TonyP Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Today, which is May 16th as I'm writing this post. The seminar presenter, Jarret, said that he had an overflow crowd yesterday in Tampa. The attendance in Orlando was also an overflow, close to 60 attendees. The percentage breakout was about 40% each from Taxworks and CCH/ATX, the remaining being various other software users or new preparers. Pretty good & knowledgeable presentation, Drake is menu based rather than form based like ATX, but seems to work extremely fast when demonstrated on his computer which was on Internet connected to Drake. That made it a little slower, but it was still extremely fast compared to ATX. It's not that difficult or time consuming to switch views from the menu form to that tax return after entering data on the menu form. The presenter (Jarret) sold most of us, including me. Jarret said telephone customer support calls were answered by a human within 15-20 seconds, not sure if that was just sales talk, but someone in the audience who switched during the tax season said that was his experience (don't know if that was a planted Drake user, with a planted response, but if it was, he was a good actor). The price for the full package if purchased before June 1 is $1,095, it goes up either monthly or bi-monthly to $1,495 if purchased around November 2013. But the good news is that you can back-out before December 1, and get your full-refund. That kinda sold me to get on-board with Drake, I can back-out if ATX can somehow convince me that all is well for 2013, and ATX betters Drake's price buy at least $300 before the December 1 cut-off date.. My offer from ATX for 2013 was $1,272 or within a couple of dollars what I paid for the garbage 2012 program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 That's what the Drake rep is telling me also that the seminars are sold out and Taxworks and ATX users are flooding the shows. I believe they are planning some additional seminars in new cities TBD this fall. As I predicted they will most likely clean house again this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Everything the rep said had been borne out by my experience. I switched from ATX to Drake in early February of this year and have had nothing but positive experiences with the program and with their customer support. I doubt the person in the audience was a plant - Drake doesn't do business like that because they're an honest, highly-principled company. Switching between forms view and data input is a simple Contol-key toggle back & forth. Takes about 2 seconds each direction. As I've said repeatedly, forms-based entry is vastly overrated and it consumes lots of time. Program updates are lightning-fast. Drake is all about speed and service. Speed when using the software and excellent customer service on the phone. So far the company and product have equaled or exceeded all my expectations. And I'm definitely not a plant :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vityaba Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 JohnH, what's your experience with the depreciation? I downloaded Drake demo and it looks like you actually have to manually select Depreciation method and number of years. In ATX you select asset type from the list (machinery, furniture, RE, etc.) and the software will add the depreciation method and years. Am I correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 I've had the same experiences as JohnH and I'm not a plant either. Vityaba, Drake does have drop down choices in the depreciation. If you don't know what to select, you can press F1 and a more detailed list with descriptions will appear. You can also right click in the field for more options. You can right click in any blank non-input part of a screen and it will bring up additional options for the screen as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 JohnH, what's your experience with the depreciation? I downloaded Drake demo and it looks like you actually have to manually select Depreciation method and number of years. In ATX you select asset type from the list (machinery, furniture, RE, etc.) and the software will add the depreciation method and years. Am I correct? That is true. Drake does not autofill the depreciation method or period. However if you hit F1 it will give you the typical listing of asset type and period. I actually like it this way because sometimes when you pick up a new client and have to recreate the depreciation schedule, the auto chosen method does not always fit. Another shortcut in Drake is the grid method to input your run of the mill depreciation for assets. That works out 90% of the time if you are familiar with the method and period of depreciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Sorry, I just repeated what JKLCPA just posted. Did not see that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vityaba Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Thanks for your replies. I am going to Drake seminar tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike D Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 I attended a Drake software seminar in NY today and came away quite impressed. There were 85 people in attendance including user's of Ultratax, Protax, ATX, Tax Works, Tax Wise, LaCerte, etc. The price for the complete Drake package before 05/31/13 is $1,095 which is not alot for what you get. All modules, all states, payroll, client writeup, document manager, tax organizer, tax planner, CPE, etc. I am leaning towards purchasing Drake for 2013 as a long term solution, as I have had it with conversions, learning curves, etc. Mike Dubin CPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted May 17, 2013 Report Share Posted May 17, 2013 Would it be fair to say you are not looking at Ultratax anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike D Posted May 18, 2013 Report Share Posted May 18, 2013 Too rich for my blood! The equivalent package closely compared to Drake would cost over $15,000 from Ultra tax. That would include all modules, states, payroll, client writeup, etc. Maybe in my next life. Mike Dubin CPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted May 18, 2013 Report Share Posted May 18, 2013 My feelings too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.