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We spent about 10 hours setting up our new windows 10 server this weekend. Copying data to/from external SSDs took longer than expected. We replaced our Win7 server with a Win10 server and here's what we learned. Stop the ATX server services on the old computer before copying data. Copy EVERYTHING in both: C:\ProgramData\CCH Small Firm Services C:\ProgramData\Wolters Kluwer Copy the data to the new computer BEFORE you install ATX. ATX will find the data and your settings and view it as a reinstall so it goes smoothly. We had no problems with 2016-2018, but we had to run the ATX database repair batch files (.bat) to repair 2014 & 2015. 2013 didn't work at first, then mysteriously started working. We didn't go back any further. You can find the batch files here: (There's a separate one for each year) https://support.cch.com/kb/solution.aspx/000041746 YOU MUST RUN THESE BATCH FILES BY RIGHT-CLICKING AND CHOOSING 'Run as Administrator'. We ran them not as administrator first and it did not work. Then I went back and read the web page and read the instructions again, more thoroughly. Good luck!

I will replacing my office PC and wanted to see if this would be possible with ATX, I would like to install ATX on the C drive, but keep the data on the D drive (Encrypted), would that work? In other words, ATX software will be hosted on the C drive, and the client database on the D drive. Thanks MAS

Up to 2012 or even later, you could install the application and just copy the database folder (I don't remember the name) from the old computer to the new one and everything would work.

Thanks everyone for your assistance and guidance. I was able to restore and recover the data. Luckily, I found the CD to install on the new host and migrated the database. My CPA is very happy

I'm an IT person trying to install and restore old version (2006). I have installed the 2006 on a new server and have database files from an old server that I'm planning to recover on the new server. Is it simple as copying the folders from the database folder from old server to the new server? Are there any other files and folders that is required from old install. Installing the 2006 version did not prompt for a workstation or server choice. There is no support available from CCH for version older then 2012. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks ZAK

Upon starting ATX 2017, I get a database server error that prevents the program from opening. All my services for 2016, 2017, and 2018 are running. 2018 and payroll work fine. This happened out of the blue. Tried rebooting, etc. Any ideas before I go to support?

I've installed an update that had become available while I was away on vacation. Also did some database cleanup. Between that and marking everything read, hopefully the issue goes away!

Dell says version 3.2.2 is safe..... DSA-2019-084: Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs and Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs Security Update for PC Doctor Vulnerability DSA Identifier: DSA-2019-084 CVE Identifier: CVE-2019-12280 Severity: High Severity Rating: CVSS v3 Base Score: See NVD (http://nvd.nist.gov/) for individual scores for each CVE Affected Products: Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs version 2.0 Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs version 3.2.1 and all prior versions Summary: Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs and Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs require an update to the latest versions to address a security vulnerability within the PC Doctor component. Details: The PC Doctor component in Dell SupportAssist for Business Systems and Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs has been updated for the following vulnerability: PC Doctor CVE-2019-12280 For more information about any of the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) mentioned here, consult the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) at http://nvd.nist.gov/home.cfm. To search for a particular CVE, use the database’s search utility at http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/search. MORE AT: https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln317291/dsa-2019-084-dell-supportassist-for-business-pcs-and-dell-supportassist-for-home-pcs-security-update-for-pc-doctor-vulnerability?lang=en

They were issued another PIN for year 2018 tax return and I am guessing that the IRS have updated that PIN in their database and deleted the old pin for year 2017? I am quoting directly from the 2018 IRS letter that issued the PIN. It states "You'll need to use this IP PIN when filing any forms 1040 during the calendar year beginning in January." So I guessed any form 1040 filed during the year 2019 regardless of the "tax year" it belongs to. I e-filed again using the 2018 PIN for filing the year 2017 tax return.

My client's e-file has been rejected "because taxpayer's identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN) must match the e-File database." It is a year 2017 tax return and I entered client's pin only at one spot under "filers' Information" on Form 1040. Is there another spot where I need to enter it or what am I doing wrong? please help. Thanks.

