joanmcq

I didn't have any issues with any software when I upgraded to Win 7. Nada.

Taxed, you could team up with one of those under or unemployed bookkeepers whom you trust, and farm out the crap work. Hiring an assistant this year didn't keep me below 105 hours a week, but she's learned fast and I'm looking for ways in keeping her more productive (as in hitting the buy button on one of the systems I mentioned in the resources thread). I've already billed a client to have her stand in line at the IRS to turn in a protective claim on April 15! She'll allow me to offer more bookkeeping and mop up work for disorganized clients. And I am a LOT less stressed and behind than I was at this time last year.

I bought another monitor but never got my desk clean enough to set it up yet. Lion inspired me to have the third in portrait; just makes sense! Btw, Dell is having a nice sale on win 7 systems. I'm looking to get my assistant off my old circa 2005 Dell laptop. I'm leaning towards an Inspiron 17R laptop with an I5 processor & 6GB Ram for $599. The screaming deal desktop is an i7 with 8GB Ram for $699. There's even a coupon for another $25 off and free shipping.

In Dec. 2009, when I ordered my current computer, I figured ATX was going to continue to be a memory hog, and as I expect my computer to have to last 5 years at the minimum, I bought the beefiest system I could afford. I7 quad-core processor, 9GB RAM (and upgradable to 16 I think), 750 GB HD. Win7 Pro. No fancy stuff, just guts. So that's my 3 year old computer, and it's better than most of the ones people on here and the other board have been running. Cost? $1800 out the door, including Office 2007 software & a monitor. I can't believe there was someone complaining about ATX, and they were running Vista. Who in their right mind bought a biz computer with Vista?

I do have a vintage 2005 XP laptop that she was using just to access my website portal and download client files. She's moved onto basic data entry on the returns and is catching on very quickly. What I'd like her to be able to do is manipulate my client files from the Scansnap document manager, the business excel files, and other docs at the very least. If I get a Win 7 laptop or desktop, she could access my computer through the Win 7 file sharing system. If I want to get another Win 7 computer, I'll have to move pretty quickly. Of course, being able to be networked with the tax software and print out an assemble returns while I'm working on others would be ideal!

Ron, I've negotiated the 10% discount later in the season. In fact for 2010 ( the year i evaluated Drake), i dont think i renewed with atx until late September and still got the 10% discount. With so many jumping ship, I think missing the early discount date won't be an issue. They want us to come back!

I have no idea, and haven't seen any commentary yet regarding that issue. The Supremes are supposed to rule in June sometime, so I do anticipate it being done before next season. There will be amendments and follow ups on the protective claims I've filed. Some of the new clients I've gotten have always used professional prep, so I do expect to keep them. The one thing about this business is it always keeps you on your toes!

Well, if DOMA falls, my clients that are married will be filing only one return. I expect I may lose some of these that have very simple returns, but I may not lose some that have discovered the joys of professional preparation. But even if I keep these clients, revenue will drop. The RDPs will likely still be complicated, and some may continue as RDPs if they see significant benefits from doing so. Some will get married. But it's going to be difficult to predict what revenue will look like. I do expect to increase advertising for tax problems and audit representation. And my assistant has so far brought in two small business clients!

My big upcoming decision will be whether to buy and set up another computer for my assistant to use while I'm on the main one, and if so, how I'll set it up. What happens with the Supreme Court and DOMA will likely determine how much money I'm willing to spend before I try to anticipate what next years season will look like.

I'm using the iPad now, since my assistant is doing data entry on my desktop. Having the biz software helps to justify biz use too.

The rental portion is ONLY the amount used exclusively as a rental. Common areas don't count. Hard to see how he'd have a loss, especially since he'd have only 9 months of proration.

I'm looking at getting Profx on a PPR basis. There's an UltraTax sales pitch meeting here next week, so I think I'll check it out, but it looks way too pricey for me. Even on a PPR basis.

No, I have the tax prep on my desktop. But the iPad worked well to research on the web, as well as the ProReview and surf here while waiting for the print manager to load. didn't tie up system resources either.

I just did a refi, and when talking with the loan officer about open items, she said, "oh, we'll since you ARE a CPA, I guess you do your own tax return" and I guess checked off the CPA letter on her list. Of course, I'm the only one for whom I would write a CPA letter. :)

I may be in the process of switching back to Quickfinder from The Tax Book. Reason? Their ProReview platform which I tried this year for the All States QF, a tablet version I have on my iPad. Last year I tried the CD of the Tax Book, and don't like it near as much as the tablet. The tablet works intuitively like a paper copy does. Ok, this is thread drift. But I love ProReview!

This here. I am a sole prop, and just got my first part time assistant. I do, however, have a couple of returns that would work better on more advanced software, and having used ProFx & Lacerte at jobs in times past, I know what top line software is capable of doing. Since you mentioned in your blog about having 'CPAs and paraprofessionals' I'm wondering why you were using ATX to begin with, unless it was simply a holdover from when your firm was smaller. I'm doing about 300 returns now, and have not had many issues so far this year.

That's why I asked if the people having problems are ones backing up to a location that isn't the default. So if the update isn't seeing the backups where it thinks they 'should' be, it backs up everything. Someone on the other board said they only had this issue once upon the initial closing of the program. Which is why I am wondering if the update is not seeing the backups, which would be a mapping problem.

I updated last night and only the two returns I had worked on that day backed up,upon closing. Do you have your backups going somewhere other than the default location?

And since a huge amount of this is apparently payroll taxes, the IRS isn't too keen to waive the trust fund liabilities. Your client took their employees' withholding and spent it. That liability won't go away with closing the company since they are already going after the officers personal assets. I believe for an OIC, the 6 years rule doesn't count? I'm surprised the IRS hasn't gone after them long before this. You should also check with the state. In CA, the corp would have long since been suspended for non filing, which negates the ability for the corp to enter into contracts and also negates any liability shield. CA won't let the corp dissolve until the state filings and taxes are current. Sounds like you have a mess on your hands that you don't fully understand, since you sent in your first offer without current compliance. Have you even worked through the 433-B & 433-A?

Cool, thanks for the quick response. This is my first one, and finding public info was a pain. I finally pulled out of a 367 page prospectus that there were no distributions that were not considered return of capital. And no I didn't read the whole thing, but found the area where such info MIGHT be reported in the table of contents, so I only had about 10 pages to decipher!

I've never had an issue with priority mail, and the price can't be beat. I usually combine trips (bank, post office, grocery store), and the round trip is only about 6 miles. One post office near the bank & grocery store has one of those automatic postage/package machines and since the lobby is open late, I can send mail even when the post office isn't open. I had to get a return sent overnight, and the difference between FedEx and USPS express mail was $30!

Found out one of my clients investments is in an REIT. The 1099 from the broker has nondividend distributions, but no other income reported. My first thought was that I'm missing a K-1, but initial research indicates REITs should report on a 1099. This is a consolidated statement from Ameriprise. Before I ask the client to research a K1, can anyone shed some light on this so I don't look like a dumbass if there isn't one?

You've always been able to buy payroll as a separate module. I bought it separately when I only bought the 1040 package years ago.

$25 is probably more than the consumer would get in a class action suit. More like a coupon for $10 off next years return. Or $4.82. I had a few clients with w-2 s from employee class action suits. All had less than $10 of wages. They appeared to be overtime suits.

I only do two payrolls, so I got to them when I came back. My one 990 has a fiscal year, so it's not due till November. I didn't get to take off early on the 15th.