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TaxCalc upgrade process tests users' patience

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13th Jul 2005
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In its eagerness to inform its customers about the latest upgrade to its TaxCalc 2005 self assessment program, supplier ASP sent out thousands of emails last week - many to the same users.

The email torrent was an additional irritant for some TaxCalc users, who have been waiting since April for the full collection of self assessment forms to arrive. The email messages which started going out on Monday 4 July informed users that the latest update, including partnership and other SA800 forms would be available on Friday 8 July. The next release, due for the week beginning 25 July, is scheduled to include a CT600 form.

TaxCalc confirmed that the new code was posted for download on the TaxCalc website at 6.27pm on Friday afternoon. AccountingWEB member Peter Watkin received nearly 4,000 email messages, and after deleting them from his in-tray, he downloaded the new version of TaxCalc on Monday morning.

In a subsequent posting and in correspondence with AccountingWEB, Watkin remained unimpressed with the software.

The 8 July update does include a partnership return, Watkin noted, but the notes on many of the forms mode refer to the tax year 2003/04. "I cannot and will not give this to my clients," he noted.

Other areas of concern highlighted by Watkin include:

  • The figures carried forward figures from previous year was that year's brought forward figure rather than the closing figure (ie instead of 2004 closing figure it brought forward 2004 opening figure)
  • Importing agent's details and other information from 2004 forms has been inconsistent between the updates to the 2005 code. Agent's details which were successfully imported with the first release now have to be rekeyed and for other information, the has to import data to a welcome page, open the return from there and then save the return as a 2005 version before starting work.

    In Watkin's view, TaxCalc 2005 is not ready for use and has to be checked before releasing to clients. "This is just not good enough and I am now looking at other more reliable software," he commented.

    Another user, Barry Hawkins, told AccountingWEB, "It's called TaxCalc but it doesn't look much like the original." From a quick look at the new version, he added, "It seemed alright and quite user friendly."

    ASP, the Exeter-based company that took on TaxCalc from its previous owner Intuit has struggled to keep up with the development and support workload. The previous update was delivered in June and received mixed reviews from users on AccountingWEB.

    Responding to questions from AccountingWEB, ASP chief executive Tracy Ebdon-Poole commented: "Due to the lateness of completion with Intuit we have had a 12-week period in which to operate. Unfortunately we have missed certain deadlines but we have endeavoured to communicate this effectively to our customers in an open and honest fashion.

    "We have made huge progress and SA800 is now released and the CT600 will be released before the end of July. The next priority will be to add on some additional user features and benefits," she said.

    "TaxCalc has the resources and commitment to the business for the long-term not just 2005. Andy Hardy, who joined us from Intuit, is TaxCalc's development director and he is dedicated to building on the success of 2005. TaxCalc 2006 will be even more user friendly than 'old' TaxCalc with many more useful features and benefits."

    On the bugs highlighted by Watkin, Ebdon-Poole said the on-screen dates on partnership form notes were incorrect (and were fixed over the weekend of 9-10 July), but the forms have always printed with the correct dates.

    "The few import items referred to have been corrected and are in the next live update," she added. "If your readers have comments and problems we are always keen to talk to them on a one-to-one basis."

    Several AccountingWEB members have also expressed frustration both with the delays in delivering new updates and with the lack of response from the TaxCalc support team. I MacDonald found that the contact number on the TaxCalc website played a recorded message.

    Ebdon-Poole explained: "We moved premises in June and like most other businesses we were subject to the vagaries of telecoms suppliers. Our Customer helpline number is 0870 351 0006. The email [email protected] is also an efficient way of communicating with TaxCalc."

    The multiple email messages, she added, resulted from a well known bug in Microsoft's Small Business Server that created a resend loop. TaxCalc was not responsible for this activity,she said, but had contacted the users affected and pointed them to a Microsoft software patch to cure the problem.

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    Replies (15)

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    avatar
    By cbales
    16th Feb 2006 16:54

    TaxCalc is now a serious contender and very ggod value
    Of course its not perfect, but the year 1 achievement has been more than OK.

