UltraTax Training for New Tax Preparers: From Source Documents to a Review-Ready Return

By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms

Last updated: July 27, 2026  |  42-minute read

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A new tax preparer learns how to open a client, move through UltraTax input screens, enter W-2s and 1099s, preview forms, clear diagnostics, and print a return.

The employee appears productive.

The first reviewer opens the file and discovers:

• The client packet was missing an investment statement, but the return was marked complete.
• A prior-year carryforward did not populate and was never investigated.
• A dependent’s age and student status conflict with the organizer.
• A K-1 was entered, but basis and passive-activity information were not addressed.
• A state return calculated even though residency and source-income facts remained unclear.
• An imported item landed in the return, but no workpaper identifies the source or confirms the amount.
• A diagnostic was silenced with an entry rather than resolved through evidence.
• An override forced the desired form result without documenting why normal input did not work.
• The return differs materially from the prior year, but no explanation is included.
• The preparer cannot tell the reviewer which issue actually requires a decision.

The software may have performed exactly as instructed.

The return is not review ready.

That is why new-preparer training cannot stop at input screens.

The employee must learn the return as an evidence chain:

When any link is missing, the return may calculate but the file is not complete.

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Who I Am and Why This Matters

I have practiced public accounting since 1990. I founded my accounting firm in 1993, merged it in 2001 to form Howard, Howard and Hodges, and helped grow the organization from three people to approximately 50 staff across four locations and multiple states. Our firm was named PASBA Firm of the Year in 2015.

During tax season, the return-preparation software is visible.

The real cost of weak training is often less visible.

It appears as:

• Reviewers tracing unlabeled numbers back to documents
• Managers re-entering data because they do not trust the preparer’s work
• Partners resolving avoidable state and basis issues late in the process
• Returns moving backward through workflow multiple times
• Client questions discovered after authorization requests are sent
• Repeated diagnostics that staff clear without understanding
• Prior-year information copied without current-year validation
• New preparers learning through live client errors

Since 2020, I have built and run the SkillAbility accounting workforce development platform used by more than 1,000 accounting professionals across dozens of PASBA firms.

UltraTax is one of the industry-standard tax systems used in the BASE technical-execution pathway.

The lesson from developing preparers is straightforward:

Staff should practice complete tax-return workflows inside the software before busy season requires them to make those decisions on live client files.

They need source documents.

They need prior-year context.

They need missing facts.

They need planted errors.

They need review notes.

They need a second assignment that proves the feedback transferred.

Navigation matters.

Readiness matters more.

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What Is UltraTax Workflow Fluency?

Workflow fluency combines:

• Tax knowledge: What the law, form, position, election, basis, limitation, or filing requirement means
• Product knowledge: How current UltraTax input screens, forms, diagnostics, data sharing, e-file tools, and integrations support the work
• Firm knowledge: How the firm indexes workpapers, documents conclusions, routes work, applies authority, and defines review readiness
• Client knowledge: What happened during the year, which entities and states are involved, what the documents do not show, and what the taxpayer intended
• Professional judgment: What is missing, inconsistent, unusual, unsupported, material, or beyond the preparer’s authority

A workflow-fluent preparer should be able to answer:

• Where did this amount come from?
• Why is it entered here?
• What form and tax result did the entry affect?
• What changed from the prior year?
• What did UltraTax calculate or share automatically?
• How was the automated result verified?
• Which diagnostics remain and why?
• What research or reviewer judgment is required?
• What must the client still provide, confirm, sign, or pay?

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Why Software Navigation Does Not Prove Preparer Readiness

Thomson Reuters provides UltraTax onboarding, written guidance, videos, product instruction, and expert learning options.

Those resources are valuable for learning the system.

The accounting firm still must teach its own:

• Client-intake standard
• Workpaper index
• Return-assignment rules
• Tax-research expectations
• Authority for estimates, elections, overrides, and force fields
• Review-note and correction process
• State and local escalation
• Electronic-signature and e-file workflow
• Definition of a review-ready return

Navigation evidence

A new preparer may know how to:

• Open input screens
• Move between input and forms
• Enter common source documents
• View diagnostics
• Create an electronic file

Readiness evidence

The firm needs to know whether the preparer can:

• Recognize that a source document is missing
• Identify contradictory client facts
• Trace every material form amount to support
• Validate transferred and shared data
• Understand whether the result makes sense
• Distinguish a data-entry issue from a tax-position issue
• Clear a diagnostic for the right reason
• Document why an estimate or exception is appropriate
• Explain unresolved issues to the reviewer

Use product training as the foundation.

