Discussion Archives:ATX 2012 Problems

Are, e.g., ProSeries and Lacerte users seeing any unusual delay this year in getting forms approved, etc? (Apparently ATXers wont' be able to file entity returns until Jan 24 and won't be able to do things like import trial balances until Feb 6-ish.)

BTW, just to damp down the anti-ATX commentary that's possible in response to a post like this, let me say that the other software we've used this year is UltraTax... but we've actually had to basically abandon that for entities because UT just doesn't do that good a job at importing trial balance data from QuickBooks for cash basis taxpayers. (Next year, I assume we'll move to either Lacerte or some other solution.0

I think at the end of this season you will see lots of movement and shifts in user loyalty depending on their experience with current vendor. One thing I have noted is that Drake users are not complaining as much as others.

But just so there's no misunderstanding, CCH really screwed up this year IMHO. The initial "production" release of the product was more like alpha test software... and subsequent builds mostly were like beta test software.

THIS PRODUCT IS NO MORE THAN $19.99 CONSUMER TAX SOFTWARE. AND YES, WHAT WAS SHIPPED REALLY SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A BETA RELEASE.

SLOW, CRASH, FAILED ROLLOVERS, UPDATES THAT FAIL, ELIMINATION OF THE CLIENT LETTER WIZARD, DID I FAIL TO SAY SLOOOOOW? TEN MINUTES WASTED TIME SIMPLY TO OPEN A RETURN! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

I thought the old client letter wizard didn't do crap. I set up my letter, and every client gets the same one, populating from the return its attached to. How much customization do you really need?

I thought the old client letter wizard didn't do crap. I set up my letter, and every client gets the same one, populating from the return its attached to. How much customization do you really need?

I thought the old client letter wizard didn't do crap. I set up my letter, and every client gets the same one, populating from the return its attached to. How much customization do you really need?

I have to disagree with you about the reason people are complaining. A huge percentage of complainers are people who have used ATX for years... and now this year have just gone ballistic given the disasterous launch of this year's product. They shouldn't need to consult the user's manual.

Furthermore, this product has been really unstable for lots of people. Gosh, there's a "petition" thread in one of the forums where a couple of hundred people appear to have said to ATX and CCH, "You guys need to fix this by today, 1.31 or we're gone..."

All that said, to be fair, I sense that some of the loudest ATX critics have ulterior motives. (Perhaps also true for the loudest supporters?) And a significant chunk of people seem to getting returns prepared and out the door.

But it's also apparent, IMHO, that the cascading failures ATX has experienced seem to be overloading the system. E.g., on Monday, their fifth major build overloaded their Internet bandwidth and they had to disable the automatic downloading and updating of the program.

I would guess the 2012 product reviews for ATX will be terrible. And they deserve it.

How are we ever going to get through tax season with such a terrible program change?? Please Please just revert back to the 2011 program so we can all get on with our business......

The screens in proseries seem very busy and it is bothering me that the forms navigation on the left is so repetitive and lengthy. Any suggestions on how to migrate

BTW, at this point, we are getting returns out. The program appears to maybe get more stable the more you use it. (Possible explanation: Grabbing updated forms causes program to crash... so over time as you're downloading fewer forms, you crash less often?)

The admins printing the returns in office also say, however, that ATX is doing a crummy job printing returns. Lots of unnecessary stuff printing, etc. (This problem is discussed at the myatx.com forum.)

The network setup was very different this year. Do you know how many people just set up their networks the way they always did, without reading the instructions that came with the CD? Or how many are complaining about the program being slow that are running with inadequate memory?

I've spent more time on the MyATX board as well as on atxcommunity.com than on here so I know of what I speak. I'm not saying that there aren't issues with the program, and some people are having serious issues. I'm not. The lots of unnecessary stuff printing has to do with the defaults in the print packets, not to mention that the program automatically checks off to print the "print federal copy for state" AND includes EVERYTHING in the federal packet including client letter & billing invoice. In last years program, I had to uncheck a bazillion things every time I printed the client letter and could not change the defaults. So once I got it set up to what I want to print, and remember to uncheck the fed copy for state, I'm good to go.

So yes, the tech support is being overwhelmed by stupid questions that could more easily be answered by a search of the user guide. Hell, most of the real doofuses on the MyATX board aren't even searching the board to see if their questions have already been answered!

