Proconnect Tax Online vs. Wolters Kluwer ATX

Intuit has coined the term "Firm of the Future" and its products live up to that moniker. If you run a practice that is cloud based, paperless and makes use of cutting edge tools such as e-signatures, client portals, etc., then this product will be a good fit for you. If you are slow to change and want to use the traditional desktop computing environment and frequently print client draft returns for review, use wet signatures, etc. then this might not be the product for you. If you are already using some of Intuit's products and plan to implement more business clients into QuickBooks Online, I would say this product is a "must have".

Incentivized

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

• Final taxes are clear.
• The esignature is easy most of the time for clients to sign.
• The dropdown for selecting the right year is clear.

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

• Not very many software titles outside the Intuit family can be used to integrate with the product.
• The UI is a bit dated looking.
• Can get rather costly if larger volumes of returns are prepared.

Incentivized

• 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

The support is, excellent and Intuit overall provides good support. Their customer service representatives are friendly and always assist with issues when needed. There are multiple ways to contact the support team. I have not sued them though very much for technical tax issues and primarily the customer service team when needed.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

I think ProConnect Tax Online is better than competitors. As I am new to my career, the only software I have used are ProConnect Tax Online, and Thomson Reuters Ultra Tax. I prefer cloud-based software, but I think Ultra Tax is easier software to learn on. It is easier to learn on because it is form based

Incentivized

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

• Just being the administrative assistant I can't really talk on ROI - that would be for my boss to address. But since our office strives to be completely paperless efiling fits in with our paperless narrative.

Incentivized