Use realistic return preparation as the proof.

For the broader distinction, read Why Training Software Is Not Enough Anymore.

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What Current Filing and Profession Data Tells Firms

Tax professionals still prepare a majority of electronically filed individual returns

Through May 8, 2026, the IRS reported approximately 141.0 million electronically filed individual income-tax returns.

Approximately 75.3 million came through tax professionals, compared with 65.7 million self-prepared electronic returns.

Every improvement in new-preparer readiness therefore affects more than internal efficiency.

It affects the quality, timeliness, and reliability of a major public-facing professional service.

Filing volume accelerates quickly

IRS cumulative e-file statistics rose from approximately 59.8 million by March 6 to 77.6 million by March 20, 112.2 million by April 10, and 141.0 million by May 8.

UltraTax is designed for end-to-end tax compliance

Thomson Reuters describes UltraTax CS as supporting individual, corporate, partnership, fiduciary, estate, gift, exempt-organization, retirement-plan, and extensive state and local filings.

Current official feature information highlights:

• Real-time calculations as data is entered
• Data sharing between related returns
• Prior-year missing-data checklists and advanced diagnostics
• Multistate apportionment and allocation tools
• Electronic filing and status monitoring
• Depreciation and asset-management capabilities
• Integration with CS Professional Suite products, Checkpoint, Onvio, and SurePrep

Each efficiency feature creates a corresponding training obligation:

Professional standards still govern the work

The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility states that Circular 230 establishes standards of competence, diligence, and ethical conduct for practice before the IRS.

The AICPA’s revised Statements on Standards for Tax Services have applied since January 1, 2024.

New-preparer training should therefore teach that:

• A software result is not authority
• A cleared diagnostic is not a substantiated tax position
• A client request does not override professional obligations
• Estimates, assumptions, and omissions require appropriate judgment and documentation
• Uncertainty must be made visible to the reviewer

The AICPA’s 2026 Profession Ready Initiative also emphasizes the changing skill expectations for early-career accountants in an increasingly AI-driven profession.

UltraTax training should prepare staff to supervise automated tax work—not only enter it.

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The Twelve Review-Ready Return Gates

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Define the Firm’s UltraTax Operating Standard

UltraTax offers flexibility across return types, jurisdictions, input methods, integrations, print settings, and electronic filing.

Without a firm standard, each preparer creates a personal tax process and each reviewer inherits a different file.

Standardize the return file

Document firm expectations for:

• Client naming and return assignment
• Workpaper index and source-document labels
• Prior-year comparison
• Input-screen notes and preparer annotations
• Trial-balance and import mapping
• Data-sharing verification
• Basis, depreciation, carryforward, and state schedules
• Research memoranda
• Estimate and assumption documentation
• Diagnostic disposition
• Overrides, overrules, and force fields
• Reviewer sign-off
• Electronic signatures, transmission, and acceptance

Define authority by role

A new preparer may be allowed to enter routine source data but not independently:

• Add or remove a filing jurisdiction
• Change filing status based on incomplete facts
• Use material estimates
• Select or revoke an election
• Override a calculated form amount
• Force a field to suppress or generate a form
• Finalize basis or passive-loss treatment
• Approve a return position
• Transmit an electronic return
• Communicate tax advice externally

Use strong examples

For each primary return type, maintain:

• A strong completed sample file
• A weak or incomplete version
• A source-document packet
• A workpaper index
• A prior-year comparison
• A diagnostic-resolution log
• A reviewer handoff
• A final e-file and delivery checklist

Define “review ready” before training begins

A return should not enter review merely because the preparer has no more data to enter.

It should enter review when the employee can prove:

• The source packet is complete or exceptions are visible
• Prior-year carryovers and open issues were addressed
• Material input traces to support
• Calculated forms were reviewed for reasonableness
• State and related-return treatment is coordinated
• Diagnostics are resolved or explained
• Tax positions and assumptions are documented
• The reviewer knows exactly what requires attention

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Source Documents, Organizers, and Completeness

New preparers often begin with the documents they received.

Experienced preparers begin by asking whether the documents they received are the documents they should have received.

