce costs to make the product more profitable to them. I for one have been angry with the changes and loss of support, but as a business man, CPA and attorney, I do understand that there is no employee that cannot be replaced. And yes, I have been keeping my options open, looking at the other software out there (not liking what I see either) and have yet to make any decision to leave ATX. If we are all running scared and don't give CCH and Taxwise a chance to integrate, we will be the ones that have spelled DOOM to this product. By finding other options we are whittling away their base of customers and making the decision for them. Instead, maybe we should be letting them know what we want, and making suggestions to them to help them integrate the ATX product. Will I miss William? Him and many of the other I have come to rely on, but that does not mean ATX is dead. Let's make sure it not us that kills this product. Joel

Part Year Resident and Non Resident are essential. Don't want to do these by hand, especially with a few of my large clients in multiple states. Joel

Good Luck! Site locks you out when you look at it cross eyed. I actually have my original name and password (somewhat modified) also though. Can't remember if I had to re-add it, but I don't think so. Note "ADMIN" must be in LOWER CASE - coops "lower case"! Joel

Computax, FastTax and a had a couple of local companies in the Chicago area also. Guess we are all old! I actually started an in-house practice in 1983 with Turbotax, which was designed to prepare one return. Had to create a squirrely batch file to get it to copy the tax file back and forth to a client directory and create my own client interface to do multiple returns on it. Then of course the TRANSPARENT OVERLAYS, or the squirrely facsimile forms. Ahh those were the good old days! TurboTax was actually pretty effective until Intuit realized professionals were actually using it. Then they crippled some of the basic calculations, raised my malpractice concerns and sold me the professional version for $1000 more (for instance Social Security no longer flowed to the 1040, this was now a manual calc, when just the year before it worked). BTW ProSeries for $999.00? Not the full package is it? 1040 Complete is $$1249.00. I don't see $999.00. The PowerTax Library for $4,099.00, and the PowerTax Lite is $2749.00. Not sure either provides as much as ATX. Guess I could live without all the other States, but I always had this warm cozy comfy feeling when I had them. Joel

In response to Jainen: Ten to twelve years ago was when I switched from Proseries. They had totally changed the interface of the prgram and took a very fast software and slowed it down. I understand from a friend that this has been corrected, but I still have a fundamental problem using this software and it is not cost based. INUTUIT COMPETES WITH US! Why should we allow that. Further, I know of at least one specific situation where support for the users was totally lacking. I had a friend who worked for them in the technical area (he is a CPA and a Tax Attorney in CA), when he found a bug in the calculations of one particular area, he brought it to the attention of management, and suggested a fix. HE was told that they were not going to correct the error, even though he argued vehemently to no end. He then argued that at least they should notify the accountants and sggest a work around and was told to bury it and keep quiet or he would lose his job. I am a user of Quickbooks, as I seem to have little choice, with as many clients that use the software. Again, hare Intuit's attitude and position is a problem. On multiple occasions, I have called their tech support for problems (too much to add specifics here, but if you want let me know) to get answers that they have never seen this problem before. They would then after wasting my hours of my time, and suggesting I uninstall and reinstall the software, suggest that it is not their software but conflicts with other software and that they could not fix my problem nor give me any additional help. In almost all of the cases I later went to their community and researched the problem, to find that the problem I was having or my client was having was a hot issue there, no one else had a solution and that the community was hot at Intuit's attitude and failure to even admit the problem let alone fix it. I do not feel that this is the software company that I want to be in bed with! I also agree that my fees are to low, since I can't do just 3 returns to offset the cost of Proseries, but cost is not my primary concern. WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR CLIENTS? As for Lacerte, I have personally convinced 3 different people to switch to ATX over Lacerte. They agree that Lacerte is a higher end product, but all are happier with ATX. And, again it is owned by Intuit. Nuff said! Now as to your comments Randall. I agree with you. This year is not the time to switch. I do hope that CCH stands by it's promise to maintain this product, but, this is not the topic of this thread. My concern is that CCH is going to discontinue the ATX line anyway. Everything they have done so far follows a pattern of other tax software companies that have acquired a competitor and subsequently moved the customer base to their other products. With CCH this is only a concern because they purchase both ATX and Taxwise, as they know we are not potential customers of their ProSystem FX. But do they really want to keep 2 competing products on the lower end of their market? I do think that ATX and Taxwise compete head to head. If it were my decision at CCH, well one would have to go. I pray that this is not the case here, but want to be prepared. So this thread is to discuss alternates "In Case of the Inevitable". I, unlike a few of the people in this community (from the posts I have read) have no intention of switching unless I have no other choice. ATX offers me a product I can use in other areas of my legal practice (for instance it has State Incorporation documents), something NONE of the other software products out there can do, with the possible exception of Superforms (haven't checked if they can fill this void yet). Joel

