You might have heard that Drake software became the winner of Reader’s Choice Awards 2021 by CPA Practice Advisor. The software won the award in not just one but five categories, including Document Management, Federal/State income tax preparation, 1099/W-2 compliance, and many others. It is loaded with a wide range of features that help tax professionals prepare and process returns for their clients.
In many cases, the advanced software we use has so many features that we only get to utilize a few of them. For example, you, as a tax professional, might only be using Drake tax software to file multi-state returns. Unfortunately, this leaves several Drake software features unused while working on it as a part of your business.
Here, we will cover five features of Drake tax software that you might not know about.
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Drake Tax Planner
It is one of the fundamental features of this tax software, which can help you plan for taxes for your clients based on factors such as dependents, income, and marital status. You can also check how the current tax status would vary in life situations, like buying a home or getting married. This feature also allows you to save multiple scenarios and change reporting options as required.
Another powerful feature of Drake software is returns archiving. It can create different versions of a return to compare different scenarios and then save it for later use. You can then revert to a previous version with just a click.
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DoubleCheck
Irrespective of the experience, any tax professional can commit mistakes while preparing tax returns for the clients. That is why rechecking the information entered is quite essential before filing the returns. With the DoubleCheck feature of Drake software, you can mark items in the fields – text box or check box, as flagged for review, noted for review, or verified. It also flags the item for review if the information in it changes.
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Easy Backups
Keeping your clients’ tax data secure becomes your responsibility, which is why you need to take backups to prevent any possible data loss. You can easily do that using the manual Backup and Restore feature of Drake software, where you can specify the location to store the data post backup. Other than the manual back option, you can also enable Automatic Backup or Selective Backup of tax data.
If you prefer using cloud-hosted Drake software, you can ask your cloud hosting provider for the data backup facility.
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Drake Documents
Handling physical documents in paper format is a cumbersome task in the life of every tax professional. This is a reason why most tax preparers are moving towards working in a paperless environment. If you want this too, Drake Documents is the feature you need. It offers safe electronic storage of your client’s data, including documents and returns.
Consider Drake Documents as a digital filing cabinet where you can store and access documents, returns, and tax forms.
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Import and Export
Preparing returns for clients also involves Importing and exporting files containing tax data, which can be best handled by Drake software’s Import and Export feature. Using this software, you can use:
- Electronic W-2s to download and import data for select employers
- Select D Import to load investment transactions from a text file
- K-1 export from 1041, 1065, and 1120S return flows to 1040 returns
- Trial balance import, etc.
Do More With Drake Software Hosting
Drake software features are not limited to the ones detailed above. However, you can add more power to its performance by hosting it via Drake software hosting on the cloud. Unlike local system installation, Drake software, when hosted on the cloud, can give you the benefit of remote access, enhanced data security, and better collaboration between teams.
Recommended Read: All About Drake Cloud Hosting and Its Impact on Your Business Growth
Have more questions about Drake tax software hosting? Contact our experts now at 1-855-583-7486.