Build a source expectation list

For an individual return, this may include:

• Prior-year return and notices
• Organizer and questionnaire
• W-2, 1099, K-1, brokerage, retirement, health, education, mortgage, charitable, and other tax forms
• Estimated-tax and extension payments
• Business, rental, farm, or foreign-activity records
• Basis and carryforward schedules
• Digital-asset information
• State residency and source-income facts
• Dependent and filing-status support

For a business return, add:

• Final trial balance or financial statements
• Book-to-tax workpapers
• Ownership and capital changes
• Fixed-asset additions and dispositions
• Debt and interest support
• Payroll, officer compensation, benefits, and retirement data
• State apportionment and nexus information
• Related-party and intercompany activity
• Prior-year elections, credits, and carryovers

Use a completeness status

• Complete: Required sources are present and readable
• Complete with documented exception: A known item is unavailable, and the treatment and risk are approved
• Incomplete: Material information is missing, contradictory, or awaiting client confirmation
• Not applicable: The source is not expected based on documented current-year facts

Train contradiction detection

Examples include:

• The organizer says no digital-asset activity, but a brokerage statement reports it
• The taxpayer claims a dependent whose age or student status changed
• A K-1 ownership percentage conflicts with the prior year
• A state withholding form appears for a state not listed in the organizer
• Mortgage interest changes materially without a purchase, refinance, or payoff explanation
• A business reports vehicle expense but no mileage or asset information

Use automation without surrendering completeness

Thomson Reuters SurePrep products can organize source documents, extract data, create digital workpapers, and integrate with UltraTax.

The preparer still must confirm:

• Correct taxpayer and year
• Document type
• Issuer
• Extracted values
• Page completeness
• Duplicate documents
• Whether a missing source is expected
• Whether the extracted item reached the correct input and form

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Prior-Year Return, Proforma Data, and Open Items

UltraTax can carry and share data efficiently.

Efficiency increases risk when staff assume transferred data remains correct.

Review the prior-year return before entering current data

Identify:

• Filing status, dependents, addresses, occupations, and residency
• Entities, K-1s, rentals, businesses, and states
• Carryforward losses, credits, charitable contributions, capital losses, and elections
• Basis and at-risk schedules
• Depreciation and asset records
• Estimated payments and applied refunds
• Open reviewer notes
• Prior-year estimates, overrides, and unusual treatments

Use the prior-year checklist as a question generator

Thomson Reuters describes an UltraTax feature that highlights fields with prior-year entries but no current-year entry.

A blank current-year field may mean:

• The source document is missing
• The activity ended
• The taxpayer disposed of an asset or business
• The data moved through an integration
• The item is no longer applicable
• The preparer missed the input

Do not enter a number merely to clear the checklist.

Determine which explanation is true.

Build the year-over-year change list

Require staff to identify material changes in:

• Income sources
• Entity ownership
• Dependents and filing status
• States and local jurisdictions
• Capital gains and investment activity
• Business income and expenses
• Itemized deductions
• Credits
• Payments and refund application
• Effective tax rate and balance due or refund

Do not carry forward unresolved errors

A prior-year amount is historical evidence.

It is not proof that the prior-year treatment was correct.

When an apparent error is discovered, preserve the facts, alert the reviewer, and follow the firm’s process for knowledge of error, amendment, client communication, and current-year treatment.

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Workpaper Indexing and Source-to-Input Evidence

A review-ready UltraTax file requires more than a complete return.

The reviewer should be able to move from a form amount to the input and then to the supporting document or analysis.

Use a standardized workpaper index

Possible sections include:

• Administrative, organizer, engagement, and identity
• Income
• Adjustments and deductions
• Credits
• Payments
• Businesses and rentals
• K-1s, basis, at-risk, and passive activity
• Investments and capital transactions
• States and local jurisdictions
• Research and elections
• Diagnostics and open items
• Final authorization, filing, and delivery

Every material workpaper should show

• Purpose
• Taxpayer, entity, and year
• Source
• Procedure
• Result
• UltraTax input location or tax-form destination where useful
• Conclusion
• Open items
• Preparer and completion date

Use hyperlinks and cross-references

Digital-binder systems such as SurePrep SPbinder and Workpapers CS can support indexing, annotations, tick marks, cross-references, permissions, and review.

The tool does not create a good index by itself.

