Migrating UltraTax CS data to Virtual Office CS or SaaS

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Complete the following multi-part procedure to move UltraTax CS data from a local or network drive to Virtual Office CS or SaaS, set up the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS, and activate UltraTax CS state PRP applications.

Part 1: Back up data from your local installation of UltraTax CS

  1. For each tax year for which you will restore UltraTax CS client data into the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment, create a folder on your local hard drive named UTYYbackups (where YY is the tax year).
    1. Double-click the My Computer icon.
    2. Double-click the C:\ drive.
    3. Choose File > New > Folder.
    4. Name the folder UTYYbackups, where YY is the tax year.

    Note: If you use multiple data locations, you should create a separate backup folder for each data location for each tax year.

  2. Open your local installation of UltraTax CS.
  3. Back up client data.
    1. In UltraTax CS, choose File > Backup.
    2. Verify that Clients is selected in the first field in the Backup dialog.
    3. Double-click one or more clients in the left (Available) pane to move them to the right (Selected) pane, or click the Select All button.
    4. In the Backup data group box, click the Modify Backup Location button, navigate to C:\UTYYbackups, and click OK.
    5. Click the Backup button.
    6. Click the Done button.
  4. Back up document data (applicable to all clients)
    1. Choose File > Backup.
    2. Select Documents from the first field in the Backup dialog.
    3. Double-click documents to move them to the Selected pane, or click the Select All button.

      If you back up data locations from the local installation and restore them to the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation, the data locations will be incorrect in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment.

    4. Verify that C:\UTYYbackups appears in the Backup location field.
    5. Click the Backup button.
    6. Click the Done button.
  5. Back up system settings
    1. Choose File > Backup.
    2. Select System settings from the first field in the Backup dialog.
    3. Double-click items to move them to the Selected pane, or click the Select All button.
    4. Verify that C:\UTYYbackups appears in the Backup location field.
    5. Click the Backup button.
    6. Click Done.

    Important notes

    • Do not back up the UltraTax CS data locations. If you clicked Select All, highlight UltraTax CS Data Locations in the Selected pane and click the Remove button to move it to the Available pane. If you back up data locations from the local installation and restore them to the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation, the data locations will be incorrect in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment.
    • Do not back up the System Settings item from the System Settings group if you have advanced user/group security settings enabled. The security settings included in this data can cause problems accessing the application in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment.

    Internal notes


    If a user has backed up System Settings > System Settings, before they restore into VO/SaaS, they must delete these files from the backup:

    • _yUSSPTH.dat
    • _yusSMSC.dat
    • _yusSMS2.dat

    For each, y is the last digit of the tax year

  6. Back up product settings.
    1. Choose File > Backup.
    2. Select Program settings from the first field in the Backup dialog.
    3. Double-click items to move them to the Selected pane, or click the Select All button.
    4. Verify that C:\UTYYbackups appears in the Backup location field.
    5. Click the Backup button.
    6. Click Done.
  7. If you filed returns electronically, do the following.
    • UltraTax version 13.1.0 and newer: Setup > Office Configuration and click the E-Filing tab.
    • UltraTax version 12.x.x and older: Choose Setup > System Configuration and click the Electronic Filing tab.
  8. Write down the number in the All returns will file using EFIN field.

    Notes

    • If you created electronic files in your local installation of UltraTax CS but you have not yet transmitted them, the electronic files will not be transferred to the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment. You must either transmit the files from the local installation of UltraTax CS or recreate the files in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS.
    • You cannot back up source data entry data or restore it into the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment.
  9. Close the local installation of UltraTax CS.
  10. Repeat steps 2 – 8 for each data location and/or tax year for which you will restore data into the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS.

Part 2: Restore data into the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS

  1. Log in to NetStaff CS.
  2. If you need to set up multiple data locations, contact CS Web Services Support by calling 800-968-0600 and following the prompts.

    Internal note: If a user requests to set up multiple data locations, see Internal: Multiple data locations for Virtual Office CS and SaaS firms

  3. Click the Applications link in the NetStaff CS tab of the navigation pane.

    Note: If you don’t see these items, you don’t have access to applications through Virtual Office CS or SaaS.

