ATX conversion to Drake

[JRS]

The conversion program for ATX is available on Drake"s support site.

[Guest Taxed]

Correct. Make sure you get Conversions 2013 (Convert 2012 returns to drake 2012).

You can also download Drake 2012 free.

[Guest Taxed]

It was taken down by Drake this evening. I can only guess it was not quite ready?

[jshtax]

Back up

[jshtax]

So I converted the 1120 returns. It does a decent job except for the "other deductions" category & officer compensation from first glance.

[jshtax]

Is this historically a slow process? It has taken 10hrs to do 200.

[Guest Taxed]

Yes it is a slow process, roughly 2 to 3 minutes a return depending on complexity. When you do the plain jane 1040s it will be a bit quicker.

Please do check all carry forwards, depreciation schedules, other deductions etc.

The process that I like to do is to run it in Drake 2012 and match the numbers exactly to the actual 2012 return prepared by another software and then rollover to 2013. Does take a little more time, but saves a lot of aggravation in the long run when you are actually doing a 2013 return.

Also I am not in favor of doing bulk conversion, but rather small batches or individual returns as needed.

I think you found out that your computer was busy for 10 hours straight?

[jklcpa]

I'm not surprised about the worksheets for the lines like Other Deductions being off. I've posted about that on 2 or 3 other posts. You could choose to fix those, if let them be if the totals are correct as long as you remember that the conversion return is not the actual return that was filed with the IRS.

If I had lots of very large and complex returns to convert, I'd probably do them in batches too.

One thing I would suggest is that if your state never required the county of residence to be entered, Drake does require this on the demographics screen, so you'll find it easiest to set up a macro for the county where most of your clients reside.

[jshtax]

I noticed if you edited any of the master forms in a return is causes the process to slow down and unfortunately we have edited a master form in almost every return. Have you seen this cause an issue?

[Guest Taxed]

I have not done a 2012 ATX to 2012 Drake conversion but I did do a 2011 ATX to Drake 2011 conversion and it went pretty fast because I was told to open the ATX return and run it and then do the conversion. What that does is updates the forms etc.

Not sure if you tried that and timed it. You may also want to call Drake support for suggestions to speed it up.

[jshtax]

You saying I should open 1394 returns?

[jklcpa]

I did not know about the editing of master forms causing slowness of conversion, but that does make sense. I don't customize the forms, just go with what the program offers. Maybe that's why my average conversion time per return was less than what you are talking about. I didn't have any issues that caused the conversion program to stop working either.

With the slowness of opening the ATX files in their 2012 program, I would not want to take the time to open each return unless you were also considering restoring those forms that had been customized back to the defaults. Would that change the outcome of the returns, or were the forms customized more for style of presentation?

[jshtax]

I did not know about the editing of master forms causing slowness of conversion, but that does make sense. I don't customize the forms, just go with what the program offers. Maybe that's why my average conversion time per return was less than what you are talking about. I didn't have any issues that caused the conversion program to stop working either.

With the slowness of opening the ATX files in their 2012 program, I would not want to take the time to open each return unless you were also considering restoring those forms that had been customized back to the defaults. Would that change the outcome of the returns, or were the forms customized more for style of presentation?

It was the invoice. Certain boxes were marked on the master form so it would be in place each time an invoice was added to a return. So basically every return has an edited master form.

[taxtrio]

I converted 600 1040 returns yesterday... took an hour.

I noticed that it did not bring over the IRA deduction taken in 2012 ATX, and missing last 4 "other deductions" on sch C.

[Guest Taxed]

Was the net profit figure correct on Sch C or was that off by the other deductions amount?

[jshtax]

I converted 600 1040 returns yesterday... took an hour.

I noticed that it did not bring over the IRA deduction taken in 2012 ATX, and missing last 4 "other deductions" on sch C.

We got a problem at our firm then. I did about 1000 returns and it took close to 48hrs. Our returns have the following:

1. on average 40-50 forms mostly with 1 state

2. all returns have client letters

3. all returns have invoices

4. most if not all returns contain a master form that was edited in some fashion.

5. 75% have depreciation

I am wondering if you have any of the above issues. Makes me wonder if they are the cause for slower than normal conversion and functioning of ATX.

[jklcpa]

jsh, when you say "forms", do you mean 40-50 forms to input or that the finished return contains that # of forms (1040, Sch A, B, C, 4562, etc...)?

[Guest Taxed]

40-45 forms in one return. I don't think I have exceeded 10!

[jshtax]

jsh, when you say "forms", do you mean 40-50 forms to input or that the finished return contains that # of forms (1040, Sch A, B, C, 4562, etc...)?

40-45 forms in one return. I don't think I have exceeded 10!

I just opened a 1040 and it said loading 32 forms as in the # of tabs to the left of form being worked on.

[jklcpa]

Ok, got it. That number would be similar to many of my returns, so that would include the letters, comparison, estimate calcs. Quite a few of mine are also multi-state. I didn't ever use the ATX invoice. The returns of mine that have depreciation on an individual return have a handful of assets related to the Sch Cs and Es. Where I have the larger number of assets are on the business returns with the number of assets in the 100-200 range.

I converted 2011 returns from ATX. You are converting 2012, right? I'm not sure that our conversions would be similar simply because of that. I think you are dealing with the issue of having customized forms, more depreciation, and possibly issues related to whatever troubles the ATX 2012 files are causing? I'm curious to hear what Drake's response is to the extra time this is taking you compared to experiences others of us had last year.

[joelgilb]

I also converted 2011 to 2012. Cakewalk and very quick.

Then the few returns I had done in ATX 2012 I manually converted to have both me and staff learn Drake quickly.

Thank Gawd I don't have to convert that mess of a 2012 program to Drake 2013!

[Guest Taxed]

Checked today and they posted Proseries and Taxworks conversions in addition to ATX and Lacerte.

[taxtrio]

I converted about 600 returns from ATX 2012 to Drake 2012... to a little over an hour.

I compared my personal return in Drake 2012 to original ATX 2012. Not completely there... but I expected a little difference;

just surprised that the IRA deduction claimed did not show up... and only the first 7 items of Sch C misc showed up, So I had to add those in to make it correct. I had also designated the small refund on Federal to be applied to 2013 estimated payments. That was alos missing. The 2210 information on Michigan was not correct. Dates of estimated payments and prior year tax amounts missing.

So more missing that I expected.

I have decided to go through all 600 returns and compare and correct conversion returns. That way the prior year comparison will be correct, the taxable state refund will be better calculated, and the 2210's should come out right. It will give me good training inputing Drake... And be easier when the client is in front of me this winter.

I thought about just dealing with it when the client comes in... but would take too much time, and too much chance for errors.

I think most of the simple returns will be ok... I will see as I go...

Any thoughts on the matter?

[jklcpa]

Taxtrio, I hope you will contact Drake and tell them the extent of the missing information. I had almost no missing information, but I converted 2011, so we aren't comparing exactly the same thing. I've already posted at least twice before about my conversion process, so I won't post that again since folks are converting 2012 returns now.

[jshtax]

Taxtrio, I hope you will contact Drake and tell them the extent of the missing information. I had almost no missing information, but I converted 2011, so we aren't comparing exactly the same thing. I've already posted at least twice before about my conversion process, so I won't post that again since folks are converting 2012 returns now.

I think they are very aware ATX 2012 doesnt convert well. They told me it wouldnt surprise them if ATX did so on purpose to make converting difficult.