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UltraTax CS Reviews & Product Details - Page 5

UltraTax CS Overview

What is UltraTax CS?

UltraTax CS is premium tax and compliance software that provides a comprehensive tax preparation process that utilizes advanced technology and an integrated workflow system with tax planning, document management, and client collaboration. UltraTax offers access to a full line of federal, state, and local tax programs, plus multi-state returns. With diagnostics, data sharing, and flexibility to work through multi-monitors, firms can save time and automate workflows each new tax year. UltraTax CS helps to eliminate manual data entry and ensure accuracy as returns are completed. With other built-in timesaving tools including depreciation and asset management, e-file and e-signature capabilities, and paperless processing, UltraTax CS delivers a trusted end-to-end solution to boost efficiency and firm growth.

UltraTax CS Details
Languages Supported
English
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Product Description

Comprehensive software for tax and accounting professionals with advanced preparation capabilities to maximize efficiency and boost firm profitability.


Seller Details
Year Founded
2008
HQ Location
Toronto, CA
Twitter
@thomsonreuters
152,775 Twitter followers
LinkedIn® Page
www.linkedin.com
34,134 employees on LinkedIn®
Ownership
NYSE:TRI
Total Revenue (USD mm)
$5,984
Description

Know today. Navigate tomorrow. In an era of unprecedented change, we are delivering innovative technology and AI that empower professionals to confidently address the complexities of today and the unknowns of tomorrow.


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Overview Provided by:

Recent UltraTax CS Reviews

AJ
Amber J.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"Time-Saving Tax Software"
User friendly. Easy to learn. Customer Service is great.
RP
Rahat P.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
4.5 out of 5
"One of the best tax preparation software"
With my last 5 years experience I found this one of the best software to prepare tax returns.
Arjun P.
AP
Arjun P.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"Ultratax CS"
Ultratax is the one of best software for preparing Tax Return, it is very user friendly and there features are so good.
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UltraTax CS Media

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Video Reviews

53 UltraTax CS Reviews

3.3 out of 5
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53 UltraTax CS Reviews
3.3 out of 5
53 UltraTax CS Reviews
3.3 out of 5

UltraTax CS Pros and Cons

How are these determined?Information
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Pros
Cons

Overall Review Sentiment for UltraTax CSQuestion

Time to Implement
<1 day
>12 months
Return on Investment
<6 months
48+ months
Ease of Setup
0 (Difficult)
10 (Easy)
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G2 reviews are authentic and verified.
Biaodeng Z.
BZ
Accountant
Accounting
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

The support team is very helpful. They are always very patient. And they do webinars for new updates each year. They listen to customers' suggestions and make updates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

Can't open multiple windows at the same time. Can't open same client for different year. During the business season, the wait time for customer is very long. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

Nice software to use for a median size firm. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

We do business and individual tax returns. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Mike T.
MT
Owner
Computer Software
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

The software is pretty accurate, in general. It is easy to see the effects of your entry on the tax return. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

Support this year (TY2016) is HORRIBLE! We left LaCerte because of expense and poor support. Ultratax is now just as expensive and the support is worse. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

Look somewhere else. 40+ minute wait times trying to get support is unreasonable. They also only take product improvement suggestions via a web interface that has so many things going on your suggestions get lost in the shuffle. I am really getting the sense that they don't care about me at all. Their cost is really high also. We do tax returns for 20+ states and the PRP costs are killing us. The reporting features are also very limiting. I liked TaxWorks reports and customization a lot better. Sometimes find where to enter data is not very intuitive to me. Of course, I have only been using the product for 4 years. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

We prepare tax returns for approximately 1000 clients. Doing the typical things works great, but there are some tricky corners in multi-stake returns that we need support on from time to time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Accounting
UA
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

I enjoy the capabilities of UltraTax. Having an import function to automatically transfer over client's trial balance saves a lot of time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

I do not like how when exporting to other Thomson Reuters products (i.e. planner cs) the tax return does not always tie out. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

I would recommend UltraTax as well as other Thomson Reuters products to fully integrate and get the best value out of the product line. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

UltraTax assists our company complete tax returns for our customers in an efficient manner. We find the software to be user friendly as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Accounting
UA
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

The software is updated frequently with the ever changing tax laws. These updates consider the users inputs and seem to work well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

You have to use the software almost on a daily basis to keep up with all the changes made during tax season. If you only do one or two tax returns a week it would be tough to keep up with all the different used of Ultra Tax. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

Look at what your use is. If you do not file a lot of tax returns another software may work just as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

We prepare tax returns for corporations and individuals. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Accounting
AA
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

The program can be fast and not too extremely difficult to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

Everything else. The pricing is horrible for what you are getting. They nickle and dime you for everything. Some of the pricing information that was given to me when I signed up was misleading I feel. Apparently Ultra Tax is older technology and every time you call with a question, there is a charge. This month, I got a bill of over $700 just because of calling and asking questions to learn how to use their software. Worse, I am still confused what charges are extra or not. Their invoice is not clear so I do not even know what my bill will be next month. I do not recommend this product and will look elsewhere next year. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

