| Who Develops Drake Software?
Over the 29 years we’ve been producing tax software, our philosophy
has always been to make sure it works, make sure it’s delivered on
time, and make sure it’s fast. Pretty simple really. Miss one of
these big three, and our customers lose. So who makes sure this gets done?
Well, we have a development staff, including over 25 CPAs and EAs, that
makes sure we develop a product to help you be successful.
Chuck Sikora, EA, is a tester in the federal group. Chuck has
worked at Drake for six years. He grew up north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
and started working for H&R Block about 12
years ago. A self-professed numbers junkie, Chuck loves to
sink his teeth into a complex tax return. Chuck brings that spirit to his
testing at Drake.
Chuck believes, “The tax program has to fit in a real-world situation.
Not every return is a 1040EZ. There are returns with 72 K-1s or 43 4562s,
and I try to represent those returns in my testing. My job is to break
the program, and I try to do it with a scenario that a real tax preparer
could come across. Those aren’t just numbers on a page, they are
telling a story, and I make sure that when you use Drake Software that
story has a happy ending.”
Evelyn Green, EA, has been at Drake for four years. Evelyn
was born in Denver, Colorado and was raised in Florida, where she eventually
became a partner in a CPA firm. Evelyn let her CPA license lapse in order
to raise her family, but is now on track to be licensed in North Carolina
this summer.
According to Evelyn, “When working on taxes, I realized the importance
of having a complete product. Clients didn’t want to hear that we
could do part of their return now, but they couldn’t get their state
done until next month. As a tester in the states group, I know how difficult
it is to get the states out at the same time as the federal product. But
we work with the State Departments of Revenue to ship in early January.
This can be a big challenge, because we not only have to ship the product,
we have to make sure it’s right. My husband sometimes doesn’t
remember me in December, but that is the price we pay. I get great satisfaction
in knowing that I am having a positive impact in our customer’s business.”
Sam Albright, EA, has worked at Drake for five years. Originally
a native of Kennedy, New York, Sam also started his career at H&R Block
in the early 1990s and used the Drake program while working for Pinnacle
Tax in West Columbia, South Carolina in 1999. Sam enjoyed working with
tax software and started testing for Xpress Tax Software in the summer
of that year. In 2001, Sam left Xpress and came to Franklin to work for
Drake. Sam now specializes in testing state products, but he has extensive
experience in federal and banking products as well.
According to Sam, “I have found that having prepared taxes makes
me a much better tester. I use my prior experience to make sure the program
not only calculates correctly, but that a tax preparer would be able to
use it easily. I remember preparing taxes in late January with people standing
in the reception area. I always liked Drake because I could do a return
quickly and accurately. When I test, I try to put myself in the shoes of
the tax preparer. You just don’t have time for unnecessary data entry.”
Chuck, Evelyn, and Sam are just three of the dedicated professionals
that bring you Drake Software each year. Why not check out Drake yourself?
We would love to have you visit us at one of our upcoming seminars. Or
just give us a call, and we’ll ship you a free copy of our 2005 software.
Find out what it’s like to use tax software developed by tax preparers.
Experience does have its advantages – that’s easy to see with
Drake.
About the Author
John Sapp, CPA, is the vice president of sales and marketing
at Drake Software. John received his BS degree from Oral Roberts University.
Prior to joining Drake, he was a tax specialist with Deloitte, Haskins,
and Sells (now Deloitte & Touche) and worked in public accounting in
Knoxville, Tennessee.
A lively and vibrant speaker, John can often be found entertaining
and educating tax professionals at Drake’s fall Update Schools. You
can reach John by sending an email to
john@taxingsubjects.com.
From April 2006
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