Lion EA

My virtual computer guy (VMS that I've raved about before) just called me this morning to schedule a time to do a PC clean up before tax season gets crazy, make sure my anti-virus and spyware's up to date, do a sweep, etc. I'm glad he reminded me. And, I'm backing up automatically to their secure server as well as to my external hard drive since using them. The peace of mind alone is worth every penny. Love their service.

Your guesses are my understanding. A warm boot restarts Windows, but a problem could be occurring outside Windows. A cold boot turns off the computer, waits a minute, and turns it back on. I'm undoubtedly giving away my age with that terminology. It's the old Ctrl-Alt-Delete vs. turning off the hardware, waiting for the hard drive to stop, and turning the computer back on. I've heard it called a hard boot. When all else fails, reboot. And then, call for help!

I like to try closing and reopening first, the browser, software, whatever seems to be the problem. Next, it's a warm boot. Then, it's a cold boot. After that, I'm on the telephone. Now I have Kyle and his colleagues on my side, well on the telephone and on my computer while I keep hands off to not make the problem worse.

Why isn't it taxable wages on his 2005 return? Doesn't the return of an excess contribution to a 401(k) make everything as if the contribution had not taken place, in other words, replace it in his 2005 wages from which it came? Been a long time since I had one, so mainly I'm posting to get up to 500 posts before tax season gets real busy!

A very :bday:

You're not in business to make zero. Or, if you are, it's not a business, it's a hobby.

W-4 loans. What a great idea! Your tax practice will make millions. Don't forget to copyright that. Can we have a contest to pick your slogan?

A very :bday:

I should be working but am reading my mail and tax boards and stuff. Guess I'll finally get in a couple hours work before our usual New Year's Eve of good Chinese food and good champagne at home with my hubby. Happy New Year, everyone! And, a prosperous Tax Season, too.

ProSystem fx has worksheet mode and interview mode. I like the interview mode a bit better since it follows the forms more closely. It's easier for me to teach my assistant the worksheet mode, however. Actually, you can also use the government forms directly for data entry as well as to view what you've done. In fact, you can jump back and forth among all the data entry options with a click. From what I hear, the ProSystem fx customer base is pretty evenly split between the interview and worksheet modes.

Notice how Jainen has disappeared since I asked him for a cookie? Thank goodness he's generous with information.

But, will you give me a cookie?

Why don't you contribute to your 401(k) plan on a final 2008 payroll? If you have very little profit, an IRA allows $5,000 without being limited to profit. If you have more profit or are limited in IRA contributions due to being an active participant in an employer's plan, then a SEP has higher limits than an IRA but IS limited by your net SE income. You can contribute to your IRA up to 15 April and to a SEP through your return due date including extensions. You don't even mention Roth contributions. You need to sit down with your tax advisor to go over your individual situation in detail.

Happy Birthday :bday:

Amen!

Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

We all have our specialties. Someone who gets up early can be the first to offer birthday greetings.

Someone asked about HRB's TPS. As an ex-Blockhead who's still in touch with former colleagues, my take is that Block is using the TaxWorks software it purchased for entity tax preparation but TPS for personal returns. Don't know if that's their long-term plan, though. By good diagnostics I also mean over and above catching missing or inconsistent entries, the ones that would stop e-filing anyway. I mean reminding me during sleep-deprived March of alternate ways to handle something. I'm on my own and want the diagnostics to be my second set of eyes and that virtual colleague who bounces ideas around. ProSystem fx does a good job of that.

Thank you Eric & KC. Happy Holidays!

A very Merry Christmas to all my virtual colleagues and Happy Holidays of every kind no matter what you might celebrate or not celebrate this winter. Thank you all for talking taxes and providing stress relief and humor throughout the tax season.

I was with HRB. I've used ATX at Block and on my own. Last season I used ProSystem fx and absolutely love it. It's worth every penny. Although, to be honest, I received huge discounts as a small, start-up business. I renewed immediately but have mostly pay-per-return options for next season to get the entities and the states I need at the best price. I do love the support, even though you asked us not to mention that. I bought too late to get any training, so they had to talk me through a lot of tasks. They were extraordinarily helpful. I like the K-1s importing into the individual returns. And, I really love how simple it is to do kiddie tax. I like the choices about how to do things (even though the choices overwhelmed me my first year). I like how fast it prints. I like the diagnostics. I'm very happy with items carrying to other returns without me entering them twice. And, that includes multiple-state returns picking up the credit where needed (I have a lot of NY commuters living in CT). I thought Block's TPS was idiot proof, but ProSystem fx catches me when I'm going astray. :wub:

Just received an e-mail tonight that it left Minneapolis yesterday and will get to my door in CT 2 January 2009. Well, it won't get all the way to my door unless I shovel my walkway. Today the UPS man left a package out by the mailbox post at the street. I'm not giving him a Christmas tip!

It does work like a word processor. You highlight the text to which you want to apply codes, and then click the buttons you want. I typed Just testing... and then highlighted the text and clicked the buttons for bold, italics, and underline. I guess if I'm going to do one for real, I should enlarge the font.

Just testing...