Who's switched from Lacerte to UltraTax?

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#1
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We're considering a switch from Lacerte to UltraTax for a few reasons: pricing has become less attractive, service has declined a little, and they discontinued DMS and BNA Tax Research.

Has anyone else made that switch? If so, how did it work out for you?

I'd be especially curious to hear from anyone who prepares a lot of MA returns. I'd like to know how well the state data converted...
 

#2
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We just signed the contract with Ultra Tax about a month ago...haven't done the installation yet. We are Thompson Reuters CS users for financial statement preparation, and our firm was looking for better ways to streamline the accounting and tax processing.

Besides, it appears that Lacerte's pricing was getting way out of hand.

We will see how the conversion works and we have the summer months to do the training and preparation of 2013 filings.
 

#3
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You mentioned what seems to be the #1 reason people switch: integration. I feel that's less of a concern for us -- almost all of our work is tax prep and tax resolution. We'll buy a few supplemental products but the tax program is by far the top priority for us.

People have also talked about a steep learning curve, and needing to pay for training, which would offset some of the savings. One UT user said there's often an "obscure checkbox" you need to find to get data to populate correctly, which makes me a little nervous. The Lacerte interface is so clean and organized, I almost never have that problem right now.
 

#4
makbo  
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1ForYou19ForMe wrote:People have also talked about a steep learning curve, and needing to pay for training, which would offset some of the savings. One UT user said there's often an "obscure checkbox" you need to find to get data to populate correctly, which makes me a little nervous. The Lacerte interface is so clean and organized, I almost never have that problem right now.

Every EA/CPA-quality professional tax software has "obscure checkboxes" which are only obscure until you find out where they are. If you have even slightly above-average software user skills, you will not need training for UT, just some hands-on practice. Moreover, they have detailed on-line help for almost all input screens, and the search feature and "drill down" (from tax form entry back to input screen) are well-implemented in UT. Diagnostic support also helps with a lot more than just fatal e-filing errors.

Although I haven't used Lacerte, I have used at least five different softwares (ProSeries, UT, TaxWorks, Drake, H&R's TPS), and UT is my top choice.
 

#5
EZTAX  
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Agree with the post above. I would doubt you will need special training. Our office uses Ultratax and a CPA I hired 5 years ago, who had mostly used Lacertte, made the transition with little difficulty.
 

#6
Wiles  
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We are also in the beginning stages of thinking about it. Integration with our practice management software is important to us. We also want integration between the tax software and the client portal. I know Lacerte and SmartVault have a solution for that this year. But I believe Intuit's Practice Management software is several versions away from doing what it needs to do.

Can any UT users speak to this integration from their Tax > Practice Mgt > Client Portal? Is it truly integrated? Does it save on efficiencies? Is easily usable by the client? Will our front desk need an IT degree to run this? Can we stop re-printing tax returns for clients every time the refi?
 

#7
JayCPA  
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UltraTax in my opinion is incredibly easy to use and maneuver through.

I cut my teeth using CCH Prosystem Fx. Now that has a steep learning curve. I never felt like everything worked as seamlessly as it does between Accounting CS and UltraTax.

Importing tax info for businesses using UT is truly seemless. Once the tax lines are mapped you are set. You can re-import the data multiple times and the return updates just as it should. (No duplicate entries or having go in and clean things up).

1040's are pretty easy and the state returns I've worked on didn't seem to have any "hitches" I can recall worth mentioning.

As for the obscure box and one user - I wouldn't let that stop me from making the decision to use UT. This software is nicer than Elvis' Cadillac.

Even if you can't find the "checkbox" you need, you can always go to the tax form itself and use the "switch to input" option to get back to where you need to be. That's why I like two monitors. Run the inputs on one screen and the tax form on the other.

Multiple monitor set up is simple and about as standard as a steering wheel on a car.

The search for inputs box is very helpful and the instructions and help are second to none.

You won't be sorry you are using UT. Your front desk person should be fine assuming average computer skills.

