I have acquired a large client that was processed with Fast Tax software. Lacerte does not convert from that software. Short of re-entering all the data can anyone think of a way of accomplishing the conversion?
When and if I have time, I would enter all the information for the old return into the computer, get my computer numbers to match the old return, then I would transfer this to the new return I am preparing. If you are fairly new at tax preperation or tax preperation with Lacerte, this is a great training opportunity teaching you how to use the Lacerte program.
1.This works best by first entering the old return.
2. There might be things that need to be amended and this will show you what needs to be amended. I would wait on the amendment, until I have finished the current return, because sometimes in preparing the new return, you might find ommissions and errors in the old return.
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The above is time consuming, the other way is to be sure all the carry forward information is carried forward to the new return. The more experienced you are, the easier it is to be sure you have carried everything forward. For depreciation, you need to be sure to enter the prior depreciation and prior amt depreciation for each asset.
I agree with Peter's suggestion, and I would say that as to depreciation, you may need to make sure you input as your method, the same method that was actually used on the prior year return.
For example, I usually make my own default be the "actual SL or DDB" method, whereas Lacerte's usual default is the "IRS Tables" method. Sometimes when I've gotten a client whose previous accountant used Lacerte, and they gave me their Lacerte data files, I've still had to change my depreciation method to "IRS Tables" for just that client, in order to be "in synch" with the actual past returns.
You can override the depreciation method for the one client, while keeping your usual default for all other clients.
Peter - just out of curiousity, I thought you said that you now had spell check available to you through Firefox. If that is the case, why do you have preparation spelled as preperation twice in your answer? Is the spell check feature not working properly?
Writing of which, IMRN and Peter, how do you get SpellCheck thru Firefox? It's an add-on program, or something built into Firefox? If it's built in, where would I find the checkmark icon (or whatever the icon would be) on my screen?
Amy - I'm not using it but Peter had a post about it on the ProSeries forum yesterday. I believe it is built in, but I am sticking with my own spelling abilities for the time being and choosing not to download another program into my computer.
