I'm thinking about Pro-Series FX

[Booger]

I'm thinking about "upgrading" from ATX to Pro-series. I do about 400 returns/year (75% individuals, 25%

businesses). I would like to hear your opinions about spending the extra $$....are the "bells and whistles"

of Pro-series really worth it?

[zeke]

What - and leave Catherine??

z

[Booger]

You're RIGHT, Zeke.

What was I thinking????

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Booger, you are a CAD! Playing the field and playing with Catherine's heart...how COULD you?

[Catherine]

Booger, you do what is right for your business! I'm sure I will muddle through somehow. Besides, going to Pro-Series doesn't mean you'll leave our forum, does it?

Catherine

[kcjenkins]

Even if someone leaves ATX, they are still welcome here. We have lots of Drake users, for example. and even a few Pro Series, I think.

Whether the 'bells and whistles' are worth the extra money is a very personal decision which no one cam make for you. It depends on a lot of factors. The only way to know for sure is to get the demo program [i'd advise get it NOW] and then do some returns on it, and see if it feels better to you, enough better to justify the cost. It's like buying a new printer. Some folks have time on their hands, and will be happy with a slow printer that is very cheap, while someone else, even if they have the same volume, needs more speed so that the printer does not become the bottleneck in their office.

Some people feel the need for a program that has more automatic checks, etc, even if they must pay more. And some programs are faster at doing RALs, which in my office would not mean a thing to me, because I don't do them. But if you do, then that might be worth the extra cost in Jan alone. It's not something that can have one answer.

[Booger]

Thanks for your input. Will request the demo program and play around with it.

P.S. Catherine, I won't be leaving this forum. (How could I LEAVE you????)

[Catherine]

<snip>

P.S. Catherine, I won't be leaving this forum. (How could I LEAVE you????)

Oh, thank goodness. I can cease my piteous weeping now!

^_^

[RJM]

I thought ProSeries and ProSystems FX were 2 different products. ProSeries is the professional version of Turbotax, and ProSystems FX is the cadillac CCH product. I used ProSystems FX for about 5 years and think it was probably the best tax software product available. I think they now have forms entry mode as well. The big drawback is that it has always been really expensive. Never used ProSeries, but did demo Lacerte several years back. It is the step-up product from ProSeries I think, and is used by mid-size to large-size practices, because it is also very expensive.

[mcb39]

I have a colleague, (friend) who used Turbo Tax and then Pro Series for years. The cost was starting to take a huge bite out of her profit. A few years ago I talked her into trying ATX Max; which had everything she needed bundled into one package and one price. With Pro Series, she had to pay extra for each additional module. I don't know if that is still the case or not. However, I am sure it is expensive and I, personally, would never use their product after what they did to Parsons Technology many years ago......(personal vendetta!) :dunno:

[Margaret CPA in OH]

Oh, thank goodness. I can cease my piteous weeping now!

I am so happy that Booger has chosen to remain faithful in spirit and forum to you, Catherine. Your piteous weeping (love that phrase!) was tearing me apart and prompted my outburst towards Booger on your behalf. I agree that we all can and must use the professional tools that are appropriate to our respective businesses, but a critical tool is this board and our relationships. I feared the worst when Booger mentioned another software choice but am amply comforted that he won't also abandon Dear Catherine and, by extension, the rest of us here. Thanks, Booger!

[Lion EA]

This was my second season with ProSystem fx. And, I'm a loyal participant in this ATX community!

I was looking for software, had even reserved ProSeries; but nothing in that price range did the more complex returns as well as I wished. In fact the ProSeries salesman said he'd give me Lacerte free to just pay per return for my more complex returns. Didn't make sense to learn two new software packages my first year out on my own. If I was going to end up moving my data up to Lacerte, figured I'd better revisit the high end packages. Took a second look at Lacerte, CS Ultra Tax, and ProSystem fx. Loved them all. All about the same prices.

Well, called tech support for help loading the ProSystem fx demo (had Flash, which it turned out my computer lacked) on my very old computer; the techie said he tested the software when he's not taking calls and would walk me through it as well as load it. He spend three (3) hours on the phone with me walking me through all the menus of an S-corp. to show off the software. By the time the salesman called, I was ready to buy. The salesman worked out a half-price deal for me for three years. Although, by the second year with my actual needs known, I was able to get it even less expensively as pay per return.