As to Document Storage, there is the File Cabinet program by CS that works pretty well for retaining your returns. You just click the option to print to File Cabinet and it sends a copy over and you're done.

I have no experience with the client portal. I suppose it will work as well as the aptitude of the client who will need to figure it out. If you've got clients who can't fill out an organizer, do you really want them trying to figure out a client portal and uploading docs?
 

#8
Wiles  
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Thank you, Jay. Do you use their Practice CS practice management for time & billing & due date tracking/scheduling? Does it integrate with UT?
 

#9
makbo  
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Wiles wrote:Thank you, Jay. Do you use their Practice CS practice management for time & billing & due date tracking/scheduling? Does it integrate with UT?

For a previous employer, I was the guy who got Practice CS configured and running for a 5-seat license shop (preparers, reviewers, admin). Now, I will admit that this particular task was not real easy, but it does work well once you've got it set up, and there is plentiful documentation. Yes, it does integrate very well with UT, but as with any project management software, you have to really think through your task sequence and dependencies. There is also a full-blown report writer module, so while you can get exactly what you want, that task (custom reports) also might not be real easy for everyone.

By the time we were done, the staff timecards and client invoices were fully migrated from a stand-alone QuickBooks system to Practice CS, fed by the status and invoice info generated from UT, and the boss was pretty happy, but I left after my second season there and don't know how it's going nowadays. Whether you have a techie on staff or hire a consultant, you will probably have to spend some time and money getting Practice CS to work well in your shop, but the capability is definitely there if you want to use it.
 

#10
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I have signed my contract with UT as well but have not installed yet. Waiting until after my upgrade from XP to Win 7 Next week.
 

#11
DaveB  
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We are switching from Drake and ProSystems FX (yes a dual system ) to Ultra Tax this month. They have a nice offer out there, worth checking out.
 

#12
Wiles  
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Out on the internet, I was reading that UT does not give you the ability to update "next year's" depreciation schedule as you can do in Lacerte. In order to do so, you will need to purchase the Fixed Asset CS program.

It's these little or not-so little things that you are never aware of until you are waste deep into a software conversion. It sure would be nice to get a list of these things so that you can go into a conversion with eyes wide open.

For example, we use the Lacerte Appointment feature as our office networked calendar for everything. Yes, we can use Outlook. But while the Lacerte calendar is a very basic calendar, it does speak to the Organizers so that this information prints on the client organizer. That is a nice feature. Does UT have a similar feature so that appointment dates & times print on the client organizer?

Another thing that we use in Lacerte is the custom filters and the many display fields for the Client List view. Does UT have this?

What Lacerte features do we lose or are dramatically different with the switch to UT?
 

#13
makbo  
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Wiles wrote:Out on the internet, I was reading that UT does not give you the ability to update "next year's" depreciation schedule as you can do in Lacerte. In order to do so, you will need to purchase the Fixed Asset CS program.
[...]
Another thing that we use in Lacerte is the custom filters and the many display fields for the Client List view. Does UT have this?
What Lacerte features do we lose or are dramatically different with the switch to UT?

What do you mean by "update next year's depreciation"? Do you mean adding assets acquired/disposed in 2014, inside the TY2013 software? Or do you mean, print/view a future depreciation report? UT has the latter, I've never heard of a software that has the former feature. UT does use the same set of depreciation data files across multiple years, so for example, if you have a client open in TY2013, you can only open that same client read-only in TY2012 due to a lock on the depreciation data file. (On the other hand, you can easily see the prior year amounts in the current year return, so the need to open the prior year simultaneously is not frequent). I worked two years in a shop that had Fixed Assets CS, but it was rarely used, at least on any of the returns I worked on, which included a pretty wide variety. However, it is a pretty powerful tool if you need it.

UT has highly configurable filters for selecting clients, it has a Data Mining feature, and it has a rich set of pre-configured client listing reports. Can't answer your question about printing appointment info on the organizer, but most things you can print from UT are highly customizable.