Seen a couple of threads here talking about the poor support for ATX, the layoffs in Caribou and the general changes being made by CCH and Taxwise. None of the changes seem to be favorable at this time, but maybe it is just a transition period. Like so many others here I have seen one tax software product after another swallowed up by takeovers, buyouts and mergers. I have been with ATX since TAASC was purchased by Intuit and then discontinued immediately. I hope that CCH has not decided to discontinue producing this software, because it does offer more for less. As any software though, it does have some trade offs. For larger returns it is still runs slower than the competition. The import features are weak, and it does not automatically transfer k-1's to the individuals 1040's. Never the less, it has had more to offer than its competition. Some of which is gone already, such as: 1. Great Technical Support 2. Short wait times to reach support 3. Quick program revision when we find errors 4. Chat Support 5. And this Community! As such I am concerned, as others here have said - "The Writing is on the Wall" (someone else famous said that also, or is it "Another Brick in the Wall"?). So, I am starting this thread to discuss alternatives to ATX, should the inevitable happen. I have seen mention of the following tax software products and was thinking now may be a good time to discuss them. I am going to list a few that I know of below, although I do not have experience with any of them. Throw your thoughts out and lets see where it takes us. 1. Drake 2. Orrtax 3. Proseries by Intuit - used them in the early days and at that time it was fast. Left them when they changed the software and had so many bugs it was unusable. Not sure of the current speed or interface, but it is now pricey and well... Intuit is the enemy as they compete with us. 4. TaxAct - seems like it may be to low level for us, but never reviewed it. 5. Taxslayer - have seen one preparer use this, but I thought it was really a poor turbotax competitor and have not hear good things about this one 6. Lacerte - pricey. Haven't looked at it for some time, but my recolletion is it was input sheet oriented and I prefer to see the tax forms. 7. Abacus Tax Software 8. Ultra Tax from Thomson 9. CCH CompleteTax - Now if you thought the others were expensive.... 10. GreatTax 11. HowardSoft's Tax Preparer - cheap, but I am concerned you get what you pay for 12. Taxworks 13. NTS Tax Vision 14. Crosslink 15. Saxon 16. Softax - limited States, and from the look of the website, I wonder when they will be gone 17. Superform Tax Forms - not a tax preparation package, but if ATX goes by the wayside, we may need this to fill the void in addition to a tax prep software, maybe we can convince them to move up to the next level and provide an alternative. 18. Autotax - nope, gone too, now part of Drake 19. Taxware Systems 20. and of course TAXWISE (Universal Tax Systems) hmmmm! I have used this one, and it is capable, but I did not like its input form methodology. Would I buy it, Probably not. Ok everyone, what do you think? Joel

This may not sound popular, but I think you all need to hear it. I am an attorney and can tell you that I have represented taxpayers and was able to shift responsibility to their accountants when the taxpayers have gotten themselves in trouble with IRS. I have only done this when the accountant has directed payments to vendors rather than IRS, but was able to shift the responsibility. Today, with IRS making us responsible for the tax information, we all have to be even more careful than before. My suggestion, never sign a client's return under any circumstances. Never write checks on behalf of a client and do not direct them to pay one vendor over another. CYA might be a good thing to consider these days! Joel

