CCH Axcess vs. Wolters Kluwer ATX

If you have a pro that uses the software then you should be fine. If you are using the software and need any support from THEIR customer support people or dedicated rep, be prepared to be frustrated! Horrible Customer Service but it is due to Wolters Kluwer not caring and purchasing various tax products but not having the ethics to make sure they are properly trained or overwhelmed

I have been using ATX for at least 15 years. It is competitively priced for a part-time tax preparation firm like mine versus some of its competitors. The software is straightforward to use with very little training needed, and it includes the "paint by numbers" i.e. "interview" tax prep approach if desired (I virtually never use that as not needed, but it is a nice alternative for the more inexperienced preparer perhaps). I have found it to be pretty intuitive to use, and the file capability is very straightforward. I will continue to use it going forward, as while there are a couple of competitors that are slightly cheaper, certainly not enough difference to warrant changing software and again I'm overall pleased with the product despite the couple of areas that I commented are a bit clunky. Not a big deal. Overall good product.

Incentivized

• Customer Service
• Organization
• Knowledge

Incentivized

• Calculation/preparation of personal tax return for individuals.
• Calculation/preparation of small business tax returns, i.e., Schedule C for individual bus owners.
• Electronic transmission of completed tax return to IRS and applicable states.
• Preparation of summary letter and billing to tax clientele.
• Modeling of pro forma tax results for succeeding years and prep of estimated tax payments needed.

Incentivized

• Billing issues.
• Customer service.
• Deceptive information provided when placing order. Then turn around and said that’s not right.
• Ability to listen to customers.
• Sales rep doesn’t know what client ordered.
• Reps who don’t care.

• The preparation of the summary letter of the tax return module is a bit clunky but usable.
• The preparation of the next year's quarterly estimates module, while automatic, is a bit clunky to override with more specific info versus what is automatically populated from the current year's return.
• The print feature can be a little cumbersome getting to work on a local printer, resulting in some printing issues.

Incentivized

Just let it do the standard install. No issues whatsoever.

Incentivized

Customer service is horrible for Axcess and getting bad for ATX. Wolters Kluwer has purchased these software products

Turbotax is the most popular but not applicable if you are a tax preparer as it won't let you sign a tax preparer. Their tax prep version, Pro Series, is a bit more expensive, and I have found it not significantly different enough nor provide any applicable benefit to me changing. I also evaluated Drake tax prep software, but again, while it has some nice features, it could not justify the change effort compared to any incremental features I might use. ATX continues to offer the right product features for what I need at one of the cheapest costs.

Incentivized