    Individual, partnership and corporation tax returns and FBI have all worked out well.

    FBI has been brilliant and an absolute doddle as it was in the 2004 Intuit version of the program.

    Support has been good and has not required a multi-layer key selection to be able to speak to them either.

    They are no longer at Exeter but why some people have considered that software authored and maintained in the West Country to be a disadvantage beats me. After all, a major player in the tax software market was only 10 miles away at Exmouth!

    Value for money? The whole package for less than £300 surely is well worthy of serious consideration and the 2006 version can only be better still.

    Thanks (0)
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    By Albasas
    20th Jul 2005 11:59

    ASP; Most Wanted?
    Maybe we should all employ the services of the claimed psychic and namesake Derek Achorah of The Most Haunted team to find ESP. Exeter is nice at this time of the year. Sorry that's ASP, (Achorah Software Products, and not Exeter S P) of course typo! Lovely mental image though!

    Aweb could brand a taxcalc type product? David Ross below has the expertise.You all have a good base from which to start from. Is the old Intuit version negotiable at all? Makes sound commercial sense.

    Thanks (0)
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    By mohan1
    19th Jul 2005 14:37

    Update
    I received a call from TaxCalc today and they said that the reason why they have a backlog of unanswered support requests is because of the mass mailing they did that went wrong resulting in an unanticipated high volume of calls, etc.

    They helped me sort out one of my two queries. The other one needed looking into and, since it was not vital for me to have it answered immediately and knowing that TaxCalc was under pressure to deal with other more pressing issues, I agreed to leave it to them to reply to me in due course.

    I do hope they get it right eventually because it could save me time in filing my tax return.

    Thanks (0)
    John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
    By John Stokdyk
    18th Jul 2005 18:25

    TaxCalc are answering the helpline number
    Mohan,

    I've been in pretty regular contact with TaxCalc to check on the status of the updates and helplines and to raise your comments with the company.

    Last week I did get unobtainable sounds and a recorded message on the 0870 351 0006 number. As the article explains, TaxCalc said they'd had some trouble with their phone system, but by the time the story was published on Thursday, the number was working.

    I tried it just now (Monday 5:30pm) and it was anwsered by a helpful person who said they'd been working overtime to handle support calls. If you have any difficulties with the helpline number, try 08708 776655, which also worked for me last week.

    John Stokdyk
    Technology editor
    AccountingWEB.co.uk

    Thanks (0)
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    By mohan1
    18th Jul 2005 19:01

    They have not replied to my fax or email
    I am still awaiting a reply to my fax of 5th July and my email sent a few days earlier to TaxCalc (Acorah Software Products Ltd). I started off with a lot of goodwill for them and hoped that they would continue to provide an adequate software as Intuit did. However, after wasting a lot of time because of their defective software, the last straw was when I could not could not contact them by phone (including today morning) and they would not reply to my email or fax.

    I bought ProTax light and it completed my return and calculated my tax correctly. It would not allow me to FBI due to an error. I emailed them and they replied promptly informing me as to how to fix it. I will file my return next month and do not expect to have any problems. If I do, at least I can hope that Forbes will answer my email promptly and help me fix it without delay.

    Thanks (0)
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    By daveforbes
    18th Jul 2005 11:14

    alternative
    You can check out our software at www.tax.co.uk. It will read in your 2004 taxcalc files and you can try a demo version before parting with your cash !

    Thanks (0)
    avatar
    By mohan1
    18th Jul 2005 10:17

    They cannot be contacted by phone and will not respond to emails
    Mr Ebdon-Poole of TaxCalc (Acorah Software Products Ltd) explained: "We moved premises in June and like most other businesses we were subject to the vagaries of telecoms suppliers. Our Customer helpline number is 0870 351 0006. The email [email protected] is also an efficient way of communicating with TaxCalc."

    The phone number quoted above is answered with a message "It is not possible to leave a message for the required person now. Please try calling back later". The message has changed but the problem remains.

    Apart from numerous phone calls, I had also sent them an email and a fax many days ago to which they have not responded.

