Recently we've received some feedback on our templates and calculators (offline), and so far they have been very positive.  However, there may be some features that users have trouble with or would like to see in a later release.  Please give us some feedback (positive and negative) about our software.

Also, if you don't mind sharing your templates, we can publish those to help other users get started.  Please be sure to remove any personal information.  You can submit these templates by sending a PM to the administrator with the attachment.  The document will be converted to PDF so that all your information is kept anonymous.

I have used the calculator for quite a while.  I've also used the trial version of the Bradley stuff and their free online version.  For the cases that I deal with, your free calculator has been invaluable.  I especially like the latest addition of the child support values at the top so I can see how every entry changes the child support.  The form for shared custody that the guidelines requires is hard to follow.  I noticed that this calculator has a separate tab which makes it a little easier to understand.  Nifty!

Now for my dislikes - I agree with bob there are a couple of spaces in the menu for county and district.  Nothing major, just probably a little glitch that could be cleared up real quick.  The parenting time adjustments on step 1 are somewhat clear, but I dont' understand why you'd ever have a situation where both parents had an adjustment.  But maybe that's just me.  The entry for child care also seems like it could be simplified.  The template does work fine, but I LOVE how the income has the ability to enter weekly/monthly/annually... income.  Maybe child care could use the same kind of thing so we could input child care as a weekly number instead to calculate that on the fly.  For me, that would really help since daycare is usually weekly.  I can't think of anything else right now.  Nice work, and thanks for letting us know it will work with Libre Office as that is what I use most of the time.

Thanks for your feedback.  I want to be clear about which tab(s) you are having trouble with.  You mentioned the tab for shared residency.  Are you talking about the "Step 3 - EPT_Worksheet" tab?  If so, which line number?

You also mentioned section 3.  Is that section 3 on the "Step 1 - Input_Case_Info" tab?  Or are you still talking about the EPT worksheet tab?  If you have an example sheet you could post, I can take a look at it.

The EPT worksheet uses information from step 1 and step 2 and does not require any user input data.  If data is missing from the EPT worksheet, it is most likely that information still needs to be entered in step 1 and step 2.  At least this has been my experience when using the sheet.

I know some cells have been intentionally locked and some features of the entire workbook have been locked.  This is most likely to keep others from accidentally changing the formulas which would give an incorrect number.  The instructions say how to unlock everything I believe.  So, if you really wanted to tailor the worksheet for your own use, you are free to do so.  We only ask that if you discover a real problem, such as you have posted, you let us know so it can be fixed or at least noted.

When you view the EPT worksheet, is there a note in bold red print that says "Wait! Please Read Below!"??

I notice that the lines you are referring to cannot be calculated unless the user selects "neither/shared custody" in question 2 on the step 1 tab.  When this is selected the bold red note at the top of the EPT worksheet goes away and the values on lines 12 and 14 are calculated for you.

The way the EPT worksheet is filled out, there is no entry required on lines 11 or 13.  These are just instructions telling the user which line to move to.  Lines 12 and 14 do seem to work correctly for me.  Keep in mind that line 12 OR line 14 will be used depending on which parent is providing direct expenses.  There should not be values on both lines.

The example worksheet provided is not a shared residency case.  So, you will first need to go to the step 1 tab, question 2, and enter the required information for the EPT to calculate.  The values do indeed get transferred over to the CS worksheet when this information is entered.

Thank you jmdoty for your feedback.  The issue of rounding is something that has been discussed before.  The reason the calculator does not follow the exact same approach as Bradley is because the guidelines to not tell the user they have to do it that way.  You've quoted the guidelines in your post, and since it says "may be necessary" rather than "should" or "must" the author has decided to use the same approach as looking up values from the Federal 1040 tax forms.  This approach uses the lower value until the threshold is crossed.

If you think about this approach, it does the same thing, spans the same income range, and is less confusing.  For example, if the income in the tables is $3000, $3100, and $3200, the income span between the values is $100.  From what you are saying, the span should really be $2950-$3049, $3050-3149, and $3150-$3249.  So, the income spans are the same ($100), but depending on the method, a different child support amount can be seen.  Personally, I think our approach is easier and makes more sense.

Another user made the comment that he preferred to use the logarithmic equations rather than the tables.  This is just another approach, but the guidelines say that for income beyond the tables to use the log equations, so the calculator here uses the tables until income beyond $15,500 is exceeded.

So, the approach of our calculator doesn't aim to follow anything done by Bradley, but rather the guidelines themselves.  When something like rounding is left to the user's discretion, ours apparently takes a slightly different approach.  I'm glad you were able to modify the calculator to suit your needs.