Delivering a finished return: partner approval, e-file authorization, and a client accept or reject loop
Getting a return out the door is where the most careful work happens, so the delivery flow now mirrors how a firm actually signs off and files. A completed return is assembled into a delivery package, and it does not move until a partner approves it, and the partner who approves is never the person who prepared it. The client receives the package and either accepts it or asks for a change, and that loop is tracked on both sides. E-file authorization is captured before a return transmits, and if the taxing authority rejects a filing, that rejection is recorded so you can correct and resend rather than start over. None of it runs on memory: every hand-off is on the record.
A return is delivered, not just marked done
A finished return becomes a delivery package the client receives and responds to.
- →A completed return is assembled into a delivery package with a plain-English summary of the balance due or refund, so the client sees the outcome before the detail.
- →The client accepts the return or asks for a change, and that response is tracked, so you always know whether a delivered return is settled or still in play.
- →An accepted return carries straight into the filing steps, so acceptance and filing are one continuous path instead of two disconnected tasks.
Review and approval controls, built in
A return is approved for filing by someone other than the person who prepared it.
- →A return is transmitted only after a partner approves it, and the approval is a distinct, recorded step rather than an assumption.
- →The person who prepared a return is not the person who approves it for filing, a separation your firm's quality process already expects, now held to by the platform.
- →Who prepared, who reviewed, and who approved is captured on every return, so the sign-off trail is complete without anyone assembling it by hand.
E-file authorization and honest filing states
Authorization is captured before anything transmits, and every filing state is tracked as what it is.
- →E-file authorization is captured before a return transmits, so the return has the client's sign-off on file before it reaches the taxing authority.
- →E-file status is tracked from pending to accepted, so you always know exactly where a submission stands.
- →A rejected e-file is a tracked state with a clear path to correct and retransmit, so a bounce is handled in the open instead of silently stalling.
- →The e-signature and e-file steps say plainly which provider connection they need until the firm adds it, rather than implying a send that cannot happen yet.
Fixes & improvements
- •An entity now files its own engagements, so a corporate return no longer collides with the owner's personal return.