Integration with Lacerte

Lacerte

Creating a binder is a starting point from where you can submit your client's tax documents and have them processed through OCR, get verified, and go into SPbinder for preparation. You can create a binder for your client by providing basic information about the type of binder you want to create. At this stage, you can set which firm user should be the Owner, the office location, binder access permissions, and binder tax year.
When you create a binder in FileRoom, SurePrep gets your client's information from the tax application and creates a binder specifically catered for that taxpayer client. The information fetched from your client's tax application file is used to create placeholders called "proforma" (for example, W-2 proforma placeholder for 'ABCD, Inc.'). In SPBinder, you can organize documents to their respective (proforma) categories and export the data to the correct entities in the tax application. 
You will need to upload the client's most recent tax application file details. Before creating a binder, make sure the client is created or proforma (roll forwarded) to the current tax year.
note
  • Make sure you have the latest version of the Lacerte SDK driver installed on your machine/environment to:
    • Create binders in FileRoom
    • Export binder data to tax application
    • Create Custom DRL in TaxCaddyLatest release:
      December, 19, 2023
      .
    Uninstall the previous version before installing a new version.
  • If you are using
    1040SCANverify Onshore
    &
    1040SCANverify Offshore
    services then follow the instructions listed under the following
    In-house
    section.

In-house binders

  1. In FileRoom, point to the
    Create New Binder
    caret icon.
  2. Point to 
    1040
    .
  3. Select from the following services:
    • 1040 SCAN PRO
    • 1040SCAN ORGANIZE
    • SPbinder
    • * 1040SCANverify Onshore
      &
      1040SCANverify Offshore
    *
    while
    1040SCANverify Onshore/Offshore
    are not In-house services, the same instructions can apply as other In-house services.
  4. The 
    Create New Binder
    window will appear. Under
    Select Binder Template
    , select the template with the tax year and
    Lacerte
    as the tax application.
  5. When the
    Select Lacerte return
    panel appears, a
    Select Lacerte Tax File Path
    field will display the path set in
    FileRoom
    Admin
    Account Setup
    Tax File Activation
    Lacerte
    .
    View Tax File Activation for Lacerte Tax.
  6. If you need to change the file path, select the path and then select the path you want to use.
    note
    • Data Path should be located in the Lacerte installed folder on your network or local path. Add the following folders based on the return type:
      1040 returns(Individual): Lacerte
      Your current tax year
      IDATA
      DETAIL e.g. L:\Lacerte\22tax\
      IDATA\DETAIL
      1041 returns(Fiduciary): Lacerte
      Your current tax year
      FDATA
      DETAIL e.g. L:\Lacerte\22tax\
      FDATA\DETAIL
    • If more than 1 Lacerte path exists, the path that was last selected will be remembered, and you won’t be required to reselect it.
  7. Under 
    Select Source Documents
    , select
    Browse
    . Select your source documents, and select 
    Open
    to attach the source documents.
  8. To access the client data, permission is required. On the
    Access Confirmation
    window, select
    Grant
    . The
    Access Confirmation
    window only appears once.
    note
    You must have
    Lacerte ODBC Driver
    installed to access client data. You won’t see the
    Access Confirmation
    window if you don't have
    Lacerte ODBC Driver
    installed.
    Any subsequent attempts to access the client data will only require sign in once every 24 hours.
  9. On the
    Sign in
    window, enter your Lacerte sign in credentials, then select
    Sign In
    .
    note
    You will need to enter your Lacerte sign in credentials again when your sign in session expires in 24 hours.
  10. If the name of the 1st source document file and the name of the ID2 file is the same, then the ID2 file will be selected automatically as a ZIP file.
    note
    Each tax year will have a different extention based on the last digit of the tax year. For example:
    • 202
      2
      extension is ID
      2
    • 202
      1
      extension is ID
      1
    • 202
      0
      extension is ID
      0
  11. If the (first) PDF file name doesn't match the tax client ID, select
    Browse
    under 
    Select Lacerte return
    and attach the ID
    2
    file.
  12. The
    Client ID
    ,
    First Name
    ,
    Last Name
    ,
    Taxpayer SSN
    , and
    Filing Status
    will be automatically populated under 
    Enter Client Details
    . In the case of a 1041 binder, the trust's EIN and type of entity will also be populated automatically. The taxpayer's SSN and filing status are mandatory.
    note
    All data that requires manual input in the ID
    2
    file should be entered before uploading the binder or after exporting the data into the tax application. Proforma'd dependent information won't be imported from Lacerte into SPbinder. Data for dependents won’t be captured or exported into Lacerte. The organizer page for dependents will be bookmarked in the SPbinder.

