Just Curious - High End Tax Prep Software

[dascpa]

I look at some of the big boy K-1 packages (Enterprise Product Partners, Magellan, etc.) and see how they're printed and the amount of detail provided with every state, purchases and sales.  Just curious if anyone knows what tax software is being used and if they have the same problems we seem to have with customer support, getting forms in time, etc. 

[IRonMaN]

I believe they all use Drake 🤣

[dascpa]

Typically you have all the answers, but this time I suspect - - doubtful.

[GodFather]

Drake?  🙄🤣  As a new member of ProSeries, I reviewed Drake as one of the packages I wanted to consider.  I found it to be Rinky Dink at best.  I don't think it can hold a candle to ProSeries.  That may be a bit unfair, since I never actually used the program extensively, but simply based on the demo there was no way I would partner with them.  

[JRC]

I looked at Drake back in 2015 and found they do a better job on the State Returns than ProSeries. But I didn't like the Data Input procedures over ProSeries. I am use to the Form entry vrs the Data entry.

[IRonMaN]

A friendly competitor uses Drake and he was asking me some questions about a tax return one day and pulled open Drake.  That's as close as I got to using it and I think that's as close I'll ever get to using it.  Evidently a lot of folks like the software since Drake seems to be keeping their lights on, but I'll pass.

[itonewbie]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

...keeping their lights on...

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Like "We’ll Leave the Light On For You" as Tom Bodett would say in the ad for Motel 6 in the 80's and 90's?

[itonewbie]

If the OP is really looking for high-end software, wouldn't that be in the range of GoSystem and ProSystem fx?

But then again, don't think there'll be much input from Intuit users here, except from those who have prior experience from a previous life at one of the larger firms.

[PATAX]

@GodFather "Rinky Dink" may be inappropriate words to use , I prefer the words "Mickey Mouse" .. but in all seriousness, many many colleagues in this area use Drake and they love it. I've seen it before, and it is a little bit clumsy in data entry compared to Pro Series. It seems like it is perfectly okay to use for individual income tax returns, but I'm not sure if it is at the same level as Pro Series professional for business entities. But that's just my opinion as you know.

[IRonMaN]

Years ago a good friend posted his evaluation of the software.  His description was "clunky" and that always stuck with me.  Now who in their right mind would choose to drive a clunky 1973 Yugo when they could be driving a sleek 1973 Ford Pinto?  It's an easy choice as long as you have a good rear view mirror to try to avoid one little engineering flaw.

[TaxGuyBill]

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@IRonMaN wrote:

 Now who in their right mind would choose to drive a clunky 1973 Yugo

Drake may be a 1973 Yugo, but it has a self-driving feature that is better than Tesla.

Drake has "macros", which can automate some things.

For example, I give my clients a yes/no questionnaire do I can determine if they qualify for the Child Tax Credit and/or the Earned Income Credit.  Assuming they fill out my questionnaire the 'usual' way, the due-diligence form 8867 is filled out the same way for each client, and I need to check a million boxes.  If I used Drake, I could just trigger a macro and it would completely fill out the 8867. There are many other things in ProSeries that I need to check the same boxes for 99% of clients (direct deposit, client did not provide driver's license, etc.) that could all be filled out with triggering a macro.

But yes, the rest of the program is clunky.   🤣

[rbynaker]

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@JRC wrote:

I looked at Drake back in 2015 and found they do a better job on the State Returns than ProSeries. But I didn't like the Data Input procedures over ProSeries. I am use to the Form entry vrs the Data entry.

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I'm not sure I've found that to be the case with the state returns. Maybe that depends heavily on the state! I don't seem to have any problems in Drake with my WA, TX or FL income tax returns but doing a part-year or non-resident return in any other state, in many cases, is more difficult than typing numbers onto a fill-in form by hand. There's so much manual entry in each of the state modules and even the "other state credit" which PS handles mostly automatically can involve a lot of manual entry in multiple places in Drake.

Drake users like to use the term "consistently inconsistent" (or is it inconsistently consistent?) Because each state has its own team of developers there's very little standardization doing state data entry. ProSeries has the extremely useful federal PY Allocation and NR Allocation Wks's which make most of the state returns so much easier (except MA, for some reason I always hated doing MA in ProSeries! With Drake, instead I found out that I hate doing MA in any software.) Drake is way better than PS at overrides (which sometimes means it's a glorified typewriter on state NR returns). But even overrides are consistently inconsistent. Some O/R boxes replace whatever number the system wanted to put in that box, others simply modify the number (so if you have $500 showing up in a box on the return and you want $0 instead, you have to enter -$500 in a "+/-" modifier box or .001 in a "=" replacement box--because zero means nothing.) The state developers decide which boxes are +/- and which are =, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it but it's one of those things that I'm sure "made sense at the time."

Macros are really cool. I don't use them but maybe some day I will. You can also set specific fields to "flag"--like that dreaded W-2 box 10.

I'm starting to like the Drake Organizer. They've done a lot of work on it in the past few years. The questionnaire section in completely customizable now and robust enough that I'm considering eliminating the main part of organizers for many clients next year and just giving them the checklist (of previous documents) and the questionnaire. Then I'd just remove the "middle" part where they write the numbers down wrong from their W-2s and 1099s (despite my cover letter telling them NOT to enter numbers that are already listed on a tax document they provide). Then that leads to "why did you enter $x on page 5 of the organizer when your 1099 says $y?" Certain organizer pages are still very useful (rental properties for example, some Sch Cs, although most clients give me a spreadsheet at this point). Sch A is much less useful since TCJA but I still have plenty of clients who do itemize.

I'm assuming the ProSeries organizers are still basically "take it or leave it"? You can do the full or the short but you're stuck with the questions they determine and if you need to ask any other questions you're on your own.

I like PS due diligence worksheets/forms much better than Drake's. Drake's stuff is all over the place. Some stuff gets entered on each dependents "screen". Other stuff gets entered directly on 8867. More stuff gets entered on their DD and DD2 screens. Then if it's CTC even more stuff gets entered in the 8812, etc. That's where Bill's macros would come in handy (but the counter-argument is that if we didn't need to enter DD info in 5 different places we wouldn't need a macro to help us do it). And more fun with consistently inconsistent, the "B" checkbox that appears at the top of Form 2441 this year gets entered in Drake on the 8867 screen. Even if there's no 8867 to be filed. I have a few clients who phased out of CTC but still have W-2 DCB so have to file the 2441. Very little of Drake's data entry is intuitive. That's why they have to have excellent support, because everyone has to call to ask stupid questions like "how do I check the B box at the top of Form 2441"? It's on a completely different form that you might not even need.

But bottom line, it all just depends on your practice. If I were in the simple W-2 business with clients who want to file as soon as efile season opened (or sometimes even earlier), there's no way I would be using ProSeries. There are way too many bugs in the program in January and often into February. If I had lots of clients with K-1s from multiple states (big law firms for example) there's no way I would use Drake. You just have to look at your practice, where it is now, where you want it to be, and then figure out the right tool for the job. If I want to put a fire pit in my back yard, I'm probably fine just picking up a shovel. If I want to install an in-ground pool, not so much...

Rick

[TaxGuyBill]

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@rbynaker wrote:

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I like PS due diligence worksheets/forms much better than Drake's.

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You must not remember trying to fill out the due diligence worksheet to claim the 'other' dependent credit for your child who is older than 16/17 but a full-time student under age 24.  🤣

Or had you already left ProSeries when the 'other' dependent credit came out?