Lacerte software like any other Tax preparation software is used to file income tax returns professionally. We all know that tax is a very complex business, thus, choosing the right software becomes all the more essential and this is where the reputation of lacerte gives it an edge.
It is an Intuit product-which is rated as number one software by AICPA and is one of the most widely used software today.
It also includes tax research and integration with many accounting software programs, most importantly Quick Books. Lacerte comes with the feature of importing data directly from the Quick Books, thus making tax and accounts much more compatible for everyday use.
One of the major uses of any tax software is that it reduces paperwork but Lacerte also gives you the option of going completely paperless- with Data management services (DMS)-which is a computer system or programs used to track and save electronic documents and/or images of paper documents.
It even has a pay per return option if you are preparing fewer than 64 tax returns, if your returns are more than 64 then you should go for Lacerte's unlimited software licenses.
Lacerte also enables you to send your clients tax planners from Lacerte's individual tax database so that they can record and organize their tax information prior to your meeting with them.
Although Lacerte does slow down if your system is below the processor speed required for lacerte to run but with cloud computing even this hindrance has been overcome. As the tax codes and regulations change every year, lacerte has an option of saving your last years settings by saving it in the options menu.
There are a number of add-ons available for Lacerte software which can increase its functionality for specific purposes such as Document management systems, Lacerte tax planner, Lacerte tax analyzer and Lacerte trial balance utility. The most important use of Add-ons in lacerte is the use of data during the tax preparation process for value added uses such as business forecasts.
As cloud hosting services are gaining in popularity and reputation, Lacerte software is also gaining in reputation.
When lacerte software is used with software hosting, the productivity of the software increases significantly.
Lacerte software hosting enables the user to access the software from any machine anytime with single licensed software. As the software can be accessed remotely from anywhere it reduces the errors involved significantly and allows multiple users to work on the same software with a multiple user license.
If you are hosting Quick Books with Lacerte, the process of importing information becomes further more effective and efficient. To host any software the software needs to be running at the terminal servers, this reduces the system requirements significantly-even the local security tools such as security and privacy tools are not required as terminal servers already run on the upgraded tools making Lacerte software hosting very cost effective.
In spite of all the good that cloud computing is doing, many professionals are calling it the security nightmare such as Ciscos Chairman and CEO did on Wednesday but he also added that cloud computing is an inevitable development and its problems can be handled in traditional ways.
Other professionals have advised audits for security issues. Although companies are using highly encrypted firewalls, security issues are still the major fear in professionals minds.
Most cloud computing companies take daily backups once after the office hours and store it in at least two different places and keep the back up for the last 30 days.
This increases the compatibility of any tax software- especially of lacerte- with cloud hosting.
The increasing demand of lacerte is all the more making it most widely used tax software today.
William Smith is a technology Specialist At Real Time Data Services specializing in Accounting application and software products. Real Time Data Services provides QuickBooks Hosting , Tax Application Hosting such as Proseries Software, UltraTax, ATX , Lacerte Software etc.