Michigan form mi -4884(pension sch) will not be available until FEB 12 2013. My

MY first returns in February are retired clients with 1099R"S 

I've email them to see if I can e mail the federal only and latter mail the Michigan 1040 with the new form 4884. no reply from Atx Al the other solftware companies Have released the form

  I used Atx for the last 10 years,but this will be the last

The first time this happened it was the employer's street address from W-2 #1 appearing in error on W-2 #2 and #3. I deleted the original rolled over second and third W-2s (containing information in error) and opened a new blank second W-2, but I noticed on several attempts that after a new W-2 was opened, the street address of W-2 #1 would automatically populate in the newly opened second W-2 WITHOUT ME entering any information myself. After having deleted and opened a new second W-2, the only remedy was to delete all W-2s.

While very annoyed, I dismissed this as the result of a bad rollover. Then it happened again. This time it was box 2, Federal Income Tax Withheld, that was incorrectly populating in a newly created (non rolled over) second W-2. Once again the only remedy was to delete all W-2s and re-enter all W-2 information.

Another issue concerns creation of the federal and state letter. I find that even though I have marked that I want the state letter prepared indicating that the return will be e-filed, if I combine the state letter with the federal letter, the wording for the state portion will instruct the taxpayer to mail the return to the state. If the federal and state letters are not combined, but as separate letters, the state letter will properly read that the return will be e-filed. As soon as I attach that same letter (with preferences marked that the return will be e-filed) the wording will change to advise the client to mail the original state return and retain a copy.

I am still waiting for a PY/NR form to become available, though it has been long released by the particular state.

I feel that I am stuck and cannot afford to jump ship, but suffice it to say I will not likely be using ATX next year.

We need a petition to immediately bring back last years WORKING VERSION of ATX.

I'm about to start another return that will have multiple W-2s, so I'll see if the populating issue comes up for me.

@Hng, yes, you should be able to file the federal return now, and MI later.

New issue: State return was rejected, each time I attempt to display reject error the program crashes.

This will be my last year with ATX ever. First, let me say I have no problem with a delay due to tax law changes/forms updates. That goes with the job. This disaster goes far beyond that. I have had off and on problems with the program closing on its own in the past few days and returns which could not be opened. I followed all of the on line instructions and applied updates as soon as they were available.

This week has been the final straw. We have not been able to work on a tax return for 2.5 days. I was on hold with support for 2 hours yesterday and followed all directions for installing the lastest update, which I had already done. I rebooted all machines and server as instructed - open a return for a fleeting moment...then nothing. I called back later that same day to say that the updates worked briefly then failed. For 2 more hours I got a message that "in order to better server those already in the que" no calls were being accepted and I should check the website and call back later. Well the support site has not been updated from the prior day to make anyone aware there was still an UNSOLVED & KNOWN problem involving server based systems. So users are left with no choice but to call and remain on hold. I emailed with a plea for ANY reply and got an immediate roboemail that inquires are generally answered in 24 to 48 hours.

I called this morning at 8:30am and was on hold 3.5 hours - when they finally picked up, I conferenced my IT guy in and he was on with support person for an hour. She said that she had to "elevate it to Technical Support" and put us back on hold. I left for lunch came back and guess what? Still on hold. Its now 6:4If you are considering ATX for your next purchase, I HIGHLY suggest you consider the cost of you and your staff's time and lost productivity.

No help + no information = not a great combination. Luckily I still have my "incident number" ... I will be sure to pass that on to the friendly sales rep who has the misfortune to call for renewal.

wait times on the phone lines are 4 hours plus and the Live Chat Window is useless too - have waited all day. The Issue is this - ATX Users are not able to file a Return with a Schedule E (Rental Properties) until Mid-February when the expected Software Upgrade is thought to be ready....at the earliest.

There's quite a few people on the unofficial ATX board that haven't jumped ship. I hate proseries, and Drake isn't suitable for my practice. I test drove it two years ago. I've been able to prepare returns with few issues, and do believe they will get the kinks worked out with the program.

I know that I dont like Drake either. Tried it my first year. Otherwise I would have switched by now.

Today I get an error "can't open the return you selected system at risk"....wtf...so what do I do?

We have a handful of returns in process with ATX... we'll finish those and be off with Lacerte...

Win-win for the conglomerate, not so much for the preparers.

Wait....is payment for "pain and suffering" taxable ;)

Alfredo Otero

For starters, you can't print a state depreciation schedule. For those who have business clients who have federal/state depreciation differences, this is a nightmare. Some may respond that you should use the Fixed Asset Manager instead of the actual tax program but I found that program to be problematic as well. It isn't fully compatible with Pro Series - state data won't download into it. It also doesn't have a state report option in its list of reports - you have to build your own. Not an easy task. I'm guessing that people who swear by this program a) don't have a state income tax where they practice b) only do small businesses with a limited number of assets or c) make darn sure they never elect anything on federal depreciation their state doesn't allow.

