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Drake seminar worth the time?


jklcpa

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I just signed up for Drake's seminar on 6/5. For any of you that have attended, is it worth the 4 hrs of time? Not wasting 4 hrs + 1 hr commute is more important than the 4 hr free CPE. Is it worth my time to attend? Can anyone comment on any differences between the seminars offered & the Webinars that can be currently viewed on Drake's site?

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I havn't watched the Webinars. I did go to the four hour seminar a couple of weeks ago. It is basically a four our trip through their software. I got a better insight into Drake and the software. I will watch one of the webinars sometime this week and post my comments. The 4 hours CPE was a no brainer for me, as it was only 15 minutes away. As to a commute of an hour, you probably got the same thing over the Internet, though the ability to ask questions and have them show us the answers was good.

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  • 2 weeks later...

After attending Drake's 4 hour seminar and then watching a few of the webinars, you will definitely learn more watching the webinars. The four hour CPE class gives a very good overall look at Drake, but the online education is a lot more in depth. AND at the price of gas, if the CPE is not important, I would opt out. I will add, there were a few Drake customers at the class that did help in my decision to consider Drake. As of yet, I have a few unanswered questions that I will ask their reps at a CSEA seminar in Reno this week. The program works great for 90 % of my clients, but the other 10 %, including my own, it might not work and I will go back to ATX, albeit begrudgingly.

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Thanks JRS-

Please let me know about the 10% that Drake does not work for. What are the issues or reasons?

I have been testing Drake over the weekend, and I really have a hard time with the data entry format. It seems designed for a tax office with junior people doing the input, and senior managers and partners doing review. I think the better way is the forms-based method like ATX and a few others, especially for tax offices where the senior people are doing the data entry. The forms-based is more intuitive for users who have a good grasp of taxes already, and is more efficient in that you are eliminating an interim step in the preparation process.

When I started doing taxes using Prosystems fx, our office used the interview-based mode in Pro fx, with input done primarily by bookkeepers and junior staff. After some senior people started doing their own data entry, it became obvious that the forms-based mode in Pro fx was far more efficient. The total time for the senior preparer to complet a return was shortened, and for those senior people who did their own data entry, overall productivity increased. Junior staff time was reassigned to other bookkeeping-related activities normally done by the seniors, and the senior time was shifted to nearly all taxes during tax season.

Still, if I had to get used to Drake's input method, think I could do it. But if there are problems with the software that you are seeing, JRS, I would like to know before I invest too much more time in the Drake review.

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Please let me know about the 10% that Drake does not work for. What are the issues or reasons?

10 % of my clients are heavy investors, on the edge of day traders, including my wife. The input screen for Schedule leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe, I am spoiled, but ATX figures long vs short, options (puts and calls), wash and short sales. This is the only area I have encountered any problems. It handles K-1s from PTP's with no problem and seems to handle form 6781. I inputed a few trades, including some short sales, inputed regular things, dividends, interest, wages, etc., finished the return and setup the efile folder. Big problem, it was OKed for efile. Short sales cannot currently be efiled. I am a one person office, so no big deal, but for anything larger, I would think it would be a problem. These are the questions, hopefully, I will get answered this week in Reno.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I attended the Drake training seminar this past Wednesday and if not for the 4 hours of CPE that I earned, it was not very informative.

They provided 2 technical moderators who between them knew very little about taxation. So the focus was on the process of Drake, not the accuracy and/or completeness of the software.

I did not like their product off the bat due to it being menu driven and not forms driven like ATX.

I met a few attendees that were using Drake and seemed to be contented with this product.

One additional note, Drake provides their research software through Thompson Publishing, RIA, who also own Ultatax. I inquired as to the likelihood of their being absorbed by Thompson Publishing and they were adamant that they would not be! Sounds familiar to me!

Hope this is helpful.

Mike Dubin CPA

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I attended a Drake seminar last year, but did not switch until this year. I plan on going to another seminar later this year.

I was lucky. The seminar I attended was put on by two people who also do taxes themselves. The seminar was very small so we could get personal help with parts of the program and tax items that apply to the kind of taxes we do in our particular offices.

