Prepaying for Tax Software - Any Attitude Changes?

[JohnH]

I'm just curious how many on this forum have changed their attitudes about prepaying for tax software. And I'm curious about what effect this might have on the software vendors' marketing efforts & business model as well.

Having dealt with 4-5 software vendors over the past 10-15 years, I've always refused to take everybody's prepayment discount. I delay purchasing until the product is ready (or close to being so). The subject comes up on this forum and others from time-to-time, and I've always maintained that it isn't worth saving what's essentially the price of 1 or 2 tax returns in exchange for being locked into an unproven product. It's unwise business practice, especially for the small shops who can't economically justify signing up for a secondary vendor. (The big shops have no excuse as far as I'm concerned)

Whatever else happens during the remainder of this tax season with whomever you have chosen as your vendor, would anybody on this forum seriously consider being tethered to ANY vendor this coming Aug-Sep for the upcoming year?

[rfassett]

If the real question is "would I renew early with ATX given the start of this season" my answer would be a resounding YES. I do not make it a practice of renewing early, but if I did, I would have no issue with it. I have maintained right along that ATX would get this worked out - and judging from the huge reduction of noise on the various list servs, I have to believe that ATX is on their way to doing just that - working it out. Make no mistake, I think there is still a ways to go - but I am here for the ride, such that it is. I was able to prepare eight not-so-simple returns yesterday whereas ten days ago, I would have been happy with half that. Progress is a good thing!

[mcb39]

I am leaning in that direction. But, I have to clarify that I really have had very few problems with the program that I have not been able to work around. I have 44 returns filed and acked so far and a few on my desk waiting for the 4562 and 8863 forms. I have had one program shutdown and that issue was fixed shortly after I posted it to the board. This is not to say that every keystroke is done while sitting on the edge of my chair with my heart in my throat. But, I do feel more confident every day.

Because I have never had a printing problem from day one and feel so badly for those who are constantly crashing and waiting for returns to print, etc; I cannot help thinking that some of the issues are tied to the OS of the preparers. I can remember years ago when I could practically go out and prepare a meal while one or two Organizers were printing. Therefore, RAM is not only important in your computer, but also in your printer. I sincerely hope that the new update fixes many issues and creates none.

[RitaB]

Yeah, I'd still renew early, IF we have a good ATX2012 program at some point. I mean, you can still get a refund if you start it up in November and it sucks. I might not renew early with another company, though, for fear that they will be in the same mess as ATX is now.

[txsoftware1]

No-I will not renew and whether I prepay will be determined in the future. I am switching out of ATX today and will never come back.. This has been catastrophic for me and I have hundreds of hours not counting the income.

[JohnH]

I'm not focusing exclusively on ATX, although they are a big part of the question since this is primarily an ATX forum. But I think this question reaches a little farther than a single vendor. Part of my reason for starting this thread is thinking about the marketing angle and how it might affect those who do renew early.

My guess is that many software providers may be shocked at the fall-off in early renewers next year. They won't really know if this is due to committed customers simply delaying, or the more serious issue of prior customers bolting to other vendors. (they will have anecdotal info from their sales dept, but smart sales departments who find themselves in this position always paint the worst possible picture for management). Consequently, the marketing people will be inclined to ramp up the discount or sweeten the deal in order to induce more people to sign up.

So if you plan to renew early next time around, it might be wise to pass up the first offer and see if your vendor ups the ante in some meaningful way. Personally I still think it's a bad idea, but if I were going to opt for the early sign-up I'd be inclined to wait out the first round.

[Terry D EA]

I'm not so sure. I am one of the ones who took a beating from TRX. I had to purchase a different software to even begin to process returns and to this date, TRX still doesn't work and in my opinion could never be trusted. There are a few concerns here, being able to serve my clients efficiently and accurately is at the top, processing returns that I am 100% comfortable with, and having the ability to receive a refund should whatever software I purchase go South is very close second. At this point in the season, I am considering renewing with TaxSlayer Pro but will have my share of questions that I will need answered before the credit card comes out. The other lesson well learned is, if I do renew in the spring, as soon as that disc arrives it will be installed and evaluated so a decision can be made to keep it or get a refund and move on. I anticipate doing this at the beginning of December. If the company that I renew with can't deliver the disk by then, then it will be questionable whether I seek a refund or not.

[Lee B]

Back when the early discount date for ATX was July 31st (pre CCH), I paid early. Ever since CCH took over and moved the discount earlier for several years in a row, I stopped taking the discount. and paid in December. This year I waited until January, made a down payment so I could download the Payroll Compliance Program and agreed to pay the remaining balance next Tueday assuming today's update fixes enough problems. It's unlikely that I will ever pay early again for a discount.

[Randall]

I may rethink prepaying. I may also rethink and try other demos after the season when they offer them free. I just don't know yet. I haven't had the problems others have had.

