Anyone using FileCenter and their Portal

[RayK-CPA]

When a finished return is opened in FileCenter's Portal by a client, the form is there but it is blank.  When downloaded the form appears with all the data properly.  This is  relatively new thing. Perhaps it started in the fall.  I have asked FileCenter to look into this but they have found nothing.  It opens fine on the computer hard drive or when downloaded by the client.

In addition when the tax return pdf is opened in FileCenter it tells me there is a problem with the file.

It says :Problems have been found within the document and have been fixed.  

The error it states is "Errors detected in the XREF table"  It opens fine in other pdf readers.   If I save the file it seems resolved but still only see the form at the Portal Website and the client has to download the form to properly read it.

Does anyone else have this problem, I wonder if it is related.

Thanks

Ray

[MICHAELMARS]

Honestly, I like file center for what it is but I demo'd their portal with a rep for an hour and I was frustrated and the entire interface.  The demo version was supposed to be live for a week or so yet invites I sent out to test it just didn't work.  The client got an email with a bad link.  If this is your first year with them I suggest you look at some other options.

[RayK-CPA]

I have been using FileCenter for many years, long before Covid. I find it a huge productivity boost, and essential in a paperless office. The editing features are far superior to Adobe and much easier to use.  I even use it to mark up my sheet music for gigs, and then load it onto a tablet. The Portal has been robust for me.  This problem is new and without knowing what software I use they stated this is a problem with Intuit pdf's and the viewer the Portal uses.  This only started  on recent updates.  File Center Support is far superior to ProSeries support, and I will not waste my time even trying during tax season to contact ProSeries about this. I am relatively new to ProSeries, and while support is worthless, Googling my questions always gets me an answer if the software does not, that never happened with the other tax packages, where support has dramatically declined and google was no help. 

The work around is simple, download the file to your computer and it's all there.  It's only an issue with the view at the website.

When using the Portal, the client has to click on the "view" link.  I send out an invite, then a link to their folder, and also a default email explaining the process. When a file is uploaded I get notified, and if I upload, the client gets notified. We can make extensive use of folders too. I rarely have a problem with the clients, and if they do , when they figure it out, they wonder how they missed it.  I have 90 year old clients able to use the Portal.

The Portal is easy.  And the integration with FileCenter make getting and sending files a fast easy process.  FileCenter has so many features it takes time to incorporate them all.  The ability to automatically name files when scanning is something I can't live without.  And notating the pdf files while preparing the return is like the old days when we scratched all over the client's papers. I can even leave text trails and it looks like I just wrote on the paper, no links, no funny boxes, no strange coverups.  I have never seen another package like FileCenter to manage the files and scanning on my computer.

I have been scanning everything since 2011, and paperless since 2014. I could not do that with any other package, and I searched.  But the best part is it's not proprietary. I can still use File manager to do everything, my files are not messed with, and the files to the portal are the same as on the computer, no changes.  I just loose all those productivity stuff with File Manager.

The way the cabinets work, and the drawers work make navigating a breeze, and pinning clients to special cabinets on a project or ad hoc basis (nothing is moved) makes working a breeze.  Default naming and interactive naming of clients means you don't have to focus on the mundane tedious stuff, and just get the job done.  Split screen is a blast, and you can pick current and prior files quickly. and having file manager open adds more views and they all work together.  There is even default folder templates, so estates can have one folder structure, business returns, trusts, individual., years, periods, months, or anything you need.  File naming can be done based on the folders, so client number, name, year, category, then standard fold names. 

I don't doubt you have growing pains, I did too, it's a different paradigm, but it was usable from day one and got better every week growing with the software. Nothing in life is perfect, but I could not give up FileCenter.

I evaluated FileCenter and almost all softer after tax season, usually in May, and then spend the rest of the year getting ready for the next tax season.  Everything is locked in place by 1-1 and ready to go, I would never try to start anything new just before or during tax season.

I hope you find something you can work with and benefit from as much as I have with FileCenter.