Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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October 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 21 TAX PLANNING SYSTEMS Reviews BEST FIT Firms with clients requiring com- plicated tax planning across mul- tiple states and f irms that take advantage of its web-based capa- bilities (such as accessing the pro- gram from multiple computers and/or locations). STRENGTHS • Imports data from several pop- ular tax preparation programs • M a n y r e p o r t i n g o p t i o n s including charts and graphs • Calculates present value of total ta xes and cash fows over mul- tiple year periods POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • W e b v e r s i o n a l l o w s m a n y ad m i n ist rat ive f u nc t ions, but l au nc h i n g pl a n c re at ion a nd calculations requires a plug-in that may not work on all portable devices SUMMARY & PRICING A user-f r iend ly and power ta x planning system, BNA Income Tax Planner diferentiates itself from the market with its accessibility from the web and versatility to integrate with several diferent tax compli- ance programs. Pricing is based on the platform and the number of users. Te base license for the web v e r s i o n i s $ 1 , 1 1 5 a n d f o r t h e standalone version, $1,050, with tiered pricing for additional users. www.bna.com Bloomberg BNA Income Tax Planner Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12004292 5 2014 OVERALL RATING BEST FIT Te ProSystem fx Planning package will work well for frms with com- plex ta x situations, par ticularly when they use other components of the ProSystem fx Suite or CCH Axcess Tax and can take advantage of the direct integration. STRENGTHS • Forecast and compare up to 30 d i f ferent ta x scena r ios w it h 8 years of projection data per plan ( p l u s c u r r e n t a n d p r e v i o u s years), with complete federal and state estimated tax and penalty calculations • Imports tax data from ProSystem fx Tax and CCH A xcess Tax • T h e l i c e n s e a l l o w s f o r a n unlimited number of users at a frm location • Interactive tutorial and ample help resources • Only produces spreadsheet-type reports (no graphs or charts) • Reporting output limited to PDF fles (no direct exports to Excel or other programs) POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS • Only produces spreadsheet-type reports (no graphs or charts) • Reporting output limited to PDF fles (no direct exports to Excel or other programs) SUMMARY & PRICING Te ProSystem fx Planning package will work well for frms with com- plex ta x situations, par ticularly when they use other components of the ProSystem fx Suite or CCH Axcess Tax and can take advantage of the direct integration. Te base price for ProSystem fx Planning is $775 and includes federal and all states. www.cchgroup.com CCH ProSystem fx Planning Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12004281 4.75 2014 OVERALL RATING BEST FIT Drake Tax Planner is a free add-on to the popular Drake Tax Sofware. It is best suited for small practices with a wide variety of clients, par- ticularly if they have straight for- ward tax planning situations that involve only one tax return and a limited number of years. • Deep integration with Drake Tax for working through scenarios • Comprehensive support options with some afer-hours telephone support • E a s y t o l e a r n a n d q u i c k t o implement • Multiple options to access the sof ware – desktop, hosted and online application • Te Tax Planner does not handle more complex sit uations, pa r- ticularly if they involve multiple tax returns. STRENGTHS • Deep integration with Drake Tax for working through scenarios • Comprehensive support options with some afer-hours telephone support • Easy to learn and quick to imple- ment • Multiple options to access the software – desktop, hosted and online application POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS Te Tax Planner does not handle more complex situations, particu- larly if they involve multiple tax returns. SUMMARY & PRICING As a free add-on to Drake Tax, Tax Planner will only be useful to frms who purchased the main product. Even though it is free, it can be used to create and compare signifcant money saving tax scenarios for cli- ents. Like Drake Tax, it is designed for quick data entr y and return processing. A unique aspect to Drake Sofware is the all-inclusive pricing model. This allows ta x practitioners to process unlimited federal, state and electronic fling at a known, fxed rate with no addi- tional function modules to pur- chase. Drake's soft ware system includes built-in free modules for client write-up, payroll and practice management. www.drakesoftware.com Drake Tax Planner Read the full review and see expanded ratings for this product online at: www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com/12004286 4 2014 OVERALL RATING