Features

• Tax software guides users through IRS returns
• Interview-based wizard system
• Up-to-date with latest federal tax law
• Checks math and audit flags
• Includes tax publications and expert advice

Reviews (164)

Computes Passive Loss Limitations incorrectly
In computing the passive loss accumulation for rental property, it adds in all other passive losses, not just those in the same category.

Surprised at all the negative reviews
I am so surprised to see all the negative reviews. My turbotax worked fine. I usually do my taxes by hand, but I have used turbotax in the past. I did download any updates that became available. I also got the state version and e-filed for both. All of it went incredibly smoothly. If you just have to fill out 1040EZ it isn't worthwhile, but the auto fill in is a big time saver for 1040 filers, especially if you have to do the capital gains calculations.

Turbo Tax 2003 was a COMPLETE RIP OFF!!!
I have used TT for the past 5 years with no problems. This year, however, due to it's software glitch, I received a message on April 18 that the IRS had not accepted my return because it didn't match the info from my 2002 return (which was also filed using TT) and my PIN was incorrect. I had already gone through the update procedures, received verification of my PIN and no changes had been made to my 2002 return. I ended up filing by snail mail and included a letter to the IRS listing all the problems I'd had with TT. I don't even know to this day what is happening with my Fed return. Fortunately, I'm supposed to get a refund (although that may now be eaten up by penalties for late filing).

I also had trouble with the 2003 State version of TT and ended up filing that by snail mail, as well. I just received my State refund so guess that went okay (so far, anyway).

I will be demanding a refund from Intuit for the Fed and State versions of 2003 TT as soon as I find out what happened with my Fed return. I will also demand a refund of the charge they applied to my credit card for e-filing, which never happened. I know others who have had the same problems with the 2003 TT. If Intuit doesn't refund our monies, perhaps a class action lawsuit will persuade them otherwise.

Incredible waste of money
I bought this product after using Taxcut for years. Taxcut has gone rebate crazy and I thought I'd give Turbo Tax a try. Bought the product in December of 2003 for some tax planning. It would not read Tax cut files - how incredible. The update to read Taxcut files wasn't available until Jan 2004 and then it would not read state files from Taxcut. Then there was a printing problem where the solution was to manually search font files and manually delete them and reinstall the program. I wound up buying Taxcut to do my taxes. Just for comparison I entered the same data into both programs - TurboTax came up with different results- owed more taxes. Now I remember why I stopped using Quicken and anything else to do with Intuit. How this company stays in business with putting out this kind of software is hard to explain. Stay away.

Terrible Customer Service System
We had problems with TurboTax this year due to the fact it was issued before all the necessary data was available and we experienced complications with downloading the needed info.

As there is no way to contact Intuit via phone, I used the "Chat's Care System" - instantaneous emailing. They told me to return the product for a refund - I was impressed. My return package arrived at Intuit - with confirmation of receipt - but no refund was issued. I contacted Customer Service, via the chat's system again. Customer Service said it could do nothing, had no fax machine at which to receive info, and that Returns has no phone at which I could contact them. Customer service suggested I send a letter to Returns and ended the chat session.

Due to the TurboTax downloading complications, we worked with a tax accountant for the first time this year. I planned to return to TurboTax next year but no longer think so after my experience with Customer Service. Ultimately, I invested time, talked with no one, and left with my problem unresolved. For me, paying a little extra to sit down face-to-face with an accountant who is not only service-oriented, but able to educate me on taxes in the process, is a far better choice than TurboTax. ... Read more

Features

• Robust, automated accounting features for small businesses
• Compensation management; over 140 reports; customizable forms
• Serialized inventory and departmentalized reporting
• Multi-user options; new-company setup wizard; multiple help options
• Crystal Reports for Peachtree included

Features

• Financial management system for businesses
• Import data from popular office software
• Tools for invoicing, paying bills and tracking expenses
• Easily create forms and reports
• Simple guides for most common business procedures

Reviews (5)

sad
Poor support. No support, even the free stuff without handing over your credit card first. Updates are just charges for new version numbers. You can't use the payroll system without paying for their monthly service. Irritating pop-ups trying to sell you more stuff while you are trying to do book work. And yes I still own it and have for a few years. It has its good points. Pretty easy to set up and use. Kinda stuck at the moment. Believe it or not I switched to this from a worse program, Peachtree. My only salvation is I only need it for two more years then it goes in the trash.

