2018 Tax Year Organizers

Curious to what organizers you're using this year if any. Software produced, AICPA, state society, self-made?

I was up in the air between Drake organizers and the AICPA organizers until last night. I think I finally decided on the AICPA organizers... Although they're 25 pages long (yikes) and they'll require language edits here and there by me, they're much more thorough and have been updated for the TCJA, whereas the Drake organizers have obviously failed in the latter department (still asking for employee business expenses, etc). I did like that Drake created an automatic checklist based on last year's client source docs (W-2s, 1099s, etc) and pulled in prior year data, but it wasn't enough to make up for the shortcomings.

The type of organizer that you get the desired response from your client really depends on the type of client!

I have used Drake organizer and Taxbook (Generic) organizer with edits. As you may know some people will toss a 20 page organizer in the trash but may be willing to complete a 4 page organizer. I hate organizers that come back "same as before" on lines that I know should change year to year!

I too use the checklist most of the time effectively with clients who hate completing multi page organizers.

My suggestion is to figure out what type of organizer your clients are more likely to fill out and send back to make your job easy.

Excellent advice ATSMAN.

".....whereas the Drake organizers have obviously failed in the latter department (still asking for employee business expenses, etc)"

I don't view that as a failure as many states did not conform to TCJA and still allow those deductions.

To directly answer your question tho, I use the ones produced by the software I use (Lacerte) as it lists the prior year numbers for reference.

I use the ones provided by ProFX. When I send them out I tell my clients its optional but helps if they at least answer the questions on the first few pages. To my surprise I have a high rate of completed organizers I receive back. My clients are typically in their 20s-40s and I figured it's the older crowd that's more likely to fill it out.

I also like the ones Lacerte uses. Seen what they look like and it's easy to add and edit the questions.

I use the UltraTax-generated organizer that lists the items used on the prior year return but doesn't have a bunch of boxes to fill out (or prior year amounts for clients to blindly copy or for potential mail thieves to get their hands on). For basic clients, it's about a page and a half, but I think my longest one gets to four pages.

I also have a list of questions (limited to one page, on different colored paper). I keep it simple, I keep it short, and it helps me collect most of the information I need from most of my clients, most of the time. For the clients with special needs, I also add a custom page.

I am also going to the UltraTax "checklist" style organizer. It's not perfect, but it's better than the long, crappy one they have.

I use the UltraTax-generated organizer that lists the items used on the prior year return but doesn't have a bunch of boxes to fill out (or prior year amounts for clients to blindly copy or for potential mail thieves to get their hands on). For basic clients, it's about a page and a half, but I think my longest one gets to four pages.