Not recommwnded Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

We are trying to get the tax returns done in a fast and efficient manner. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software
AC
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

On demand updates on Forms based on input view Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

not enough keyboard shortcuts and the input screens looked outdated, editing the custom letters was a bit cumbersome Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

tax return preparation and efiling Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Accounting
UA
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

So far, I like how fast the software opens, but I think that's due to our upgraded server. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

I never thought I would hate a software company so much. Thomson Reuters has made my job very difficult. There have been problems with every aspect of UltraTax, including simply logging in! The following is a list of everything with which we've had problems:

1) Logging in

2) Training (they need more trainers to accommodate their clients' schedules)

3) Getting different answers from different people on many things

4) Had to buy a $10k server, or else pay $1,500 a month in web fees for cloud-based software.

5) Thomson Reuters had issues communicating with our IT firm, which resulted in a two-month delay. We've been using our contracted IT firm for years. They're experts. They've admitted this has been a challenge for them--Thomson Reuters, apparently doesn't design its software to conform to industry standards, which made for a difficult transition to our new server.

6) Support response times unacceptable. I am currently on a chat. The display says I started at 12:15 at number 7 in the queue. It's 12:27 and I'm still number

7) Also, I've emailed support--all they do is direct me to the stupid help section (which I've already searched!) 7) Sales person who initially suckered us knows NOTHING technical or even things he/she should know about the product he/she sells.

8) Software is not user-friendly. It took my looking through the 60-page manual and having to speak with a support rep to know how to add an event to a client's page. (This was discussed during a previous training, but the trainer was busy and referred us to support.)

9) Trainings are not recorded. I think for the level of money we're spending, Thomson Reuters should be providing us with recordings of our trainings. I'd like to point out I specifically asked about free training videos. Our salesperson had no idea where to direct me. I spent a lot of time searching the CS Professional site and found some--the salesperson should've known how to direct a client.

10) CS Professional (back office) is a nightmare to navigate. I've wasted countless hours trying to do things on my own to avoid having to involve a support rep.

11) Updates- Even these are a nightmare. You have to "retrieve licenses" and "renew subscriptions" before you can even apply simple updates! Also, with every update, there's a screen with dozens of buttons that need to be addressed--if you're a tech maven, you might be fine, but even the experts at our contracted IT firm have been challenged by Thomson Reuters' excessive requirements.

12) Transitioning from ProSeries. Limited info transfers from ProSeries.

13) Migrating ProSeries data into UltraTax. Again, our IT firm even had issues trying to migrate our data from ProSeries to UltraTax. Even the Thomson Reuters support had problems with this on our behalf. This took a long time and money to complete.

14) There are more issues, but I can't think of them right now.

15) File Cabinet, while I know is not UltraTax, is a program that almost all UltraTax users will need to use to store docs. File Cabinet is not user-friendly. It's difficult to even rename a folder without having to search a manual or speak with a rep. Enough already! We just want a system we can use.

We haven't really put the software into use yet. We're still trying to overcome all these obstacles. We're all very scared of the upcoming tax season, needless to say.

It's now 12:51 and I am still in the queue... Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

I recommend you don't use it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

We've realized absolutely no benefits yet. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Spencer M.
SM
Senior Tax Accountant
Accounting
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
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Validated Reviewer
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

UltraTax CS is great for doing almost every type of tax return. I prepare all types of returns (1040, 1065, 1120, 1120S, 990, 1041, etc.) and it definitely does the job. It works especially well on simple returns especially 1040's. UltraTax CS has a very easy to use navigation system to input all the data needed to prepare a tax return. I was able to pick it up and use it coming from a different software almost immediately. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

The only thing that I dislike about UltraTax CS is how it handles multi-state passthrough returns. On partnership returns, 1065's, if you have a K-1 passthrough, it does not handle the state apportionment very well. I have brought this up to UltraTax CS and hopefully a better allocation input method will become available shortly but it pales in comparison to Prosystems FX in this instance. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

Great program for mid-size firms. If preparing more complicated returns, i would use Prosystems FX, otherwise UltraTax CS is perfect for you. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

Preparing all types of tax returns. Easy to use and easy to pick up. Can recommend for pretty much anyone not doing too complicated tax returns. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Chemicals
UC
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
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Validated Reviewer
Review source: G2 invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

Thomson Reuters consistently delivers high quality in their products, tax in particular. The intuitive design and simple interphase makes preparing return an enjoyable experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

The system can be slow at times and even slower when updates are in process. However, that could be because of system limitations Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

The cumbersome act of many tax returns. Returns are processed faster and so productivity is on the rise. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Accounting
AA
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
More Options
Validated Reviewer
Review source: Organic
What do you like best about UltraTax CS?

WHEN YOU FINNALY GET A SUPPORT REP ON THE PHONE THEY ARE KNOLDEABLE. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about UltraTax CS?

Unbelievable long wait times for support. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering UltraTax CS:

LONG WAIT TIMES FOR SUPPORT Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is UltraTax CS solving and how is that benefiting you?

WE ARE A SMALL CPA FIRM Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.