QuickBooks - 2004 release is just a waste of money
It's amazing that a company can sit for 3 years and add SO little innovation.

Having used quickbooks for over 5 years i am really dissapointed with the the 2004 release. It's basically a re-wrap of a product from over 4 years ago. Definately NOT worth the value. Consider other options unless you are absolutely stuck.

Nothing to look forward to in this version.

A RIP-OFF!
I will be sooooo glad when some other company besides Intuit comes up with a quality accounting program. Intuit's greed is really getting out of hand. I was basically *forced* to buy this new 2004 version due the "sunsetting" (their own stupid term) on Business Services for the 2001 version. Business Services is crucial to my job, because I'm constantly e-mailing invoices, which, of course (!) has to be done through Quickbooks Business Services. I was totally happy with my 2001 version and did not have any other need to upgrade! This should be against the law. I used to just enter paycheck amounts by hand (I did not want to shell out for tax tables, because we only have 2 employees, and let's face it it's not that hard to do yourself for just 2 employees), but not anymore! Now I'm being *forced* to subscribe to a payroll service! And I can only presume that this is the way it's going to be every few years...shell out a few hundred bucks for this garbage even when you don't need it, otherwise they won't provide Business Services to you...like I said, a RIP OFF!!

Overpriced and underperforming.
Buyers beware! QuickBooks will not even allow you to write a simple paycheck! Intuit makes you sign up for their "Do-It-Yourself Payroll" and charges you an additional $169. That's what Intuit calls a "Great Value".
If you run a really small company, look somewhere else for your accounting software. You'll be purchasing a new version of Quick Books every year as well as their "great" overpriced services.

Prospective Purchaser Alert
Prospective purchasers of this product would do well to read the customer reviews of Quickbooks Pro 2004 before making their purchase, as many of the same issues should apply. ... Read more

Product Description

Peachtree Simply Accounting 2005 Basic.Simply Accounting 2005 Basic was designed for fast moving businesses. It's easy to learn and use, yet powerful enough to keep up with all your accounting needs. Whether you sell products or services, Simply Accounting Basic has all you need to run your business. It automates everything from making purchases to making sales and everything in between. It's even flexible enough to meet the most demanding payroll requirements. ... Read more

Features

• Track projects; over 100 industry-specific starter templates
• Easy-to-use accounting tools for running a business
• Manage customers and suppliers; run business reports
• Handle employee payroll; generate checks and invoices
• Productivity tips and advice for 100+ business types

Reviews (2)

Accounting Idiot
I currently use Ver. 2004 and have not upgraded to v. 2005 but I can say that I love this software.It is inexpensive and does everything you need it to do.

I only took one accounting class (hated it) almost 15 years ago so I knew very little about how to keep my own books.I just started my own business and thought I should have some formal record of my financials even if my accountant would have to clean it up later.Simply accounting had wonderful tutorials on CD (included) and I was able to go directly to what area I needed help with.I have to admit that I had to start over with a new company a couple of times because I messed up some entries, but that was because I am not an accountant and didn't want a bunch of adjustments to correct entries.

I read the other review and yes, you do get a pop-up window that asks if you are sure you want to enter something older than 7 days, but you can change that in the options.I don't have a lot of paperwork yet so I probably enter documents in maybe once or twice a month and I have NO problems with these infrequent entries.

I even created my own personalized invoices, POs, receipts, etcthat match my letterhead.I can email or print these out for clients.It sends emails through Outlook.

The best part is the wizard.When you set up a new company, the wizard will ask you what type of business you are running and then develop an account list based on that.I was able to add and delete my own as I went along.

If you believe you can be taught accounting, give this program a try.

Hard to use and unforgiving of errors
I've used Simply Accounting for my small business for 12 months. It is a decent basic accounting package with all the features you would expect. However, it is hard to work with and extremely unforgiving.

The first problem is that Simply Accounting assumes that you will always enter all transactions in ascending date order, and that you use the program at least every week. The root cause is Simply Accounting's concept of the "current session date". The program complains if you enter any transaction that is more than 7 days before or after this date. It also complains if you then try to move the session date to another date more than 7 days away -- as if this were some major accounting heresy. So if you are going through your paperwork catching up on your accounts at the end of the month, this gets incredibly annoying very quickly.