I was very happy with the two that were doing our training. They have been able to answer any questions I have or could get an immediate answer for me.

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  • 4 years later...

The Drake input screens take some getting used to, but they have a forms-based option for Form 1040 returns which you can access by pressing CTRL+G or by right-clicking on any screen. Page 1 and page 2 of Form 1040 pop up with related forms shown by the relevant line on form 1040. Just click the form and it takes you to the input screen. After becoming familiar with Drake's input screens, you will use the forms-based method less, but it's there if you need it.

Another problem some have mentioned is entering stock market transactions, but Drake has provided a method by which you can enter them on an excel worksheet and import them to Form 8949. This enables you to copy and past repetitive information and enter the transactions much easier than doing them within the program.

It is so easy, I use the imported worksheet even if there are only a few transactions. You can create one worksheet and after using it on one client, just save it if you want to keep it, then erase the data and use it with a new name for another client.

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Thanks for the tip on the stock transactions. That will be very helpful when some of my larger returns start coming in. I'll give that some practice on a return that only have a few as you say.

I haven't needed the forms based entry. The look of the screens don't bother me. All of the information is there, a lot of it in a similar format or order of entry to that of the real forms (like the w-2, divs and interest screens). Unless a 1099-div has t/e income or foreign withholding, the grid entry is actually faster to input a 1099 that has only ordinary, qualfied and cap gain divs than going to the more detailed screen. I've found lots of time savers in the program. The speed of creating and sending efiles is amazing.

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I have been vacillating for several years about switching from ATX to Drake. I have a good friend who has used it for years and loves it and contacts customer service frequently with great results. My friend consults me from time to time. We found an error in a California return in the first week of April last year--but they fixed it in a couple of days. However, I've not been happy about several returns not rolling over in Drake--1041s and 990s. I am not certain they have all of the payroll and sales tax returns that I would need.

In my return, I have a nondeductible IRA that I need to reduce my basis in each year. Neither my friend nor I can find how to enter that on the 8606.

Finally, I much prefer the forms based entry of ATX. I have had ATX since the late 90s.

I have had only a couple of problems with ATX, and have been able to resolve them with the Knowledge Base comments. However, the slowness is a big issue. I am not sure this will ever be resolved. Since I am semi-retired and don't prepare that many returns, I can live with the slowness and the printing issues.

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RDennis, I just finished a return last night for a retired couple with IRA basis on 8606 and distributions from IRAs. I entered the individual 1099-Rs from the IRAs as usual. That allows the program to print a nice detailed summary because my client had 7 1099s and each had withholding too.

On the 1099R input screen, for the IRAs - check the box that says "Exclude from income, reported on 8606". That box is in the lower left corner of the 1099R screen. On the 8606 screen, enter the carryforward basis from last year on line 2, total value of the IRAs on line 6, and the total of the IRA distributions on line 7. It doesn't double up on the distributions reported on the return. It worked perfectly on my client's return.

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Having been with Drake now for about just 10 days and ATX for 12 years, I find that I don't even miss forms based input.

And support! Drake answers the phone almost every time on the 3rd ring with LIVE SUPPORT that is knowledgeable and can actually answer my questions in minutes. By far the best support I have ever experienced for tax software!

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Having been with Drake now for about just 10 days and ATX for 12 years, I find that I don't even miss forms based input.

And support! Drake answers the phone almost every time on the 3rd ring with LIVE SUPPORT that is knowledgeable and can actually answer my questions in minutes. By far the best support I have ever experienced for tax software!

To add to this Joel, when the Drake support hasn't had an answer for my state-specific questions, they have called back with the answers every single time and have worked with me on some oddball situations and how best to input these.

