At Intuit, software developers work year-round to keep the Lacerte professional tax preparation suite the most efficient and productive system available. It’s a demanding mission, considering the hundreds of tax law changes, new forms and other issues that arise annually. The continual evolution of technological advancements has led to smoother workflow, faster processing times and enhanced client collaboration.

But where do they get the ideas for improvements to the program? How does Intuit know what features professionals need? According to David Kramer, Director of Product Management for Lacerte, there’s a lot of watching and listening.

“It’s vitally important for us to learn from accountants. We spend literally thousands of hours observing tax and accounting professionals and how they work in their offices. They also help us by extensively testing beta versions of our programs before they are released,” he said.

Expanded E-Filing Options

From spending time with tax and accounting professionals and learning their workflow needs come innovative new features. One of the most beneficial enhancements to the Lacerte 2007 edition is expanded e-filing options, resulting in a more comprehensive product. The program now offers modules for 1120, 1120s and 1065 e-filing for MD, WI and KS, as well as 1120 and 1120s for GA business filers. The Maryland business e-filing module also includes extensions. Additionally, there is support for filing amended 1120 and 1120s returns for TY06 and TY07, amended 1065 and 990 returns for TY07, and support for electronically filing 1120 California returns.

Continued Ease of Use

Lacerte has long been commended for its user-friendly interface and navigation components, including the recent tax systems review by
The CPA Technology Advisor. “With a program like Lacerte that is continuously evolving to support current tax changes and technology innovations, it’s a challenge to keep the program intuitive and easy to use,” Kramer said. “But through our relationships with professional accountants and the time we spend listening to them, we’ve made Lacerte one of the easiest programs to use, while also being the most powerful professional tax system available.”

One of the key enhancements in the TY 2007 version will be immediately recognizable to users — eliminating potential workflow disruptions. They worked to provide more customizable notification of program updates and alerts, fix issues with workstations not updating, and allow users to update without rebooting. “Our goal was to make installation and updates quick and painless, so that the professional can keep working with client returns.”

Additionally, there are notable usability enhancements to the CTRL+T table functionality, making it easier to work with tables and saving time. The function now makes it easier to add, edit and delete CTRL+T table records, including the option to select and autofill data from a client’s EIN. Also improved are K-1 pass-through features and Schedule A diagnostics features.

New Solutions to Meet Changing Professional Needs

Users will also find new features in Lacerte designed to dramatically reduce the time spent providing service to clients, including the new Lacerte Trial Balance utility. Easily accessible from the icon toolbar, the Trial Balance system enables users to quickly perform trial balance work, such as developing charts of accounts, making adjusting journal entries and managing tax line assignments within Lacerte. It can also import from Excel, QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition, Easy ACCT and all accounting programs that can export to Excel.

For clients with capital gains or losses, Intuit has added another useful tool to expedite return preparation. The new Schedule D import function allows users to easily import stock sale information in Excel or CSF format into a client’s individual income tax return. This feature is the direct result of requests from Lacerte users — and especially useful with clients who are active traders.

Also New for TY 2007

In addition to these extensive additions and enhancements, Lacerte developers have built the program as a complete professional tax solution, incorporating the latest tax forms and worksheets. For TY 2007, the IRS has added more than 100 new forms and worksheets at the federal level; state governments continue to add to the challenge, too, including California’s new Registered Domestic Partner return, pending legislation from the California Franchise Tax Board.

Lacerte is now fully compatible with Microsoft’s Vista operating system, and Intuit provides support to customers who have migrated to the new platform or are considering the change.

2008 and Beyond …

Intuit’s Lacerte team continues to work toward making tax and accounting professionals more efficient, productive and profitable, especially when providing clients with tax compliance services. And according to Kramer, there are many other new features and enhancements that are coming soon — some by tax season — that will improve the user experience and reduce the time it takes to provide their most important client service.

For more information on Lacerte’s new features and enhancements for TY 2007, visit www.lacertesoftware.com/products/tax/new2007.aspx.