Generally, we use a secure client portal to receive tax documents and information from clients, request information from clients, share completed tax returns, bill clients and, starting in tax season 2024, we’ll have clients sign their completed returns within the same portal.
We do have a few clients who prefer to work without the portal.
Analog clients can find their process here.
1. In December, we send out an email prior to the beginning of the new tax season. It will point out any changes to tax law and/or our process. It will also restate parts of our process that clients tend to miss or forget. We highly recommend that you read this correspondence carefully and thoroughly, so you know what to expect come tax season.
2. When tax season begins, we put three things into your portal account:
· An engagement letter (in the Contracts section);
· A Service Level Organizer; and
· A Tax Organizer.
The digital tax organizer doesn’t show the documents you gave us last year, but the paper organizer does include that information. If you’re using the portal but would like to see the paper organizer for reference, please let us know. We’ll be happy to upload a copy of your paper organizer into your portal.
3. If you are married and file jointly, please upload your spouse’s email address to your portal account (if they don’t already have access to the portal). For both spouses to sign the tax returns and the engagement letter within the portal, we need both to have access to your portal account via two different email addresses.
4. Read and sign the engagement letter.
5. Choose the Service Level you want for the year (in the SL Organizer).
6. Start the Tax Organizer: answer questions, update information as needed, and indicate the types of forms you’ll provide.
7. Once you have tax forms, upload them within the Organizer or directly to the Documents section. Note: we can see and access the documents you upload, even before you submit your Organizer. Please wait to submit your Tax Organizer until you have provided everything we need to prepare your tax returns.
Once you have your tax forms, you can schedule a
TAX Document Review appointment.
This is a 15-minute meeting at which you can go over your tax file with Carrie, ask any questions about this year’s taxes and/or point out anything she needs to know before she starts on your returns.
8. When we receive an income document (W-2, 1099, K-1, or business profit & loss report) from you, your file will be placed in the queue. If your file is one of the first 500 into the queue, you can generally assume that we’ll be able to prepare and file your returns by the April deadline. If there are already 500 files in the queue, you can assume that we’ll file an extension for you and prepare your returns during the extended filing period between the April and October deadlines. Either way, you’ll be notified that your file has been placed in the queue. If you’re NOT in the first 500, that will be stated in the notification email as well.
We finish and file about 500 tax returns in a normal tax season (by the April deadline). That means we file extensions for the remaining 300-500 returns we still need to prepare and file. Please be aware that it takes us much longer to finish the remaining 300-500 because we work very differently when it’s not tax season. We don’t work nights and weekends, we take time off for appointments, holidays, vacations, and continuing education. We also work on all the non-tax-preparation work that is postponed during tax season. We make sure that we finish all the remaining returns by the extended deadline, but beyond that we can’t really tell you when your extended tax returns will be finished and filed. The best way to relax and not worry about when your returns will be done is to make sure you don’t owe any tax on them. If you don’t owe anything, there are no penalties and no interest and no problem with filing during the extended period.
9. When your file reaches the top of our queue, Carrie will start your returns.
10. If she has any questions, needs more information, or needs additional documents to finish your returns, we will send a message through the “Chat” feature in the portal. Attached to the message will be a checklist of answers/documents we need.
The “needs more information” stage of the tax preparation is what slows us down.
The sooner you can respond to our questions and provide the rest of the documents we need, the faster we can move through the queue.
About 3% of our clients give us a complete file and don’t need to be contacted for more information.
If we could raise that rate even 1% per year,
that would be beneficial to everyone!
11. As you answer our questions and upload the requested documents, you’ll check the relevant boxes in the checklist. When all the answers and documents have been provided and all the boxes are checked, your file will be marked as “ready to finish.”
12. When Carrie has finished your returns, we will upload them to your portal account but they will be locked to the invoice for our tax preparation. You can pay the invoice within the portal, using a credit card or a direct bank transfer. Once the invoice is paid, you’ll be able to access your returns and review them.
If you provide additional information or documentation after Carrie has completed your tax returns, we reserve the right to add an additional fee (based on the amount of time required for your returns to be updated,
new returns printed/uploaded, new signature requests sent, etc.) to the original tax preparation fee.
Please don’t wait until the returns are complete before you provide all your tax information.
13. We’ll either request your signature(s) in the portal, or send a request through DocuSign but…
14. PLEASE review your tax returns before you sign them!! At this point, you may schedule a Tax Return Review appointment to go over the returns with Carrie or you can use our guidelines to review them yourself. If we have the wrong bank account info, or didn’t include an estimated payment, are missing an IP PIN, or have included a child who is no longer a dependent, etc., we need you to catch that mistake BEFORE we file your returns.
15. Sign your tax returns once they’ve been reviewed and all is correct.
If you are married and filing a joint return, both spouses must sign the same returns using the same method. If both spouses have access to the portal, we’ll have you both sign there. If we don’t have separate email addresses for the spouses, we’ll send both DocuSign requests to the email address we have. The person who receives the DocuSign invitations may forward their spouse’s invitation to their spouse’s email address.
16. Once signed, Carrie will e-file your returns.
17. When your returns have been accepted by the IRS and state agency, we will let you know. Within a day or two, we will upload the acceptance letter to your portal account. This contains the dates that your returns were accepted and the confirmation numbers.
18. We will close your file for the current year. If you receive a letter from the IRS or a state agency, or you have a question or problem relating to the tax returns, please reach out. If there is ever a problem with a tax return that is due to our error, we will correct it at no cost and we will reimburse you for any penalties and/or interest that are assessed because of our error. If you receive a letter or have a question that is not due to our error, we will be happy to answer your question or resolve the issue.
Keep in mind that unless you have selected Service Level 2 or 3,
we will charge for the time spent on your question/issue.