CPA_Practice_Advisor_June_2020 - 10

REVIEW: TAX PREP SYSTEMS

By Mary Girsch-Bock

Tax Year 2019: Its Own Set of Challenges
EVERY YEAR, ACCOUNTANTS and CPAs are tasked with
keeping track of all of the changes to tax laws. However,
tax year 2019 brings with it its own set of challenges apart
from the standard tax changes that are expected annually.
While dealing with these regular changes, tax professionals
also have to deal with the changes wrought by COVID-19.
Here are just a few of these changes:
■ Tax filing deadlines changed from
April 15 to July 15 (or, potentially, later)
■ Stimulus checks sent (and some not
sent) to millions of taxpayers
■ The deadlines for 1st and 2nd quarter
estimated taxes have been changed
to July 15
■ CARES Act reverses restrictions on net
operating losses
■ Delay of employer pay roll tax
payments
■ Waiver of 10% penalty on early
withdrawal of retirement funds
Of course, this is only a short list of
everything that has changed in a rela-

tively short period of time, all of which
will likely overwhelm even the most
organized accounting professional.
That's where the beauty of tax
compliance software comes in.
Designed to automate the tax preparation process by providing updated
forms, easy access to all tax updates,
and line-by-line form preparation
assistance, these applications are
especially valuable this year and
next because the software compaies
ae making certain they incorporate
all of the tax law changes into their
products.

Along with tax preparation, many
of these applications also include
numerous resources such as lineby-line assistance that is accessible
during the form preparation process
along with advanced tax research
options that cover more complex issues
that may arise. Some of the applications also include complete practice
management capability, and most
include a client portal for easy document sharing. Other common features
include electronic form signing and
e-signature capability to expedite the
tax filing process.
As in recent years, we've divided
the Tax Compliance reviews into two
categories: Advanced Workflow and
Traditional Workflow. While smaller
firms tend to rely more on traditional
workflow systems, many larger firms
find that having access to advanced
features is a necessity.
The products reviewed in this issue
are:

Advanced Workflow Systems
Intuit - Lacerte Tax
Thomson Reuters - GoSystem Tax RS
Thomson Reuters - UltraTax CS
Wolters Kluwer - CCH Axcess Tax
Wolters Kluwer - CCH ProSystem
fx Tax
Traditional Workflow Systems
■ Drake Tax
■ Intuit ProConnect Tax Online
■ Intuit ProSeries Tax
■ MyTaxPrepOffice
■ TaxAct Professional
■ TaxSlayer Pro
■ Wolters Kluwer - CCH-ATX
■ Wolters Kluwer - CCH-TaxWise
Because the majority of these
products have been reviewed consistently over the years, we've chosen to
focus our attention on new features
or enhancements that have been
recently introduced by the software
vendor. While focusing on these new
features, we also looked at features
such as cloud accessibility, the ability
to support multiple tax forms, e-filing
capability, as well as the availability of
features such as a customer portal and
paperless workflow.
With all of the changes that 2020
has brought, it's certainly reassuring to
know that those changes won't affect
your ability to complete your clients'
tax returns. So, whether you're looking
for a tax compliance application for
the first time, or thinking of changing
things up with a new product, the
reviews in this issue are a great place
to start. ■
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Mary Girsch-Bock is a freelance writer
specializing in business and technology
issues and is the author of her first book,
several HR handbooks, training manuals,
and other in-house publications. She can
be reached at mary.girschbock@cpapracticeadvisor.com

10

JUNE 2020 ■

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