Secondly, if you ever have the temerity to enter one transaction that precedes any other, you get another warning that the earlier transaction will affect any reports you might have run. Gee, there's a surprise. There is no way to turn this annoying warning off. So you'd better order all your paperwork by date, or else suffer death by a thousand clicks to dismiss this warning message every time.

Thirdly, if you make a mistake entering a transaction, there is no way to go back and correct the transaction. You can reverse transactions, but this means adding a second transaction to back out the old one and a third for the corrected transaction. I understand that this is important for audit trail purposes, but make it possible to collapse the audit trail into a single transaction. If you're just fat fingered like me or forget to change the date from the last transaction (this happens to me a lot), your accounts become littered with incorrect transactions and their reversals -- three transactions for each mistake. If renders any kind of reporting on account transactions almost useless, because the debit and credit columns are swelled by (irrelevant) transaction errors and their corrections. I'm a one-man business -- I don't need an audit trail to show that I messed up the date of a payment or invoice. It obscures the view of how well/badly my business is actually doing.

The user interface compounds these problems. For most transactions, you want to enter the date, the payee or payor, the amount(s), and the account(s) to book the expense/revenue against. However, the forms are not laid out in this order on the screen. You'll need to navigate by mousing and clicking extensively to get to these fields and enter the relevant information. This is why it's so very easy to get the wrong date for a transaction -- not only is the date field not the first on the form, you need to press Tab more than 6 times to get there from the payee/payor field. To enter the account efficiently, you'll need to have memorized its 4 digit code. No, you can't start typing the first few characters of the name of the account and have the software auto-complete. If you click on the pick-list of accounts, they are ordered by account code and not alphabetically, which makes it vastly harder to find the account you want to use.

Finally, the software assumes you are fluent in accounting jargon, terminology and practices. It claims to have a mode where it uses "non accounting terms" but this is more confusing than using the actual terms themselves. There's no help for novice business owners -- you'll need to get a basic grounding in account-keeping because the software and manuals offer little to no help. ... Read more

Features

• Financial management system for businesses
• Import data from popular office software
• Easily manage accounts payable and receivable
• Create business plans using existing data
• Advanced accounting, inventory and asset tools

Product Description

Quicken WillMaker Plus 2004 provides you with the legal forms you need to help protect your family's future. Each interactive form takes you through a step-by-step interview - Quicken WillMaker Plus assembles the documents you need based on your answers. Includes Wills and Living Trusts, Healthcare Directives, Powers of Attorney, Child and Elder Care Agreements, and more! ... Read more

Features

• Create a will that reflects your needs, to make sure friends and family are provided for
• Avoid expensive probate fees by creting a living trust, including an AB(bypass) that saves you from heavy estate taxes
• Name a trusted family member or friend to care for your finances in case you can't do it yourself
• Save money for your survivors by handling your final arrangements in advance
• Create executor documents that make sure your estate is handled according to your wishes

Reviews (1)

2004 Quicken Willmaker
This software thinks of every form you'd ever need, whether you're the person drawing up your own will or the executor of someone else's.The only drawback - it doesn't download to a Word doc for easy transport.It also stores vital contact info + provides options for different states. ... Read more

Features

• Accurately value donations in compliance with IRS guidelines
• Values based on extensive research of resale outlets and market data
• Powerful search tool provides value based on condition and style
• Instantly transfer into TurboTax; auto-fills donation tax form
• Easily access IRS publications; prints reports and receipts

Features

• Robust, automated accounting features for small businesses
• In-depth inventory; over 140 reports; customizable forms
• Serialized inventory and departmentalized reporting
• For up to five users; easy setup wizard; multiple help options
• Crystal Reports for Peachtree included

Features

• Tax software guides users through state tax returns
• Interview-based wizard system
• Up-to-date with latest state tax law
• Checks math and audit flags
• Contains all the forms users will need

Reviews (14)

If you TurboTax for Federal, you have to try this!
If you use TurboTax to assist you with your Federal income tax return and haven't yet tried the State version, you have to try it. It is definitely worth it!

