Purchasing Guides / Tax Document Intake Checks

Tax Document Intake Checks

A purchasing guide to buying a workflow that sorts a client's tax documents, lists what each one is and drafts a request for the documents still missing, for your preparer to approve.

Yearly running cost

Assuming 480 returns a year

By hand: $8.4K / year; 240 hours of work
Subscription: $1.8K+ / year
This workflow: $100 / year; Machine usage only; setup, hosting and review are extra.

What should it check?

Sort a client's tax documents, list what each one is, and compare them with what you expect for this return. Your preparer starts from a checked list instead of opening each file.

One return includes up to 25 client documents and 60 pages.

Check uploaded documentsClient files and your checklist, with a review page$936 – 2,760 setupRead from my client portalCheck new uploads as they arrive in your portal$1,512 – 4,440 setup

Your preparer reviews the document list and approves any request to the client. No tax figures entered, no returns prepared and nothing filed.

What is included

Read uploaded scans, photos and downloaded forms, list each document with its type, tax year, issuer and pages, compare with your checklist and draft a missing-items request.

Start with your document checklist or last year's document list, the forms you see most often and preparer-checked examples. The connected option reads from your client portal or document folder; it does not enter figures into tax software or file anything.

How reliable should the document check be?

Reading a form is not enough. Choose how often documents must be identified correctly, how many missing items it must find and how many of its requests can be wrong.

StandardReliable document lists with unreadable and unknown documents held for a preparer.Documents identified correctly: ≥98%Missing items found: ≥95%IncludedStrictA second reading of key fields and more tests on scans, photos and corrected forms.Documents identified correctly: ≥99%Missing items found: ≥98%Setup +$288 – 840My own targetsAgree your own acceptance requirements with the provider.Quote separately

How these standards are measured

Test on held-out client files from a past season, with scanned, photographed, duplicate, corrected and wrong-year documents included. Measure correctly identified documents separately from missing items found. A missed document, an unreadable page or a client mix-up must stay visible; a silent skip is a failure.

Targets for your selected standard
What is checked	Target
Documents identified correctlyA document passes only when its form type, tax year and issuer all agree with the preparer's label; corrected and duplicate forms count separately.	≥98%
Missing items foundLabelled missing documents that appear in the draft request, divided by all labelled missing documents; skipped clients stay in the denominator.	≥95%
Correct missing-item requestsRequested items that were really missing, divided by all requested items, so clients are not asked for documents they already sent.	≥90%
Complete page linksEach listed document links to its original file and pages, so a preparer can open the source in one step.	≥100%

A document list is preparation support, not a reviewed return. Your preparer confirms figures against the source pages, and the workflow never decides what is taxable.

How quickly do you need a client's documents checked?

Choose how quickly a checked document list should be ready after a client's upload is complete. Your preparer's review time is separate.

Within 5 minutesIncludedWithin 2 minutesSetup +$144 – 480Within 60 secondsSetup +$288 – 840

Timing details

Time from accepting a complete upload to a stored document list and missing-items request, including page reading, queueing and retries. Confirm the file sizes, peak-season volume and hardware with your provider.

The target applies to at least 95% of agreed test runs, with 4 in progress at a time.

How much do you want to spend per return?

Choose the machine budget for reading pages and comparing them with your checklist. Tighter budgets may read fewer pages with a model and rely more on text already in the file.

Up to $2.00IncludedUp to $1.00Setup +$72 – 360Up to $0.50Setup +$216 – 600

Cost details

Includes model calls for page reading, retries and shared hosting allocation. Preparer review, portal and tax software subscriptions and the calling agent are separate. Large photo uploads and repeated runs cost more.

Reference machine cost: $0.71 – 1.71 per return at 40 returns a month. The selected cap is a target to test, not a replacement for this estimate.

Where do you want it to run?

Keep client documents in your cloud or on your own server. Choose whether page images may go to an approved AI service.

Run it onAI model access

Data and access details

Runs in a cloud account you control, with access by staff role and access logs.

Page images go to the selected external model under agreed retention terms. Confirm this fits your security plan and client consent.

Treat taxpayer identifiers as confidential: mask them in logs, keep access by staff role and follow your written security plan. No external calls uses uploaded files and private inference; it cannot use the connected portal option.

How do you want to use it?

Use a review page, your current AI agent or a dedicated document agent. You can choose more than one.

A review web pageUpload a client's documents, check the document list and edit the request for missing items.IncludedMy existing AI agentAsk your agent to check a client's documents and return the document list and missing items.Setup +$72 – 240A dedicated agentUse a dedicated agent to run document checks for your preparers and answer where a document is.Setup +$144 – 480

Anything else your provider should know?

Optional. Your choices are included automatically.

Returns per monthYour setup budget (USD)

Your checklist, document types or portal

Common questions

Do I need this if my practice software has an organiser and reminders?

Not necessarily. Organisers ask clients for documents; this checks what actually arrived. Buy it when identifying uploads and comparing them with last year still takes preparer time.

Does it enter figures into my tax software?

No. It lists documents and links the pages. Entering figures, preparing and filing the return stay with your team and your existing tools.

Can it read photos and handwritten notes?

It reads clear scans and photos. Unreadable pages and handwritten notes are held for a preparer instead of guessed, and the pilot measures how often that happens on your files.

Can client documents stay inside our own systems?

Yes. Choose your own server and no external calls, and supply the hardware. Reading quality and machine cost are then measured during the pilot.