I also suspect you could talk to the UT sales people and get some kind of access to the UT user community forums for evaluation purposes, where you would probably get more specific answers to your questions.
 

#14
Wiles  
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In Lacerte, you can enter 2014 asset acquisitions/dispositions in the 2013 program. This is very useful for preparing tax projections. It is also helpful for the posting of accounting adjustments for the current year depreciation.

How do you come up with the current year depreciation when doing tax projections using UT?
 

#15
makbo  
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LIke I said, UT produces a future depreciation report for all assets in the return. There are a number of ways to estimate the depreciation for new/disposed assets in tax planning year, I don't think most tax software supports "future entry" the way you say Lacerte does. Or, you could buy Fixed Assets CS module.
 

#16
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I just spoke on the phone with a Lacerte-to-UT convertee whom I was referred to by our UT sales rep. She is glad she made the switch, but definitely made ominous comments about the amount of time devoted to the initial set-up. For example, I guess specifying which forms print in UT is a lot harder than it is in Lacerte, where you just check a few boxes or make a few yes/no selections in a Master Options menu. This user said her firm spent a few weeks just on the set-up, before they could do any returns. She also said the learning curve increased their time spent per return by around 25-30%, based on their review of billable time. And a lot of carryovers needed to be calculated manually...?

But I also get the feeling that the difficulty (or ease) of transition is based on a lot of variables which aren't always apparent in the anecdotal evidence I'm getting. For example, a lot of people cite difficulty in setting up things like Fixed Asset, Trial Balance or Practice Management -- none of which I'll be using. And it's hard to gauge a person's technical skills -- I think mine are above-average for a non-IT guy.

So...back at square one?
 

#17
makbo  
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Creating a return in UT from scratch or prior year UT return is different, and much easier, than working with a complicated return that was converted from a different software vendor -- yes, conversions are going to be a pain.

I don't understand the comment about setting up form printing defaults and options. UT comes out of the box with a basic reasonable selection of forms for Government, Client, and Preparer copies, just like ProSeries (and Lacerte, I imagine). Making adjustments on the fly for a given client at printout time is pretty easy. Changing the system defaults (e.g. "I want this form to always print in the Client copy whether there's data or not) isn't much different than it is in Lacerte, I'd bet.

UT is not going to be the simplest or easiest tool you'll ever use, and yes it does take time to master all the complexities. Last year, H&R gobbled up TaxWorks and referred the customers to UT, I wonder if any of those folks made the switch and have stories to share?
 

#18
Wiles  
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1ForYou19ForMe, did this person speak of any of the Lacerte features that do not exist in UT, such as inputting next year's asset acquisitions?
 

#19
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Wiles: she didn't mention any features not being available in UT. Just some things took a lot longer for her to set-up. Our Lacerte sales rep, after being told that we're considering UT, emailed us three screen-shots with talking points about Lacerte features not available in UT. I can email them to you if you'd like using the link in your profile -- though they're nothing earth-shattering, and obviously they're biased.

Makbo: I pressed this UT user for more info on the "items to print" question, because I couldn't see why that would be so complicated either. I didn't get a clear explanation. She just said, "Trust me, it's a lot harder in UltraTax..."

It sounds like UT in general offers a lot more customization, which I'm sure is usually a good thing...but maybe it takes more time getting it up and running?
 

#20
Wiles  
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5 year old discussion regarding Lacerte vs UT: https://accountants-community.intuit.co ... d-software

There is some good analysis here. It do think Lacerte's "table of contents" way of displaying input screens is useful, especially for the novice user.

This discussion refers to Lacerte's old way of dealing with SMLLCs. They fixed this and those forms are now part of their individual module. This was a great enhancement. How does UT deal with SMLLCs? Are these done separately in the partnership module or is it part of the individual module?
Last edited by Wiles on 12-Jun-2014 11:30am, edited 1 time in total.
 

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