The firm should define:

• Document order
• Naming
• Tick-mark meaning
• Sign-off standard
• Review-note process
• What evidence remains outside the binder

Require traceability testing

Select material return amounts and ask the preparer to demonstrate:

If the chain breaks, the file needs more work.

Use the Workpaper Review Checklist to define the evidence standard before manager review.

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UltraTax Input-Screen and Form-View Training

New preparers should understand the relationship between input screens and calculated forms.

Teach input first, forms second, evidence throughout

Staff should know:

• Where facts and source-document values are entered
• Which fields calculate or populate multiple forms
• Which values are current-year input versus transferred data
• How units, dates, ownership, activities, and states affect the result
• How to move from a form line back to the relevant input
• How to compare current and prior-year results

Teach screen-level discipline

Before leaving an input area, verify:

• Correct taxpayer, spouse, dependent, entity, activity, or owner
• Correct year and period
• Correct federal and state treatment
• Correct units, percentages, and signs
• Source document agrees
• Related fields and supplemental information are complete
• Calculated forms changed as expected

Use form preview as a reasonableness tool

Teach staff to review:

• Form sequence
• Unexpected schedules
• Missing forms
• Duplicated income
• Negative or unusual amounts
• Carryovers and limitations
• State differences
• Payment and refund instructions

Use official help and form instructions

Thomson Reuters training highlights direct access to IRS form instructions, the Help & How-To Center, e-file resources, and product research tools.

New preparers should learn to research the input and form behavior rather than guessing or copying another return.

Do not reward empty diagnostics over correct input

A preparer who enters an unsupported value to remove a message has made the file less reliable, not more complete.

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Data Sharing, Imports, Integrations, and Automation

Thomson Reuters describes data sharing as a way to enter information once and populate relevant areas in related returns.

That can reduce repetitive entry.

It also means one source issue can spread across multiple returns.

For every shared or imported item, document

• Source system or return
• Taxpayer identification or linking key
• Tax year
• Ownership or allocation
• Destination return and input
• Amount transferred
• Verification performed
• Any manual adjustment

Test related-return consistency

Examples include:

• S corporation, partnership, fiduciary, or entity data shared to an individual return
• Depreciation information transferred from an asset system
• Adjusted trial-balance data imported from workpapers
• Source-document extraction imported through an integrated workflow
• Prior-year carryforwards advanced into the current-year return

Train the duplicate-risk questions

• Was the amount also entered manually?
• Did the source feed update after the workpaper was completed?
• Did an amended or final K-1 replace an estimated version?
• Did a state or federal amount populate more than once?
• Did an integration overwrite reviewed input?

Reconcile the import to control totals

For a trial balance, brokerage import, source-document process, or other data set, compare:

• Document count
• Account or form count
• Income and withholding totals
• Beginning and ending basis where applicable
• Federal and state totals
• Rejected or unmatched items

Review automation after tax-law or software updates

A mapping or process that worked last year may require current-year validation.

Assign an owner for:

• UltraTax updates
• Integration changes
• Form-release status
• Known product issues
• Firm process revisions
• Retesting affected return types

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Individual-Return Workflow

A new 1040 preparer should learn the return as a connected taxpayer story rather than a stack of tax documents.

Administrative and filing facts

• Taxpayer and spouse identity
• Filing status
• Dependents and qualifying facts
• Residency and addresses
• Occupation and household changes
• Digital-asset, foreign, and other required questions
• Bank information and payment preferences

Income

• Wages
• Interest and dividends
• Brokerage and capital transactions
• Retirement and Social Security
• K-1 income
• Business, rental, farm, and royalty activity
• Other income

Adjustments, deductions, and credits

• Retirement and health-related adjustments
• Education
• Itemized deductions
• Charitable contributions
• Child, dependent, education, energy, and other credits
• Estimated payments and withholding

High-risk 1040 areas for new preparers

• Filing status and dependents
• Brokerage basis and wash sales
• K-1 basis, at-risk, and passive limitations
• Rental and business classification
• Retirement distributions and rollovers
• Health-insurance and premium-tax-credit information
• Foreign reporting
• Digital assets
• Multistate income
• Estimated payments and prior-year applied refunds

Require a current-to-prior comparison

The preparer should explain material changes in:

• Adjusted gross income
• Taxable income
• Total tax
• Credits
• Withholding and payments
• Refund or balance due
• Effective tax rate
• State results

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Business, Fiduciary, and Related-Return Workflow

Business-return training should begin with the entity and books—not the tax input screen.