I think this is common. I think FDNY posted the fix in the past. Search for "Database server" you will see several posts on this topic. Tom Modesto, CA

I am getting the following message and wanted to see if someone knows how I can resolve it without calling tech support: There was an issue connecting this workstation to the configured database. Please ensure that the server is running and that the service is started and try again. FYI is problem was not caused by the resent shenanigans, I received this message a while ago. Thanks

It wouldn't surprise me. ATX has a long history of cutting corners including using a shareware database when they rewrote the program which caused the 2012 debacle !

if you are getting any of these, that generally means that you transmitted the state and federal return at the same time and the state linked return processed through the IRS system before the Federal return. STATE-901 - The IRS Submission ID referenced in the State Submission Manifest must be present in the e-File database. STATE-902 - The IRS Submission ID referenced in the State Submission Manifest must be in accepted status. STATE-007 - The IRS Submission ID referenced in the State Submission must be that of an IRS Return. Here is a KB article on this https://support.cch.com/sfs/solution/000046515/13206?q=WKArticleType__kav

I'm not overly surprised by this ruling. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2019/mar/court-upholds-irs-ptin-program-201920752.html?utm_source=mnl:alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04Mar2019&utm_content=button Court upholds IRS PTIN fees By Sally P. Schreiber, J.D. The IRS has authority to charge a user fee for preparer taxpayer identification numbers (PTINs) a federal appeals court held on Friday, paving the way for the agency to reinstate the charges for obtaining and renewing a PTIN (Montrois, No. 17-5204 (D.C. Cir. 3/1/19)). A valid PTIN is required for anyone who prepares or assists in preparing a federal tax return for compensation. The IRS stopped charging a user fee for PTINs in 2017, after it lost a case in federal district court (Steele, 260 F. Supp. 3d 52 (D.D.C. 2017)) that held the IRS had no authority to charge a fee to tax preparers to obtain PTINs. The district court had agreed with the tax preparers who filed the suit (a class action on behalf of more than 700,000 tax return preparers) that the fee violates the Independent Offices Appropriations Act (IOAA) (31 U.S.C. §9701) and had found that “for an assessment to qualify as a fee under that Act as opposed to an unauthorized general tax, the assessment must relate to a specific benefit conferred to an identifiable set of users” (slip op at 6). The district court agreed that the PTIN program does not confer a specific benefit on tax preparers and also rejected the IRS’s argument that the PTIN program provides a benefit to tax preparers by protecting their Social Security numbers (SSNs) from identity theft. The IRS appealed the lower court’s decision. The IOAA permits federal agencies to impose fees to provide specific services to members of the public who specifically benefit from the service provided. The appeals court explained that an agency must prove “(i) that it provides some kind of service in exchange for the fee, (ii) that the service yields a specific benefit, and (iii) that the benefit is conferred upon identifiable individuals” (slip op. at 10). The appeals court looked at each factor in turn and concluded that the IRS provided a specific service to tax return preparers in exchange for the PTIN fee because it required personnel and resources to generate a PTIN, thus providing PTINs was a service. The court found that the PTIN program conferred a specific benefit to preparers of being able to use a number other than a SSN on tax returns, which protected the confidentiality of the preparers’ SSNs. According to the court, although anyone can be a tax return preparer, so anyone in the public at large can request a PTIN, the service was bestowed on identifiable individuals — tax return preparers — and not the public at large. The next issue was whether the IRS’s decision to continue charging the fee for the PTIN program after the court invalidated the registered tax return preparer program in Loving, 742 F.3d 1013 (D.C. Cir. 2014), was arbitrary and capricious. The appeals court found that the IRS decision to recover the substantial cost of providing PTINs and maintaining a database by charging tax return preparers a fee rather than obtaining funding for the program from the public was not arbitrary and capricious. The service of providing PTINs is distinct from the service involved in Loving, which was the registered tax return preparer program that was struck down. Having upheld the IRS’s authority to require return preparers to obtain a PTIN and charge a fee, the court then discussed whether the fee the IRS charged was excessive. It noted at first that the IRS had lowered the fee from $50 to $33 (plus a separate processing fee). The appeals court remanded the case to the district court to determine whether the fee is reasonable and complies with the IOAA. — Sally P. Schreiber, J.D., ([email protected]) is a JofA senior editor.