    The bugs in TaxCalc make it unusable for me as a couple of things are incorrect and cannot be over-ridden manually. Their latest version, that I downloaded today, does not fix these problems and Acorah Software Products (TaxCalc) do not want to know.

    All I need is something like the old Intuit's TaxCalc to do my personal tax computation and file it by internet. Would anyone please recommend a product that I can use?

    Thanks (0)
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    By Barry Hawkins
    15th Jul 2005 23:18

    Comments not wanted!
    I have emailed Taxcalc on several occasions to ask them to sort out their email problem. I am now getting the reponse that my emails are being deleted without being read. I am as busy (if not busier) than they are and do not want to have to spend time every day clearing my inbox which has been clogged with their spam.
    If their software is as good as their response to my emails then I too will be looking for an alternative supplier of tax form software.

    Thanks (0)
    By PAULGACC
    15th Jul 2005 10:52

    NOT IMPRESSED
    It is now 10 days since the original email was sent from Taxcalc and they are still coming through with another large batch arrived this morning. They say this a bug in the Microsoft small business server and not their fault but we have not had multiple emails from anyone else, only from Taxcalc. They quote their customer helpline number as a method of contact, but this is just a recorded message that points you to the website. We sent an email to them several days ago and it appears this has just been ignored.Quite frankly I am not impressed but I suppose the more proffessional software suppliers would say this is what you get if you deal with a small untried and untested supplier. Although they have tried to pass the buck re the multiple email disaster, I have not yet heard their excuse for the distribution of our email addresses to everyone, or is that the same excuse?

    Thanks (0)
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    By User deleted
    15th Jul 2005 12:07

    Ignored emails
    I've recieved another 300 emails from Taxcalc in the last two days. So much for them stopping over a week ago. Why have they started again? I emailed Taxcalc but surprise surprise no response.

    ""Responding to questions from AccountingWEB, ASP chief executive Tracy Ebdon-Poole commented: "Due to the lateness of completion with Intuit we have had a 12-week period in which to operate. Unfortunately we have missed certain deadlines but we have endeavoured to communicate this effectively to our customers in an open and honest fashion.""

    I haven't received any emails apologising for missing deadlines. The only email I received was the infamous one of 2 weeks ago of which I have now received in excess of 4,300.

    As for the Partnership return the dates were wrong on the screen. They showed 2003/04 it's irrelevant that it printed OK if they can't get the dates right what else is wrong with the software that we don't know about?

    Their careless and shoddy attitude towards all users who have already paid for this in full really is not good enough.

    I have asked for a refund but yes you guessed it my email has been totally ignored despite the assurances as noted in the main article above.

    ""Ebdon-Poole explained: "We moved premises in June and like most other businesses we were subject to the vagaries of telecoms suppliers. Our Customer helpline number is 0870 351 0006. The email [email protected] is also an efficient way of communicating with TaxCalc.""

    What a load of rubbish, has anybody had a reply from these people in the past week or two? I know I haven't

    Not only have we paid for software which clearly is not what was advertised but we also have to pay the extortionate telephone rates on 0870 if we need support. Wouldn't mind if the thing worked properly in the first place.

    After many years of using a very professional piece of software I will not be renewing next year. Their whole attitude stinks.

    Thanks (0)
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    By Albasas
    13th Jul 2005 14:00

    ASP Really Do Bug You, But Then So Did The Intuit Nit Wits.
    I'm Sorry ASP, but it really is as dreadful as all the negative reports coming out keep saying. Warning; Anything else to the contrary hereafter, above, is just probably sycophantic. Certainly for practice work anyway it toils like anything. For instance it doesn't spot all common FBI errors like too many characters. These will be returned all the same if you do a test transmission first- recommended! When ASP's Taxcalc says its ready to file with no errors that's a worthless claim in my experience.Then there is all the bugged boxes which just wont tick. Necessitating in the manual form override route. The recent up date gave unnecessary error messages as well. Still, I may commit myself to another year with you after this one since as a user I'm developing the original V.1 software and presumably their business for them. So I'd like a return on the initial outlay and input. Surely, it can't get any worse next year ASP? For instance where are the promised CT600 pages as well as above mentioned partnership? Money back? Sometimes IR's free software is the better option over ASP's bugged to frustration Taxcalc software. Oh! It's really bad but just in the short term... of course we hope.

