Lion EA

A very happy :bday:

The VMSUS folks came into my computer to see how much space I would need. I told them what I wanted backed up. They set it up to happen automatically in the middle of the night.

PS, I want a DARK chocolate bar, please! :wub:

Thanx, Catherine.

Oh, yeah, multi-states are also a breeze. I have lots of NY commuters residing in CT; it handles the credit for NY on the CT return before I can even think about it. I thought Block software was pretty idiot proof, but ProSystem fx handles things even better and catches potential errors. Got some training before this tax season. Lots of free and not-free courses available, including tax updates and such for which CPE is given. Bought a series for my assistant to increase her skills, too.

This was my second season with ProSystem fx. And, I'm a loyal participant in this ATX community! I was looking for software, had even reserved ProSeries; but nothing in that price range did the more complex returns as well as I wished. In fact the ProSeries salesman said he'd give me Lacerte free to just pay per return for my more complex returns. Didn't make sense to learn two new software packages my first year out on my own. If I was going to end up moving my data up to Lacerte, figured I'd better revisit the high end packages. Took a second look at Lacerte, CS Ultra Tax, and ProSystem fx. Loved them all. All about the same prices. Well, called tech support for help loading the ProSystem fx demo (had Flash, which it turned out my computer lacked) on my very old computer; the techie said he tested the software when he's not taking calls and would walk me through it as well as load it. He spend three (3) hours on the phone with me walking me through all the menus of an S-corp. to show off the software. By the time the salesman called, I was ready to buy. The salesman worked out a half-price deal for me for three years. Although, by the second year with my actual needs known, I was able to get it even less expensively as pay per return. You can use worksheet view, which I am preferring now, or interview view, which I used mostly last year, and use the actual government forms, also. Tech support and tax support is fast and knowledgeable and worth every penny. I once had both tax and tech support on the phone with me at the same time. I bought very close to the beginning of 2008, so had little time to practice before tax season and relied heavily on support who were gracious and saved my butt more than once. They track my calls, so when I want to know that thing they mentioned to me when we discussed IRAs, they can say well it was this or that, which would you like to hear about? Doing a partnership or anything with a K-1 and then the personal return is a breeze. I imported an Excel spreadsheet from a broker with 140 double-sided pages right into Schedule D; doesn't have to match since you tell it where to put each column. Kiddie tax is simply point and click. I used all three of those techniques on my last seven very complex and document intense returns during the last two (just 2) days of tax season when I was quite sleep-deprived. I never could've finished seven complex returns with K-1s from partnerships and trust funds and stock trades and kiddie tax for a family of five and...in only two days at Block, but ProSystem fx is such a time-saver that it's worth any price. Definitely give the demo a work out on your extensions and/or some of your typical returns and some of your more challenging returns. A number of free demo/classes are available in Help within the software and on-line. I like the diagnostics, which was high on my list as a sole proprietor, as well as tech support. You can pop back and forth among all the data entry styles by just clicking on View on the Menu bar. That was handy this year as I was changing from Interview to Worksheet. I have a very part-time assistant, and I can have her use the forms that look like what she has in her hands, W-2 or 1099 or whatever, even though I choose to enter directly into Schedule B, let's say, right on a very Excel looking matrix. I can sort most any column, handy for proofing. Feel free to contact me.

A very :bday:

A very :bday:

Thank you for blessing us more than 2,000 times! :read:

I had to go to the chiropractor today just to function after being hunched over a computer for months!

A very :bday:

A very :bday:

A very :bday:

I paid a very part-time assistant to do the data entry, essentially complete the simpler returns, on my old slow laptop, and charged the client the same amount I did the year before. My profit margin was larger! With desktop prices so low, I will buy a second desktop; but have been waiting until the next thing AFTER Vista. Both my desktop and older laptop are XP. I'd hoped the assistant would organize me and my files and my supplies and my ordering and assemble returns. But, she's sloppier than I am. So, I assembled the client's copy and had her do data entry and some deliveries to the elderly. She's a reasonable typist and proofreader and both of us have reviewed a return that she worked on.

That's what I was thinking, file separate extensions to have the paper trail for filing if they go with MFS and not share info. As long as they can still choose MFJ, which I thought and you confirm and who has time to look farther at 6 p.m. on the 15th!. Thanks for putting my nagging fears to rest.

Hey, Jainen. Always good to hear your comments. I even agree with this one. Actually, I agree with most of what you say, even a few of the tongue-in-cheek comments. But a SALY button, especially on extensions -- BRILLIANT.

As I'm preparing extensions but took a break to read this board for a few minutes, what you said about separate extensions caught my attention. I have a new client who got married in December and figured he'd file MFS as would his wife, no kids; they've been together a long time and kept their taxes separate, of course, while single. But, it was looking like a nice savings MFJ; I don't have all her details yet. Similar to you, I urged them to extend so we can do a thorough comparison in a few weeks. Haven't e-filed their extensions yet (just starting those new clients who aren't in my system yet). Should I file an extension for each of them or one MFJ? Am I really committing them to a final filing status by how I file the extension(s)?

ProSystem fx by CCH. Very nice software, indeed.

My first computer was a PC clone my then-husband bought in Singapore and lugged home. It had two floppy drives, so you could load your operating system in one and your program in the other and not have to swap disks until you were ready to save data. No hard drive. Small, monotone monitor. Computer is long gone, but I'm sitting here at the old but very solid computer desk from J.C. Penney's. (I have a new husband, too!)

It only seems fair to prepare my own return last. Fair to me to complete those paying clients first and earn some money. And, fair to my clients to put them ahead of freebies, including my own. I didn't even look at mine this year. Usually, I start it in January and then get busy and go on extension. The last couple of years, I haven't even begun my return. I did get my husband, who's a school teacher and home on vacation this week, to go through the checkbook, gather up charitable receipts, get his mileage and expenses in one place, total up household expenses for my OIH, etc. If only I could get him to open up and flatten out all that paper. He looks at something and puts it back in the envelope. Then I have fat, skinny stacks made even fatter by the envelopes instead of stacks of 8.5X11 paper that fit in the folders I use. Oh well, it's still a big help.

Thank you everyone for being here for me. Have a fabulous post season!

Has she gotten a SSN since her ITIN?

Transfer On Death

And, once in a while it's the first name instead of the last name or the beneficiary's name instead of the donor or the EIN or....

I don't have multiple designations, but a couple of thoughts. If EA came first before CPA, why not keep both licenses current. If lots of out of state work in multiple states, perhaps the EA which is a national license was an expedient way to supplement a CPA which is specific to one state and would require meeting the requirements in each and every state needed.