Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Q:

Subject: QuickBooks Pro 2005 vs. 2004

Kerry, Sounds like you’re very knowledgeable about QuickBooks and Quicken.  I’m in the process or purchasing a system for my new small business.  I am looking at Quicken 2005 Premier Home & Business vs. QuickBooks Premier Editions 2005.  In reading an article you wrote (December 28, 2003 – QuickBooks vs. Quicken) it sounds like QuickBooks has become a better product for small businesses.  But, I’ve seen some very low rating and horror stories about QuickBooks Pro 2005 version.  In your opinion would it be better to purchase the QuickBooks Pro 2004 instead?  Thanks,

A:

Normally, I would be quick to advise always buying the most current version of QuickBooks in order to take advantage of the newest features, as well as to give you the most time before the program is abandoned by Intuit, which happens every three years.

That isn’t the case with the 2005 program.  I have heard and seen a lot of non-specific buzz around the internet about QB 2005 being buggy and problematic.  I have been having problems with it, as well.

Because our clients use a wide variety of versions of QuickBooks, I have long had to keep several versions installed on my main computer in order to keep their data files intact and compatible with their programs.  I had never had any problems working with any of the versions of QB until the 2005 program was released and I started working with it back in October 2004. 

I have been having the following problems with both the regular QB 2005 and Enterprise Solutions versions.  What happens is that out of the blue, I can’t even open the program.  After spending several hours on the phone with QB tech support the first time this happened, the only solution we could come up with has been to uninstall the programs and reinstall them.  This has allowed me to run the 2005 programs for a few weeks until they conk out again.  Tech support has been useless in regard to any better solution.  To say that this is a pain in the butt is a huge understatement. 

I chalked the problem up to my running so many different versions of QB on my main computer.  The other two computers on which we have the 2005 Enterprise Solutions QB program installed haven’t had this problem, which has been handy by allowing me access to our personal and corp data files.   
 
I have been running the QB 2004 programs since they were released in October 2003, and have yet to have a single problem with them.  I use the 2004 program at least a few times each week, as I work with client files. 

Unfortunately, I can’t roll our data backwards to the 2004 program; so I am stuck using the 2005 until October of this year, when the hopefully more reliable 2006 programs are released. 

For your situation, I would advise obtaining a copy of the 2004 program.  It should be much less expensive than the 2005, and possibly free if you can get a copy from someone who has moved on to the 2005.  Down the road, you will always be able to roll your data over into the 2006 or 2007 program, after you have been assured that it is safe to do so.

I hope this helps.  You were wise to check on this before just buying the newest program.

Good luck.

Kerry Kerstetter

Follow-Up:

Thanks Kerry,

You comments are greatly appreciated and I am going forward with QuickBooks 2004.  I would be interested in reading any comments you may have on the web when the 2006 version comes out.  Until then thank you

very much for your advice.

Reply:

I’m glad to be of assistance. 

You should check in every so often with the QuickBooks section of my main website to keep up on new info and resources for QB users. 

As soon as we get DSL hooked up here, I will also be posting some short instructional videos.

Good luck with QB 2004.

Kerry Kerstetter

 

IRS announced that the interest rate that is charged on late tax payments will remain at six percent for at least through September 30, 2005.  I have updated this on my Quick Reference page.   

A warning from Strange Politics:

Q:

Kerry Kerstetter,

 

Your Estate & Gift Tax page is well laid out and quite informative. However, I have one question for clarification. In your example of one dying in 2005 with an estate valued at $1,700,000.00, you mention that, because of the current exclusion, only the “overage” of $200K would actually be taxed. You also mention that it would be taxed at 45%, per the table following further down that page. Would that $200K actually be taxed at only 32%, that being  the  actual taxable amount, per the chart heading. Or is the actual taxed amount taxed at the rate for the entire estate value?

 

I would see owing 32% of $200K, or a total estate tax burden of $64,000.00. Am I mis-interpreting your table and verbiage?

 

It is a critical question and I thank you for your attention to this query.

A:

The verbiage on my website is accurate.

The way the estate tax exclusion works is that it effectively wipes out the lower rate brackets.  On the estate tax form (706) itself, it shows up as a credit against the total tax on the full taxable estate.

The net effect of the way this is set up is to subject the excess taxable estate to the next marginal tax rate.  A net estate  of $1,700,000 falls in the 45% bracket. Since the current exclusion wipes out the first $1,500,000, this leave the additional $200,000 still in the 45% bracket, for a tax of $90,000.

I know this is confusing; but that is how our rulers in DC like it to be.  As always, anyone with an estate large enough to be subject to tax should be working with a tax pro.  Estate tax returns are definitely not a do-it-yourself area; especially since a very large percentage of them are audited by IRS.

Kerry Kerstetter

Follow-Up:

Superbly logical and communicated response, sir.

Thanks!