How Remote Tax Preparation Works With an Austin CPA

David Tucker meets Austin-area clients at his home office or at a coffee bar a few times a week. Everyone else, including clients in other states and overseas, works with him remotely. The remote process has been refined over many years and it is now how most of the practice runs. This is what it looks like.

Step 1: A free conversation

It starts with the contact form, a phone call or an email. David schedules a call or a Zoom meeting, usually within a few days. The first conversation is free and has two purposes: to understand your situation and to give you a fixed fee for the work. You decide after that whether to go ahead.

Step 2: Your Dropbox folder

Once you engage the practice, David sets up a shared Dropbox folder in your name. It is the single place where documents move in both directions. You do not need a Dropbox account to use a shared folder, and you can upload from a computer or a phone. Scanned PDFs are ideal; clear photos of documents work too.

Email still works for quick items, but the folder keeps everything organized, which matters when you need to find last year's return or a specific 1099 two years from now.

Step 3: The organizer

The fillable organizers on this site are the same documents David uses to prepare returns. Individuals complete the Personal Tax Organizer and, for new clients, the Demographics sheet. Businesses complete the organizer for their entity type: S corporation, C corporation, partnership or LLC. Rental property owners add the Schedule E worksheet.

Fill them in on your computer, save, and drop them in the folder with your tax documents. The organizer tells David what to expect and flags the questions that need a conversation.

Step 4: Preparation and questions

David prepares the return in Drake Tax, a professional desktop package. Along the way he will have questions: a 1099 that does not match what the organizer says, a deduction that needs a receipt, a decision about how to treat something. Those come by email or a short call. Nothing is assumed.

For business clients whose books David keeps in QuickBooks, the year-end close feeds directly into the return, which removes most of the back and forth.

Step 5: Review together

When the return is ready, David uploads a draft to the folder and schedules a review by phone or Zoom. He walks through the numbers, explains anything that changed from last year and discusses what to do differently next year: withholding, estimated payments, retirement contributions, a structure change for the business. The review is part of the fixed fee.

Step 6: Signing and filing

Returns are filed electronically with the IRS and the states. Before a return can be e-filed, you sign Form 8879 (the e-file authorization) for an individual return, or the equivalent form for a business return. You sign it electronically or print, sign and upload it. David then transmits the return and confirms acceptance, and the final copy goes into your folder.

If you owe, you can pay the IRS directly online by the deadline; if you are due a refund, direct deposit is the fastest route. David's own invoice can be paid online through the secure payment page or by check.

Through the year

The folder stays open. When a letter from the IRS arrives, a 1099 shows up in August, or you are about to make a decision with tax consequences, send it or call. For most ongoing questions there is no additional charge, and the information makes next year's return better.

What you need on your end

A phone, an internet connection and the ability to scan or photograph documents. That is all. Clients who prefer paper can still mail documents, but almost no one does once the folder is set up.

Ready to start? Book a free consultation and choose phone, email or Zoom as your preferred way to talk.