Further integration with outside programs such as Excel and Word further aid in the usefulness of the tax planning application. Thus, the ability of a program to pull client financial data from at least its sibling tax preparation program, if not competing programs, is essential. The customizability of these reports and communications also adds value to a program by enabling a user to brand and personalize client contact.Īs a starting point, almost all data needed for the base year of a plan has already been entered into a tax preparation program ‘ there’s no need to enter it twice, especially with complex clients. This component assesses a program’s ability to provide summary and detailed reports as well as client-deliverables such as graphs, *.PDFs and client letters. Reporting is one of the key components of a tax planning program, allowing professionals to provide clients with a comprehensive, yet comprehendible, assessment of how financial activities may affect future tax liabilities. This section looks at general navigation and data entry, as well as more specific functions such as calculations, the number of plans/scenarios the program supports, comparisons offered and additional productivity tools such as diagnostics and checklists.
TAX PLANNER PRO REVIEWS PROFESSIONAL
Guide that explains individual worksheetsįreeing the user from program maintenance.įor the products in this review section, we looked at five key areas that users and vendors stated were of primary concern:Īs with any software, the ease with which the program’s functions can be operated and the amount of time it takes to grow accustomed to a tax planning program affect its value in a professional setting. With the ability to customize appearance.ĭata-entry rows including context-specific In addition to all states, the latter program supports non-resident taxes for AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, ID, IL, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MS, ND, NE, NJ, NY, NM, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VT and WV.ĭifference, taxpayer-spouse, annualization The program is available in a federal-only package for $525 for a single user, or through the Federal & 50 States version for $835. The program allows up to 10 side-by-side columns of federal and state tax projections for multiple past or future years and/or scenarios (note: the new release scheduled for September 2004 doubles this to 20 columns) and offers seven modes of analysis, allowing users greater insight into the effects of potential client issues. The BNA Income Tax Planner is designed to be a stand-alone tax planning system that integrates with a professional’s existing tax preparation software.