The State version will automatically read in everything you've already done for the Federal version - which cuts down your time immensely! You have to answer a few State-specific questions, like your county of residence - but you'll be done with the whole thing in about 5 to 10 minutes. Well worth the price to save me that much time and hassle!

A word of caution, however: Although it is labeled "multistate" you actually only get to use it for one state for the license fee; if you want more than one state you will need to call Intuit, pay another fee, and they'll give you a code for the next state.

TURBO TAX STATE FOR VIRGINIA ROCKS!
You're a fool if you don't use Turbo Tax State in Virginia. This is my second year using TT and it was even easier the second time around. The new addition imports everything you punched in the year before and therefore takes less time to complete. Since you can't do state without having loaded TT Deluxe, the video on the CD walks you through the process and sends you to the answer if you type in a search. I had absolutely no trouble using TTS in Virginia and had my state and federal refunds within a week of e-filing. Yeah, within a week. (...)

Additionally, by going through the step by step questionnaire TTS reminded me to include charity work and charitable contributions, which increased my refunds. You don't even need to buy the physical product. Once you've loaded TTD or the federal variation, you can download states off the internet.

This product is better than last year. I highly recommend it. You won't be sorry.

My only criticism of TT products is you can only e-file one time per purchase. (...)The secret to fast returns is e-filing.

Piece of cake!
Flawless and no problems. I have switched to Intuit because prior programs (Tax Cut and Tax Act) would not allow me to e-file my state return (Arizona), because they did not contain a form I needed for a state credit. Turbo Tax solved that issue last year and this year as well. State program installs with a blink of the eye, and complements Turbo Tax Deluxe beautifully. This was only my second year with Intuit, but plan to 3-peat next year.

correcting information in state tax form not possible
I did my federal tax with turbotax delux and my state tax also with turbotax.
I made some errors entering information. The federal form allowed me to make corrections after I was done.
However, the state interview denies me access. Maybe I need to start all over or do it by hand.
The State program is grap. I send an email to the company but did not get any reply.

New York Commuter / New Jersey Resident Still Wrong
ATTENTION INTUIT: A BAD free state download is worse than no state download.

Unfortunately, this year's version still does not know how to back out taxes paid to NY State (where I work) and apply them to New Jersey (where I live).

Will you guys just fix this already?!?!?!!!!! ... Read more

Features

• Tax preparation software with step-by-step guidance and free electronic filing
• Imports data from Quicken, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Money software
• Puts answers on IRS-approved forms; double checks return for accuracy
• Includes latest tax law changes; download and import W-2 and 1099 forms online
• Assists calculating optimum withholding situation for personal needs

Features

• Automated accounting for small businesses
• Easy invoicing; convenient check writing; 35+ customizable reports
• Provides fast start-up; 20+ instructional demos; multiple help options
• Peachtree Today for an instant snapshot of business financials
• Includes 30 days of free support for first-time customers

Features

• Tax software guides users through IRS returns
• Interview-based wizard system
• Up-to-date with latest federal tax law
• Checks math and audit flags
• Very simple to use

Reviews (34)

hopelessly annoying,needlessly confusing,potentially expensi
I've never used tax software before. While it has some advantages, there are sufficient traps,confusions and incompletions to make this a potentially hazardous undertaking. Little things like being very obtuse about including your estimated tax in total taxes. Big things like not having the rules for underpayment penalty of taxes in the software. Come on guys, it's not that hard they're in IRS Pub 17. Dumb things like trying to assess a premature IRA withdrawl penalty for a 1099-R pertaining to a matured life insurance policy. Then there's the mess with Sched K-1. None of these are ready yet, try downloading. 5 hours later, it gets all the way through and crashes. In some ways it was better than manual. At least it would have been if I could control it and or complete it. I guess I'll just use this as a set of crib notes for manual prep. Oh well

Updates a pain, but TurboTax did its job
I didn't have a problem using TurboTax last year (even with the software activation) so I used it again this year. The software with its interview format worked for me, was able to save my return as pdf and e-file without a hassle. The only real pain was getting the updates. I had to go to Intuit's website to look for info and play around with my broadband connection to get the updates to download.

My return has gotten easier over the past few years but with the update annoyance, I may just buy TaxCut next year. I don't import last year's stuff so Intuit - give me a reason to get TurboTax 2004.

