User's Manual - Drake Software

Changes to Suite Products in 2012
Drake Software User’s Manual
Changes to Suite Products in 2012
Drake Document Manager
Drake has made significant enhancements to both the Document Manager and the Tax
Planner for tax season 2012. Read the following sections carefully to be able to take
full advantage of the new versions of these two tools.
This chapter focuses on the two Suite Products—Document Manager and Tax Planner—and
on the two additional products—GruntWorx and SecureFilePro TM . For CWU
instruction, the Client Write-Up Manual is available on the Drake CD, through the tax
software (from the Home window, go to Help > Online Resources) and from Support.DrakeSoftware.com.
Document Manager users have two storage options or “sources” to choose from: the
“Archive Cabinet” and the “Working Cabinet.” The Archive Cabinet stores documents
for all clients from multiple years in a central location outside of Drake Software;
the Working Cabinet allows individual-year storage in the same location where
the Drake program is located.
Which DDM “source” you choose will depend on how you want to handle your document
storage.
Archive Cabinet files are stored outside of the tax software, are backed up and
restored separately from the tax software, and any updates to the Archive Cabinet are
downloaded separately from the tax software’s updates. All documents from all years
for all clients are stored in the Archive Cabinet, in alphabetically arranged “cabinets,”
“drawers,” and “folders.” If you choose the Archive Cabinet as your source, see “Setting
up the Archive Cabinet” on page 339.
Use the Working Cabinet as your source if you prefer more integration with the tax
software. Working Cabinet source files are stored inside the tax software, saved documents
are backed up or restored whenever the tax software is backed or restored, and
all DDM updates are downloaded together with the tax software’s updates. You
access Working Cabinet documents from within the Drake tax program for whichever
year you are interested in: 2012 documents in the 2012 software, 2013 documents in
the 2013 software, etc. If you choose the Working Cabinet as your source, see “Setting
up the Working Cabinet” on page 332.
IMPORTANT
If you choose the Working Cabinet as your source, you can easily
send your saved documents into the Archive Cabinet with just a
few mouse clicks. See “Sending Files to Archive Cabinet” on
page 336 for details.
New Tax Planner
The redesigned Tax Planner tool still helps you assist your clients in making financial
decisions. Clients can see how events such as marriage, the birth of a child, a divorce,
buying or selling a house, or taking a new job will affect their short- and long-term
finances and tax liability.
330 Tax Year 2012