Thinking about preparing tax return this upcoming season. what software to use?

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  • #189605
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi. I am thinking about preparing tax return this upcoming tax season. But I do not know what tax software I should use. I work at a local CPA firm, the software the company uses is Prosystem, there is no way I can use that one because it costs a lot.

    My situation is that I am waiting for my AUD score to release next Monday (OMG, I hate waiting). I really hope I can pass it this time because otherwise I will lose REG credit. I definitely feel I did better than last time I took it ( I got a 74 last time). I believe I can handle simple individual tax return and small company return. My plan is to keep my full time job and start building my client base by preparing tax return for people this upcoming season. Clients are almost likely be my relatives and my friends. Hopefully, with a good word of mouth, it can gain me more clients.

    Question: What software should I buy? I am thinking of ATX, anyone has used it here? Please give me some advice. Another question: Does it make any different if I obtain my PTIN now or after I pass my exam ( if I pass AUD, I am done)? I am sure there are tons of people preparing people’s tax return while keeping a full time job. Is it worth doing? Please give me some guidance. Thanks

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 15 total)
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  • #615485
    y_u_no_pass
    Participant

    I would recommend Lacerte, we use at my office, and it is generally pretty user friendly. I think it is not too expensive and scales well for a small business. Good Luck!

    Florida CPA!
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    #615486
    jeff
    Keymaster
    #615487
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks a lot, guys!!!

    #615488

    Gonna throw this out there:

    1. Check with your office and see if you can run family/friends through the company software for the price of any processing charges. Our office even waives that charge for us, no limits on how many family/friends. I prepare about 5 returns who may/ may not become paying clients someday down the road. For some family, the return is so simple that it i prepare it through TurboTax/or another online company just to save on costs.

    2. Do you not like where you work? Curious why you are considering venturing out on your own as someone who appears to have very little experience. Why not work under the safety umbrella of your office that has the resources and finances for pro level software, professional liability insurance, etc. Perhaps building your clientele at the office would be more lucrative for you then trying to venture out on your own? The longer I'm in this game, the more I realize how expensive it is to be independent.

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    #615489
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @elprezidente07 Thanks for your advice.

    I love where I work, my coworkers are nice to me and taught me everything. However, the salary is low. $13/hr and I live in NYC. The only reason I stay where I work now is because I can study during not busy season and I can gain the 1 year experience which is required for my CPA. I am not saying I want to start my own business right now. I will still be a full time accountant whether for the company I work for now or other CPA firms. I just wanted to start building my customer based early. And there is no way I can get my company's clients because they have been knowing my boss for 30 years, even 40 years.

    For your answer I assume that you have your own firm. Any advice you can give me? Like how to get more customers. etc.

    #615490
    palmtop_taiga
    Participant

    My opinion shouldn't weigh in too much because I only have a two-month tax internship as experience, but the firm used Lacerte, which I found was a good program. Hope this helps!

    AUD 74, 82 (11/29/15)
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    #615491
    leglock
    Participant

    Isnt lacerte a product of turbo tax? I might be wrong on that but thought i saw it on the turbo tax website.

    #615492
    Skynet
    Participant

    @chrisli1217 – DO NOT use ATX. It is a really bad software. Go with other people recommend such as Lacerte or Proseries which is by Intuit the maker of Turbotax and Quickbooks. I heard Drake is also decent. But do not go with ATX!

    AUD - 90
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    #615493
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks everyone. I read some posts from this forum, I am guessing my choice will be between Drake and Lacerte

    So far I know Drake has unlimited tax return for $1,300 something. I might go with it.

    #615494
    TAXMAN710
    Member

    I own my own firm and use Lacerte. Lacerte is owned by Intuite, not a turbo tax program at all. Intuite bought the company a few years back. It is Intuite's pro-line software. I am not sure what you consider expensive, but I end up paying over $10,000 per year for Lacerte. I am very satisfied with the software, but it is going to be too expensive in my opinion for a small one man operation to start with…. I have used Drake and ATX also in my career and would use Drake again, but you couldn't pay me enough to use ATX again. If I were starting out again and wanted to just buy a good simple to use software, I would definitely go with Drake.

    REG-July 12
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    #615495
    rupert
    Member

    Agree with Taxman. In my opinion, Lacerte is top-notch tax software, but it isn't cheap.

    FAR 90 Oct. 6, 2012
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    #615496
    Tncincy
    Participant

    Taxwise is also good. That's what I use. There is no cheap way to do taxes. Unless you do them by hand and that's no fun…..I think some of the others have a per return charge if you don't want to shell out big bucks. But you need to decide soon because the software companies will be sending out set-up software late November or early December.

    Good luck.

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    #615497
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I have to disagree with the people saying not to use ATX. I worked through two tax seasons using ATX and it's a fine program. It's not as easy to use as what I use now (UltraTax), but it's by no means a bad program. In fact, I'd recommend ATX over ProSystem, which I didn't like at all.

    #615498
    23K
    Participant

    What would you need to obtain from a business aspect ?

    1. Business name

    2. Obtain EFIN – for electronic filing

    3.etc…

    AUD--52,68,83, expired. Retake = 74 RETAKE - 7.24.26
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    #615499
    Mary 2496
    Member

    One of the main problems with ATX is that there is really no easy way to do a MFS return without reentering the same information more than once. ATX also has horrible customer support during tax season. We've used Ultratax but it just didn't work for our volume of clients.

    We have used Drake for the past several years and have had no real issues. Determining MFJ vs. MFS is a breeze in Drake. I know that it would cost more, but to get more specific, what we do is process all individual clients on Drake and we then prepare all business returns on ATX. Main reason – senior management (including myself) does not like how Drake handles business returns. Obviously not an issue unless you're preparing many 1120's, 1120S returns, or 1065's. If your main focus is individual tax returns, I'd give Drake two thumbs up.

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