Preparedness Guide

Welcome to our step-by-step guide to prepare your firm for organizer season and make your experience with Organizers easy and seamless. 

Getting Started

Review Your Print Settings

CCH Axcess™ Best Practices for Printing Organizers

CCH® ProSystem fx® Best Practices for Printing Organizers

GoSystem Tax RS® Best Practices for Printing Organizers

UltraTax CS® Print Settings for Organizers and Engagement Letters

Lacerte® Print Settings for Organizers and Engagement Letters

Ensure the Following Conditions are Met

• The Personal Information page is included in your print.
• The PDF has bookmarks generated by your tax software (CCH® only). 
• The questionnaire should be the default; it cannot be edited.
  • Questions cannot be added or removed.
  • The default font and margins must be used.
• Condensed organizers are not supported for Lacerte® users. 
• Summary organizers are not supported for GoSystem® users.

Batch Organizers 

See Uploading Batch Organizers.

• A .ZIP file containing all organizer PDFs and a .CSV file containing client information is required for batch uploads.
• The outlined file naming conventions must be used for the batch to upload correctly.
• Ensure .CSV file cells are formatted as plain text; Excel automatically truncates some numbers.
• Do not add or remove any columns from the .CSV file.
• Do not add any text in any fields outside of the columns provided.
• Ensure clients are sorted in the same order they are sorted in the .ZIP file.
• The number of .CSV line items should match the number of PDFs in the .ZIP file.
• The following fields are required to be filled out:
  • Client ID
  • Taxpayer First Name
  • Taxpayer Last Name
  •  Taxpayer email address

Review Firm Wide Settings

• Use our Settings: General guide to make sure your clients and users will have the options and defaults they need.
  • Enable or disable engagement letters, source document gathering and firm notifications, and automated reminders for clients.
• Set up Custom Questions to create questions not covered by the questionnaire.
  • Text should not be copied/pasted into this section. It can cause display issues.
• Set up Saved Messages and Client Instructions as needed.

Recognized Forms and Fields

• Only 1040 organizers are currently recognized.
• Any version of the organizer can be used if the Personal Information page is included.
• Due diligence forms are not currently recognized.
• Custom forms are not recognized.
• Organizers for the tax year 2020 and later are recognized for CCH®. 
• Organizers for tax year 2021 and later are recognized for GoSystem®, UltraTax®, and Lacerte®. 
• To review fillable fields, select the Taxpayer Preview option in the Delivery Options tab.
  • Fillable fields appear green in the preview but cannot be filled.

Uploading and Processing

Review Processing Guides 

• For individual organizers, see Processing an Organizer.
• For batch organizers, processing is very similar to individual organizers except:
  • Pages cannot be moved.
  • An error tab may appear outlining batch errors. These errors can be corrected (in most cases) or ignored.
• If you are unable to deliver an organizer, see the Unable to Process Organizer article for troubleshooting steps.

Engagement Letters (Optional)

• The engagement letter must be printed with the organizer and be included in the same PDF for CCH®.
• The engagement letter must be printed as a separate PDF and uploaded alongside the organizer for GoSystem®, UltraTax®, and Lacerte®. 
• For batch organizers, the engagement letter template must be the same for all recipients.
  • If the signature location differs from letter to letter, the signature will be misplaced on the signed document.
• Alternatively, the engagement letter can be uploaded to the Additional E-Sign Documents tab during processing.
  • For batch organizers, the engagement letter template must be the same for all recipients.
• Signature controls must be added to the engagement letter during processing; they are not added automatically.
  • If your firm does not add signature controls, the client will not be prompted to sign.
  • Mark the signature block as required or not during processing. 

Managing Delivered Organizers

Reports Dashboard

• See the Organizers Reports Overview article to review your delivered organizer options.
• There is a separate status column for Engagement Letters, Organizers, and Source Documents.
• All organizers, individual and batch, are in the same Delivered Organizers section.
• Column headers can be used to filter, and sort delivered organizers.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I allow the client to upload source documents?
  • An administrator can enable source document gathering under Settings > General. 
• How do I know if the user uploaded new source documents?
  
  • The status will show “Uploaded” any time new documents are uploaded.
  • You can click the black download button in the action menu to see which documents are newly uploaded.
  • An administrator can enable email notifications for source document uploads under Settings > General.
• How are client email notifications delivered for married filing jointly organizers?
  
  • If an email address is entered for the taxpayer and spouse, the organizer will be delivered to both at the same time.
  • If an email address is only entered for the taxpayer, and there is no spouse signature control, the spouse will not receive an access link unless the taxpayer clicks Finish > Send for Review.
  • If the taxpayer clicks Finish > Organizer Complete, the spouse will not receive an access link.
  • If an email address is only entered for the taxpayer, and there is a spouse signature control, the taxpayer will be prompted to enter an email address for the spouse. The spouse will get an access link after the taxpayer signs.
• Why is there an Error tab during processing for my batch organizer?
  
  • This tab appears if the system detects missing or incorrect information in the batch.
  • The tab will show a description of the error.
  • Some errors can be corrected in this tab, others cannot.
  • You can choose to ignore the errors and deliver anyway, but those organizers will not be delivered and will appear in the Undelivered Batch reporting section.
  • Please note: Not all data mismatches will be recognized. It is important to make sure you have the same number of PDF files and .CSV line items to prevent incorrect delivery or other errors.
• For additional frequently asked questions, see our Organizer FAQ.