This is a subscriber-only article. Join Entrepreneur+ today for access

Learn More

Already have an account?

Sign in
Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

CPA Versus CPU Can your computer be your tax accountant?

By Glen Weisman

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Seven years ago, Rik Ketschke decided to take a new tax filingroute: Instead of using an accountant, he started preparing hispersonal income taxes with a tax software program. It worked out sowell that Ketschke, a Brentwood, Tennessee, home designer andbuilder, decided to find out whether he could also file hiscorporate taxes by using commercial software.

Ketschke called Intuit Inc., the company whose software he usedfor personal income taxes, to inquire about corporate tax software,using the tax form 1120S. The only software the company produced atthe time was a professional series for accountants that cost around$400 each year for tax information updates.

"They agreed to send me a copy of the pro series toreview," says Ketschke. "I told them I thought somethinglike that would be great for small business. Now they have an 1120series for the small-business owner. I don't know if it wasbecause of my phone call or not, but I haven't used a corporateaccountant in three or four years. With the software it's easyfor a business owner to do his own taxes."