Discussion:Problems with Lacerte

We add client-specific notes to Screen 39, Worksheet that we would prefer our clients not see. In every other module, this sheet does not print in the Client Copy. But this sheet DOES print with the Client Copy in the S-Corp module. So now all of our S-Corp clients get to read our in-office notes that we have about them. Be very careful what you write!

I told Lacerte about this last year (2005). They did not fix it with Lacerte 2006.

This bug is only true in the S-Corp module, i.e. adding the General Information worksheet to the client copy of the C-Corp module will NOT add the "Federal Supplement Information" to the Client Copy.

I contacted the people who work on the S Corp program and they said they hadn't heard about this until earlier today when they received a similar report (not sure what happened to your report from last year). They're looking into it, but at first glance it does appear to be a defect. Thanks for letting us know about this, PVV!

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator - Talk to me 15:42, 1 February 2007 (CST)

Did you use the update within Lacerte? We did this yesturday and still have the date issue.

Anyone try to customize report headers with the tax planner that came out this week? We spent almost three hours on the phone with programmers yesturday and even they could not get it to work properly. Hope it gets corrected soon.

Larry, Did you say there is a Lacerte Forum? Where?

Go to the Discussion Forum Index (linked at the top of this page). In the bottom section, under Other Resources is a link to the Accountant Community. That's where the Lacerte Forums are.

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator - Talk to me 22:53, 1 February 2007 (CST)

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator - Talk to me 11:19, 2 February 2007 (CST)

Under CA law, you cannot use MACRS Depreciation. Most practitioners (that follow this non-conformity rule) use Double Declining Balance with a conversion to Straight Line. If the depreciation has converted to straight line, under certain circumstances, Lacerte is not calculating any current depreciation.

Did you also know that those filters will work on password-protected files?

So, even though you cannot see the AGI of a password protected file, you can still design a Filter to determine what the AGI of that password-protected client is.

Be aware that netting of boot is NOT allowed in a deferred exchange. Following Lacerte's recommendation to net the boot may lead to an understatement of income and an underpayment of taxes.

See discussions about boot netting at: http://www.taxalmanac.org/index.php/Discussion:1031_EXCHANGE-mortgage

"The diagnostic was added because a lot of users are looking for the kind of results they get when netting the amounts. However, after reviewing this post, the tax developer concurs and will be removing it in a later release."

- Tim Doyle, TaxAlmanac Moderator - Talk to me 10:45, 19 February 2007 (CST)

Lacerte does not proforma over the prior year's AMT Foreign Tax Credit Form 6251, Line 32 to the current year Form 8801, Line 12.

Therefore, the current year tax return may not be generating a Form 8801 Minimum Tax Credit if your client is due this credit. Or it may be generating the Form, but calculating a lower credit amount.

This is technically not a bug, as the current year Form 8801, Line 12 may not necessarily be the same number as the prior year Form 6251, Line 32. You are supposed to do a calculation of the Foreign Tax Credit claimed only on exclusion items. However, my experience has been that these are the same number.

Lacerte should have at least provided a Proforma Diagnostic and a current year Diagnostic alerting the user that this field was left blank.

After Tax ID # of company is entered end then you go down to enter the ER's name in and hit enter the fed ID # of the Er disappears and have to re-enter

Lacerte has made significant improvements over last year. By the way, I do not believe any tax preparation software complete like kind exchanges correctly. I do some every year and I have to calculate them using my private spreadsheet. Otherwise, I may get the wrong answer. I think this is just a complicated issue.