"Steve" <nothere[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

My experience is that even if the cheaper programs have
everything you need, you have to jump through more hoops to
get it. For example, (and I don't mean to imply that this
applies to any specific program) do you still have to hand
collate parts of the return after it's printed? My concern
is how much time do I have to spend to get the right answer
from the software. The better programs require less of my
time. I'll pay more to save that time.

One person's experience.

Barry Picker, CPA/PFS, CFP

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"Steve" <nothere[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

You'll find that there are a lot of dedicated ATX users out
there, who will tell you that ATX is excellent. I demo'd it
and found that, compared to my current software, it was
cumbersome to use, and I believe the learning curve would be
rather steep. If I were you, I'd do a hands-on evaluation
of some of the lower priced packages to see if they suit
your needs. Then, try to contact some users to see what
they think of the support provided by the company.

Don Rosenberg, EA

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Steve wrote:

- quote -

There may be a bias in the responders, but that's always an
issue with any survey response. Some might argue that those
that pay the higher fee might be more demanding and
therefore have a higher expectation for customer service.
Alternatively, those that are buying the more expensive
packages may be more likely to also have either technical
staff or be paying consultants to handle computer system
problems (either simply due to size *OR* because they are
simply willing to spend more), while those buying the less
expensive packages tend to rely on application customer
support to handle more issues--and thus more likely to
"stump the support person" than those who are calling only
for a smaller group of issues.

I would also note there is likely a similar bias to the one
you suggest for "big spenders" among bargain shoppers to
want to believe that they *didn't* give up anything (your
note suggests that belief <grin> ) and so might bias up.
That is, why would those buying the lower priced packages
want to say "I bought lousy support" and be open to being
accused of getting a false bargain?

So, in my view, any buyer can explain away the problems in a
survey <grin> by doing some brainstorming on the bias of the
responders. And, generally, we will all do it because we do
want to feel that we are intelligent buyers who are clearly
smarter than those idiots that made a different decision
than they we did, so that group must be in denial <grin> .

So where do you end up? Well, you look at the survey and
simply make it one part of your overall evaluation. You
also need to consider just how important support is likely
to be and what issues you will want support on--and then
talk with others using the software in question who have
used support like you would likely use it to see what their
experiences have been.

--
Ed Zollars, CPA
Phoenix, Arizona

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In looking at the Journal of Accountancy tax software review
(Oct 2003) I see ATX and TaxAct rated the lowest in
customer satisfaction but they are less expensive than the
other programs. I just wonder if there isn't some effect
like Consumer Reports where people rank BMW and Mercedes
high because "I paid so much it's got to be good"

I know you get more bells and whistles with the more
expensive programs but something like ATX - Saber seems to
offer everything a tax professional would need - am I
missing something ?

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