The 2 yr and 5 yr are fine because of all the details they provide
However I noticed that the fam sum only prints the lines that are filled out.
It is hard to review the coupled return if all the detailed lines are not printed or there to see what’s missing.
We could be misssing something especially when pension splitting , then we can see
quickly the donation and medical exp split etc or if they are not there , one of the empty lines could trigger something to discuss.
If the summary was like the 5 yr summary but with just the 2 spouses info for the current yr then You could look at the coupled fam sum and easily see where the tuition was or medical or anything else missing .
It is such a good review tool and I use it all the time in my former software to discuss with clients the split or if Corp pays dividends , you can see together the effect. If change an income, deduction or credit on either spouse the famsum will provide you how those changes affect each return together.
Otherwise we have to go each return in the 5 yr summary to get the details of the deductions and tax credits available
and then flip back and forth between spouses to see the amounts and the effect, which is time consuming.
You wouldn’t need to print it out all the time anyways but sure we need it to review the coupled returns.
Even Profile I think had more detail on its family summary, and not just display what was entered.
I have to admit, I am not exactly sure what you are wanting. There are many more tools in Taxcycle to ensure you do not miss a potential deduction etc then Profile added to their program. My question is why are you using the client meeting to review your return for missing information rather than reviewing it beforehand?
In the end, I think the form is fine and does not need adjustment.
Yes, I was looking for a family summary schedule that shows the details like the 2 yr summary but instead of the
second yr it would have the 2 spouses side by side but with the details if the income , exp and credits. Otherwise
you have to F5 the return and flip back and forth when discussing with client how the return looks to date. You can also
use it to check for missing credits or income or deductions. Why then do you use a 5 yr or 2 yr summary ? You use it to check for variances or missing items at a glance. It would be nice to do with both spouse together on one schedule
but with more detail such as like the 5 or 2 yr summary details even though they are zero but only for the current yr but spouses side by side.
Believe me It is so much quicker to look at one screen with both of them on there but with more detail for discussions and review.
I agree that the summaries provided are great and I wouldn’t want to see all possible lines on the return shown. What I would like on the two year summary, though, would be the option to add, say, two to five optional lines where we could put in the line number and have the balances for the two years for that/those lines show up on the summary. It could be put under an “Other Information” heading. I have clients who, for example, each year want to know how much their pension splitting additional tax or tax saved was. I could easily then put this on the two year summary and have all the information in one spot. I have other clients who want to know various other miscellaneous information for this year and the prior year that could be quickly shown in the comparative summary.
Can you show me a mock-up of what you have in mind, please. I’ll look to see if we can accommodate your needs in some way that doesn’t disrupt those who are happy with the schedule as is.
I would welcome a slight design change on the Family summary. If you do not look carefully, it seems the ‘Net federal tax’ line is the total taxes. However, on a closer look you will realize the summary below, of Net federal tax, Provincial or territorial tax, and then total payable, sort of in between, followed by income tax deducted, etc.
Thus, I would like more prominence given to the ‘Total Payable’ line, and less to the ‘Net federal tax’ line.
As such, perhaps:
Instead of a "net federal tax’ section, rename that ‘Taxes payable’:
Taxes payable
Federal tax on income
Minus: Federal non-refundable tax credits
Net federal tax
Provincial or territorial tax
Total taxes payable
Total Payable
Total taxes payable
CPP payable
EI payable
Social benefit repyment
Total payable
Refund or balance owing
Total payable
Less: Total income tax deducted
etc…
I still think it would be more useful if it had the 2 spouses side by side and the details of the 5 yr summary showing the
income , exp credits etc details. You could have it all on one page with the income and deductions on left and credits and payable on the right as follows:
Spouse 1 Spouse 2 Spouse 1 Spouse 2
Income Tax credits
Deductions spousal
details Equiv
Taxable income details
details Medical
etc Donations
Ca losses details
Fed tax
Prov taxes
Amt owing etc
All nice on one page with each spouse side by side for checking , review , planning etc.
