we often have new clients where we prepare current year return and then find out a prior year return requires amendment. it would be extremely helpful to proforma backwards to avoid manually setting up an existing client in a prior year version of lacerte.
I'm 100% with you @cpa4ski! This has been a request of mine for quite some time!
I would also love a proforma forwards on top of an existing file but only to update the carryforward amounts for the reasons that you gave about starting on one return and then realizing we need to go back and amend but then we've already input the next year so either we have to proforma it forward again and re-input everything or we have to figure out what carryforward fields changed and manually go update them.
A proforma forward to update carryforward amounts would also allow us to work on a client that has 5 years of returns that need filed but they don't have all their information together. We could input all 5 years, use the missing data utility to red-flag everything that's missing and keep track of where we are on all 5 years simultaneously. The way it works currently, we have to start with the oldest year and finish it and then proforma it forward to the next year, then finish that 2nd year completely and proforma it to the 3rd year and so on.
It would be really helpful if Lacerte would let you copy client’ s data backwards from 2020 to 2019 and again to 2018 if necessary. You can copy a client from one year to a subsequent year but not to a prior year. Often, with new clients, we start at a more current year. If we later find a mistake in the previous year’s return, and we choose to amend it, we are required to again input the client’s address, the clients Social Security numbers, the dependent’s name and Social Security numbers, and also 1099R name address and EIN. Etc. etc.