My latest call was on my own personal return that was rejected by the state of PA. Turns out that their software was showing a leading zero followed by a decimal point and six digits following the decimal point on a line that calc'd a percentage. However, when it was transmitted, the decimal point wasn't being sent and PA was rejecting because 7 digits isn't acceptable to PA's system. Yes, this was an error that they will needed to correct to transmit this particular PA form for anyone using it, and the correction will be an update, but the support person actually called me back to tell me of their error and to assure me that a fix is in the works. That's a far cry from CCH's customers being on hold all day, being hung up on, and never receiving replies to messages left and emails sent.

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  • 2 months later...

i attended the Drake seminar this morning. It was more of a sales pitch but I did pick up these few things that will be helpful:

  • Drake currently doesn't convert 1041 from other tax software but might add this for the coming year or in the near future
  • It is network ready and works in either a peer-to-peer or client-server environment
  • If using per form charge, these carry over to the next year. These can be increased or decreased across the board using eiher a percentage change or dollar amount
  • Letters can be converted to Spanish either globally or on a per return basis
  • data entry block settings can be magnified for easier viewing
  • can combine electronic filing steps into one step instead of 3 separate ones
  • re: changes to program in future, as asked by former ATX user - Drake uses "Power Basic" platform, so has no current need in the foreseeable future to upgrade or rewrite the program on a different platform as ATX did. (I don't know all that this means, only stating what the presenter said)
  • with business returns, can easily change the type of entity from one to another (eg: a partnership that incorporates and goes from 1065 to 1120 return)
  • already beta testing to offer cloud storage
  • pressing F1 in any input field brings up the help function for that screen with lots of helpful information
  • use F1 in the business code field brings up list separated by category (dropdown list isn't separated). Scrolling down that list, a second section appears that is alphabetical.
  • Right-click in the business code field brings up a search box. Entering a word to describe business will bring up all related business codes (ex - enter "florist" and program will bring up codes for florist, flower shop, etc)
  • pressing F10 within a field brings up a built-in calculator and from there can insert the calculated result into the input field. Press F10 again and a display will show what looks like an adding machine tape with the individual entries that make up the amount entered in the field.
  • K-1s from 1065 and 1120S prepared within Drake can be imported into the individual returns. I used this feature this year.
  • Tech support staff doubles during tax season but are not temporary staff. During the busy season every employee, including Phil and Adam Drake, answer phones and all know how to use the program. Adam is also frequently on their forum.
  • Price is fully refundable until the product ships around Thanksgiving, so give those demos a good workout this summer.
  • For PPR users this season, the program will be unlocked to unlimited use on 10/25/13.
  • Previously the planner was included but separate from the program. It is integrated within the program for the 2012 tax return year and allows for 2 year's calcs, either 2012 or 2013. I've used this and if doing 2013 it has a comparison feature to show changes from 2012.
  • If buying the research for $89, it integrates with the program and includes the 1040, small business and states' guides.

There was a lot more covered and was geared toward its use by new preparers. About the first 2 hours covered basic set up of the program and all of the ways that it could be customized to the users' styles of practice, and during roughtly the second 2 hours, the speaker did show the basics of inputting and filing a 1040 return.

I came away with a few tips that I might have found if i'd watched all the tutorials. I haven't watched all of those yet. I will also receive 4 hours of CPE that were available to CPAs but not to others. I'm not sure why that is.

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A couple of other things that I liked hearing about the company in general were:

Phil Drake's father was a tax preparer in Franklin and Phil lived out of the area. When the father got older, Phil moved back to help his dad in the tax practice and saw dad was still doing returns by hand with paper and pencil. Phil saw the need for automation and wrote the initial program, so this program was written by a tax preparer from that viewpoint. Phil and his son, Adam, still run the company, so it is still from that perspective that the program is designed. I like that.

The company upholds Christian values. Please don't be offended if you aren't a Christian, because whether you are Christian, another religion, or no religion, at least it is refreshing to know that a company has a set of values that it operates by and places more importance on something other than the almighty dollar or bottom line.

I think it is one of the few, or maybe the only one now, that is still privately owned.

Drake software is the 2nd largest employer in the town of Asheville, NC and keeping people employed in that area where there is so little other opportunity is important to Phil Drake.

