Smart input problems

Smart Input. What a misnomer! I have tried to remain positive and not be so cranky and opinionated. This year it just isn't working out for me.

The so-called Smart Input is driving me NUTS! Particularly when changing info on a pre-existing W-2 field.

I finally turned off the auto-add feature and it helped SOME. Still, it's handy in some areas and a nightmare in others!

I'm not sure how the smart input works this year. I finally toggled it off last year because it simply wouldn't let me correct entries that someone else had entered incorrectly. And if I tried to add a one time item it would not let me. I think the concept is great and would be beneficial but until they come up with a solution to let you spot change it off/on then I won't be toggling it back on.

All,

You can use the Settings --> Table Editor to make corrections to entries for Smart Input. If you make a fat-finger or typo, those get recorded as well as the correct entries.

How interesting, another post where the product is called "Lacerte 2007." Maybe Lacerte put that default in themselves, for their own reasons. I still say, this is the Lacerte 2006 program we're all writing these posts about, but as to my suggestions for the Table Editor:

(1) Let's say you disable the so-called "Smart" Input feature, and when you have some free time you do that Settings, Table Editor thing, and edit the table to avoid typos that got in there previously.

(2) Once the table is finally the way you like it, you get out of Lacerte, and save the table with a new name.

The "real" name of the table is Tables.W6, in the Option subdirectory known as:

c:lacerte6taxoption06.

You can COPY TABLES.W6 TABLSAVE.W6, or even give your saved file, the name of the date you edited the file to your liking. Say that happened on 031807. You might COPY TABLES.W6 TABL0318.W6. (By the way, folks, I'm a DOS user from way back when. If I know how to do something in DOS, I don't bother learning how to do it in Windows. So I'm telling you how I copy names in DOS. I suppose if you are more proficient with Windows than with DOS, you could do this same thing with Windows and its Graphic User Interface and right-clicking the mouse for Copy, and right-clicking the mouse for Paste, and right-clicking the mouse for Rename, or whatever Bill Gates wants you to do.)

(3) The next time someone in your office mis-types a name, and the new version of TABLES.W6 (which appears with a new date every time you use Lacerte, as nearly as I can tell) contains the typo, all you have to do is take your saved table that you knew was good -- in my example, TABL0318.W6 -- and COPY TABL0318.W6 TABLES.W6, and then say "yes" when Bill Gates asks "Are you sure you want to overwrite the file TABLES.W6."

I have a slightly new question on this same topic: why can't I edit any tables for the S-Corp program? I can only edit tables for the IND program. It's very annoying, that when I changed my e-mail address, I had to go to each S-Corp client's file and change my e-mail address manually for the e-mail that would appear on the PA corporate report. If I could have made a table for that new e-mail, I could have used it as a drop-down. Well, I did the next-best thing: after typing it manually once or twice, I got smart and highlighted my new e-mail in one client, did "Control-C" for copy, went to the next client, got to the required file,d and did "Control-V" for paste, then went to the 4th client, got to required field, and did "Control-V" for paste, again, etc etc, until I'd pasted 15 times for all my clients. Still, it's annoying not to have an editable table for S-Corp!

Sincerely,
Amy