Establish the return context

• Entity type and election
• Tax year
• Ownership and changes
• Accounting method
• Business activity and industry
• Related entities and returns
• States and local jurisdictions
• Firm scope and financial-statement source

Reconcile the trial balance

Before import or entry:

• Confirm the trial balance is final
• Agree beginning retained earnings, capital, or equity
• Review book income
• Identify tax adjustments
• Review loans, fixed assets, payroll, benefits, and related parties
• Resolve suspense and unusual balances
• Document book-to-tax differences

Train ownership and basis

Depending on the return type, staff may need to address:

• Capital contributions and distributions
• Stock or outside basis
• Debt basis
• At-risk limitations
• Passive activity
• Special allocations
• Ownership changes
• Related-party transactions

Coordinate related returns

A business return may affect:

• Owner K-1s
• Individual returns
• Related entities
• State composite or withholding filings
• Trust or estate returns
• Payroll and information returns

Data sharing can help.

The preparer still must verify consistency.

Use reviewer gates for complex returns

New preparers should not independently conclude on complex:

• Entity elections
• Accounting-method changes
• Mergers, liquidations, and reorganizations
• Section 199A and other limitation issues
• Multistate nexus and apportionment
• Foreign transactions
• Trust distributions and fiduciary accounting
• Tax-credit qualification

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State, Local, and Multistate Training

A federal return can be accurate while the total filing package is wrong.

Develop the state facts before relying on calculated returns

• Residency and domicile
• Moves during the year
• Work location
• Property and business activity
• K-1 and entity sourcing
• Withholding and estimates
• Credits for taxes paid to other states
• Composite and pass-through withholding
• Local filing requirements

Train multistate allocation and apportionment carefully

Thomson Reuters highlights UltraTax multistate allocation and apportionment tools for individual and business returns.

The grid can improve preparation and review.

It cannot establish the underlying sourcing facts.

Reconcile federal-to-state differences

Document:

• Additions and subtractions
• Depreciation differences
• NOL and credit differences
• Tax-exempt interest
• Entity-level taxes
• Apportionment factors
• State-specific elections

Use state escalation triggers

• New state
• Residency change
• Remote employee or business activity
• Property or sales in a new jurisdiction
• Composite filing
• Pass-through entity tax
• Conflicting K-1 state schedules
• Missing withholding or estimates

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Diagnostics, Missing Data, and Preparer Self-Review

Diagnostics are one of UltraTax’s most valuable preparation and e-file controls.

They are not a substitute for professional review.

Classify each diagnostic

• Data missing: Obtain the client fact or source
• Input conflict: Correct inconsistent entries
• Tax decision: Research or escalate the treatment
• E-file requirement: Complete the technical filing requirement
• Informational warning: Evaluate whether action is needed
• Known and accepted exception: Document the valid reason and approval

Do not clear messages mechanically

Unacceptable approaches include:

• Entering a guess
• Copying the prior-year value
• Forcing a form
• Deleting input without understanding the effect
• Ignoring a message because the return e-files

Use a diagnostic-resolution log

For significant items, capture:

• Diagnostic
• Underlying issue
• Facts obtained
• Research or instruction consulted
• Input or treatment selected
• Reviewer approval
• Remaining risk

Self-review beyond diagnostics

The preparer should compare:

• Source totals to workpapers
• Workpapers to input
• Input to forms
• Current year to prior year
• Federal to state
• Related returns and K-1s
• Payments to client evidence
• Refund and balance-due instructions to client expectations

For the review bottleneck, read The Real Tax Season Bottleneck Is Review.

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Tax Research, Positions, Estimates, and Judgment

UltraTax performs calculations based on the data and selections entered.

The preparer remains responsible for identifying when technical research, professional judgment, or reviewer approval is required.

Use the issue-development sequence

Research triggers

• New or unfamiliar transaction
• Conflicting client facts
• Material difference from prior treatment
• Uncertain filing requirement
• New state or local jurisdiction
• Election, disclosure, or accounting-method question
• Basis, passive-loss, at-risk, or credit limitation
• Foreign, digital-asset, trust, estate, or complex entity issue
• Software result that appears inconsistent with the authority

Use primary authority and current official guidance

Research should distinguish among:

• Internal Revenue Code
• Treasury regulations
• Cases
• Revenue rulings and procedures
• Notices and other published guidance
• Form instructions and official agency guidance
• Secondary explanations
• Software help and calculation documentation

Software help can explain how UltraTax processes input.