Outsource binders

  1. To submit an outsource binder, you'll first need to back up the return. Open
    Lacerte
    and select the tax application file you want to submit.
  2. Go to your designated outsource folder (that is, C:\SurePrep\
    Submit To SurePrep)
    , then create a new subfolder. The folder name should match the
    Client No.
    in Lacerte.
    For example, if your client's
    Client No.
    is "A3" in Lacerte, then create a folder called "A3" (that is, C:\SurePrep\Submit To SurePrep\A3).
  3. In Lacerte, once you have selected the client, go to
    Client
    , then
    Backup
    , or press
    Ctrl
    +
    B
    .
    You can also select the 
    Backup selected client(s)
    icon on the toolbar.
  4. The
    Backup Clients
    window will appear.
  5. Select
    Browse
    . Go to the
    Submit To SurePrep
    , then
    Client No.
    folder in which you want to save the backup of the tax application files (that is,
    C:\SurePrep\Submit To SurePrep\A3
    ).
    note
    The
    Client No.
    folder must match the
    Client No.
    in Lacerte.
  6. The backup will be created in the selected folder.
    note
    You don't need to zip the backup tax files.
  7. In FileRoom, point to the
    Create New Binder
    caret icon.
  8. Point to
    1040
    .
  9. Select from the following services:
    • Outsource Onshore
    • Outsource Offshore
    For
    1040SCANverify Onshore
    &
    1040SCANverify Offshore
    services, please scroll to the top and use the In-house (tab) instructions instead.
  10. The
    Create New Binder
    window will appear. Under
    Select Binder Template
    , select the template with the tax year and
    Lacerte
    as the tax application.
  11. Select the path in
    Select Lacerte Tax File Path
    and choose the location of the Lacerte tax application backup files.
    note
    To view the
    Submit To SurePrep
    folder path, it must be set in
    Tax File Activation
    , then
    Lacerte
    .
  12. Under
    Select Source Documents
    , select
    Browse
    .
  13. Select your source documents, then select
    Open
    to attach the source documents.
    note
    To automatically match the proforma, the file name must match the
    Client No.
    (that is, C:\SurePrep\Submit To SurePrep\A3)
  14. To access client data, permission is required. On the
    Access Confirmation
    window, select
    Grant
    . The
    Access Confirmation
    window only appears once.
    note
    You must have
    Lacerte ODBC Driver
    installed to access client data. You won’t see the
    Access Confirmation
    window if you don't have
    Lacerte ODBC Driver
    installed.
    Any subsequent attempts to access the client data will only require sign in once every 24 hours.
  15. On the
    Sign in
    window, enter your Lacerte sign in credentials, then select
    Sign In
    .
    note
    You will need to enter your Lacerte sign in credentials again when your sign in session expires in 24 hours.
  16. If the name of the 1st source document matches the client number, the tax file is automatically zipped and attached.
    Enter Client Details
    section will autofill once the match has been found.
  17. If the name of the source document file doesn't match the client number, the Lacerte path is incorrect, or the Lacerte tax file doesn't exist at the selected path, you will get an error. In that case, set the location of the backup file you created in
    Admin
    Account Setup
    Tax File Activation
    Lacerte
    .
  18. Alternatively, you can manually select the client's backup folder directly.
    note
    Manually selecting the client's backup folder loads the client's proforma details, whether the file name matches the client or not. Make sure you select the folder.
    Select the client's backup folder, then select
    OK
    .

Troubleshooting

When creating a binder, you may see the
Cannot Find Client
message if SPbinder is unable to locate the tax file. 
To resolve this, make sure the following items have been completed prior to making a binder.
  1. Tax File Activation for the selected tax year: Ensure the Tax File Activation path is setup for the selected tax year. New paths need to be added when a new tax year is released.
  2. Check if the client exists in Lacerte for the selected tax year. In Lacerte, add a new client or roll forward last year's client to the current year
    Lacerte
    Tools
    Transfer Clients
    .
  3. Update Lacerte. Go to
    Lacerte
    Tools
    Lacerte Updates
    .
  4. Install Lacerte SDK (ODBC Driver) if it is not already installed.
  5. Once you've completed all the previous steps, restart your workstation then try again.

This article applies to:

  • Product: SurePrep
  • Subject: Integration