Other issues. No category for non-depreciable assets other than land (i.e. preproductive costs, assets not yet PIS, etc), only a handful of elections, does not have a clergy worksheet (you have to do it by hand and then input the results), can't handle the sale of a business auto where business use is less than 100%, makes you put every vehicle, even an over the road 18 wheeler, on the vehicle worksheet, makes you manually move another vehicle into the space of one deleted on the vehicle worksheet if the one deleted was earlier in the worksheet, has a real lame bulk sales capability, doesn't support Form 982 (reduction of attributes), doesn't support Form T (timber).

I also found issues with navigability. Some screens scroll, some don't. Some screens you always go back to the top, others you go back to where you left off. The listing of forms/worksheets in the bar to the left side of the screen gives you no clue as to what form/worksheet you are currently on.

And finally, if you make a change to federal that change does not automatically transfer to the state returns. You have to open each state return so that it recalculates.

ATX handled all these issues at a much lower cost. How I long for my old ATX! If they could get their stuff back together I would go back in a heartbeat. I know what they did to us was horrible but I don't believe it was done purposely - they made a mistake. The bigger issue in my mind was how they responded to the mistake. Now that was inexcusable.

BTW, before ATX, I used ProSeries and I didn't really like ProSeries. I liked old ATX better than old ProSeries. Also, I know UltraTax is a great product and I actually used that along the way too for a while. But UT didn't fit quite right in our practice. Too rigid in the way it requires you to work.

I guess my point is that probably different products are optimal for different folks practices...

Someone has noted that the training lets you get up to proficiency with the product FASTER than the ATX customer service on hold times...

https://blog.accountants.intuit.com/ways-to-be-more-productive/3-reasons-i-switched-from-atx-to-lacerte/

ProSeries has great price, though can't stand that those side worksheets are all over the place.

Liked Ultratax alot (loved the feature where you can see last year's #'s right alongside this year's data input) and I like

the multi-screen feature; but i hate that they charge (alot for efiling each return)

Tought call...Pro SEries also gives you BNA at a good price

ugh..tough one

anyone out there switch to Ultra TAx from ATX?

wondering if happy with choice?

If I have to go to more expensive software, I'm going to cross my fingers that it makes me twice as productive.

What's wrong with CCH that they can't get ATX right? Is it lack of qualified people or lack of leadership (perhaps both??).

Really, if someone were to verbally insult you, would that make you more or less likely to hear them out?

How about you send Phil Drake a letter, tell him that you're hesitant to purchase his software because of his political affiliations, ask him about his political philosophy and how he chooses to run his company, let him know that you're going to post the reply on a tax preparation forum, and then let us know what he writes back? Now that would be enlightening. And maybe it would change our minds about purchasing his software. Or maybe not. At the very least, it would be honest, straightforward, possibly productive, and not offensive.

We switched to Lacerte during the initial part of tax season given the really poor performance of ATX. For what it's worth, Lacerte seemed pretty straightforward to me. Maybe because I used ProSeries before ATX? I don't know.

One other comment about UltaTax v Lacerte: I think the cloud element of UT is really an important distinction. If you're a one person tax practice and you want to be able to work from anywhere, UT works great and probably at a not too unreasonable price. Also it's worth putting up with the little idiosyncracies of UT. But if you don't want to do things remotely and you have need several licensed seats, UT seems pretty expensive. Roughly $400 a month per user.

I can't speak for Kevin, or the other volunteers who participate behind the scenes, but my personal interest is in the technical tax questions, and so even during times when I'm swamped with my own paying work (like right now, and for the past couple of weeks), I'm still generally actively reading the discussions on the tax forum. Tonight I managed to have a little extra time to check out the other forums, and noticed this discussion had been quite active, so I opened it up to see why... and yeah, I think this discussion ought to be over in the Chat section, given the way it's going now. I'll move it a bit later tonight.

But once there are several political posts back and forth, with multiple people involved, it’s too late for any mild editing to do any good. Similarly, when even a single comment is so strongly political that it will doubtless take the discussion off track, and/or will cause offense to those who argued so strongly for the tax forum to be a politics-free zone, then the discussion has to be moved to Chat just to maintain that desired politics-free zone. Personally, I would have moved this discussion to Chat after Joan’s second-to-last post, had I read the discussion then – even though it wasn’t even in the tax forum to begin with. That’s the kind of post where an edit isn’t going to help – the only thing to be done is get it into the Chat forum, where people know they might come across stuff like that from time to time, and where others who are more aware of the forum guidelines don’t feel restrained from providing counterpoint.

BTW, if someone calls me a bigot or repub, you don't have to move the tread ... been called way worst :) Now, if they call me a liberal or a "Yellow Dog Democrat" ... that's a different story.