AICPA Enhances Interactive Tax Prep Checklists

The American Institute of CPAs has improved its Interactive Tax Checklists to allow tax professionals to work more efficiently next tax season.

The Web-based checklists are designed for quick updating so tax practitioners don’t have to backtrack to make sure the information they have previously entered is presented accurately. Interactive Tax Checklists are based on content from the AICPA Tax Checklists and AICPA Practice Guides. 

The tool allows several members of a firm to work within the same engagement checklist. Logic-driven content only presents questions that are relevant to a particular client’s engagement.
For tax year 2012, the AICPA has released interactive checklists for Forms 1040, 1065, 1120 S and 1120 C. The remaining checklists and practice guides will be released later this year.

Users can collaborate on the checklists by adding comments and tracking the progress of tasks until they are completed. In the latest version, email reminders can be sent to team members on the next steps in the process, along with updates on the status of a return. In addition, users can now access complete versions of AICPA Tax Checklists, plus a selection of AICPA Practice Guides and key IRS publications with a few clicks.

“We know tax law uncertainty is a significant concern for CPAs and their clients this year, and one of the great advantages of Interactive Tax Checklists is the ability to add new content quickly online to reflect those changes,” said AICPA vice president of publications Linda Cohen in a statement. “Users will be notified as soon as we put in revised versions.”

The checklists are free to AICPA Tax Section members and sold at a discount to AICPA members. For more information, visit www.cpa2biz.com/InteractiveTax.

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