Accounting & Bookkeeping & Small Business Forum

[Guest]

I need to know if there is another software out on the market besides TurboTax that is good for doing people's taxes. I am currently using TurboTax and I am picking up more clients and doing their taxes from it, however, I think that it is too common to use and I don't want them to know that it is so easy to use and so I want to get a different program that looks more professional. Does anyone have any ideas? I also am wondering if there is some way to get hooked up by being an accountant so it doesn't cost so much to file people's returns? Does anyone know if I can get a deal somewhere by doing bulk returns? Right now in TurboTax it costs $25.90 to file Federal and State, I don't know if I can get it cheaper? Please respond ASAP!

[Guest]

TurboTax is for self preparers. You should not use Turbo Tax to prepare tax return for your clients. If you prepare some one else's tax, you need to sign their tax as a preparer. Turbo Tax prints "Self Prepared" in that space.

When you prepare your clients tax return you take the responsibility of the accuracy of financial information. You could be fined by the IRS for wrong information on your clients return. You should use an advanced tax software which is for tax professionals. Intuit has some very good and very expensive software.

You can check out Tax Act software for tax professionals. Which is a bargain compared to intuit's. E-file is also less cost and you get discount for bulk returns. When e-filing be careful that all the schedules of your clients has been accepted by the IRS. Last year there had been many problems with e file. Certain schedules on personal and business tax return were not accepted by the IRS computer program. Many tax preparer failed to inform that to their client and they ended up with many unhappy clients. IRS also decided to penalize the Tax Preparers for this mistake.

Remember a computer program is only as good as the person who is using it. You can take the same information of a person to three tax preparer and most probably you will have three different tax liability/refund. Recent study shows that Turbo Tax, Tax Cut is only good for a EZ form preparation. If there is investment income/loss, business income etc. these off the shelf tax software does not maximize tax benefit. So, every John Doe, who is using these software is loosing money. When I first started to use computer, one thing I learned was Garbage In Garbage Out (GIGO). A computer program only quicken the tax preparation procedure. Its the person who is using the program, can only do a correct job, by spending enough time with clients, asking the right questions, gathering the right information. Drive by tax return is good for H&R Block and the people who uses their service.

[Guest]

I used Turbo last year, but like the other message says, Turbo is for doing your taxes and a few friends and relatives. And you sign the license agreement as such. But that's what I had before I realized. So this year I upgraded to Intuit's ProSeries - I can't remember exactly but I think it was about $75 + $15 per client. Quite reasonable. Next level was for unlimited which cost almost a thousand, so if you were going to have $60 clients...

Anyway, it certainly isn;t as easy as Turbo, but it's a good program. You enter your data and the program will put it on the forms for you - most often in all the places it should go with you only inputing once. Additionally, you can move your data from one year to the next so you start with all your basic data already entered in your form. And - here's the beauty - it will also take your data from turbo :) That means I'm starting the season with 2 dozen clients already entered for basics and just waiting for this years data. It's worth it!

[Guest]

www.irs.gov has a variety of free filing links that work great. Did I mention they are "free". Read through and find which one fits your clients profile. Best of all the online sites are constantly being up-dated. As well as you can maintain the record for one year and a month on most for free. Did I say "free" again. I have been doing taxes for the past 10 years. I started out with the IRS "free" VITA program, run by the IRS. There's that word again, "free". Before you buy into some of these programs and software companies that you may or may not use check out the "horses mouth" first. The IRS is your best source of information. Start out small and learn from those who you will be answering to if you do have questions or run into problems. That's what the so called professionals do. They all go back to the IRS for clearification and guidance. Start out volunteering for the IRS via VITA or their other programs and you will not only get the proper training and guidance but also you will be giving back to your community. And eventually when you get to the "uha" experience and you like doing taxes. And you are good at it. Now you can go out and get your just desserts. Chuching payday. And you did it the old fashioned way. One step at a time. There should never be any quick fixes to trust that your clients will put in you and your ability to help them. Your not just dealing with someones taxes your dealing with someones life-worth. Take it seriously and it will have its own rewards. God bless.

[Guest]

It might be too late for this year but if you look into TaxSlayerPro, they have a professional version for about $800.00. I also used Tax Act for preparers which is the cheapest one I have seen out there. Its about $99.00 for the Federal and $15 for one state ($52 for all states) all efile ready. It was a good program but you pay efiling fee. With TaxSlayerPro you can file direct to the IRS (no fee). Any questions email me.

[Guest]

I currently use TaxAct and it is one of the cheapest. The filing fees for e-file is also very reasonable. You can pay on a per client fee or you can order the bulk filing which is about $500 for unlimited filing of Federal and State forms.

[Guest]

As you can see from the responses, there are lots of options for tax preparation software. You can spend as much or as little as you want and the major difference will be the bells and whistles - how much automation and data linking between forms, how professional the reports are, productivity features like notes, reminders, client organizers, etc. and tax research, technical support, and e-filing status updates. If your volume is low, I suggest using a pay-per-return system. I am looking at Drake currently, as it was recommended to me recently - as low as $10.

[Guest]

Check this site out http://www.taxsites.com/software.html#prep
Contact as many companies and ask for their evaluation copy. Ask them about converting your current client's data into their program. Ask cost? Ask about efiling. Ask about state's tax returns? etc. ATXINC.com is a good software BUT check them out. Intuit puts out two tax prep software besides TurboTax BUT their support (according to me) is anything but good! For me, software support must be from indivduals in these United States, especially when it comes to efiling challenges.

By the way, did you know that even the IRS encounters challenges with the efiling process? Do you know that on April 16, that I think that it was reported that 2 or 3 of their 5 processing centers were down?

For efiling, you need to get your efiling number from the IRS. Start the process now unless you discover another method. Also, it has been my experience that some online programs move really slow. This is frustrating to me. . .