If there's a glitch in the IRS database for that child's name, you'll have to paper file. I had a trust I couldn't efile for years because the name control was wrong in the IRS database. I kept transmitting it every year and finally one year it went through.

I received the e-file reject below...using same client dependent info as always...verified that name and SSN are correct. Could this error happen if client's ex already filed claiming this child for EIC? 2/9/2019 12:15:01 PM 0 SEIC-F1040-501-02 Each 'QualifyingChildNameControlTxt' that has a value on Schedule EIC(Form 1040A or 1040), Line 1, and 'QualifyingChildSSN' that has a value on Line 2, must match that in the e-File database. /efile:Return/efile:ReturnData/efile:IRS1040ScheduleEIC[1]/efile:QualifyingChildInformation[1]/efile:QualifyingChildSSN

It used to be easy to print only certain 1099s. Now you have to print them all. So, (Let's say) I am preparing 1099s for UBER, my database consists of 10K subcontractors. This year only 5K had income but the other 5K will work this year, so I don't want to delete any of them. I will have to print 10K 1099s and then get my scissors and look of the ones with salary and cut. A week later, I have 100 subcontractors who lost their 1099s and again I will have to print 10K forms. The pdf workaround is a longgg workaround. Paul, I reread your post and I think you found the solution.

Greetings group - Forgive the naive question here, but.... Bought a new PC this offseason and about to install ATX2018. I'm a solo office and install the program as "standalone" not on a server. I read this article and watched the video... https://support.cch.com/kb/solution.aspx/000048812 Is the process the same for standalone installs? The article/video mentions stopping the ATX service/server on both the old and new PC. But I don't have ATX installed yet on the new PC. I'm really just wanting to be able to rollover returning client data. A bit confused and appreciate any insight. Thanks! AF

We have Payroll 2018 installed as a network setup with a database server and numerous workstation servers that use Citrix to connect. The workstations servers are only allowing one instance of Payroll 2018 to open at a time, the second instance will throw a close/debug error. Does anyone have guidance on how to allow for more than one instance to open at a time? Thanks! Z

saying I have transmitted an E-file using a transmission relationship that is not valid in the EFC client database? any ideas - ATX not ready to e-file?

Article on multiple news sites today: "The Marriott International hotel chain said on Friday that the database of its Starwood reservation system had been hacked and that the personal details of up to 500 million guests going as far back as 2014 had been compromised. The hotel group, which runs more than 6,700 properties around the world, was informed in September about an attempt to access the database, and an investigation this month revealed that unauthorized access had been made on or before Sept. 10, Marriott said in a statement. The hotel chain said that personal details including names, addresses, dates of birth, passport numbers, email addresses and phone numbers for hundreds of millions of guests may have been compromised. The investigation found that “there had been unauthorized access to the Starwood network since 2014,” and an “unauthorized party had copied and encrypted information, and took steps toward removing it,” the statement said. Hackers also obtained encrypted credit-card information for some customers, but it was unclear if the hackers would be able to use those payment details. Marriott said it wasn’t sure how many passport numbers and dates of birth were stolen but said that it was a “subset” of the larger number of affected consumers. The hack affects customers who made reservations for Starwood hotel brands from 2014 to September of this year. The properties include Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis, Four Points, Aloft, Meridien, Tribute, Design Hotels, Elements and the Luxury Collection." The hackers seem to be winning. Saw an article a day or two ago that said during 2017 one out of every 6 personal bank accounts had at least one fraudulent incident during the year.

Well, are you? ATX states that we shouldn't do it, and I know that QuickBooks blows up when you do it over Virtual Private Network (VPN) I am merging two offices and want to use a common database, so I got to have the computers talk to each other. Rich

Do you have one of the filter checkboxes on the left checked? That's the only thing I can think of that would case that, short of a major malfunction in your database.

Here's the database backup page from CrashPlan. Unfortunately, they don't reference the Raven database that ATX uses and newer versions of ATX don't offer a database backup function.