How it works
One return, from the first question to the acknowledgement.
A return passes through five stages. The preparer and the taxpayer see different screens at each one, but they are reading the same record — which is why the portal can say what is outstanding without anybody being asked to keep it up to date.
- 01
Intake
A guided questionnaire that narrows as the taxpayer answers it.
- 02
Documents
Sources arrive, are read, and are confirmed against the fields they feed.
- 03
Preparation
Federal and Pennsylvania are built from one file, with diagnostics running.
- 04
Review and signature
A reviewer signs off, then the taxpayer authorizes the return.
- 05
Filing
Transmit, read the acknowledgement, and correct anything that comes back.
Stage 01 · Intake
Establish who is filing, and what for.
Intake decides most of the return. Filing status, dependents, residency and the list of expected income sources all follow from it, and so does the list of documents the taxpayer will be asked for.
What the preparer does
In the workspace
- Create the client, or roll last season’s file forward.
- Send the intake invitation, or run the interview in the office.
- Watch answers arrive in the workspace as they are given.
- Confirm identity details, which validate as they are entered.
- Set the Pennsylvania municipality that governs the local return.
What the taxpayer sees
In the client portal
- A short set of questions that narrows as they answer.
- Last year’s answers offered for confirmation, not a blank form.
- The ability to stop and resume from a phone or a laptop.
- A plain explanation of why anything sensitive is being asked for.
- A running list of what is still needed from them.
What the software does with the answers
Stage 02 · Documents
Collect the sources, and confirm them against the return.
The taxpayer sends the documents; the preparer confirms what they say. The confirmation is the work, so the interface puts the page and the field side by side rather than a filename and a form.
What the preparer does
In the workspace
- Request the documents the intake answers imply.
- See each upload classified and attached to the return.
- Confirm the values read from a page, with the page open beside them.
- Reject a document that is illegible and say why, in one action.
- Track what is still outstanding without opening a spreadsheet.
What the taxpayer sees
In the client portal
- A list of the documents needed, named the way the form names them.
- Camera capture from a phone, or a file picker on a desktop.
- Confirmation that a document arrived and was readable.
- A clear note when something has to be sent again, and why.
- The list shortening as documents are accepted.
Stage 03 · Preparation
Build the federal and Pennsylvania returns together.
Preparation runs through the navigator: identity, household, income, adjustments, deductions, credits, Pennsylvania, review. Diagnostics run continuously against the file as it is built, so a defect is caught in the section that caused it.
While the preparer works
- Findings appear in a rail beside the return, ranked by severity.
- A finding names the field, the form and what to do about it.
- Pennsylvania is computed under its own rules from the same entries.
- The local earned income tax return follows from the municipality on file.
- Nothing is transmitted while a reject or an error is open.
What the preparer does
In the workspace
- Work the navigator section by section, with completion state per section.
- Clear diagnostics as they appear rather than in a batch at the end.
- Trace any computed figure back to the entries behind it.
- Compare the itemized total against the standard deduction.
- Mark the return ready for review when the blocking findings are gone.
What the taxpayer sees
In the client portal
- A status of “in preparation”, with no unfinished figures shown.
- Any follow-up question the preparer raises, as a short request.
- A notice if a further document turns out to be needed.
- No access to a draft return until it is ready to be read.
- Nothing to do, and nothing to chase.
Stage 04 · Review and signature
A second reading, then the taxpayer authorizes it.
Review and authorization are two different approvals. The practice checks that the return is right; the taxpayer accepts responsibility for filing it. Both are recorded against the version of the return that was actually seen.
What the preparer does
In the workspace
- Send the return to the review queue when it is ready.
- A reviewer reads it against the diagnostics and the source documents.
- Notes attach to the field or section they concern.
- A return sent back to the preparer records who sent it back, and why.
- Sign-off is recorded against the reviewer and the version reviewed.
- Request the taxpayer’s authorization once review is complete.
What the taxpayer sees
In the client portal
- A notice that the return is ready to read.
- The prepared return, before any signature is asked for.
- A plain explanation of what signing the authorization means.
- A separate signature for each spouse on a joint return.
- A copy of what was signed, retained in the portal.
- The option to sign on paper instead.
A signature is bound to a version
Stage 05 · Filing
Transmit, then read what comes back.
The last stage is the one most software treats as a single click. It is a conversation: a submission goes out, an acknowledgement comes back, and sometimes what comes back is a refusal that has to be understood and answered.
What the preparer does
In the workspace
- Assemble the federal return and the PA-40 into one submission.
- Transmit, with a record of exactly what was sent and when.
- Watch for the acknowledgement against the return and in the queue.
- On a rejection, read the agency’s reason and reopen the responsible field.
- Re-run diagnostics, then retransmit as a new submission.
- Close the return once it is accepted, with the history intact.
What the taxpayer sees
In the client portal
- A filing status that moves from transmitted to acknowledged.
- Plain language for what a rejection means, and what happens next.
- No agency codes presented without an explanation beside them.
- A copy of the filed return retained in the portal.
- A record of any refund or payment instructions given.
- A clear ending: the return is filed and accepted.
When it does not go to plan
The interesting part of a season is the exceptions.
Any product can describe the path where everything arrives on time. These are the situations that actually consume a filing season, and what the software does with them.
The taxpayer never sends the last document.
A figure changes after the taxpayer has signed.
The submission is rejected.
Two people need to work on the same return.
The taxpayer would rather sign on paper.
Coverage limits are listed under supported tax situations, and the protections behind all of the above are described on security and privacy.
Read the part of the product you care about most.
The overview covers each of the ten parts of the software in its own right, from intake through to practice reporting.