Richcpaman

Yes, My experience yesterday? On hold for 2 hours. Had a nice young lady finally answer the phone, she listened to me describe the problem, she said let me check on things, she put me on hold and 5 minutes later I was disconnected.... Wow. Thanks. What's my problem? After I install the software on my computer, the host of ATX for my peer to peer network, when I run the workstation install from another workstation, it does not recognize the same "client file" on the workstation. So, if I have 4 clients in the "master" file, on the workstation, I have none. I can reference the 2011 client file with all clients on the workstation and roll them over, but they do not hit the "master" file. So, everyone is an island.... Nothing on "the *non*-knowledgebase. Unless I want to install the 2008 or earleir program it seems.... We shall see what happens... RIch

Well that really sucks. I have a "look" that I have been using for 10 years... Every other software supports additional fonts. Rich

Pentel P205's for me... Maybe I will just have to get new computers? Rich

I like it. Puts it back on the lender. I have ignored these requests, and other times, I have signed one that states "Client has a sch c and I have prepared a return with a sch c for clinet for 2 years. And that's it. When I ignore it, the loan goes through. When I write the letter, the loan goes through. I haven't heard anything back from either. However, I know that is no protection. The banks WANT to make the loan. I do not care if it closes Tuesday, Wednesday, or next month. Not my problem. It would be nice if the freaking lending folks would actually READ the documentation, instead of checking the boxes... Ok, There is that piece of paper! Approve the loan! Rich

Does the cover letter and the Templates allow you to add your own personal letterhead? I have a particular type font I like to use. And change the client letter accordingly. Rich

bstaxes: I just had the same error code. I resent the return to the IRS/state and it came back with a different error code the second time. The second time it came back with bad birthdate for one of the kids. (New return this year. gave me wrong year of birth, EIC kicked it) Resubmitted with correct birth year, no problem. Rich

MonEA: Does the client HAVE a Sch C and vehicle expenses? I'm Intrigued by your suggestion. I would like that too. I will go test mine, and see if it happens to me.

I was creating the organiziers for 2007, (in the 2006 program) and the "General" page is printing first. Not after the mailing slip, Client letter and Engagement Letter. Anyone else experience that? Do you have a fix? I tried moving it like in Excel, but that didn't work. I can print them, but resorting the pages in 200 organizers, well, that's just stupid. Rich

John: Your right, that article WOULD raise more questions than are really answered, especially from the point of view of a typical lay person, which this client appears to be. But the clients premise is INCORRECT. He recieved no deduction for the amount that went into SS. (Except, for that 1/2 he paid as an SE person) HE has NOT been taxed on the amount that went into SS. The Cato Institute article makes that clear. And he is only taxed on a portion of the benefits he recieves, and if his other income was REDUCED, he would pay no tax at all on his SS earnings. And, if he was to add up his contributions to SS since he started working, (45 years ago!) He may have recieved most of them within 3 years of starting to recieve SS. Affter that, then even in a so-called normal pension, he would be getting taxed on those amounts as well. With no income exclusion. Can you *WIN* the argument? Educate the Client? No. IF AARP can't change it, then your client never will... I always explain to a client that owes taxes and recieves SS, that "Hey, the government is paying it own taxes" How sweet is that? Rich

Thanks! I thought I could do that. ANd I have done that with my laptop. I need to do it with my office (server) computer as well! Have the corp return open AND the personal! Rich

As for another: Client lettters. Can I get modified ones for 1120, 1120s and 1065? The 1040 is nice, but I have to add alot of stuff when I get to the entity returns. How about the ability to have a listing, with the ability to post to the client letter, some standard paragraphs that apply often? File form 8822 seperately in the enclosed envelope? Please sign, date and mail back to me the Form 8879 and Md counterpart? Enclosed is your Maryland Personal Property report..... Keep all the formatting I did last year (and the year before, and year before) for the header and addresses. Or make it easier to re-set up! (just printed a return and had these thoughts!) Rich

My thoughts for this thread: It was to get some ideas, and then forward them to ATX. Whether it exists or not, is beyond my control. whether I exist of not next year is also. Have we missed the windo for 2008? Maybe. Can't hurt to ask. By posting them here, it would spur some to think about the same problems/concerns/workarounds that others have had. I love Maribeth's print order suggestion. I do not like the default, and I work with it, but I would like to just "Hand" the return to my admin assistant and have her print it "ready to go". And TaxTrio: There could be a better system between Return Manager and Efile Manager. I efile about 50% of 1040's, so I don't have a big problem. But IF I wasn't doing it, and had to monitor another? I could see the difficulties. But TaxTrio's problem goes to my issues with the return manager. IF you had multiple status columns, and the columns were populated by info in the returns, an Efile status column would be very easy to program in. Why do I(!) have to fill in the DUE DATE on the return manager? And WHY does it still have the prior year info in that BLOCK when I roll it over? Didn't the year change? One more thing: When filling in the info for "Other Expenses" in the 1120, 1120S and 1065 screens, Please highlight the line I'm working on. Make sure I AM in the telephone line, and not the utilities line. Bad Eyes and all. Question: Can you if using your computer as the server, also set up another account, on the same computer? So I can have two ATX returns open on my computer? Anyone? Rich

Just wondering: What types of improvements would you like in ATX for 2008? I would start with the following: A NEW PDF column in the print manager. (You click the file copy boxes, and the clinet copy boxes and then you have the PDF copy boxes, and instead of printing, it creates the PDF!) An improved Return manager. Picks up the DUE DATE of the return automatically. Allow the STATUS codes to be preset, for functionalality and sorting purposes. ANd that the Status codes be SEVERAL blocks, so I can track returns. Printing reports from the print Manager to allow greater sort capabilites. The export to excel is nice, but why the extra step? Ability to add columns? May help with the status issue. Once a return is created and saved, a error message is created if the name is changed. (Because, ATX can take time to load, I can be working in a spreadsheet, on my other screen, and the return pops open, captures the cursor, and I am overwriting the client name) This just might be ME! That's it for now, anyone else? RichCPAman.

SRK: I still use Lacerte for some of my more complex returns, and I use ATX for everything else. I do have multiple state returns, and ATX does enough to make the price differential meaningful for me for doing 300+ returns. I use the Pay-per-return for Lacerte, and pay the full ATX price. I pay about $300 to Lacerte a year now. Down from $450-500 in the past. The Carry over/forward functions in Lacerte far surpass the ones in ATX. It may be the solution for you to ease the transition. Rich