Terry D EA Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 This was on the general discussion board. Follow the thread if you like. Just recevied this from ATX.. To our valued ATX customers, We realize that some customers are experiencing challenges with their ATX software as they prepare for filing season. We apologize sincerely for any inconvenience this may have caused. We are working very hard to correct these issues. We have hundreds of dedicated employees across a number of departments developing software updates and working with customers to help resolve the difficulties you are facing. You can be confident that our most recent update and those to come will improve ATX performance. We understand your business demands tax software you can count on and a company you can rely on. Our employees are dedicated to your success and to upholding ATX's 28-year history of product excellence. We are steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that, through this unusual, time-challenged tax season, ATX will provide you with the high-quality product and service you need. To help you get the most out of the enhancements and new functionality in the 2012 edition of ATX, we have developed a webinar entitled What's New in 2012 ATX: Enhancements, Features and More. We are offering this webinar at no charge several times over the next few weeks, and I hope you will take advantage of it. To register for the webinar, click here. I want to thank you for your continued business and patience. We will work hard to continue to earn your trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 TRX1 hint hint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 i would love for trx to become a new (and reliable) lower cost tax program standard... like saber/atx of 15 years ago...a tax program that initially well served small to medium sized tax prep offices for many years. trx has been working on it for several/many years...it is not there yet. i hope it gets there very soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 I'm not sure anyone can break into the market like that anymore. ATX and others made it and then sold to bigger companies for big money. Even if someone did come up with a new program that was very good and low cost, they would eventually sell and cash out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 "I'm not sure anyone can break into the market like that anymore" sure they can...econ 101 competition - the supply/demand curve of quantity/price. others did it before atx...others have done it or are trying to do it after atx. trx is trying to do it...i'm wishing and hoping for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 TRX had a good product for the last couple of years. The reason I switched was price. I was happy with my prior software except the annual increase in price was getting out of hand! This year they decided to introduce 100% TaxExact and that is not ready in my opinion. I am heart broken to lose that old software! They sent me a TaxExact demo last year and it was basically non functional except for some data input screens. If they can make it functional and bug free and keep the price to $299 there is a market for low volume tax preparers, at least for the time being. Also TaxAct is aggressively pushing in that market as well. Right now they are offering their preparer edition for $99 but you have to pay $7.95 per return to e-file. They do have a bundle option for $599 (no per return charge) but that is more than the TRX price. The bigger companies like CCH, Drake, Intuit are out of the range for low volume preparers. You are talking about $1500+ in price They are more suitable for accounting firms and bigger tax prep shops. I think eventually all tax prep work will be done online (DIY and professionals). That way the companies will have 100% hold on your data files. Try switching vendor and you will pay to release your own data or start fresh on a new platform! I can already see the writing on the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in Upstate NY Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 "I'm not sure anyone can break into the market like that anymore" sure they can...econ 101 competition - the supply/demand curve of quantity/price. others did it before atx...others have done it or are trying to do it after atx. trx is trying to do it...i'm wishing and hoping for them. Let's run the numbers ... From the PTIN discussions, we know there are about 100,000 tax preparers in the US. Let's say our new start-up is sucessful and captures 10% of the market. At first TRX was offering the complete package for $300, with renewals at that price 'forever'. So our startup might have gross revenues of $3,000,000. If we had a full time staff of 15 people (management, marketing, sales, product planning, top level programming) who were willing to work for $100,000 (including benefits), we would have $1,500,000 left. Now hire 30 programmers on a half-year basis and you've spent it all. Too bad there's nothing left for overhead (building, computers, utilities) and customer support during the season. Oh, and profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 I think there are more than 100,000 taxpreparers in US. I seem to recall at one of those IRS forums in Dec. that close to 300,000 have not even signed up for that test. Just look at your PTIN# it is a 7 digit# with a 0 before that so I am estimating that there may be close to a millin PTIN holders. The question is how many renewed last year? I am dealing with 2 older preparers in my area who chose to quit instead of taking the time to do