Confused accountant

Several accounting and tax publications routinely rate tax software. The Journal of Accountancy published an article in October 2007 comparing several packages including Lacerte and ProSeries. See http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2007/Oct/UsersGradeTaxSof....

I personnally have used Lacerte since 1999 and have found it very reliable. It may be a little more expensive than ProSeries but can prepare more forms. If you expect to do more complicated returns then it may be worth investing in Lacerte. If you expect to do simpler returns then ProSeries may be less expensive. Both packages have many loyal users.

Depending upon what state you are located in, the local CPA society often also surveys the users in the area to find which tax software packages are most used. Call your local state Society and talk with someone in that office to see if they have any local statistics. Surprisingly there are regional favorites. If you find the package that is most popular in your area, there may be more people who can help you when you are trying something new or having problems.

Another factor to consider would be if you expect to have another tax preparer mentor you during the early years. Find out what software that person uses and seriously consider using that software so if you have questions your mentor can answer your questions more easily.

I would recommend Proseries for you for 3 reasons:

1/ Pro Series is a little more user friendly than Lacerte, it's easier for you to overide its calculation than with Lacerte.

2/ Price for Pro Series is easier for a new player like you

3/ It seems like you don't have a mentor right now to explain the difference between Peo Series and Lacerte, by using Pro Series, you would have a good chance to call your networkers to have your questions asked during tax season.

You should call Intuit and ask them to send you the demo CDs for the above two and try them out. The best part is their technical supports are very good, especially this time of the year.