How to Use ProSeries® for Pay Per Return and E-File Reports

One of the hardest things to do during tax season is to keep track of the work that has been completed. In days past, you may well have seen preparers with boards full of information that would include notes on where their clients’ returns currently sit – which could be very overwhelming.

To ease your pain and offload some of that tiresome work with the data, we implemented report functionality in Intuit® ProConnect™ ProSeries® that gives you a direct way of obtaining particular data without leaving the program where the data sits.

ProSeries allows you to compile reports directly about the e-filed returns that are showing in the E-File Center, and if any clients are being completed on a pay-per-return basis, ProSeries will allow you to track and compile an audit report from the returns.

You’re probably thinking that this sounds great and would love to start using these, but you need to know one final thing: How do I use them?

Pay Per Return

A high number of ProSeries customers actually work on a pay-per-return basis, which can lead to a troublesome time when trying to remember or gather the information of the cost for each return and how much is owed.

ProSeries gives you an easy and conclusive way of seeing the exact data you need for this type of tracking. By selecting the “Tools Menu” and then “Pay Per Return,” you will see a pop-up window with four options:

1. Show Account Balance
2. Increase Account Balance
3. View Audit Report
4. Print Audit Report

The first two options are ways in which you can check what your current balance is and add further funds to your pay-per-return account.

When you select “View Audit Report” from your current window, you will see a new screen display that is the teller of all truths. You’ll be given a list of all of the current statuses of any of your pay-per-return accounts, but please be aware that the list will only show information for the current computer.

Now, the following will display with any status that you have showing:

• File Name: This will show either the name of the client file or the type of transaction.
• Last Name: This will show the last name of the client associated with the return for individuals, or the company name for business returns.
• Program: The type of return – 1040/1120/1065, for example.
• Date: The date on which the return was prepared, or when the transaction occurred.
• Time: The time the transaction was posted.
• Amount: The amount of the transaction, either credit or debit. Credit transactions will be shown without parenthesis, whereas debits will have parenthesis.
• Balance: The current balance on the account. This will reduce or increase the numbers in the amount column.

You will see every status you have and every increase and/or decrease in your account balance, so it may come to the point that this list is required to be printed out. When the time does come, we give you two options: You can simply select print within the report window, or without even viewing the report, you have the option to print straight from the initial pay per return window.

E-File Reports

You have gotten through the season and all the returns were filed, yet you start to see that you may not know which returns were accepted or rejected. What you’ll have is a list of clients with varying statuses that are all jumbled around in your “HomeBase” view, so how exactly do you make heads or tails of all this information?

Within the “E-File Center,” found in your HomeBase drop down list, you can create reports based on the returns you e-filed. Navigate to the “E-File” menu found toward the top of the screen. From the menu list, select “Electronic Filing” and then “Electronic Filing Reports.” A new window will display 16 options to choose from, listed in the chart below.

From here, depending on what type of e-file report you are wanting to run, you can select the report from the list, and then you have one final choice.

The final choice will be whether you want one of the following three options for your report:

1. All Electronic Filing Records – This will give you all records of returns with the selected report status.
2. Select Electronic Filing Records – This will give you the records of any returns selected prior to entering the report window.
3. Customized Electronic Filing Records Selection (as specified below) – When selecting this option, you will be given different filters and capabilities to customize the report with.

These filters will be shown at the bottom of the “Electronic Filing Report” window. You can filter, if applicable, to the chosen report, by how the information is sorted, and then you can enter a specific date range, if necessary. If applicable, you can select the return type and return status filter.

With any report you choose, you can select to preview it, giving you an indication of how the report will look, or choose to directly print it. It is always our recommendation to preview the report prior to printing.

Good luck!