  4. In the Virtual Office CS screen, click the UltraTax CS YYYY icon to open the application, where YYYY is the tax year.
  5. Choose File > Restore.
  6. In the Clients Not Found dialog, click the Change Backup Location button, navigate to the UTYYbackups folder (where YY is the tax year) on your local C:\ drive, and click OK.

    Note: In the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment, C$ on Client (V:) is your local C:\ drive.

  7. Restore client data.
    1. In UltraTax CS, choose File > Restore.
    2. Verify that Clients appears in the first field in the Restore dialog.
    3. Double-click one or more clients to move them to the right (Selected) pane, or click the Select All button.
    4. Click the Restore button.
    5. Click the Done button.
  8. Restore document data (applicable to all clients).
    1. Choose File > Restore.
    2. Select Documents from the first field in the Restore dialog.
    3. Double-click one or more documents to move them to the right (Selected) pane, or click the Select All button.
    4. Verify that V:\UTYYbackups appears in the Backup location field.
    5. Click the Restore button.
    6. Click the Done button.
  9. Restore system settings.
    1. Choose File > Restore.
    2. Select System settings from the first field in the Restore dialog.
    3. Double-click items to move them to the Selected pane, or click the Select All button.
    4. Verify that V:\UTYYbackups appears in the Backup location field.
    5. Click the Restore button.
    6. Click Done.
  10. Restore product settings.
    1. Select Product Settings from the first field in the Restore dialog.
    2. Double-click items to move them to the Selected pane, or click the Select All button.
    3. Verify that V:\UTYYbackups appears in the Backup location field.
    4. Click the Restore button.
    5. Click Done.
  11. Optional: To view electronic filing status for all clients you must rebuild your ELF status by choosing Help > Repair and clicking the Rebuild ELF Status button.
  12. Repeat steps 7 – 10 for each data location and/or tax year for which you want to restore data into the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS.

Part 3: Set up the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS

  1. Do one of the following.
    • UltraTax version 13.1.0 and newer: Choose Setup > Office Configuration.
    • UltraTax version 12.x.x and older: Choose Setup > System Configuration.
  2. Make any necessary changes to the application setup.
  3. In all years of UltraTax CS through which your firm will file electronic returns, set up electronic filing and rebuild ELF status.
    1. Do one of the following.
      • UltraTax version 13.1.0 and newer: Choose Setup > Office Configuration and click the E-Filing tab.
      • UltraTax version 2012.x.x and older: Choose Setup > System Configuration and click the Electronic Filing tab.
    2. Enter the EFIN number that you wrote down earlier in the All returns will file using EFIN field.
    3. Optional: To verify your EIN number and firm phone number, click the Firm tab.
    4. With all client data restored, rebuild ELF status by choosing Help > Repair and clicking the Rebuild ELF Status button.
  4. Each UltraTax CS user should verify his user preferences through the Setup > User Preferences dialog.

Part 4: Activate UltraTax CS state PRP license

To enable UltraTax CS state applications for use in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment on a PRP basis, follow the steps below.

State applications are made available in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS environment as they are released. You can enable any state application on a per-return-pricing (PRP) basis if your firm did not purchase an unlimited license for the state.

Complete the following steps to activate a state PRP license.

  1. Open UltraTax CS for the appropriate tax year.
  2. Choose Setup > System Configuration.
  3. Click the Activate State Products tab.
  4. Mark the checkboxes for the states you want to license on a PRP basis.

    Notes

    • Marking a checkbox activates a state for all entity types.
    • If you purchased an unlimited license for a state application, marking the checkbox for that state does not affect that licensing. If you purchased an unlimited license for all entities for a specific state, the checkbox for that state is marked and grayed.
  5. Click OK.

The state applications are now enabled for use in UltraTax CS on a PRP basis. If any users were working in the Virtual Office CS or SaaS installation of UltraTax CS while you activated the state PRP licenses, they will need to close and re-open UltraTax CS to have access to those state applications.

Related topics

Getting started with Virtual Office CS or SaaS

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