You can use worksheet view, which I am preferring now, or interview view, which I used mostly last year, and use the actual government forms, also. Tech support and tax support is fast and knowledgeable and worth every penny. I once had both tax and tech support on the phone with me at the same time. I bought very close to the beginning of 2008, so had little time to practice before tax season and relied heavily on support who were gracious and saved my butt more than once. They track my calls, so when I want to know that thing they mentioned to me when we discussed IRAs, they can say well it was this or that, which would you like to hear about?

Doing a partnership or anything with a K-1 and then the personal return is a breeze. I imported an Excel spreadsheet from a broker with 140 double-sided pages right into Schedule D; doesn't have to match since you tell it where to put each column. Kiddie tax is simply point and click. I used all three of those techniques on my last seven very complex and document intense returns during the last two (just 2) days of tax season when I was quite sleep-deprived. I never could've finished seven complex returns with K-1s from partnerships and trust funds and stock trades and kiddie tax for a family of five and...in only two days at Block, but ProSystem fx is such a time-saver that it's worth any price.

Definitely give the demo a work out on your extensions and/or some of your typical returns and some of your more challenging returns. A number of free demo/classes are available in Help within the software and on-line. I like the diagnostics, which was high on my list as a sole proprietor, as well as tech support. You can pop back and forth among all the data entry styles by just clicking on View on the Menu bar. That was handy this year as I was changing from Interview to Worksheet. I have a very part-time assistant, and I can have her use the forms that look like what she has in her hands, W-2 or 1099 or whatever, even though I choose to enter directly into Schedule B, let's say, right on a very Excel looking matrix. I can sort most any column, handy for proofing.

Feel free to contact me.

[Lion EA]

Oh, yeah, multi-states are also a breeze. I have lots of NY commuters residing in CT; it handles the credit for NY on the CT return before I can even think about it.

I thought Block software was pretty idiot proof, but ProSystem fx handles things even better and catches potential errors.

Got some training before this tax season. Lots of free and not-free courses available, including tax updates and such for which CPE is given. Bought a series for my assistant to increase her skills, too.

[Booger]

Thanks, Lion. Knew that you used ProSeries FX (based upon your posts during tax season).

Was hoping you'd chime in.....THANKS!

Booger

[Lion EA]

I have a girlfriend who left Block a year before me who's been using Intuit's ProSeries and is very happy with it. She's even older than I am and not particularly computer savvy but really likes the tech support she gets from ProSeries.

I just received my renewal package from CCH's ProSystem fx and will certainly renew.

[joelgilb]

My first tax software was Chipsofts "TurboTax" later Intuit's. Then Intuit decided, hey we can cripple Turbotax and jack the price from $39.00 to 1000.00 and get all this extra money from the Professionals. So I "HAPPILY" shelled out the extra dough and converted to Proseries to get what I had before at $39.00.

Slowly but surely they continued to jack up the price (until I was paying $3500.00 - yes almost 100 times the original TTax) and then one year totally changed the program and interface. The new "Proseries" was a total piece of crapola and I did something I never thought I would do. Out of absolute frustration form all the bugs in the new software I switched Mid-Season to Tassc. Best thing I ever did, drastically improved support and no more work arounds.

Until, Intuit raised its horrifying head and bought Tassc and discontinued the product. Well I had been looking at ATX for years so made the switch. Support improved 1000% over the Intuit days and was on a par with Tassc. Well CCH did ruin the support for a couple of years and they are still having problems there. And ATX is not of the caliber of Lacerte, Ultra-Tax or Prosystem Fx, but (except for speed) it can hold its own against Proseries. Also, when something goes wrong, support does issue fixes and program updates, plus we can open the excel sheet and fix it ourselves!

Also - A major point - INTUIT COMPETES WITH US! Do we really want to support that? Remember they still sell TurboTax and suggest we are not necessary!

Thousands of forms that no other software even has, from Sales Tax to State Incorporation Documents and Annual reports. Payroll forms - 941's W-2' and 1099's without buying additional software.

Hard program to beat at the price.

Of course it has its limitations. It is slow by any standard. Often finding the correct input sheet is like weaving your way through a complex maze and it is certainly not the highest level software program out there.

If I were leaving ATX I would not look to any software from Intuit for all of the reasons above, but especially the one regarding competition. If you are going to leave ATX, look to Prosystem- FX, (I trust Lion's opinion here) or Ultra-tax, companies that support professionals not compete with them.