Scan, Organize... and Now Populate:
The Workflow Revolution Continues

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• September 2008 Issue
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The actual user process is very simple, and the initial functions take only three steps:

1. Select a client,
2. Scan client documents or add documents from previously scanned PDF files, and
3. Upload the data through the secure GruntWorx system.

GruntWorx then processes the files and identifies, classifies, sorts and compiles the bookmarked PDF workpapers. When processing is complete (usually in one or two hours), the program notifies the user, who then securely downloads the PDF. Tax professionals can use the bookmarked PDF to quickly find and enter tax data in any tax software. GruntWorx Pro provides the additional capability to extract data from the scanned tax documents and automatically populate the data in tax preparation software. The extracted data can be verified for accuracy against the scanned source documents in the bookmarked PDF.

All data is secure, remains in the United States and is never accessible to outside eyes, making the system fully compliant with IRC 7216. Pricing for the scan & organize function is very affordable at $1 to $2 per client based on volume, regardless of the actual number of documents and pages scanned. Pricing for GruntWorx Pro for GoSystem Tax RS will have a list price of $50 per return. “Automatic population of client data can save significant administrative time, but there are many challenges that must be overcome to develop a reliable system,” said Ed Jennings, Copanion’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“There can be thousands of variations of even the most basic forms, depending on the issuer, so we focused on ensuring the accuracy of classification across a broad range of forms. We also wanted to make sure the system was intuitive and easy for users to understand.”

Forms Supported for Automatic Population: GruntWorx can classify and extract data from virtually all forms (1099, 1098, W-2, K-1, 2439, SSA, etc.) and combined brokerage statements.

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SurePrep — 1040SCAN
www.1040SCAN.com

1040SCAN is the most mature digital document organization and auto population system on the market, having been used the past three tax seasons by thousands of professionals. For TY2007, the secure, web-based system and its population features were used to process more than 125,000 returns, and the company expects that number to double next tax season. SurePrep also offers a Lite version of 1040SCAN that offers only scan and organize (no population) features, which is best-suited to users of non-supported tax programs. The vendor also offers domestic outsourced tax preparation services.

The key benefits to 1040SCAN are its population capabilities, which integrate with GoSystem Tax RS, ProSystem fx Tax, and Lacerte to automatically extract data from scanned documents for preparing client 1040 returns. As a part of this process, the system automatically identifies all of the scanned documents and organizes them, then provides the user with a bookmarked PDF file that includes all of the items in an order that follows the flow of the return. This set of electronic workpapers can greatly streamline the review process, with documents easy to find and quickly retrievable. 1040SCAN can identify and extract data from thousands of variations of all 1040-related forms and consolidated statements from more than 70 brokerage entities.