It does not replace tax authority.

Document the conclusion

A review-ready memorandum or note should include:

• Issue
• Material facts
• Authority
• Analysis
• Conclusion
• Assumptions
• Return and disclosure effect
• Reviewer approval

Train estimates carefully

When an estimate may be appropriate, document:

• Why exact data is unavailable
• What information supports the estimate
• Method used
• Materiality
• Consistency with client facts
• Reviewer authorization
• Disclosure or follow-up requirement

Teach professional standards as operating decisions

Circular 230 and the AICPA tax standards should influence:

• Competence and supervision
• Due diligence
• Reliance on client information
• Tax-return positions
• Estimates
• Knowledge of errors
• Communication and documentation

Use Tax Research Training for Junior Accountants to develop the complete find, support, and explain process.

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Overrules, Overrides, Force Fields, and Authority

Thomson Reuters training materials explicitly cover UltraTax overrules, overrides, and force fields.

These tools can be necessary.

They can also hide weak input, incomplete facts, or an unexplained departure from the software’s normal calculation.

Before using a manual control, ask

• Is the normal input available elsewhere?
• Are the facts complete?
• Is the software calculation understood?
• Is a current product update or known issue involved?
• Does tax authority support the desired treatment?
• Will the entry affect another form, state, year, or related return?
• Does firm policy require approval?

Require documentation

For a material manual intervention, document:

• Field and form affected
• Normal calculated result
• Desired result
• Facts and authority
• Reason ordinary input is insufficient
• Federal, state, related-return, and carryforward effects
• Reviewer approval
• Future-year follow-up

Use an authority matrix

Search for hidden manual interventions during review

The reviewer should be able to identify and evaluate every material overrule, override, force field, and manually entered result.

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The Review-Ready Return and Reviewer Handoff

A reviewer should evaluate the return.

The reviewer should not reconstruct the preparer’s process.

A review-ready return includes

• Complete or visibly excepted source information
• Indexed and signed-off workpapers
• Prior-year comparison
• Validated imports and shared data
• Basis, depreciation, carryforward, and state schedules
• Research and unusual-position support
• Diagnostic disposition
• Self-review evidence
• Open-item ownership
• Draft client questions and actions

Do not write “please review” as the handoff

A useful handoff might say:

“The taxpayer moved from Florida to Georgia on August 15. Wage sourcing agrees to employer records, but the client has not confirmed whether rental activity began before or after the move. The draft returns currently treat the rental as Georgia source beginning September 1. Please review residency and rental sourcing before finalizing the state returns.”

Separate errors from reviewer judgment

The preparer should correct:

• Missing routine input
• Transcription errors
• Unlabeled sources
• Incomplete standard workpapers
• Unresolved routine diagnostics

The reviewer should evaluate:

• Materiality
• Tax positions
• Complex estimates
• State and related-return judgments
• Disclosure
• Client and firm risk

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Authorization, E-File, Acknowledgements, and Rejects

Creating an electronic file is not the end of return preparation.

The workflow ends when required filings are accepted and post-filing actions are complete.

Before electronic-file creation

• Complete preparer self-review
• Complete reviewer and release approvals
• Resolve e-file diagnostics
• Confirm taxpayer and dependent identity information
• Confirm bank account and payment information
• Confirm federal, state, local, and extension filings
• Confirm required attachments
• Confirm filing and payment dates

Authorization and signatures

Verify:

• Correct authorization form
• Correct taxpayer or authorized signer
• Signature completion
• Date
• Spouse or multiple-owner requirements
• Knowledge-based authentication or other approved e-signature controls when used
• No transmission before authorization

Transmission controls

Thomson Reuters describes using CS Connect and multifactor authentication to queue and transmit electronic returns.

The firm should define who may:

• Create electronic files
• Release returns for transmission
• Queue returns
• Transmit
• Monitor acknowledgements
• Resolve rejects

Acceptance is the filing evidence

Track:

• Federal acknowledgement
• State and local acknowledgement
• Rejected return
• Correction and retransmission
• Acceptance date
• Extension acceptance
• Payment instructions
• Client delivery

Train rejection scenarios

New preparers should learn to distinguish:

• Identity or dependent reject
• Prior-filed return
• Missing or inconsistent e-file data
• Attachment or form issue
• State rejection
• Software or transmission issue
• Issue requiring paper filing or specialist review

Do not assume that a transmitted return was filed.

