CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business — ProSystem fx Planning

From the November 2010 Review of Professional
Tax Planning Systems.

ProSystem
fx Planning provides comprehensive scenario-based income tax planning
features in a system that can be used as a stand-alone program or as an integrated
part of the ProSystem fx Suite of professional tax and accounting products.
The program includes support for all tax treatments, including regular, AMT
and capital gains, with extensive limitation and carry-forward calculations.
It can be used for all states, but comes with pre-configured books with state
tax rates, deductions, exemptions and credits for 27 states.

BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTIONS:
Initial setup functions are simple, with basic information forms providing for
entry of taxpayer demographic data and the ability to transfer client information,
including proforma tax data, from ProSystem fx Tax or the GainsKeeper
Pro portfolio basis tracking tool. The program offers basic client selection
lists based on the Explorer folder structure, with limited sorting or filtering
capabilities. Overall, the main interface provides intuitive navigation, with
pull-down menus across the top for accessing view options, state and federal
input grids, worksheets, system tools and window preferences. An additional
customizable icon-based toolbar also offers direct access to specific utilities,
such as import functions, notes, viewing supporting worksheets, a calculator
and the AutoFlow feature.

Data entry is available in spreadsheet mode with data flowing to applicable
worksheets and the ability to quickly view those worksheets on-screen. The spreadsheet
views display all years of a plan side-by-side. Expandable boxes are also available
on many of the input grids, allowing drilldown access to more specific data
input. Calculations are performed as data is entered, allowing users to quickly
test hypothetical data and see the results on projected state and federal tax
liabilities. The program supports any number of concurrent users, with features
to prevent overwriting of data and options for user-level security.

CORE TAX PLANNING FEATURES:
ProSystem fx Planning allows users to forecast up to 30 separate tax
scenarios per plan, with up to four years of projections, including prior years.
The system includes complete federal tax calculations, including regular, AMT
and capital gains taxes, penalties for underpayment of estimated tax, lump-sum
distributions, premature distributions from retirement accounts, and farm income
averaging. With a plan variance feature, users can easily pinpoint differences
in plans by percentages or dollar amounts.

Additionally, the system can perform complete calculations of the deductibility
of tax-deferred savings contributions, phase-outs for itemized deductions, personal
exemptions and AMT, and MFJ-MFS comparisons, with integrated state tax calculations
that include CA, NY and generic AGI. In addition to federal, it comes with preconfigured
tax rates, credits, exemptions and deductions for AL, AZ, CO, CT, GA, ID, IL,
IN, KS, LA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, MO, NE, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OR, SC, UT and WV. A
generic planning tool can be customized for use in planning for other states
or local taxes.

REPORTING:
Reporting features in ProSystem fx Planning include expanded forecasts
of each scenario, with drilldown options when viewed on-screen. Additional output
options include plan summaries, plan reports, input grids, estimates and estimate
payment vouchers. Output is non-graphical but customer presentable, although
customization options are generally limited to tailoring of columnar data. There
are no provisions in the application for creating custom tax planning transmittal
documents that merge the information from ProSystem fx Planning into
Microsoft Office applications. No direct portal integration is offered, although
reports can be output to ProSystem fx Engagement binders and to PDF
and ProSystem fx Document if users have an optional end-user provided
Adobe PDF printer driver.

IMPORT/EXPORT/INTEGRATION:
ProSystem fx Planning provides direct integration with CCH’s
tax and engagement systems, and information can be imported from the tax system
or from GainsKeeper Pro. Additional import options are not offered. CCH offers
an extensive research platform that can be used independently of Planner. Data
export is limited to the integration with the vendor’s tax, engagement
and document management systems, along with the ability to print to PDF using
almost any PDF printer (not included).

HELP/SUPPORT:
ProSystem fx Planning supports all modern versions of Windows. Built-in
assistive features include field and row-specific Help, a traditional Help index
and a tutorial, plus several links to CCH’s support website, which offers
extensive options for product documentation, downloadable system updates, a
knowledgebase, and checking firm account and order information. Live technical
support is included with program pricing.

SUMMARY & PRICING
ProSystem fx Planning is best suited to firms using CCH’s tax,
engagement and document management systems, although as a stand-alone system
it also provides comprehensive, yet simplified and quick production of tax planning
scenarios. While ProSystem fx Planning handles challenging state and
federal calculations, the lack of sophisticated custom reporting tools and client-ready
graphics means that many boilerplate client communications will have to be created
manually using Microsoft Office. The program costs $585 for a single-user license.

2010 OVERALL RATING: