First year new tax professional with less than 8 clients

[mileage65]

I am thinking of buying the Pro Series basic but I only have less than 8 clients as of this time.  I am just starting and I wanted to know if anyone have an idea which is the best software.  

I know some of you have their own Pro Series Basic.  I would like to know if someone who acquire multiple users plan and tried sharing this with another tax professionals.  If so do they have their own list of clients that the other user will not see. Did anyone tried sharing the software with another tax professionals and shared the annual fees but the other user will not see your clients? 

I am trying to find ways to survive the first year of business.

Thank you, 

[Skylane]

I don’t know the minimum you can buy but Think about pay per return and charge according.

Sharing the program and # of returns you purchase is going to be a licensing violation, privacy act problem, and just not a good idea. ……. Firm name is going to be an issue as will EFIN etc.

[bh35601]

Not sure what state you live in but Customer service with Intuit has been really bad the last 3 years. The state of Alabama forms for the last 3 years have been late. This year being the latest set at March 3 as of the last date. If you have other options, choose someone besides ProSeries as it is not reliable anymore.

[Julie88]

THis is my 2nd year with Proseries. I really love it. I agree with the other person that you cannot share Proseries with other companies as it will have 1 EFIN and company name on all returns. I contacted Proseries and they were VERY helpful with the process and getting set up with everything. They have a 100 return Proseries Basic, something like that, which I used last year not bad. 

[BobKamman]

ProSeries
Basic 20

$519$908 MSRP

per year*

• 20 Form 1040 returns
• 20 Individual State returns for 1 state
• Forms-based data entry, just like TurboTax

[qbteachmt]

"Did anyone tried sharing the software with another tax professionals and shared the annual fees but the other user will not see your clients?"

This isn't Netflix. Do you understand what you are proposing here makes no sense?

[rcooley25]

I might not have the same opinion as some of my other friends on the chat line but in my opinion Pro basic no  matter how you slice the cake is simply to expensive for someone with only 8 customers unless you think you might add a few more new ones during the tax season.

Another topic. What part of the country are you in? I have been planning to make next tax season my last but if someone would offer me a fair price I would love to end it on April 18th 2023.

[rcooley25]

Not bad?

Your lucky.

[rcooley25]

Even though that is a lot less money than what most of us are paying for our pro basic unless the person asking the question is charging at least $400.00 per return it is still too much money to spend if you have less than 8 clients.

[Skylane]

@qbteachmt a years ago, before efile, download, etc. it was pretty commonplace…. Software manufacturers, in general, spent plenty to lock down their products and enforce their licensing. Overall, they’ve done a pretty good job.

[taxes96786]

I prefer pay-per-return and PS Pro. Make sure you are charging a fee that will cover all of your expenses.

[qbteachmt]

It's not just having an EULA. It's also having the various ID requirements that provide for EFile. Would you really want someone else to efile using a program you had to submit ID for and get authenticated for? Installing and sharing Word isn't really the same experience.