I really am finding that taxcalc has lost its appeal, it is taking an inordinate amount of time to do the same tasks that were quickly dealt with in the pre-hub days
so many clicks , so many screens, right click, left click this - accidentally ending up in the hub when I want to open a return
why do practitioners want to have a choice of prior year returns when they are busy in January ? .. all I want to see is the 2014 return,... yet more tiresome clicks,
so counter-intuitive, also having to enter client personal detail / partner changes in the hub database not the return itself , remember to do it before you create the return.... ( I did add personal address change in one case , created return.. but still no option to change in the return? )
Worst of all ...no option to create returns en masse ? , a huge increase in the amount of time ( and hundreds of clicks)to do things that were seamlessly and quickly carried out previously with 1 click ... madness .. perhaps they are trying to self-destruct as a company ?
the backup option is tiresome , it was much easier just to quickly copy the folder containing the returns in previous years (um.. taxcalc your recommendation to do backups every week methinks is a little silly .. its daily for most of us, we cant afford to lose data at this time o year )
They really need to do a stand-alone package , otherwise they will start losing customers by the hub-load
I see what they are trying to do , but I have no interest in vat filer ..etc etc , one size does not fit all
Sorry to say it... it was good while it lasted ...but I don't want to endure another year clicking away so franticly and so unnecessarily .... goodbye
Replies (34)
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I love the hub.
No more saving hundreds of separate files.
No more accidentally saving one client Taxcalc file in the wrong place and struggling to find it.
From my perspective it's progress...in a good way.
Agree
I love the hub. No more saving hundreds of separate files. No more accidentally saving one client Taxcalc file in the wrong place and struggling to find it. From my perspective it's progress...in a good way.
Agree with Maslins.
Comeon Taxcalc get the cloud version sorted!
Cloud
I love the hub. No more saving hundreds of separate files. No more accidentally saving one client Taxcalc file in the wrong place and struggling to find it. From my perspective it's progress...in a good way.Agree with Maslins.
Comeon Taxcalc get the cloud version sorted!
There's always Taxfiler.
.
Is not fully there yet in terms of functionality
I really like it, and can't fault it for the price.
What bits don't you like?
another fan of the hub
I much prefer the way taxcalc now works.
I want to be able to open up more than one year at a time.
I want to open up more than one client at a time.
I like the way the hub is now so you can set up custom fields where I can put information and data mine on it when previously I had a massive spreadsheet containing all the info (still have the spreadsheet as dont think could ever let it go).
I am thinking about moving to a fully integrated package such as IRIS or Digita and will trial both in Feb but will take a lot for me to move from Taxcalc as the integrated accounts and tax package is so easy to use (plus is very competitively priced). Will probably end up adding on something like Logical Office or MB PracticeManager or might use TBookman for timesheets (which is what I am really looking for as currently keep timesheets on excel) together with Virtual Cabinet for moving paperless.
BTC
Its great.
Pre-population of data fields from previous years has saved me hours this month.
I did use Taxcalc, so glad I moved the BTC.
No plans to change again.
Each to our own
Taxfiler is the quickest and easiest software I have ever used (and the cheapest), and though I haven't tried every piece of software on the market, I have used quite a few.
Why should I spend more money to use up more of my time?
I loved TaxCalc pre-hub. The individual files suited me as we kept them all in folders per tax year, and created pdf's in the client annual folders. Backup was immediate, and automatic, by using Dropbox (or similar). The hub (initially) removed a lot of vital utilities (as far as I was concerned). Given that the downgrading of the software was well-hidden and not broadcast, this caused a lack of trust in TaxCalc.
Also, I hate daily/weekly backups with a passion!
The Hub is Marmite, it seems
Personally, I hate it.
A simple fix - set a flag to show / not show all the gubbins on the left hand bar : thereby all the stuff I never use (most of it) would disappear.
This would easily keep me happy and a TaxCalc customer.
Left Taxcalc this year
I fully agree with the OP
The software was a breeze for small practices like ours pre hub, really user friendly, efficient and with good support.
Not only did the hub slow the software to a snails pace, we also considered there to be a real decline in the quality of the support being offered - previously you could call get an answer to your problem and move on, post hub it was more difficult to get through and often required a call back - a real decline in standards.
we did advise taxcalc that we didnt want the hub (as I beleive many others did) but they didnt listen and merely pointed out it would allow us to use the accounts program as well, which I have no intention of using as a VT lover
I'm sure taxcalc know what they are doing but they certainly alienated someone here who must be in their core market
Now moved over to taxfiler, which is the easiest software to use ever FACT. good support, albeit online and very good pricing.
if you are not using taxfiler, you should be!!
taxcalc hub
Agree I hate the hub - time consuming and it worked so much better for me before. I will have a look at Taxfiler a new one for me.
Interesting views. I've trialled commercial software and struggled to see much of an advantage over HMRC's free software.
Support
I find taxcalc support wonderful. Two weeks ago I sent a query at 6.45 pm was telephoned at 6.55 by a delightful lady who stayed with me until everything was sorted via remote. She then spent a considerable amount of time pointing out ways I could use Taxcalc better. I am sure she must have wanted to get home but gave no sign of any impatience.
Only have 2 issues
I quite like the hub, I have really only two issues with it:
1) You used to be able to bulk file returns that had been approved. You can't now. Slows things down a bit I think
2) Would love to create a report that showed all the clients and their tax liabilities so I could email them out a payment reminder. there's probably ways round this with mail merge etc, but it seems like it will be very long winded to add email adresses to the Hub
Time for TaxCalc to Listen
What I find really interesting about this post is that we have gone beyond the "shock of the new" with the TaxCalc Hub system.