I’ve only finalized but a few T1s this year so far (too many clients waiting for March 31 T3s as usual!) and I’m a bit torn on the summary. I like the “Profile style” (the one pictured above) as it sometimes has twigged me to an opportunity or a missed item - even when NIL.
OTOH, the TaxCycle style is a bit cleaner and easier to navigate as one reviews, and my OCD brain does like to see the same things in the same place each time, so in that regard the fixed-location style summary works a bit better.
Having said that, I can get used to anything. The Family Summary is great, though it can get quite long, and it is terrific tool to supply to some of my more…demanding…clients who like to see everything at once, particularly the dividend and income sprinklers.
The Joint summary is a bit better for me as most of the Family transfers are tuitions from children (easy to check without a Family Summary) and the Joint summary does nicely for the items just within a couple.
One size doesn’t always fit all, and sometimes we just have to adapt. I’m slowly getting used to TaxCycle - and I’m still a bit stumped over the review process and how best to manage it, but the summaries so far are the least of my concerns!
I’m glad you see my point of view as I use it to check for missed items together as a couple at a glance.
Btw, the one pictured above is only one page so it can’t be too long as others have suggested.
The other suggestion is to have the T5008 details populate the S3 like the S3M schedule so it shows the each transaction for the Proceeds, ACB gain/loss. Its better to be able to show the client the details of all the hard work we did After all how can we justify the bill with just one total line showing up up on the S3 schedule. I guess we could print the slip summary but it is also easier to read and review with the client via the detailed S3
I STRONGLY second that. I may spend 2 hours working through a client’s T5008 slips only to have 3 numbers show up on the Schedule 3. Then, as we are reviewing, the client asks something witty like “where is all this extra work you said you needed to do”? Sometimes, if the year’s trading is laid out in front of them, you can show them where they actually made and lost money, or even what a waste of time some of their activities are. CIBC Wealth Management must be one of the worst… they sell off little pieces of every fund every month just to cover their management fees… sometimes the client doesn’t realize what is happening. I shouldn’t complain though… at least CIBC Wealth does provide the client with an ACB.
We might as well just key in the one line from the Cap Gain report if no T5008 details are displayed,
since we can’t show the client the details and work that was involved.
We need to save time since the clients are questioning the bill and maybe no recovery.
We’ve added new summaries that include the zero lines in the release happening in a few minutes. However, we ran out of time to present them in two panes, as you’ve shown above. As a result, the new summaries run to 4 pages. I have to build a new layout component to support your proposed presentation style. I will do it but probably not until after this tax season.
I am getting off topic with this, but since the idea was started in this thread, I am replying here;
How about a bit of a compromise…?
Rather than having each T5008 slip populating a separate line on the actual Schedule 3, perhaps the details pulled from each T5008 slip can flow to a new “T5008 Summary Form” that would list, on one page, all information obtained from the individual T5008 slips. The totals would still flow to the same area on the Schedule 3 exactly as they do now.
The individual tax preparer could decide, based on print options, whether this T5008 summary form would get printed or not. That way, anyone who wants their client to have more detail could provide it, and anyone who doesn’t want anything other than the 3 numbers that show up on the S3 could choose not to have the Summary printed.
This summary may also assist in checking the data entry against a client’s annual trading statements.
What I do not like about them on the present slip schedule is, except when a client has very few, is that the vertical presentation takes up way to much room, and also it gets hard to read.
On that topic… when trying to input ACB on the T5008, when you have a number of them, it is very hard in the form index to identify the one you need, as the broker company name gets precedence, instead of the name of the stock, so that you often run out of room for the stock name. For example, ABC Company traded by RBC Dominion Securities, you will get:
RBC Dominion Securities/(the French version of the name) ABC Company, and the readible part will be:
RBC Dominion Securities/(the French version of the na
After all how can we justify the bill with just one total line showing up up on the S3 schedule. I guess we could print the slip summary but it is also easier to read and review with the client via the detailed S3