mekCPA

I ditto what Catherine says too. I first used ATX in 1993 or 1994 when I worked for a small firm. At that time it was DOS and truly a PITA to use, but so was ALL software at the time. I had used Lacerte about 5 years prior to that, and thought ATX was a godsend comparatively. When I started my own home-based "side job" of preparing taxes, I used tedious methods to get a "well known personal tax preparation product" aimed at people who prepare their own taxes, to do taxes for my clients. It made me pull my hair out most times, and involved a lot of copying, whiting out, and copying again to get a "client" copy. One day, sometime around 1997 maybe?, a little ATX postcard came in my mailbox. Normally, I'd toss away the junk mail I get, but for some reason I read this one. For very little money, I, little me, could get a "real" program? It seemed to good to be true, but I sent away for the information and the test software. I was sold immediately, and have been with them ever since. I signed up for eFile the moment it was available. It was TRULY a pain back then. You had to also purchase, or buy into, some Nelco product if I remember correctly, and I do not remember "receiving acks" as we do now. It was more "click and pray". Overall, I am happy with what I have now in ATX. I am sad it has been sold to CCH, because the Accountant in me just KNOWS that means the beginning of the end. Hate to be a cynic, but I have seen this stuff happen too much. I hope I am proven wrong. I contemplated not going with ATX this year because of my fears, but in the end came back and figure I'll be the last to leave the ship if it starts sinking because I do NOT want to deal with the learning curve of another product. But, if our ATX goes away, I'll be networking with all you guys for what to do next, and will have to leave it up to my clients.....do they want to pay more for me to use another product that costs more, or do they just want to find another preparer? My guess is they will stick with me and I'll be learning a new program.

This is good information to know....thanks for sharing. I am going to start sharing this cavaet with my clients, because I have been eFiling since the first year it was available, and my clients are accustomed to their money being there "on schedule" and in all these years I have only had one IRS refund not come on the date scheduled. And that was due to a problem with HOH. Yay for this forum!

Although this topic was in general chit-chat, I decided to bring it to the top, and also have it be in the Efile Forum, since I spent quite a bit of time searching The Community last night for an answer, and it was not clear even after I found the thread in Chit-Chat if that really was my problem.........and the solution was to call Technical Support. Sorry for those of you that already know this information, but I am guessing there are more like me out there, that may be struggling with this, or may soon be struggling with this. Last night I tried to transmit my first return and got an error that my Client ID was not authorized to transmit. Today I called ATX Technical Support and Billy informed me that like the Chit Chat post indicated, I needed a Credit Card on file. So, following are the instructions for how to do that and save 20 minutes on hold with Customer Service. In case anyone wants to know the reason, which I was not able to find anywhere....it is because I am authorized to send 100 returns, after that it costs $3/$2 (fed/state...if I remember correctly). So, even though my first 100 are "paid in advance", I cannot send my first one until I give them a credit card for that 101st one. Whatever. So, if you have encountered the same issue as me, here's how to avoid a 20 minute wait time to get the solution: Go to www.atxinc.com, then to Access MyATX in the Upper RH corner. Type in your Client ID, Username and Password. On the left hand side, in the gray box under Manage My Account, click on Contact Info then find Credit Card on File and in the Upper RH side of the Blue Bar, click "Add". (I was told that I should be able to transmit within 15-30 minutes) This will take you to a screen to input your Credit Card info, and you will need to "Agree" to this: _______________________________________________________________________________ I hereby acknowledge that I have read the following procedures and I authorize Universal Tax Systems, Inc. (“UTS”) to charge my credit card listed above for all amounts due on my account in accordance with the terms listed below. I represent and warrant that I am duly authorized to authorize any applicable payments. I Accept. Check this box to enable the Continue button. SOFTWARE PURCHASES / ELECTRONIC FILING FEES / OTHER FEES / CHARGES 1. Customer understands and agrees that UTS shall have planned and incurred expenses in anticipation of its performance under the License Agreement for software licensed by Customer and that Customer shall have received value from UTS such as prior year software and registration codes, access to the Electronic Filing Center, and training and marketing materials prior to receipt of the software package itself and that no refund shall be made for any reason more than 30 days after the date of placing the order for the software. In no event will shipping and handling charges be refunded. 2. Billing for software purchases will occur as approved by UTS and authorized by you at the time of your purchase. All billing for electronic filing fees (if applicable) will occur on a regular, approximately, weekly basis. The billing will show both the EFILE fees and bank product rebates (if applicable), along with any amounts credited to your account. We will charge your credit card after each billing for ANY BALANCE DUE and send you a statement detailing billing for the period. Transmission privileges will be suspended if the card is invalid or declined. 3. We require the credit card to have sufficient available credit to meet all expected charges. A credit card that is invalid or declined will result in the suspension of transmission privileges. 4. Should you have a question with a bill, we will be happy to discuss the issue with you. If we have made an incorrect charge, we will adjust your account immediately and show the adjustment on your next statement. 5. For your convenience, and to insure timely payment and uninterrupted service of your account, your credit card listed above will be used for other charges on your account, such as additional software purchases, shipping charges, etc. Please retain a copy for your records.

Thanks! .....although that is really a dumb feature (to print One for Fed and the Second for State), it at least explains it and I can stop pulling my hair out and move on and send these out, and just tell people to "ignore the second one", which really makes me look technically savvy and professional....grrrr. Thanks (not!) ATX for giving us an option to get only one that covers "both" State and Federal. {sigh}.....hope this is not a precurssor of things to come this season with this software!

Thanks for all the tips above! I never knew about the print screen "drag and drop" tip. That's great!! Now I am having a completely different problem, I modified the master for the organizer and edited the Client Letter and Engagement Letter...no problem. .....but when I "print" one for a client (to PDF) the document ends up containing TWO Engagement letters. Any clue what I have done or how to fix? Thanks! Liz

I just found you guys! As with the rest of you, right smack dab in the middle of tax season, I go to check in at the Boards over at ATX and *poof* they are gone! Being the big procrastinator that I am, I figure, "I'll look into this later". Well, as I assume is the case with some of you, once I was done with Tax Season, I was "done" and didn't look into it further. Fast forward to this week, as I am doing some of the dreaded admin stuff to archive my 2006 season, I realize I need to look further into it again! Through their Suggestion box I contacted ATX for an "explanation" of what happened to the communities, and got a rather lame response back. (If you'd like to see that here, let me know and I will copy and paste for all to enjoy) So, that response alone sparked me enough to look for you guys. We were such an interactive, active community, I figured it could not just die, and I was right. Through the Quickfinders message boards, I found you. Yippeee. I feel like I am home again. As many others have stated, I was not a heavy poster, but was a dedicated lurker. And found the boards at ATX to be most helpful in times of need. Heck, once in awhile I even had something to contribute. Hopefully I'll be a more active poster here, and will do what I can financially. Glad to see you all again!