DavidLewisEA

As I said, I work there. I also was a Tax Manager for ATX the last five years they were in Florida. I was only trying to help, as I did a few years ago when I worked at ATX. Intuit as a company has far more integrity and customer respect, and treats their employees far better than CCH SFS. But people believe what they want to. As I mentioned earlier, ITO is based on Lacerte, not TT nor Pro Series. Y'all have a great evening, and I truly hope your tax season gets better.

I like it. It's not true forms based, but I wouldn't call it interview based either. I would consider it a hybrid method, at least compared to other interview based methods that I have seen. But I certainly understand it isn't for everyone. The advantages are that it is web-based, which means that there are no IT problems, no need to update, and usable on any platform that has a supported browser (not to mention the ability to actually go to a client's return at the client's home or business to make last minute changes on the fly); the disadvantage is that it is web-based, so your local ISP and traffic can make a difference in the speed...and if your internet provider is down, you are down. Still, I have a lot more respect for Intuit since I started work there (I used to consider them the enemy for absorbing my beloved Parsons Technology tax software). They instill an excellent work ethic in their employees, and reward them well. It may be a viable alternative to some, so I thought that I would put it out there. No harm, no foul.

I think that Intuit's new Intuit Tax Online has a better deal. Disclaimer: I am a former ATX Tax Manager who chose to stay in Florida, and went to work for Intuit's TurboTax product as a Tax Lead. I do NOT get anything from this offer. ITO is based on the Lacerte engine, I am told. It is cloud based, so you can use it on a Mac or Windows computer (even, Linux or other OS, since it is web-based). You can try it for free, and only pay if you like it and use it. It has all major returns, 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S, and 1065. And the bundles are less expensive than Drake's PPR quoted above. Here is the link, for those interested in trying it out: http://accountants.intuit.com/tax/online/

She was a delight to work with, and one of the most knowledgeable of all the TMs. She was a true class act, and will be missed greatly. Her current and former co-workers are having a celebration of her life tomorrow in Georgia. If anyone would like to contribute to the family to help out with expenses, or to send a condolence card, please message me and I will get you the details on how to help. Dave Lewis (formerly known as ATXDave on the official board)

I agree totally with Tom...get the petition filed timely. From my experience, IRS District Council is completely overwhelmed on each tax court docket, and puts a lot of pressure on the appeals division to settle the case before trial. I was an EA working for an attorney several years ago, and I settled far more cases after the petition was filed than he actually tried in tax court. This is probably the easiest time to settle issues with the IRS. Definitely meet with the Appeals office as soon as possible after filing, and present the documentation. They will "stipulate" to the documentation, and state whether they agree that it is sufficient or not. This stipulation of facts will become part of the court record, should the case actually ever go to trial. Good luck!

Usually within a few days of its release by the IRS. From what I can see, the IRS only has a draft of the 2010 form available, and that was released in March. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/f5500ez--dft.pdf

I just spoke with ATX about this issue. This is what they told me. Losses including prior year losses were not flowing when you checked PTP on the 1065 K1 Input form. All is fixed now. Rollover of prior year losses will work and you will be able to see the PTP carryover section on the Input sheet. It should be on the web soon.

I copied this from the "other" board... We just released a billing update to alleviate some customers concerns. We have had several inquiries from people about how the form would work. We had tried to default certain options based on other choices, but it appears that we simply confused the issues instead of helping. We now have a Form Display options section. We have the following options available: 1. Display list of forms schedules, and worksheets on Forms Statement. A text, "See Forms Statement" will appear on the invoice unless suppressed. 2. Display list of forms schedules, and worksheets of Invoice. If there are 20 or fewer items, they will display on the Invoice. If there are more than 20 items, they will appear on the Forms Statement, and a text "See Forms Statement" will appear unless suppressed. 3. Suppress "See Forms Statement" text on Invoice. 4. Display Total on Forms Statement. 5. Display charge amount for forms, schedules, and worksheets. 6. Display forms, schedules, and worksheets at no charge. We will no longer default to selecting any of the options listed above. You will be able to do that by changing your Master Forms to whichever option or combination of options above. The update will not affect any return that has been marked completed, but any invoice in an open return may need to have your preferred option selected. We are defaulting to printing the Forms Statement if any item appears on that page. You can change this option by navigating to the Forms Statement page and deselecting "Print this page" at the top. This can be done globally by modifying the master form. We believe that these new options will give our customers greater control over how the invoice operates. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but feel that more of our customers will be better served by the greater control. Thank you.

SaminGeorgia, When you open a new return with a new invoice, are your rates there? Did you have your return open before you set your form values? If so, those rates are locked in unless you change them using "For this return". Here is what the Help Menu (F11 key) says, "IMPORTANT: The global rates for each return automatically assign the global rates as they existed at the time the return is first created. This is by design, so the invoice does not change for returns that are in progress or completed. Changing the Global Form Rates amounts or using the Change Form Rates option only affects new returns opened after the changes are implemented. If you rollover your billing rates from one year to the next, and you know that you want to change some of the rates, you are highly encouraged to change your rates BEFORE opening any returns. Otherwise, you have to make changes to previously opened returns on a per-return basis."

KC, do you have any form rates set? If so, and you don't need them, you can re-set your form rates to zero and the forms will no longer appear. You might make a request for them to change the default to not display unless the "By Form/Schedule" box is checked.

bcolleen, I have heard that there is an update on its way today or tomorrow to bring back the margin. You might want to contact the Forms Pipeline to verify. kc, There is another workaround that might be simpler: 1. Check "By Form/Schedule" 2. Note the amount to be billed, and add it to the amount line for "Flat Fee Billing" 3. Uncheck "By Form/Schedule" and Check "Flat Fee Billing" The forms and schedules won't appear on the invoice anywhere, but you will have billed the same amount.

That was my route to ATX as well. I used Parsons Technology for 1040 returns, and Forms Xpert for business. FX was bought out by someone else and dismantled, too. I received the free Hot Forms offer (think Intelliforms for free), and got a flyer on "ATX Tax Solver", the prehistoric version of MAX. I've been with them ever since. Speaking of prehistoric, I loved the Saber-Tooth Tiger, too. My receptionist's child sometimes came into the office, and she always wanted me to restart the software so that she could hear the roar. Being an ATXer was a lot of fun in those days...

KC, Are you wanting to remove the entire forms listing, or just the word "Description"? The listing may be removed by unchecking a box on the options page. If you want to just eliminate the word, simply navigate to the first letter of word, hit "Delete" on your keyboard, and override the field. You should be able to do that on the master form, and have the changes whenever you open it.

It depends on the number of forms and the option that you have selected. There is a box on the options page to "Always display list of forms, schedules, and worksheets on 'Forms Statement'". If that box is checked, they all will go to the Forms Statement. If that box is not checked, if the number of forms is not too large, they will appear at the bottom of the invoice. If the number of forms is more than will fit in the available space, they all will all appear on the Forms Statement.

If you have MAX, go to the election workbook. The required election and worksheet are there, and if you qualify and fill it in correctly, the amount should flow according to instructions in the Rev Proc.