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

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In great part due to its maturity on the market and the fact that the company has more than 200 professional U.S. tax preparers on its staff who help in program development, 1040SCAN provides the most advanced data verification and analysis tools. In fact, SurePrep built a separate diagnostics program focused specifically on classifying documents and identifying potential duplicates or errors. The result is much greater accuracy than simply relying on OCR and can alert users to issues such as data previously entered on an organizer that has also been scanned into the system. The program also offers a series of diagnostic reports.

Operation of 1040SCAN is simple and geared toward non-professional administrative staff who first scan the client documents and upload them to SurePrep’s secure servers, where they are identified, organized and data is extracted for use by the population feature. The next step is completion of the 1040SCAN Review Wizard, a verification process that guides the user (ideally still an admin or intern) through a checklist of potential errors or duplications. The bookmarked PDF is available after this process, and client data can be exported into one of the supported tax systems with just a few mouse clicks. The professional assigned as the preparer is then notified that this client return is in progress and awaiting action.

According to Bret Wier, SurePrep’s VP of Sales and Marketing, optimizing a firm’s workflow is one of the biggest factors in achieving the greatest results from such a system. Additionally, the practice should utilize up-front scanning and data verification and use a high-quality scanner.

“The quality of the scanned images is critical because it affects the ability of the OCR to recognize forms and data contained on them,” he said. “Each year, we stress to our users that having a good scanner is essential, and we often recommend the Fujitsu 6130 with VRS from Kofax. That scanner model costs about $1,100 (from Dell.com), and Wier notes that it is a good fit for firms preparing up to 2,000 client 1040 returns.

1040SCAN also includes numerous workflow management tools, enabling preparers and managers to quickly see the progress of returns assigned to them, and alerting them to when action is required on their part. These tools are especially valuable since they help firms implement more efficient workflow processes that can help save as much as 25 percent of senior reviewer time. 1040SCAN’s list price is $30 per return with a 20 percent early season discount if purchased prior to the end of September 2008.

Forms Supported for Automatic Population: W-2, W-2G, 1099 B, 1099 C, 1099 G, 1099 DIV, 1099 INT, 1099 LTC, 1099 MISC, 1099 OID, 1099 PATR, 1099 Q, 1099 R, 1099 SA, 1098, 1098 E, 1098 T, SSA-1099, 5498, MA 1099-HC, K-1 (1065, 1120s, 1041)

• K-1 (Resident & Non Resident: CA, IL, MA, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VT, WI)
• Brokerage statements from more than 70 firms
• Grantor letters from major financial institutions
• Also adding 1041 returns for next year
  

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Thomson Reuters – GoFileRoom ES