Worth it if you're going to itemize...otherwise forget it
Okay, the download process was a nightmare as described by my earlier review. However, three hours later I have a very comprehensive itemized return, which would have been way too complex to do on my own without the guidance of the filing questions. The good news is that I had done my taxes by hand last night and came up with a large amount owed, and after using the deductions calculator in TurboTax ended up with a refund instead. So it more than paid for itself.
My major complaint is that there appears to be no way to review the content of your return until the very last "print and submit" step, and I wanted to check the numbers prior to actually submitting it.

Frustrating download errors!
After 20 or 30 attempts to run the V-box installer program after dowloading it from the Amazon digital library, I was just about to request a refund when my boyfriend starting doing some troubleshooting research for me. Here's what he figured out:
Once you download the installer and try to run it, if you keep getting the error: "3001 Encountered unexpected error when trying to locate product...etc.", there is a browser setting you need to change. (This applies to IE 6.0+, Windows 2000 and XP at a minimum, since I attempted the install on 2 different machines).
Go to Tools-->Internet Options in your browser menu, then to the Connections tab and the LAN Settings button. Uncheck the "Automatically Detect Settings" box if it is checked and try running the installer again. Worked for me. Just be sure to recheck the box and close your browser afterwards.
Seeing as how frustrating just OBTAINING the software was, I'm really skeptical about using it, especially after reading all the other reviews...

The Last Time I Will Use Turbo Tax
When it imported my information from 2002 it also picked up internet connection data that is no longer valid. Since then I have gone to broadband with a new ISP. It simply refuses to recognize my new connection information. When I tried to update the program by going to their support site through my browser, I simply could not get on despite repeated attempts. I guess everyone is trying to get support for this buggy software. As a result, I can't print out some of my forms because it tells me I must update first. Now it is totally useless. BEWARE ... Read more

Features

• Manage your finances more efficiently -Schedule your bill payments, collect recurring payments or service fees, or create a check draft for immediate deposit
• Track all accounts, check payments and receipts online from one location
• Import records from financial software or print filled out checks directly through QuickPass
• Send checks by email, or create new drafts by phone and fax
• Draw from 300 hand-crafted images to add to your checks, with Check Designer PRO

Features

• Easy-to-use contact and customer-manager software
• Access, organize, and manage contact details
• Stay on top of schedule 24/7; share customer info securely
• Enhanced group scheduling; link to Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds
• Includes Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition

Features

• Create Invoices & Estimates
• Generate Purchase Orders
• Manage Receivables & Aging
• Automatic Tax Calculation
• Track Product Inventory

Features

• An easy-to-use, complete accounting solution for small businesses
• Get up and running in minutes using wizards
• Over 100 industry-specific templates to choose from
• Handle payroll in-house; prepare invoices; write checks
• Track projects; manage inventory; build a Web store; and more

Reviews (3)

Back it goes!
I bought this software because it's cheaper than Quickbooks, and actually rated better (or so it says on the box). Although I hate several things about Quickbooks, I will be returning this and shelling out for it. The description you read here, and on the box, makes it sound like converting from Quickbooks is a breeze. Not so! I was under the impression that you would back up your QB info and then transfer it to SA. Nope...you actually "export" every little file from QB onto a disk, then "import" it to SA...and that just includes lists and your chart of accounts, that doesn't mean that it loads an up-to-date Accounts Receivable or Payroll ledger. That's all stuff you get to do by hand! Sorry, but I just don't have that kind of time, and to be honest with you, this software doesn't even seem worth it. Now, if I was just starting up a business and had never used a higher-end software like QB, or if I had a few weeks to do nothing but enter info from QB to SA, that would be one thing, but please! Consider this more of a low-budget accounting software...and remember, you get what you pay for!

Be Ware
After purchaing this software to change from Quickbooks, I learned the information in Quickbooks is not as easy to convert, and only converts names, etc. Also the customer service is also non-existant. After sitting on hold forever. I could get the software to work, kept giving me errors, keeping me in a continual look to keep entering information and than giving me an error. I sent the software back since I was unable to use and was unable to get the software update and tax update refunded. Be careful

Better than Quick Books
Beats Quick Books hands down at a much lower cost. ... Read more