One page organizer list of documents needed

Under review-- We're reviewing next steps to enhance organizers. Please continue to vote and post your suggestions below. Check out similar idea here: PDF Version of Organizer

I am so glad that you are finally looking into this.  I will add that it really isn't reinventing the wheel.  Take a look at ProSeries checklist organizer.  It is based on the client's information from the year before.  It is exactly what is needed.

I'd like to see basically a letter, with a detailed list of the forms they had in the prior year (bullet point form W-2s, 1099s, 1098s).

Maybe a brief (undetailed) bullet point list of the type of expenses they had in the prior year - charitable contributions, real estate taxes, etc. No specifics, though. I don't need my 80 year old client that gave $20 to 30 organizations to have that on this letter/organizer. 

For most clients this should be one page, in not too small of a font.

Yes this is so imperative. So many people ignore the organizer because it is so big (even condensed is large). If there was a checklist of documents last year for the major sources of forms (W-2s, 1099s (DIV, INT, B, NEC, R, etc) 1098s and so on) that'd be super helpful.

While electronic is great a paper version to simplify this would be great.

"Maybe a brief (undetailed) bullet point list of the type of expenses they had in the prior year - charitable contributions, real estate taxes, etc. No specifics, though. I don't need my 80 year old client that gave $20 to 30 organizations to have that on this letter/organizer."  --  amec

Note that this is different from what had been requested in the past.  This is just a list of "input sections" (such as page10/wages, page11/interest, page16/busines, page18/rental, and so on).
  This is trivial to put together, and I have shown examples at the last post of page1 of this comment thread:  https://proconnect.intuit.com/community/lacerte-tax-idea-exchange/one-page-organizer-list-of-documents-needed/idi-p/131248#comments

However, I have to say that giving a client that just says, "give us all of your interest income statements" doesn't really help most clients.  "Okay, I know that I have a bunch...  but was it 17 of them, or 23?"



Robert Kirk
LTUGtools

This is available with intuit link basically but clients do not want ANOTHER sign on to another thing. If this type of checklist is available already in a different format, it should be able to be created as an simple "organizer"

I'd like a plain list of the prior year documents entered. Form and payer name.

The organizer is with lots of blank spaces and many pages to sort through, this could be a 1-2 page list or editable form like the tax letter.

They could be broken out in sections (1099-INT, 1099-R, 1099-Div, etc) list a bullet point list of the payer name field value.

example:

Client name

1099-INT

• Bank of America
• Wells Fargo

1099-SSA

• Taxpayer
• Spouse

1099-DIV

• Fidelity
• Robinhood

W-2

• Facebook
• Intuit

Most of my clients prefer a list to a lengthy intimidating planner. They know who to look for snail mail from or which website to look for documents on. 

This is low effort field consolidation ticket (form type, payer name) that would save me HOURS of typing these lists myself or exchanging "hey you forgot X, Y Z, documents - find them"

Having this hit list might be a first step to uploading documents, or using a lacerte turbo tax on their own.

I was just thinking about the Lacerte organizers and wondering if this is going to actually happen for this tax season?

This is what ProSeries has offered for years and I do mean years!  I don't understand the delay in this being included with Lacerte.  The code is already written.

I've been kicking around ways of doing this as painlessly as possible, and my first question is: would you want anything BEYOND what is detailed in the Organizer?

These are the Lacerte pages that are currently included in the Organizer (plus some random number of state-specific pages, depending on your "DB State" input at the bottom of page1/client info):
 

First column is the input sheet that we humans go to, in order to make entries.  Second column is the "Series #" (look at the bottom left corner of a paper input sheet) that Lacerte stores the information by.  Third column is what it *IS*.

Would you actually want the page47/Notes included?

Would you want more than those items listed?

Would you want to EXCLUDE any of those?

Would you need anything more extensive than the sample that I put together previously (last post visible on Page 1 of this thread)?  Basically a section header and then "list of items" for that section.

Is this something that you would print for ALL clients? For clients of "some specific F4/status" (or several of them)?

Would you prefer it as a PDF (which you could then forward by email OR print out) or straight to printed copy right away?

.

If anyone is willing to experiment with free software, let me know ("ParadoxForLacerte <at> Yahoo.com") and I can take you through downloading Lacerte's ODBC setup, Paradox's free Runtime package, and some simple Scripts & Reports within Paradox to parse out the information and make use of it.



Robert Kirk
LTUGtools