JJStephens Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 A couple of days ago my daughter informed me she & her hubby didn't file in '05 & '06. The IRS assessed them a bunch of bucks (computed tax on their income with no withholding or dependent exemptions). She wanted me to 'fix it, daddy'. Even though they're grown & gone I still love it when every once in awhile I once again get to be a hero for my kids![FWIW--they still owe some bucks but it is less than half what the IRS claimed.]Since I've replaced my computer several times since those ancient days, I had to reload the '05 & '06 software. Wow. What a difference from today's. It was much faster and much sleeker. I remembered why I once loved using ATX.As is often the case, in our drive for 'new & improved' we humanoids meet only the first half that goal. And for some reason we call it 'progress'. Go figure. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Quicken '98 and QuickBooks 2001 were the best versions of those two programs. After that they added useless feature after useless feature, without adding much of any really new functionality, and without fixing persistent bugs from year to year. "New and Improved!" just means it's new, they took out some good stuff, and the improvement is that it now *must* be updated every few years since support stops. Grrr. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Quicken '98 and QuickBooks 2001 were the best versions of those two programs. After that they added useless feature after useless feature, without adding much of any really new functionality, and without fixing persistent bugs from year to year. "New and Improved!" just means it's new, they took out some good stuff, and the improvement is that it now *must* be updated every few years since support stops. Grrr.This is so true. I have used Quicken forever. It used to be flawless. I am totally frustrated with 2010. Wish I could go back, but I will probably certainly never go forward. WAY too much crammed into a simple usable program. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elrod Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 You'd also think with the increase in price, You'd still hear that saber tiger roar.................Must be audio is very costly added to software.. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Making more money. For them that is. They call it capitalism. I call it private sector communism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcb39 Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 I absolutely LOVED that tiger roar! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Making more money. For them that is. They call it capitalism. I call it private sector communism.It is capitalism at its finest. There are other vendors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJStephens Posted May 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 (edited) Quicken '98 and QuickBooks 2001 were the best versions of those two programs. After that they added useless feature after useless feature, without adding much of any really new functionality, and without fixing persistent bugs from year to year. "New and Improved!" just means it's new, they took out some good stuff, and the improvement is that it now *must* be updated every few years since support stops. Grrr.I've often said that each year Intuit adds a nickel's worth of improvements for a $300 renewal fee. Call it capitalism or communism or whatever. I called it chutzpah. And somehow they get away with it.No more. After being with them for 20+ years, I pulled the plug back on Jan1 and migrated almost my entire client base to another solution--actually two solutions--one for books and one for payroll--both cloud based. So far, my clients love it. Edited May 19, 2015 by JJStephens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJStephens Posted May 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Going back to my OP: I just informed my rep that I'm switching to Drake next season for the reasons stated above. He replied that he was sorry to see me go but completely understood my reasoning. I was somewhat surprised by his understanding response and the tacit agreement it implied.You'd think with all the grief they've caught over the past couple years CCH would try to do something about speed/bloat issues. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 (edited) He probably recognizes that once you switch to Drake you're very unlikely to come back. The more you learn about Drake the less likely you are to settle for an inferior product. Superior performance eventually wins out. And even though there's already a price differential that favors Drake, I suspect the pricing margin will widen even more as time goes on. Edited May 19, 2015 by JohnH 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 He probably recognizes that once you switch to Drake you're very unlikely to come back. The more you learn about Drake the less likely you are to settle for an inferior product. Superior performance eventually wins out. And even though there's already a price differential that favors Drake, I suspect the pricing margin will widen even more as time goes on. Tax year 2013 I used both Drake and ATX.I will NOT be using Drake ever again. Speed of data entry is not the holy grail of tax preparation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnH Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Yeah, who cares about speed when you're selling your time?Data entry speed is a tiny part of the equation. (Anybody can type fast). Startup, backup, updates, macros, and maneuvering around in the program all form the total picture. It's obvious to me that you never mastered Drake's capabilities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJStephens Posted May 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 I agree that speed of data entry is not the only factor to consider, but surely it should be one factor, and an important one at that as its one of the few variables we have any control over. Not only is the entry process quicker, Drake doesn't require that all the docs be sorted into some particular order to achieve any kind of efficiency. The ability to bounce almost instantaneously from Sch A to Sch C to W2 to whatever and then back to point A, is really nice.Another thing that sets Drake apart: when I started with Sabre back in the olden days, I paid about 25% of what ATX now costs. I got essentially what I'm getting now with Max (fed/state/municipal tax prep software and their Zillion Forms or whatever they called it). In the time they have quadrupled their price Drake has had one price increase...of $100.The pure efficiency of the Drake software is impressive. Opening the software, opening a file, zipping around the program, doing the tax computations all happen at speeds that leave ATX sitting in the dust. It is not without its drawbacks, but for me, when I stacked them up side by side, the clear winner was Drake.As I mentioned in my earlier post, a return that 4 or 5 years ago took an hour now takes an hour and a half. My fees haven't gone up 50%! The net effect is that I'm making 1/3 less per hour now than I was five years ago.. Why did that happen? I think there are three reasons: 1) the software is created by programmers (rather than preparers) and suffers from the bloat that seems to be inherent in programmer driven environments, 2) CCH chose to change the programming language several years ago (gee, wasn't that fun?!?), and 3) their apparently conscious decision to make the data entry process increasingly complicated (again, likely a programmer driven mod). It all adds up to me saying a reluctant goodby to a software package I used to love using. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 Quicken '98 and QuickBooks 2001 were the best versions of those two programs. After that they added useless feature after useless feature, without adding much of any really new functionality, and without fixing persistent bugs from year to year. "New and Improved!" just means it's new, they took out some good stuff, and the improvement is that it now *must* be updated every few years since support stops. Grrr.I still use QB Pro 2003. I will until I am forced to put it out to pasture. When I got the software, I conned the support rep into giving me the password since at the time, I did not have an internet connection. I can load it as many times as I want. I only load it on my machines, but I have had a lot of machines in the last 12 years. TomNewark, CA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 QB requires the latest version if you use their payroll, and I have one client that does. To open a file, QB requires you have at least as new a version as the client file you are trying to open. At least this year the client gave me their third user license so I didn't have to buy the ^}#%] program.intuit, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 I recently did not renew my Peachtree (Sage) accountants plan. I had one client left using Peachtree and he was switching to QB. So at $500, I did not want to renew. I have the 2015 version already. Recently I opened up the program and was not allowed to make any changes. I could only review what I had already entered. That was a surprise since I thought I still had that complete program (and paid for it previously). Apparently, they zapped me online. Oh well, I really don't need it. I'll use QB and ride it out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Yes, Peachtree has now jumped on the bandwagon of "you don't own what you PAID FOR -- you just lease it from us." NOT acceptable. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 That's why I don't like the SAAS (software as a service) model. Very reluctant of cloud software. 5 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.