CE and RTRP. Just spoke to one of them last night, she may restart if she does not have to do CE and the test. So Don if we rerun with some agressive assumptions, say 10 times your figure, so the gross would be $30,000,000 The expenses would be at least what you projected but lets jack that up by 20%. So that is $3,600,000. Net profit before taxes and other expenses = $26,400,000!!! What are we doing preparing returns for $100?? We need our heads examined Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in Upstate NY Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 I think there are more than 100,000 taxpreparers in US. I seem to recall at one of those IRS forums in Dec. that close to 300,000 have not even signed up for that test. Just look at your PTIN# it is a 7 digit# with a 0 before that so I am estimating that there may be close to a millin PTIN holders. You're correct. Wikipedia says between 900,000 and 1.2 million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 You're correct. Wikipedia says between 900,000 and 1.2 million. So Don why are we doing taxes for $100 - 150 and going through this grief this year? What's wrong with us? Now you know why Doug is making software instead of doing returns!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in Upstate NY Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 So Don why are we doing taxes for $100 - 150 and going through this grief this year? What's wrong with us? Now you know why Doug is making software instead of doing returns!! I've done the software development gig. Our strength was marketing. They promised everyone what they wanted to hear, and engineering turned out a product that had all those features (on the menu.) Our failure was with QA - they couldn't make the software work. Can you spell "corporate liquidation"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Good one Don. You must have that special crystal ball! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberts Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 They promised everyone what they wanted to hear, and engineering turned out a product that had all those features (on the menu.) Did you promise that everything would be amazing if they just waited a little longer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 It is 1:30pm ET no update yet? Will we see one today? I can't get through to TRX, anybody else having problems contacting them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetspa Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 So why wouldn't TaxACT be a perfect fit for the 100 client preparer? $ 99 and charge an extra $ 8 on every return to pay the $ 8 e-file fee, or $600 and simply add $ 6 to every return to recoop the cost...this seems WAY too easy??? I can tell you from personal experience that Tax ACT will take you about 10 minutes to learn to use. There may be a few obsucre forms it doesn't support, so I'd get a list of the more unusual forms from your more unusual clients and call them first to very the form is supported. But I used it for years without any problems...in fact, it was such a small program I installed it to a thumb drive and just took the drive with me to clients home and used their computers to do returns (this was before laptops became so cheap). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaxMan74 Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 So why wouldn't TaxACT be a perfect fit for the 100 client preparer? $ 99 and charge an extra $ 8 on every return to pay the $ 8 e-file fee, or $600 and simply add $ 6 to every return to recoop the cost...this seems WAY too easy??? I can tell you from personal experience that Tax ACT will take you about 10 minutes to learn to use. There may be a few obsucre forms it doesn't support, so I'd get a list of the more unusual forms from your more unusual clients and call them first to very the form is supported. But I used it for years without any problems...in fact, it was such a small program I installed it to a thumb drive and just took the drive with me to clients home and used their computers to do returns (this was before laptops became so cheap). Let us not forget that for each state filing they charge 3.95 for each state. The fee we pay to Taxact add up fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberts Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 I used TaxAct the first year in business. I found the break even point to be around 45 clients. Once I got into that ball park, there were cheaper options available which is why they came out with the all-inclusive package. It's somewhere around 45 client that the all-inclusive product becomes reasonable but even then, you don't get any corporate software without paying more. For $700 the first year and $500 each year after if you renew early, OLTPRO offers unlimited 1040's, all states, all corporates and everything efiled. Hard to beat that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in Upstate NY Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Let us not forget that for each state filing they charge 3.95 for each state. The fee we pay to Taxact add up fast. Pricing on today's website for their 1040 product: Preparer's Federal $ 119.95 Preparer's One State $ 24.95 Preparer's All States $ 99.95 E-file (per return) 8.95 (includes state) Bundle - Preparer's Federal plus All States plus unlimited E-file $ 579 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Anyone have experience with OLTPRO. The good, bad and ugly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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