(This "feature" has been asked for many, many times over the years. I almost feel silly repeating it again here!)
We need to be able to set company defaults. For example, my company has the policy of never printing the client's email address and phone number on the tax return. I should be able to set those defaults so I don't have to change them on every single return that I prepare! Many of them are on the General -> Misc Info/Direct Deposit -> Miscellaneous Info tab. Intuit could start with some of those.
Others are spread around the program. For example, some folks might want Schedule A to print by default or they might want to omit the book depreciation schedules by default.
It seems like it would be pretty easy to add a new section to the program settings, either as a separate item or within the "Firm Information" page. Quickbooks calls it "Company Settings."
Phased roll-out: We are expanding global options with print options as the first focus. As we continue to make enhancements to this, please leave your comments and feedback below. Thanks for your participation!
I would also suggest defaults for including the effective tax rate and printing the company name in the letter salutation for business type returns by default.
I've been asking for the same global settings since I started with ITO/PTO in 2011. I've also asked for editing of the client letter to add a company logo and a miscellaneous paragraph to provide more info and CYA messages to our clients. This is a very high-priority request to me and is apparently intentionally left out as a feature difference from Lacerte, which has had that functionality since probably the 90's. Adding custom messages to clients is a great way to avoid the potential "you didn't tell me" situations. Emails can go to spam, calls and texts get ignored, but it's hard to say you didn't get a message when it's on the front page of your tax returns. Ignoring these features for 10+ years HAS to be intentional.
Totally agree. Highly needed. This was my first year with protax coming from lacerte. Basically global defaults do not exist in protax. A big miss, and makes me consider to go back to lacerte or find another cloud tax software provider.
Another big miss is not having a global database of previous entered data like we have in lacerte. I needed to retype over and over again the same data in different screens. In lacerte you enter it once and it pulls automatically in other screens. Not efficient at all in protax. Another consideration not to continue with protax.
Agreed. It must be intentional to get people to switch to Lacerte but that's so cumbersome and/or pricey in a remote environment that it's not practical for a small practitioner if your staff aren't all sitting in the same office.
I have also been asking for these global defaults since 2012! And this should also apply to items selected for printing. The whole printing process in PTO is so cumbersome! Why can we not get a place where we pick all federal AND state items to be printed at one time? Why do I have to print the federal and state items separately? Just annoys me so much in the heat of tax season when every click counts.
I think you are not using the correct printing procedures
I create a complete return ( all forms all efile authorizations all depreciation)
you can save this complete pdf file- or you can print all the federal and state returns using this created file- perhaps you are using the Partial Print option- and therefore making more work for yourself
1) Lack of Global Settings been a constant disappointment
2) The Color scheme of Tabs (example when I have 13 partnerships- is very difficult to see) Ability to add colors to tabs or to increase the contrast has been requested hundreds of time very time I Efile a return and complete survey
3) back in 2009 there were pricing bundles - would you believe you could buy 100 return validations for $800?
4) I have decided pay per return at current prices - does not make PTO a tax professional platform any more- considering that Unlimited returns from Drake sells for $1,765-
HELLO PTO please offer bundle pricing ( even Lacerte offers bundle of 200)
Do you all have only one preparer? Suppose you have two: Abby and Zach, and when Zach prepares, the preparer is set to Abby by default because A is before Z (you can manually set). Company default is an easier fix if one of the preparers do most of the returns, but ideally when Abby logs in, the preparer is Abby and when Zach logs in, the preparer is Zach.
I spent quite a bit of time on 2021 tax returns, selecting preferences on each. For example to always print schedule A. These preferences aren't carrying over to 2022 when I proforma the tax returns. The new "print settings" is great, but at this point I don't see options on printing such forms as Sch A, From 6251 and 8606.
Phased roll-out: We are expanding global options with print options as the first focus. As we continue to make enhancements to this, please leave your comments and feedback below. Thanks for your participation!
I posted a comment over 2 years ago about this issue, and I see there are many that were also early adopters of ITO that have complained about the same issues. It is just so silly to have to manually enter your preferences on EVERY tax return and THEN review diagnostics telling you that you overrode that thing. There are a few things I want on every tax return, such as
Text style - upper case
Wage/pension schedule with return
Federal withholding worksheet
Optional statement for medical, mortgage, contributions, etc. with worksheets
Optional statement for real estate taxes with worksheets
All we're asking for is to change the default. Another option is to do a poll asking what the majority of the customers what the defaults to be until you can make it possible for us to set our own defaults.
