tools to create fillable pdf?

In order to create a fillable organizer and engagement letter, I am looking for an efficient tool to convert pdf to fillable one. Could anyone recommend some tools for this? I tested adobe and pdffiller but both ask you to manually create checkboxes/text boxes. It is very time consuming. Any good suggestions? Thank you!

I was looking for a solution to making an "easy to use" client organizer and I found:

"Google Forms"

It's not good for secure data, but I can send it via email and my clients click the yes/no and fill-in-the-blank options and it's working very well.

You can set it to give you an email when they answer it - and then print it to a PDF if you wish.

It has "if/then" logic and everything.

I have questions like, " Did you marital status change?" If they check yes, a new series of questions open up.

This is a major pain point for me. I currently use fillable PDF organizers, but they still generate a good deal of back-and-forth, and follow up questions.

I'd like to create an online organizer with progress saves and conditional logic, so that answering a question one way might produce an additional sequence of questions (e.g. if new dependent, then: name?, date of birth?, tax ID?), and that answering a question one way (e.g. non-cash contributions over $500) might prompt a client to download and fill out an excel template that gives me everything I need for the 8283.

But ShareFile is lacking here, and I haven't found anything secure that will provide me with alleviation. I'll deal with the inefficiency for another year.

My tax prep software allows the creation of fillable pdf of the organizers and checklists. That is what I have been using. Does your software allow that?

Try Adobe or PDFExchange that allows the creation of fillable pdf.

Thank you, everyone, for the help!

My tax prep software allows the creation of fillable pdf of the organizers and checklists. That is what I have been using. Does your software allow that?

Try Adobe or PDFExchange that allows the creation of fillable pdf.

My tax software does not provide fillable pdf. which tax software do you use providing that?

Is pdffiller a secure tool for exchanging fillable pdf for filling in and signing? How about Docusign?
Thanks.

The biggest thing I see is failing to use something like DocuSign for it. I trust their security, overall, and so am not afraid to have clients input sensitive information on the engagement packet. The same cannot be said for many online forms. At one point I contemplated doing engagement letters using Google Forms or equivalent via my website, but I do not trust the security. While every page on my website uses SSL, I do not trust the form end-to-end encryption for confidential info, if available at all.

That said, I create my document in MS Word and convert to a PDF via Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (DocuSign does not always like the PDFs out of Office programs). I then upload it to DocuSign and create templates for the various engagement letters I routinely use. Then, all I have to do is upload it to SmartVault (my DMS), open it in DocuSign and verify recipient information information is correct, and it is returned to me as soon as client hits submit. If it is MFJ, then I set it to go to one spouse first, then the second, then back to me. Works very well.

Thank you for the information!
Do you put checkboxes and text boxes one by one on docusign to create templates? With a over 20 pages organizer, that takes a lot of time.
Do you guys create new organizer each year or use same organizer year over year and update it only when major tax laws changes?
Based on your guys' experiences, does a short organizer such as a tax questionnaire work better or a more comprehensive one asking clients to input detailed tax information in a lengthy format (e.g. over 20 pages) work better?
The engagement letter plus organizer from my tax software (Drake) is about 25 pages. I doubt clients would like to have such a paperwork burden.
Thank you!

^^ We tried using a hand-picked version of the Drake organizer and it was still too long - our clients very much resented it.

Now we use short "Google Form" templates with if/then logic (that does NOT ask for SS or bank numbers) and if we need sensitive info we send a sharefile link for it.

Clients like it because it's vey smart phone/tablet friendly and they can speed right through it.

We like it because it covers 95% of the PITA items (address changes - etc) and the "scary" items as well (foreign accounts, income not on a tax document, etc).

It also allows us to explain what we are asking for, and why, in a friendly and conversational tone.

Based on your guys' experiences, does a short organizer such as a tax questionnaire work better or a more comprehensive one asking clients to input detailed tax information in a lengthy format (e.g. over 20 pages) work better?

A short organizer will substantially increase response rate. The AICPA individual organizer template is over 20 pages, but it includes things like a Sch C P&L template that the majority of clients don't need to look at.

I pare the annual AICPA template down to 8 pages of questions (a little modification here and there), which I think is reasonable as organizers are now required for all of my 1040 engagements.

My longest tax engagement package is over 30 pages, mostly legal <bleep>. Yes, I ditched standard organizer and have adopted only the yes/no questionnaire sections. It is time consuming to initially set up each template in DocuSign, but once set up, is VERY quick to send to clients. Last year was the first full year I implemented it and it worked quite well, but I foresee having to update the questionnaires, especially with COVID crap.

Granted, I am a small firm. If I had thousands of clients, my approach would not work. Based on my tax base, it works quite efficiently but as I continue to grow, I eventually see myself potentially utilizing Intuit Link for tax stuff. I was considering adopting it sooner, but since I switched to a new DMS last year, I do not want to be doing it yet again.

All that said, I have to see where I can cut back on the tax engagement length. Between the standard engagement templates I am using from insurance, plus legal stuff I added via my lawyer, and the most basic of questionnaires, my shortest package is still 20+ pages. That is absurd.

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences! Very helpful!

We just use Adobe to do it. https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat ... eator.html. it is quite simple. Good luck

I am fond of Nitro PDF over Adobe. One time license purchase and a better (IMO) interface than Adobe.

I am fond of Nitro PDF over Adobe. One time license purchase and a better (IMO) interface than Adobe.

Thanks. Does Nitro PDF allow you to send fillable pdf for esign and online fill-in as docusign does? If it just allows you to create fiilable pdf, does it allow you to reuse the pdf offline?

Thanks.

I believe they offer an esign option, but I don't use it. It is a desktop product, not online.

I believe they offer an esign option, but I don't use it. It is a desktop product, not online.

Thanks.