💸 Tax Preparation: Configure processes in TaxDome

Here, we will tell you how to set up your tax preparation processes in TaxDome: how to onboard new clients with ease, deal with extensions using automations, obtain e-signatures for 8879s in a flash, and more.

Covered here:

• Automate and delegate routine tasks
• Repeated tasks related to communication
• Admin tasks
• Onboarding new clients: best practices
• Keep a separate pipeline for leads/prospects
• Onboard new clients in your usual pipelines using tags and conditions
• Deal with extensions
• Set up invoicing and payments
• E-signing 8879s and other tax forms
• Manage your ready tax returns

Automate and delegate routine tasks

The more tasks you automate, the more clients you can handle. We have helpful tips (based on the experience of your colleagues) on how to:

• Automate repeated tasks related to communication (messaging, requesting documents, sending invoices, etc.)
• Delegate admin tasks (such as working with client accounts and conducting regularly scheduled internal audits)

Repeated tasks related to communication

These everyday routine tasks can be assigned to TaxDome just in 3 steps:

1. Write down what you already do
2. Look for tasks that repeat
3. Create pipelines for each of your processes and use automations for routine tasks

You don’t need to do it from scratch – start from our Marketplace with templates for different types of services. All of the templates we provide are fully editable, so you can change them to fit your needs: 

• 1040 Tax Return Pipeline (from webinar)
• 1120S – S-Corp Income Tax Return
• 1120 – Corporate Income Tax Return
• 1065 – Partnership Income Tax Return

Admin tasks

First, write down all of your admin tasks. Consider hiring someone for the admin role to free up your valuable time.

Then add a team member with a role of an admin to do various administrative tasks: check tags, assign team members to accounts, check pipeline availability inside the team, track your team's working hours, etc.

Onboarding new clients: best practices

Depending on your particular firm, you may have different processes in place to onboard new clients. We suggest the following two options (choose which one works better for you):

• Keep a separate pipeline for leads/prospects
• Onboard new clients in your usual pipelines using tags and conditions

Keep a separate pipeline for leads/prospects

The first option is to have a separate pipeline for your prospects and to move them to your usual pipeline once they become clients.

You can add new clients into your workflow this way:

1. Make a discovery call, send a proposal, and sign a contract during the lead generation process.
2. When leads become clients, move their job from the “Prospects” pipeline to the “Tax Preparation” pipeline with just one click while keeping everything in place — proposals, notes, messages, time entries and so on.

Onboard new clients in your usual pipelines using tags and conditions

Another way of handling new clients is to add some rules that will be applied only to the new accounts added to the pipelines. This way, you don't need to use two pipelines.

According to the best practices of our clients, you should do the following:

• Create a conditional stage for all accounts tagged with the New client tag. If an account is tagged with the New client tag, then the job moves to the Waiting for retainer stage where the invoice automation is added:

• Create conditional automations and send different welcome messages to your new and existing clients based on the tags applied:

• Add the Update account tags automation to the last stage of the pipeline and change the New client tag to the Returning client tag:

Deal with extensions

If you ask us -- "What’s the best way of handling extensions via TaxDome?" -- the answer is: it depends. Let’s explore how you can deal with extensions.

• Create a separate Extension pipeline.  When a client needs an extension, you can move it to another pipeline. And then you can move it back to the previous pipeline when the client is ready to file.

• Or create a conditional stage in your tax preparation pipeline. If your client needs an extension, you can apply the Ext needed tag to their account. Clients enter this stage only if they are tagged, then they move further down the pipeline. Otherwise, they skip the stage.

Set up invoicing and payments

Tip! Connect your payment provider to be able to receive money directly through TaxDome.

The invoicing process depends on what works best for you and your clients.

Choose one of the following options or use them both for different clients:

• Invoice your new clients before the job is done. You may send an invoice along with an engagement letter. Once the client signs the proposal, the job is moved to the next stage, and the invoice is automatically sent along with a message that they need to pay before you start the work.

• Invoice your trusted clients after the job is done. You can lock prepared returns to invoices and clients will see that the job is done, but they wont' be able to access or download their forms until they pay for your work.

E-signing 8879s and other tax forms

Below you can see the fastest way to obtain a signature from your client:

Use our hacks to keep this process smooth:

• For Forms 8879 requiring knowledge-based authentication (KBA), TaxDome can request an IRS-compliant signature (this will cost $1 per signer)
• To deal with multiple signers such as a family, link them to one account
• Link the document that is pending signature to your job: the automove feature will be triggered once the document is signed
• You can use the signature templates to quickly add fields for common forms

Manage your ready Tax Returns

Once your return is prepared, you may need to upload it to TaxDome for manager's review and client approval.

With the TaxDome Desktop App, you can do it right from you tax preparation software or any program that has a print feature. Just use TaxDome as a printer and link the uploaded document to the appropriate Job so that your manager can easily find it.