Who it is for
Enrolled agents and small EA practices that prepare individual and business returns and represent clients before the IRS.
What gets in the way
- Tax season is short, and a client who sends documents in March leaves no time for a review.
- A representation case needs notices, prior returns and authorizations that are often missing.
- There is no staff to chase documents, so the EA stops preparing to send reminders.
- The client's documents are spread across email, text messages and a shared folder.
The tax season is the first job
The individual organizer should ask a few yes or no questions, then show only the sections that apply. The client sees a shorter list, and the EA sees fewer missing items.
Send organizers in waves, starting with the simplest returns. The EA gets a steady flow of work instead of a January pile and an April rush.
Representation needs its own list
A representation case needs the IRS notices, the prior returns, the transcripts and the signed authorization. The list is different from a tax organizer.
Use Form 2848 for representation and Form 8821 for information only. Keep the authorization with the case file, and track the response deadline like any other filing.
Business clients need a different organizer
A business return needs the year-end trial balance, the ownership details, the payroll records and the 1099 information. Send the business organizer, not the individual one.
If the client also has a personal return, send two requests with two due dates, or one request with two clearly separated sections.
Where Usual fits
Usual sends the organizer from a link in the EA's email. The client finishes it on a phone, uploads a photo or a PDF and comes back later without losing the answers.
The EA sets the reminder schedule once, and the reminders stop when everything is in. Accepted files are filed into the client's folders by year.
The EA keeps the tax software and the representation files. Usual does the request, the reminders and the filing.