We all hate change and there was a thread about these changes to TaxCalc back in April 2014 see https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/question/new-version-tax-calc-what-do-you-think
But this intense dislike of the Hub is still rumbling on - after we have been using the new interface for almost a year.
It reminds me of when Apple upgraded the superb OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) to Lion and beyond - introducing changes that nobody wanted or asked for. Incidentally, over 4 years on (and 3 further new upgrades) more than 27% of iMac users are still running Snow Leopard. It has become Apple's equivalent of Windows XP - the platform that refuses to die.
Of course, Apple being Apple they will force user to eventually upgrade by killing backwards compatibility across the apps.
But TaxCalc is a small software house and I know they listen to their customers.
Maybe us Hub refuseniks will be heard at last.
The Hub - The Heart of your Practice
Just to be clear.
Many people use the Hub. For those of us who hate it - all we are asking for is an option to make it and all it's functions disappear. The net result would be an interface like we had up to 2012.
Oh, and the colours could be better.
It's too late, TaxTeddy
Just to be clear.
Many people use the Hub. For those of us who hate it - all we are asking for is an option to make it and all it's functions disappear. The net result would be an interface like we had up to 2012.
Oh, and the colours could be better.
Those of us who hate(d) the hub, and the massive changes made to TaxCalc, have had to look elsewhere .... and found something better. If TaxCalc had retained the standalone tax software as an option I would probably have stuck with them and not bothered looking elsewhere.
Now I have found Taxfiler I won't be going be going back ... unless Taxfiler screw up by making the software less user friendly and alienate half of their customer base.
I was expecting that.....
My first instinct was to ditch it and move on - that was a year ago. But up to that point TaxCalc had been very helpful - especially to me as that rare beast, an accountant with a Mac.
I have the Taxfiler web page on standby for implementation in February.
Taxcalc-new user since October
I have found it fairly intuitive in the main, though I have got a bit fed up with it telling me that I have too many characters in a field/ white box line and I need to shorten them.
Also surprised I could not find B Telecom dividend in the database, or maybe that was just me not searching correctly-gave up looking and searched online instead.
The Hub has its uses re checking those returns not yet submitted and I recently used the 64-8 production part, from within forms, and it worked fine.
I moved from Iris (Drummohr) Tax Assistant which I had been using since SA started. Taxcalc, is obviously not as familiar but all in all it is good value for money in comparison. (less than half the price)
One feature I do not like is how it lays out the SA302, I would prefer to have the tax paid/ to be paid shown on the bottom of the sheet rather than on a different sheet.
Now going to go to see if it produces payslips (somehow I doubt it)
Tax Calc
I will also be looking into taxcalc accs production to have benefits of integration.
We like TaxCalc. I wish they would go full swing on cloud version. Feedback from my last conversation with them was that a large number of accountants do not want the cloud version. I find it hard to accept this. Reading some of the comments here, they may have a point.
Self selecting poll
We like TaxCalc. I wish they would go full swing on cloud version. Feedback from my last conversation with them was that a large number of accountants do not want the cloud version.
If they've just asked their current client base, then their "survey" is self-selecting from a pool of people who havn't already moved to Cloud alternatives isn't it? So, basically, they're just asking the people who don't want to go Cloud or who aren't bothered - no surprise at their conclusion!
I'm sure a similar poll of Taxfiler users would come up with a large number of their users who don't want a desktop based system!
What I find interesting ...
Is that TaxCalc have retained the 'single purchase' for individual taxpayers.
I haven't looked at it, or tried it, but I'm guessing that they don't force use of the Hub on those purchasers, so the capability of standalone tax software may be there already.
Never mind, it's TaxCalc's loss! Note to all software houses ..... ignore your customers wishes at your peril. We can vote with our feet.
To Cloud to not to Cloud
Some really good points above.
I share the concerns raised by qad999 abut parking data in the cloud. Frankly, I don't trust anyone to safeguard my data. Everything can be hacked, Sony, Apple, Google, you name it.
On the other hand, the 'Mac' version of TaxCalc isn't compatible with my version of OSX (Snow Leopard) so I can't use it and I am reduced to running the Windows version using an emulator. Works OK but a bit clunky, and I still really, really hate the hub.
So I'm reluctant to jump to a cloud based solution - but hate the present TaxCalc. Maybe I will go with the cloud after re-writing the client T&C to agree it's not my fault when the data gets stolen.
We use Taxcalc for tax (personal, corporate, and occasionally partnership). We don't use it for accounts (we use VT). The hub in no way forces us to use it for accounts.
Yes it does mean there's lots of options/data fields in the hub that we simply don't use...but to my mind that's the same with any software package. I understand that it hasn't been specifically designed around my practice, and not every practice will want exactly the things I want.
I don't know what Taxcalc's overall aims are, inevitably if they drift in a direction that pleases a bunch of their clients it'll almost certainly upset others. You can't please all the people all the time.
...but the move from lots of separate files to one hub is in my mind a great thing. One thing which I imagine might be relevant is that we have a few staff, accessing it from different PCs. I've almost forgotten how the old way used to work, but from memory it meant if I did something on one PC, it wouldn't automatically update the view other people had of things on their PC. Can't recall details, but I remember it being a bit annoying at times, and the hub solved that.