    To add insult, again, I came across a copy of my Intuit Professional Advisors mail shot which fanfared their intended improvements to taxcalc in 2005! I didn't renew because of that cheeky dupe- I remembered! I'm feeling good again! Thanks to Intuit I'm going down the right route now. Maybe ASP will, soon..... Or they will go the way of the unreliable Intuit.

    Thanks (0)
    David Ross
    By davidross
    14th Jul 2005 13:01

    How does it 'toil' for Practice work?
    I have a keen interest in what practitioners require. in writing our product Tax Manager I have included what we need in our own Accountancy practice. At the moment we are working on internet submission and a simple invoicing model.

    I would be interested in hearing what past professional customers of TaxCalc have to say

    www.fairbalance.co.uk

    Thanks (0)
    avatar
    By ugdiv
    14th Jul 2005 13:18

    TaxCalc2005
    I sent a long e-mail to ASP detailing all the faults I have found. No reply. So I phoned them and they told me all feedback was considered. Yeh, right.

    One of the most basic requirements of a data entry system is to use the ENTER key. All they have to do is convert it to the TAB character and it's done. But no. So you have to reach over the other side of the keyboard and press TAB. Even then TABbing after the last textbox should take you to the NEXT button. But no. You have to reach for the mouse.
    It doesn't even carry forward the GENDER of the client. Basic stuff.

    I used to program data entry systems for accounts production. Is there anyone out there who could who would be interested helping to develop a TaxCalc that actually works? You would need the understand all the IR forms (I currently only use SE pages plus the Core pages. Any offers?
    What other software is out there, which is useable?

    Thanks (0)
    Chris Caspell CTA TEP
    By ccaspell
    15th Jul 2005 09:48

    TaxCalc 2005 not based on Intuit version
    In a recent conversation with ASP I was told that the current version of Tax Calc was not based on the Intuit code as Intuit would not pass on the souce code. Therefore ASP are employing the original team from Which that manufactured the code in the first place to re-write it from scratch: not an easy task I would think.

    Personally I am supporting this effort even though there are some major flaws. The team at ASP seem to be keen but I worry that despite their enthusiasm they don't have the wherewithall to bring it off. I shall continue this year and reassess the next version.

    Thanks (0)
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    By youngloch
    15th Jul 2005 10:16

    As if life isnt hard enough....
    Like many when ASP took over from Intuit I thought "great news" and breathed a sigh of relief expecting to receive for our money simply an updated version of the Intuit software for 2005 with added extra of CT800 returns.....

    I feel that this is a case of misselling their product to us.... was it pointed out that this would in fact be simply a new program with the capability to import data from Taxcalc 2004? I expected to install the new program and find EXACTLY the same program engine as before - why else call it Taxcalc?

    The problem is the errors are so obvious and so basic that it makes you wonder if ASP really do understand how to prepare a tax return in the first place or whether they have simply sat down with an IR tax calculation guide and just had a go at it! This all means that I have very little faith in the program itself and find myself manually checking the return far more than I would have before.

    Some of the issues that annoy me are:

    The program is so slow now - no longer can you fly through a return in 20 minutes.... there is a delay in simply moving from one box to the next which gives the same sensation as if you were using an old 486 computer!

    After importing data from 2004 the computer doesnt like it if there is a line gap in the address... begging the question why import it in this format in the first place only to demand a manual change by the user (once youve worked out why the error has come up!)

    The capital account in the balance sheet is just plain ridiculous - wrong opening balance (would be better if it was just left blank than to put the wrong figure in) and it doesnt even reference in the profit!

    On the SE pages it doesnt put in the basis period meaning a manual input....

    And how long does it take to print the return!!.......... It's all very nice that it does it through Adobe but I was quite happy with the way it worked before....

    All in all I am on the brink of changing to another supplier for tax software - ASP need to sort things out... and very very quickly... preparing a return is taking twice as long and that constitutes a cost to our practice of more than just the software cost!

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