I called ATX about 1099 e-file acknowledgments today and they had no clue and could not even find my 1099 e-file on their server. After being on hold for 30 minutes until someone answered (at least this time they did not hang up) I got someone that put me on the Musak hold for another 60 minutes. Then they instructed me to resubmit it. When I tried to resubmit I receveid the message that I couldn't as it was in a "Validated by EFC" status. Now What?! Never had these problems in the past. Joel

I didn't say I transfer everything to OCR vs PDF. What I want to do is have every PDF be an OCR searchable file. I have looked at features of "High End" document managers (costing thousands) and they appear to be able to batch ocr the pdfs, deal with the directory structure I already have and allow searches of key words to find the documents I want, rather than a simple client search. Since I am both an Attorney and a CPA, I need to be able to find specific drafted documents, notices etc, and I a not always aware which client I drafted something for. Further, I do not keep all documents in a client folder. For instance, if I write a "Reasonable Cause" response to an IRS notice, I may want to use some of the same language in another letter. Therefore I save the wordprocessing file (I tend to use WordPerfect not Word) in a Wordperfect data folder under a subcatagory of "IRS Tax Responses". I am looking for a document manager that can search for these documents by key word search not client name search. I just created my first client folder under ATX DM and note the following: 1. I am required to enter a Social Security number to create the client folder. This is something I do not always have for clients where I do not do tax work. 2. When I added data to the folder, it copied all the data to a new place in my hard drive (under the DM program. - I do not want it to restructure my file system or duplicate my files. 3. I could not find a search function to find documents and looking at a PDF file inside DM was not much of a time saver or easier than use Windows Explorer and Adobe Acrobat (I have Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0 btw). Ok it did save a step maybe, but this feature is certainly not enough to make this program worthwhile if it doesn't do more than that. I am looking for True Document Management, not just a simple replacement for my file cabinet. If all a document manager does is replace the file cabinet, and not add the features that a computer would provide, what is the point? Joel

Was just wondering if anyone out here is using the document manager fromATX. I am looking for a way to organize, track and basically find my client files. So far I have close to a terrabyte of documents, including PDF, Word, Excel, WordPerfect and Tax documents (others to but these are the main ones) and it is like lookig for a needle in a haystack I have been scanning everything since 2005 including some older documents. I organize my files in 2 ways, some by client (more recent ones) andbyt type of document and catagory for wordprocessing and Excel type documents. I tried setting up Doc Mgr and it looks like I have to almost start from scratch and enter each client and related folder and type of folder. As I already have this organization for the majority of my files this seems like a lot of busy work. Also, I want to convert all scanned PDF's into searchable OCR documents. ATX (TAXWISE) is trying to sell me Scan and Fill for this, but all they can tell me is that it will save me typing into the tax program. Not an important feature to me as it will only help with new w-2s and new clients, a small portion of my work. They can't seem to tell me if it will do batch ocr on existing PDF files, and this is what is important to me. I have looked at numerous document mangers that seem far better, but this one may integrate better if it can do the things I need. Also signed up for their 1 hour Webinar ($59.00 if you purchased Total Tax Office as I did). I will fill everyone in on that once I do it. I am guessing that in an hour I won't get to much benefit. Shame Caribou is gone, they would give you the training free to get you interested in the program and up to speed (like their accounting write up software thay had - a poor product btw). And finally, if anyone knows of other options that may be better suited for my needs, I would appreciate. Joel

Just sent a suggestion to ATX to listen to our concerns about support and the INTEGRAL services that ATX provided with Chat, Community and the other services they had previously provided. Now I am awaiting their expected response: "removing the Suggestion Box" Joel

I too was looking for the online chat support. Maybe this is gone with the closing of Caribou and laying off of the personnel there. And their phone lines have been so bogged down that they have been either busy or they hang up after about 5 minutes. When I see a service gone I feel it is in our best interest to tell ATX via their suggestions. I think I am logging on at least once a week now to let them know that the service is an integral part of their product. Maybe if we all continue to do this, someone over there will listen. We can only hope. Joel