[gfizer]

I have never prepaid and probably never will. Nothing to do with holding out to make sure the software is acceptable, though. It's just for me that the discount is not deep enough for me to part with my money that far in advance. I've been a loyal ATX customer since the days it was called Saber and barring some major catastrophic event will probably remain loyal. I will say that I have been fortunate this year. I've experienced very few issues other than an occasional crash, slow opening, and slow printing, and most of those issues have been resolved by the latest updates. I'm 70 returns in and have not had one rejected e-file. I will also have to admit that there are features in the new software that I really do like. That being said, I plan to weather the storm and trust that CCH will be able to resolve the problems.

[Guest Taxed]

I guess we all have to do some risk analysis of pre-paying for tax prep software. In an ideal world I would NOT re-pay for anything unless the discount is substantial and the risk of losing my deposit is relatively small.

Having taken a loss of $350 recently, I am gun shy now and will really have to do some thinking come May?? I will try to get in writing the refund terms should the company fail to deliver a product by the start of filing season in 2014 and MOST IMPORTANTLY I will stay away from these fly by night operators like TRX and others who offer very low prices to bait you and then you are trapped!

[taxxcpa]

I see no reason not to renew early. Even if you wait until January 15 to renew, you don't know if the program is going to work as well as it has in the past. Even if there are a few glitches the first day or two, they may be corrected immediately. Of course there could be so many glitches and it may take a couple of months to straighten them out, but I see no way to avoid that possibility without being able to predict the future.

[MsTabbyKats]

No, I wouldn't renew early either. I'm also a refugee from TRX. The "money lost" isn't an issue...but it's the waste of time.

I was literally one phone call away from retirement (I thought one of my "regulars" left me and went to H&R...called him...he said he was still waiting for me....so I decided not to retire....hey, my people need me) but decided to call Tax Act (used them in the past, loved them). Tax Act offered a 30 day refund...so it was a "no brainer".

Next year I'll wait until mid-Jan to sign up with Tax Act...unless they offer a refund that would extend into Jan 2014!

Oh...it took just about 4 hours for the rep at TRX to do a screen share and install and convert from 2011 to 2012. It took me literally less than 5 minutes to install and have Tax Act up and running. Although I have to re-enter all of the "prior information" it was a trade off I was willing to make to salvage this season.

[Eric]

How does delaying your order prepare you for this kind of mess? (serious question)

So you pay when the software is released. You've paid a slightly higher price for software that you'll get at the same time as everyone else, only to find yourself in the same situation?

Or would you wait to order until after the software is released, and you can see the reaction from members of a community like this? Even then, how do you tell the difference between early-in-the-season bugs common with the first release from from a deeper problem that's less likely to see a timely resolution?

Or maybe I'm missing the point of the question entirely.

I guess I have a hard time to relate. I rely on lots of different software, but none of it is on a yearly cycle like tax software.

I guess if it were my decision, I'd do things differently:

• Program itself is free, receiving constant updates over time. Major features added between seasons, but gradually refined through the off season. No yearly releases, just normal version numbers.
• Single software program has simple toggle to switch views between different tax years (forms, client list, efile status, etc)
• Customers are welcome to test newly added features in the off season, providing valuable feedback to augment in-house QA department. Just install the updates in the off season and report any problems encountered.
• New tax forms / calculation engine updates are subscription based, probably a yearly subscription, but with some thought it might be possible to come up with a fair solution for a monthly subscription model.

[michaelmars]

How does delaying your order prepare you for this kind of mess? (serious question)

Easier to dispute the credit card charge if its in the same month as the order, also you can see the boards first before you make a monetary and time commitment. Some people can't afford to wind up paying for 2 programs and then waiting for refund that may or may not come. I held off and never got atx this year due to all the comments so avoided much of the agravation that the rest of you unfortunately went or are going through..

[Lion EA]

It's the time value of money. How early are you willing to tie up your money?

[jklcpa]

Great ideas Eric! So when will you be getting started?

[Eric]

Great ideas Eric! So when will you be getting started?

I've worked for one income tax software company and one sales and use tax software company. I think I'll stick to web development :)

[joanmcq]

I do renew either early or at least early enough to get the disk when it first is available so that I can play around in the software with my own return and get used to whatever changes are in there. Due to our lovely Congress, there has been only ONE year in which the program was pretty much completely up and running on the initial disk-that was when Congress & Obama extended everything for two years, so the second year (was it 2011) didn't have any changes. Every other year has been either more or less of a cluster depending on when the extenders were agreed upon and how many forms have been affected. Each year it seems to be worse. This year, the IRS couldn't even have a 1040 ready; they've learned as well to put off finalizing forms until Congress has finished dickering.

So it's kind of a perfect storm for us; between Congress, the IRS, and ATX revamping the program it's the tax season from hell. And I've got sympathy for everyone affected except for Congress.

[B. Jani]

I usually do not start preparing tax return until February 1st but order in around Christmas. Never renew early. Start with my own return data entry once received so get familier with the new so called enhencement.