User talk:FloridaTaxes

From TaxAlmanac

FYI

Here's a response (from Kevin) that I received earlier this year when I was considering Drake. I chose to stay with Lacerte.....Belle 23:51, 21 September 2009 (CDT)

Yes, I do use Drake. In my prior practice (I sold it 5 or 6 years ago) I used Lacerte. I couldn't justify the price of Lacerte for a brand new practice (the first year I only did 49 returns) so I had plenty of time to learn how to use a cheaper software.

1) Lacerte does more things than Drake: more forms, jump to input from form. I don't remember the additional forms but I've only had one or two returns that I've had to do something manually with this year. One was a state of Ohio return that Drake didn't allow multiple credit forms with. But they told me how to override the calculation with my number once I came up with it. In my practice in Georgia I probably only had one or two clients requiring the extra forms that Lacerte had, but my staff always convinced me that the extra price of the software would be cheaper than learning (during tax season) a different software. If you started doing extensions on Drake now, you'd be well up to speed by January though.

2) Drake gives great software support - you can either email your question (and attach the file if you want) or call them and they get back with you within 12-24 hours. If you phone them you rarely wait more than 4 or 5 minutes to talk with them. They speak English, they are based in North Carolina (about an hour from me, actually). 3) I did not convert any files, but all software companies have conversion software. I would prefer to do the conversion in - house rather than shipping my data off.

hope this helps - let me know if you have other questions'

ProSeries vs. Drake

Hello, I am trying to decide between tax software programs, and am down to either Intuit ProSeries or Drake. I saw your post that you recently switched to Drake from ProSeries and was wondering if you could please let me know why you switched and what the benefits are of one over the other. Thank you.

Not sure who left the message, but here are my thoughts:

1- First of all, download the demo from Drake or ask for a CD and test it out. The interface and input is VERY different from ProSeries, so make sure you are okay with it 2- Drake, in my opinion, allows for faster input than ProSeries by far once you get used to it. Drake recommends preparing 15-20 returns with different scenarios to become very familiar with the software 3- Drake support is wonderful...you dial the number and someone picks up within seconds, in real English, with no options to dial through. They will go out of their way to make sure you're issue is resolved. 4- It comes with a Client Write-Up program that includes payroll. This one also takes some use to become accustomed to it, but overall it works fine. If for nothing else, I will at least be using it for payroll since there are no additional fees to pay. 5- It comes with networking capabilities that work very well 6- If you're interested in being Paperless, it has a built in document manager and PDF printer 7- You get everything for one low price 8- There are tons of letters, etc you can customize, including referral coupons to give out 9- Pricing is very customizeable as well, such as setting per form and/or per line charges 10- You can design print sets so that exactly the forms you want to print for the client are printed and in the order you specify 11- I'm not sure which version of ProSeries you were using. I was using Basic for 1040s and Professional for business returns, and found Drake to be a huge upgrade 12- If you offer bank products, Drake has 4 options. If not, they too came out with a feature similar to ProSeries that allows you to deduct your fee from the client's refund. 13- I switched because of Intuit's price increases, ridiculous wait times for phone calls during tax season, and I disagree with their Turbotax competing with preparers.

If you want to know anything else, let me know.

History

FT - I noticed your response to a post on your discussion page..... If you click on the history tab (directly above your user name and slightly to the right of center), you'll see who posted the question. You can then click on that user name (mtoenjes) and go to their discussion page. Belle 17:54, 19 October 2009 (CDT)

TaxWise

The main reason I switched from TaxWise to ProSeries is that I am doing some contract work for another CPA who uses ProSeries. This was the only way for me to do work for him outside of his office. Other than that, I didn't have any major complaints about TaxWise. They are reasonably priced and the software works well. The only complaint I have is that it's hard to find a form unless you know exactly what you are looking for. There is no "where do I enter" like in ProSeries. I'm just now starting to explore the ProSeries software, so I'm not sure what all it does that TaxWise doesn't. I hope that helps. VanjaCPA 22:17, 14 December 2009 (CST)

As I already mentioned, I haven't used ProSeries yet. I just bought the program and am playing around with it right now. I can see how TaxWise users may report that it's hard to use because as I mentioned before it is hard to find the forms unless you know the exact form name/number. For example, if you need to enter depreciation - you can't expect to enter "depreciation" in the search box and expect to find the correct form. Instead you need to know to search for Form 4562. I would probably ask for an evaluation disk and play around with the software before purchasing. VanjaCPA 13:53, 15 December 2009 (CST)

Home

Hi This is DublinTax Can you tell me any problems that you faced while running it from home. Also, can tell me how you managed full time job and the business. As I am also working full time and starting this as part time. DublinTax

Bheem

Home2

Thanks for sharing the info. My schedule is similar to yours.I am also planning of picking up from or doing at the clients place.

Thanks Bheem

DMS

Yes, you can save MS Office documents directly to DMS. DMS has a toolbar for Office that you can enable & add directly to the Office toolbars.

Davidcpa 11:48, 18 December 2009 (CST)

You should give me a call. I work with Thomson and I can give you a great deal on UltraTax CS.

Thanks, David Nest 800-968-8900 ext. 4355

UltraTax

Where in Florida are you located? I'm in Ft. Lauderdale. We're almost in the same boat... just finally got my office this year while currently working part-time. I think it was definitely necessary to move my office from my home in order to pick up the clients I wanted... besides, you don't want everyone showing up at your house, do you?

I'm going to give UltraTax a try. Anything would be better than ATX I think.

DublinTax

Thanks for your message about Ultra Tax-sorry I didn't see it sooner. I'll definitely check that out. Thanks!

Hi Florida,

you mentioned that you are getting clients because of your ebsite also. Can you share your web address and anything special you did like adwords etc

this is my website bheemtax.com simple one. Thanks Bheem DublinTax

Client Portals

Thanks, yeah, I have heard about the UltraTax Portals, but I use ProSeries and I believe they have one too, but I am also a full fledged accounting firm and I want something for my bookkeeping clients as well.

Fsteincpa 10:10, 22 February 2010 (CST)