Firewall and antivirus software configuration for Lacerte

Below are the recommended exceptions and exclusions to add to your firewall and antivirus program for the proper operation of Lacerte.

Firewall configuration

Firewalls (hardware or software applications) exist to prevent unauthorized access to a computer or network. They may also block data transmissions, which can interfere with Lacerte communications. Most firewall applications have an option to allow or trust specific applications, but some may require port numbers, IP addresses, and/or URLs for successful communication. Refer to the firewall manufacturer's instructions on how to configure it.

If you are unsure how to configure your firewall, contact your IT professional.

Specific applications

The following files should be configured to allow or trust in your software firewall application.

Replace the YY in the examples below with the appropriate tax year to be configured. For example, for the 2023 Lacerte Tax program, WYYtax.exe will be the W23Tax.exe file located in the C:\Lacerte\23Tax folder.

Port numbers, IP addresses and URLs

If you are using a hardware firewall (router/switch), it may need to be configured to allow certain ports, IP addresses, or URLs. Before doing so, first reset the router/switch and/or the cable/DSL modem. Refer to the manufacturer's instructions for resetting or configuring.

Lacerte uses the following TCP Ports (requires sockets):

• 10010    = REP
• 10030    = Preps (Email)
• 10070    = Validate
• 80           = E-file
• 443         = E-file

Lacerte uses the following UDP Ports (socketless):

• 1275       = Videos
• 1277       = Video Control
• 1278       = Audio/Video

The following IP Addresses are used to communicate to Lacerte:

Rep.LNet1.com currently rotates between:

a. 12.179.134.64

b. 199.16.136.83

c. 54.148.223.244

Webservices.lscsoft.com is currently rotating through:

a. 12.179.134.65

b. 199.16.142.213

c. 54.69.36.245

As IP addresses for specific hosts may change at any time, we recommend that if possible, the firewall should be configured to allow communication by domain or hostnames instead of IP. This includes entries for any of the domains listed in the URL section below. We also recommend that static IPs for Intuit servers are not added to your system's host's file.

The following URLs are used by various functions within the tax program and DMS:

• HTTPS://*.INTUIT.com
• HTTPS://*.INTUIT.net
• HTTPS://*.LSCSOFT.com
• HTTPS://*.LNET1.com
• HTTPS://*.QUICKBASE.com
• HTTPS://*.INTUITCDN.net
• HTTPS://*.LACERTESOFTWARE.com

Lacerte updates specifically use webservicesfp.lscsoft.com and this URL is hosted using Akamai Technologies, a content delivery network (CDN). As such, its IP Address may vary or change without notice. When done from your network, the command nslookupwebservicesfp.lscsoft.com will find the IP Address to use at any particular time. Contact your IT Consultant if you need assistance with the process.

Anti-virus configuration

Most antivirus programs include a real-time scan that continuously scans every file as it is accessed.  Even if a file isn't infected, this scanning will slow file access, or even prevent the file from being accessed when the program needs it. This can cause errors within the program or during installation. To reduce the likelihood of interference with the program and to improve performance, some specific locations should be excluded from that real-time scan. It's preferable to exclude entire folders rather than individual files to cover files that may have been changed or created by the program at a later time.  Allowing a regularly scheduled scan for these locations is encouraged, if no users are accessing the program during this time.

Disabling the antivirus real-time scan completely when doing an install or update may prevent errors that can occur even when the listed locations are excluded.

If you are not sure how to configure your antivirus software, contact your IT professional or the software vendor.

The following locations and their subfolders should be excluded from the real-time scan (not all antivirus programs can set exclusions by folder, refer to the bottom of this section if this is the case): default paths in parentheses, X: = network drive, YY = tax year

• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Lacerte Shared
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Lacerte Shared - (64-Bit Operating Systems) 
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intuit Shared
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit Shared - (64-Bit Operating Systems) 
• Lacerte Program Path for each year (C:\Lacerte\YYTax)
• Lacerte System File Path (C:\Lacerte\YYTax for standalone, or X:\Lacerte\YYTax for network)
• Lacerte Option Path* (C:\Lacerte\YYTax)
• Lacerte Data Paths, up to nine of them (X:\Lacerte\YYTax\?data -where ? is a single letter of the tax type)
• C:\ProgramData\Lacerte (for tax years 2008 and later)
• Lacerte folders inside the users Application Data folder (for TY2010 and later) and Local Application Data folder (for TY2009) should be excluded.
  • For 2010 and later the path is as follows:
    ( refers to the appropriate Windows user ID.)
    • For Windows XP, C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Lacerte
    • For Windows 7/8/10/Vista C:\USERS\\Appdata\Roaming\Lacerte

The locations for the DMS program are very reliant on what version of Windows you are using, and whether your computer is either 32 or 64 bit:

• For Windows Vista, 7, 8, & 10:
  • %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\DMSTemp
• For Windows XP:
  • %USERPROFILE%\local settings\temp\DMSTemp
• For 32-bit operating systems:
  • C:\Program Files\Intuit\DMS
• For 64-bit operation systems:
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Intuit\DMS
• Your DMS database folder:
  • The Current Database Path is listed at the end of the DMS program window.

Generally, if you leave all locations the default, you may exclude the entire C:\Lacerte and X:\Lacerte (if network) folders to cover all years. You can verify the actual paths in the program by pressing the F10 button to open the Technical Support Information window under the System Information tab. You'll need to check each tax module separately to confirm the data paths.

If you aren't sure how to configure your antivirus software, contact your IT professional or the software vendor.

If your antivirus won't allow the exclusion of entire directories, these are the files that must be excluded:

• wYYtax.exe, located inside of the corresponding YYtax folder.
• All of the WebSetupYY.exe files, located inside of the Lacerte shared directory.
• All of the WYYSetup.exe files, located inside of the Lacerte shared directory.
• DMS.exe, located inside of the DMS folder.

Additional information

Here are links to some common security software help pages:

• Trend Micro
• McAfee
• BitDefender
• Vipre
• Microsoft Security Essentials
• avast!
• Kaspersky
• SonicWALL