Proseries to ATX

[cpabecky]

I am considering moving from proseries to ATX. Business and individual returns and the website service. I am looking for some comments from any others who have made the change. thanks, Becky

[Catherine]

I am considering moving from proseries to ATX. Business and individual returns and the website service. I am looking for some comments from any others who have made the change. thanks, Becky

I don't use proseries myself, but have used it at the office of a colleague whom I have helped on many an occasion. Proseries always drove me nuts with its' worksheet-based format, especially with the odd numbering scheme. Drake's worksheets are much more logical -- they follow the number of the form. I could never navigate in proseries without lots of effort and frustration.

ATX by comparison is a breeze to navigate -- start on the form and use the jump-to bunnies to get wherever you need to go. The tabs for different forms/schedules can be put on the side (like in proseries) or on top, as you prefer.

And ATX is less money for more forms and a complete package -- no buying separate licenses for business, for fiduciary, for each state, etc.

Hope this helps.

[kcjenkins]

There are many of us on here who love the ATX program. But there are also some few here who use Proseries, [most of us do NOT like Intuit very much] and some who switched to ATX from it, often due to cost. I'm sure some of them will chime in within a few days with comments.

Other than that, I'd say the best way to decide is to get the free demo, which is actually the full program from 08. Use it for some of your extensions, if you have any left. Or reenter some of your typical returns, and compare. Also some of your complex returns. Only you can decide if you like it enough to switch. But if you do try it, feel free to ask us old-timers about anything that confuses you, because it's a great program that has a lot of semi-hidden features that can save a lot of time, once you learn them. We're happy to help.

[Lion EA]

I'd used ATX at Block and on my own and evaluated Proseries. It depends on what's high on your priority list. Proseries is a stronger program, but ATX has more forms and a lower price. They have different data entry requirements. You'll have to work with the demo to see which is better at the things you need/want most and whether you can live with a shortcoming or two if those are low on your priority list. Try out ATX, and bring us your questions. What may seem like differences or shortcomings at first might just be you going up the learning curve. The people on this board can speed up that process for you by helping you with how things flow, how to navigate the menus and how to do the bunny hop.

[Karen Lee]

We switched from Proseries to MAX in 2002 and the transition was mostly seamless. Being 56 yr old I am not embarrassed to tell you that I can't remember any specific problems...maybe depreciation...I do remember that I missed the main worksheet that asked the questions that were specific to that year. However the ever escalating costs and changing system requirements made it necessary for me to change software and I am happy I did.

This board has been invaluable and the old support was very good and responsive.

I believe kcjenkins would be called a "power user" and knows the program and is very willing to help anyone who posts.

Good Luck

Karen

[kcjenkins]

There, I knew someone who had made the switch would chime in soon. Thank you Karen, for giving some specific feedback on the switch. And Becky, remember that if you want to ask Karen something directly,, you can use the Private Message feature of this board to send her an email directly. Just click on her name, and you will see Send Message as one option on the drop down menu.