Tax Planning Software

[angela1]

What does everyone use for tax planning software? 

Thanks

[sjrcpa]

Bloomberg Tax (formerly BNA) Income Tax Planner with 50 states.

[George4Tacks]

Tax Tools

[TaxGuyBill]

Based on the comments I've seen on this forum over the last couple of weeks, don't use Intuit's new tax planning/advisor program (it seems too limited).

[PhoebeRoberts]

It's not intended for what-if planning - it's intended to suggest what-ifs you may not have thought of.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

I have bought CFS. I am trying it for the first time.  Immediate problem:  LC 2021 returns won't import easily into CFS tax tools.

The CFS tax tool tech support I spoke with today said two things: 1) LC has been encrypting data and this had made it more difficult; and 2) LC must implement the file transfer protocols on its side before a transfer can be made.  (One could wonder if this is intentional on Intuit's part.)

If the CSV import method won't work then I'm going to get a refund.

EDIT later:  I looked into this process, and I can tell that the CSV import method takes too much time. I didn't do it.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

Do you find the feature that allows a transfer of the Lacerte tax return into the Planner to be easy or difficult?

[sjrcpa]

Pretty easy, but you have to tweak the states.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

I bought Bloomberg a few days back. Cost: $1,275. Worksheets and the input are not easy. Granted, I have not received the official training yet. So, my opinion will likely change after a period of use.

I'm going to compare the BNA tax projection to the Lacerte 2022 projection and see if there are any significant differences. I'll return BNA if I don't see any significant advantage to it.

Oh, and Intuit charges LC users a license to use the BNA tax planning bridge!!! Without it I won't be able to export LC files into BNA. So that is another fee! NICKEL AND DIMED!

[sjrcpa]

"Worksheets and the input are not easy"

Yes they are totally different than Lacerte. I've been using it for so long that it is not an issue for me.

"Intuit charges LC users a license to use the BNA tax planning bridge!!!"

Yes they do. I think it was free once upon a time.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

$245. Intuit nickel and dimed. I suppose that they are doing this only as an incentive to use the Intuit software.

[ewhit]

Are you using this with ProConnect?  And if so how?  I can't seem to find any support for exporting from ProConnect to BNA.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

I use Lacerte. I don't plan to use BNA again as I don't like the layout and the input. And I'm beginning to like the Intuit tax planner a little more each year.  And Lacerte charges for the product needed to export from BNA to Lacerte.