2012 Review of Thomson Reuters — UltraTax CS

Thomson Reuters — UltraTax CS
CS.ThomsonReuters.com
800-968-8900

From the May 2012 review of "advanced workflow" professional tax compliance programs.

BEST FIT
Firms of all sizes serving a wide variety of client types and who may use other products within the CS Professional Suite

STRENGTHS

• Strong integration with CS Professional Suite product lineup
• Available as a hosted solution
• Support for up to 4 monitor configurations

POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS

• Some integration features require licensing of additional products

UltraTax CS is the tax solution within the CS Professional Suite product lineup. Designed to work for firms of all sizes, UltraTax CS can handle virtually any type of return. New for the 2011 release is the ability to configure up to 4 monitor screens and create custom tickmarks for data entry and review.

The partner allocation screen has been renovated and most partner data can now be reviewed on one screen, instead of multiple screens in previous releases. One final addition is the ability to automatically generate an email to a client detailing any missing information from the current year return.

CORE PRODUCT FUNCTIONS/FEATURES - 5 Stars

UltraTax CS is a full featured tax preparation solution and includes all tools necessary to prepare federal returns of all types. Most state and local tax jurisdictions are supported for business and trust returns as well. Multi-state returns are a strong point in Ultra Tax CS. Users simply complete the federal return and allocate state income through an apportionment screen, which flows directly to the appropriate state returns. Depreciation information that is assigned to a state is automatically allocated to the appropriate state for property allocation calculations.

New this year, is a redesigned start page when opening UltraTax CS. The new home screen provides quick access to commonly used features, such as electronic filing status of returns, product news, updates and alerts from UltraTax CS, statistical and user information and client profile information.

The client profile screen provides access to client contact information, due dates and any refund or balance due amounts. For individual clients, a “Where is my refund?” link is provided. The preparer simply clicks on the link and they are taken directly to the IRS website to troubleshoot any refund processing delays. All appropriate information is prefilled on behalf of the preparer and no further user interaction is required. Also new this year is the ability to directly edit client demographic and contact information without opening the client file.

One feature unique to UltraTax CS is the ability to support up to 4 computer monitors. The monitors may be configured for 3 monitor screens used for preparation, data entry and review and 1 monitor screen for a client view.

The client view is intended as a client facing monitor and is a stripped down view that only shows the actual return and not the underlying input data sheets. The remaining monitors may be setup to show any combination of current year data entry, prior year data entry, tax forms, statements and diagnostics.

UltraTax CS offers a number of tools for professionals reviewing tax returns. Diagnostic feedback is generated based on prior year data entry and through historical IRS statistic information. Most of the diagnostics are tied directly to the underlying input sheets to provide quick editing access, as necessary.

The diagnostics also indicate any errors to prevent electronic filing and any previously reviewed information that has been modified. Any data provided in the previous year that is missing is noted with blue marks in the data entry screens. A list of missing data is automatically tracked based on current year data entry and may be directly emailed to clients as a checklist of information to gather.