THE SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE OF THE TAX NOTEBOOK PROGRAM
WHAT IS, WHY AND WHEN TO USE THE TAX NOTEBOOK PROGRAM
THE PROSYSTEM FX TAX NOTEBOOK PROGRAM WAS A STAND-ALONE PROGRAM, THAT INTEGRATED WITH THE PROSYSTEM FX PROGRAM FOR INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RETURN PREPARATION THAT ALLOWED ME TO ALLOW MY CLIENTS TO DO THEIR OWN INPUT. NOW TO BE HONEST, INPUT IS ABOUT THE MOST BORING THING I DO, AND IF I CAN GET MY CLIENTS TO DO IT FOR THEMSELVES, SO MUCH THE BETTER. iF IT SAVES ME TIME, I WILL REDUCE MY FEES AND THEREFORE IT SAVES MY CLIENTS MONEY.
AND IT DOES NOT MATTER TO ME WHERE THE CLIENT IS: MIGHT BE IN BELMONT OR BAVARIA.
THE ALPHANUMERIC INFORMATION IS PRODUCED FROM THE PRIOR YEAR RETURN BY THE SAME PROCEDURE AS PREPARING THE FILE FOR THE CURRENT YEAR RETURN, BUT THEN I SEND THE CLIENT A LINK THAT ALLOWS THEM ACCESS TO THE FILE ON A SECURE COMPUTER, REACHABLE BY THE INTERNET. THIS WAS MORE IMPORTANT BEFORE THE ADVENT OF COVERED SALES IN BROKERAGE REPORTING. NOW, A CLIENT COULD HAVE PAGES AND PAGES OF STOCK TRANSACTIONS, BUT IF THEY ARE ALL COVERED, I JUST PUT IN THE NAME OF THE BROKERAGE AND THE TOTALS FOR SHORT-TERM COVERED AND LONG-TERM COVERED SALES.
WHEN TO USE IT-- WHEN THE CLIENT HAS ENOUGH UNDERSTANDING OF TAXES TO PUT THE RIGHT NUMBERS IN MORE OR LESS THE RIGHT PLACE, AND IS AT EASE USING A COMPUTER.
SOME EXAMPLES OF TAX NOTEBOOK PAGES:
THE TAX NOTEBOOK STARTS WITH A CLIENT OR TAXPAYER INFORMATION PAGE-- NOT SHOWN BECAUSE EACH ONE CONTAINS PRIVATE INFORMATION. THE NEXT PAGE IS THE INTERVIEW SETUP PAGE. THE REMAINDER OF THE TAX NOTEBOOK IS TAILORED BASED ON THE INFORMATION THE CLIENT PROVIDES HERE.
AS I HOPE YOU CAN SEE, THE TAX NOTEBOOK PROGRAM WAS VERY USEFUL FOR THOSE WHO COULD USE IT. I HAD USED IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND PLANNED ON USING IT AGAIN FOR 2019 RETURNS. I THOUGHT I HAD PURCHASED THE RIGHTS TO IT FOR 2019 RETURNS: SEE MY RENEWAL STATEMENT BELOW.
SO, I WAS SURPRISED WHEN IN JANUARY 2020, I FOUND THAT THE TAX NOTEBOOK PROGRAM HAD DISAPPEARED FOR 2019 TAX RETURNS. NO EXPLANATION, NO WARNING, AND CERTAINLY NO APOLOGY. AND ALSO CERTAINLY NO OFFER TO REFUND PART OF WHAT I HAD PAID FOR TAX NOTEBOOK/ORG.