Thursday is usually update day....boy oh boy, if its still not ready tomorrow, this whole board is going to explode!

I agree. I have a friend who is coming over tonight to help me d/l UltraTax (my business tax returns).....he told me a week or so ago that UltraTax is further behind re: their software. But thats only hearsay as I cant confirm it. I hope PS is ready to release or close to!!

I have never touched UltraTax but we do use Thompson's depreciation software.  A couple of years back I had an issue with their software so I did a search and ended getting my e-mail address tagged to send me messages when they had new posts to their forum.  I usually don't pay much attention to them, but I saw this gem that I'm sure would set this place on fire if folks thought Intuit was doing this:

Time spent in software now part of the electronic file?? -
I was looking at User Bulletin 18.1.0 for proforma and organizer last night, and one of the "enhancements" to the software mentioned on page 7 was as new was that "preparation time spent out of the software for this return" field on Screen ELF -- says that "in accordance with IRS security requirements, the minutes spent in the software, plus minutes entered for time spent out of the software, are both included in the electronic file".

Is this something NEW?? I had not heard of any requirement that this information be part of the electronic file. Why would IRS NEED this information, and/or why would we want them to have access to this information?

Does this mean that each person within the office that did any work on this return has their time recorded as well??

Interesting you mention the time spent on returns @IRonMaN. There is a FB page and someone had mentioned the same thing re: minutes spent on return. Most said same that this was not possible. Based on your comment, it is. I dont see of what use it is to IRS for them to have that info and even if they get it, what are they going to glean from it?

Too much time spent on a return?  Too little time spent on a return?  Just the right amount of time spent on the return?  Who knows.

yeah.:laughing:

Would be nice for some transparency from Intuit related to this...

Well remember, at the end of (or maybe beginning of) each paper form's instruction page doesn't it show the time needed to learn about the law and prepare the form?  maybe its for something  like that?

Back to the OP topic:  I think it's working with the latest update.
On the topic of DOES INTUIT tell IRS time spent on return, that's a new ugly topic deserving an answer

I can tell you that the QBI deduction from K-1s have been a topic of discussion, it will be released in an upcoming update @ben but it's hard to be transparent about something that is being worked on other than saying just that.  We release updates weekly typically on both Wed and Thurs of each week, so continue to install updates. Hope that helps.

@Ashley at Intuit (aka Henry Jr) I understand that K-1 QBI is most likely more intense of a programming issue than C,E,F but you also must realize that preparers need time to get a feel of the program/K-1's for QBI. It will be hard for some of us to do that once the onslaught of clients come rushing in.

There are also multiple bugs people are finding that have been issues within PS for a month or so. I "assume" <----hate doing that ......these are fairly simple fixes. Why do they take so long to fix or at the least someone getting out front and acknowledging these issues and by doing that it may alleviate the uneasiness felt by the community. Just a thought.

Im not naive enough to think ppl will stop posting their issues even with someone getting out front. So many post without looking at whats been posted prior.

Ashley - an upcoming update could be tomorrow or October 15th.  When people are left without any idea, they get frustrated.  I have to believe that the programmers have some kind of schedule that they have to be shooting for, if not, I may switch to Drake or Ultra Tax tomorrow because that would mean that the programming department is lost.  I think folks are looking for something of a rough idea so they aren't left hanging in the unknown.  Are we looking at the first part of February, end of March, end of September?  Anything that you can provide would be helpful and appreciated.

You are right @IRonMaN. I want or need the feeling there is some direction within the programming department. I dont like the feeling of not knowing or no one acknowledging the issues at hand. I have not felt like this so far this year or last. Prior to that, it seemed programming was on top of things. I understand UltraTax's software is up and complete now (excluding state). Because I have a friend who uses Ultra, I have priced them out. PS is starting to close the gap in price. Take from that what you will.

mañana