Phil Drake likes to see revitalization of existing buildings in their local area, and tries to help other local businesses in ways to achieve that goal rather than building lots of new buildings in other locales while the old ones sit idle. He wants to see the locals stay employed. I like that too!

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Guest Taxed

I like the fact that there are company values other than the bottom line. I like a family run business because they realize that is us little guys that keep them in business. If we are profitable they are profitable.

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I keep remembering additional things I picked up along the way. From within the program the user can email Drake directly as similar to ATX. It's in the dropdown from the "Help" menu and by clicking on Email. The extra feature is that from there the user can click on the Rolodex icon or the "To" button that will bring up a list of email addresses. There are addresses for individuals in the support / tech functions and also separate emails for feedback and for each type of return and state so that it routes your email directly to the programmers that work on that type of return.

Last week I wanted to make a suggestion for an additional error checking feature that would be helpful to have a warning on the "messages" page (the error checking diagnostics) specific to Delaware returns, so I called in to make the suggestion. The rep took down my notes and promised to route it to the proper person, and then she showed me how I could email the programmers that were directly working on the Delaware part of the program. Awesome idea. I know that it would have eventually been sorted and routed to the proper person, but I thought this was a nifty little bonus feature.

I've only called in twice, both times due to my inexperience, and both times I received a follow-up call either later that day or the next day to make sure that my problem had been resolved.

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i too attended a seminar last year with no follow up from drake. They promised the four hours CEU which I never got. The seminar was more of a sales pitch then actual preparation. I once again, will load the demo cd and try again so I can make a good sound decision for next season.

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I am seriously considering Drake for 2013 as many other options have not yet come to fruition. With Drake you do get a lot for your money in addition to the tax software.

My focus now is to find a stable company that I can stay with for the forseeable future! I have had it with conversions and learning curves every other year or so.

I will be attending the Drake seminar in Elmhurst Queens, NY on Friday May 17, 2013. Looking forward to meeting some of you there?

Mike Dubin CPA

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i went to the seminar 2wks ago, and this is mainly for new users. [which includes me].

it is basic, [with sales pitches], but you will learn some things that you wouldn't learn otherwise.

[see jklcpa's list on page 1 of this thread for some examples]

you will also learn that ATX users were spoiled with the simple wysiwyg interface, and

that, it sure would be nice if drake would display the amounts drawn from other data entry sources.

still, i have used other entry-based programs before [lacerte and ultratax], and drake is

a better fot for me than those, mainly because of the price, and truly great service.

i know i'll "get used to" drake quickly, because i've done it before, and anything is better than

being tortured by a crappy company like ATX whose focus is on profits, and, clearly only act

like they care about the customer when it's "sales time"; because i've been down that road

before too.

NOTE: drake will email you an excel spreadsheet template for ease of entry of stock transactions,

plus they have a separate automatic pay-per service that will scan & extract the transactions for you.

[called gruntworx]

a client write-up with live and after-the-fact payroll and pr taxes program is also included, so

i'm going to give drake a try, they seem to be a great fit for just about any small firm, except

those that only prepare very complex returns exclusively.

i feel obligated to make ATX feel some pain, by losing my business.

they delivered tremendous pain to everyone i work with, and every member of my family,

and they will keep doing it, if we don't teach them a lesson.

power to the people!

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Guest Taxed

I am very interested in finding out how Gruntworks worked this season for new users. How good is it to populate the return (or data screens) from the scanned documents? Is there any error checking? How much effort is required to fix the errors?

Finally I believe you have to buy tokens and the min. is $50. So how many tokens would a typical return with Sch D use up?

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Yes, GruntWorx has minimum purchase of $50 which is 10 tokens at $5 each. It gets cheaper the more you purchase. It also works with software other than Drake.

3 levels of service:

Organize - organizes and standardizes the electronic file of scanned documents. One token

Trades - scanned broker stmts are consolidated into an Excel spreadsheet for the user to import into the tax software. One token per 50 transactions

Populate - extracts data from scanned documents and provides electronic format for populating all data into the tax software. Sorry, I didn't jot down the # of tokens required.

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