Use Tax Season Readiness Checklist to test the broader e-file, workflow, security, capacity, and backup system before filing season.

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A Six-Week UltraTax Training Plan

Use more than one return

At minimum, include:

• A routine individual return
• An individual return with K-1, investment, rental, and state complexity
• A business return with trial balance and ownership issues
• A related-return or data-sharing exercise
• An e-file rejection scenario

Require correction and transfer

The preparer should correct review notes, then complete a different return containing a similar issue.

That proves learning rather than one-file compliance.

Measure accepted completion

Track:

• Time to first submission
• Time to accepted return
• Review notes
• Repeated errors
• Manager interruption
• Unresolved issues identified before review

SkillAbility’s BASE pathway uses complete sample returns inside UltraTax and other industry-standard systems to build this execution evidence before live-client pressure.

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The 30/60/90-Day Live-Work Progression

Days 1–30: Controlled preparation

Assign routine or low-risk return sections with:

• Defined source documents
• Clear input scope
• Workpaper examples
• Required checkpoints
• Full reviewer visibility
• No independent authority for material tax positions or transmission

Expected evidence:

• Accurate routine input
• Complete source tracing
• Visible missing items
• Correct workflow status
• Professional questions
• Fewer repeated errors

Days 31–60: Complete routine return ownership

Expand to:

• A complete routine 1040 or defined business return
• Prior-year analysis
• Standard state returns
• Diagnostic resolution
• Preparer self-review
• Reviewer handoff
• Correction ownership

The reviewer should still evaluate the return.

The reviewer should no longer need to reconstruct routine source and input work.

Days 61–90: Added complexity and judgment

Add:

• K-1, rental, investment, basis, or multistate complexity
• Trial-balance imports and book-to-tax workpapers
• Research assignments
• Estimated information with approval
• Client-question drafts
• E-file reject troubleshooting
• Return-result explanation

Progress based on evidence

Do not expand responsibility because the calendar reached day 60.

Progress when the employee demonstrates:

• Accuracy
• Traceability
• Tax reasoning
• Self-review
• Professional skepticism
• Clear communication
• Appropriate escalation
• Improvement after feedback

Use the Staff Accountant Competency Checklist to define readiness for controlled client work.

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Copy-and-Use UltraTax Training Template

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100-Point UltraTax Preparer-Readiness Scorecard

Suggested interpretation

• 85–100: Strong evidence for ownership of routine assigned returns with normal professional review.
• 75–84: Ready for controlled complete returns with targeted restrictions and coaching.
• 60–74: Developing; continue structured practice and defined return sections.
• Below 60: Foundational gaps remain; do not assign complete live-return ownership.

A confidentiality breach, falsified work, hidden missing source, unauthorized tax position or manual override, transmission without authorization, or deliberate misrepresentation should override the numerical score.

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Realistic UltraTax Training Scenarios

Scenario 1: The missing brokerage statement

The prior-year return includes investment income, but the current packet contains only one of two expected brokerage statements. The preparer must recognize the missing source, keep the return incomplete, and draft a secure client request rather than entering zero.

Scenario 2: The duplicate imported W-2

A W-2 is extracted through a source-document process and also entered manually. The preparer must reconcile document counts and wages, remove the duplicate correctly, and improve the import-control check.

Scenario 3: The changed dependent

The organizer lists a child as a full-time student, but age and school information conflict. The preparer must develop the facts, avoid assuming qualification, and identify the credits and filing-status effects.

Scenario 4: The K-1 without basis

The K-1 reports a loss, but no basis, at-risk, or passive-activity schedule is available. The preparer must enter known source data without releasing an unsupported deductible loss and escalate the missing analysis.

Scenario 5: The transferred estimated payment

UltraTax carries a prior-year applied refund into the current-year payment schedule, but the client also reports a separate payment for the same amount. The preparer must verify IRS or client evidence and prevent duplication.

Scenario 6: The prior-year state that should not disappear

The client worked remotely in another state during the prior year. No current withholding form is present, but the client’s employer and work location did not change. The preparer must investigate rather than assume the state filing ended.

Scenario 7: The diagnostic cleared with a guess

A missing-date diagnostic is removed by entering an assumed date. The learner must reverse the unsupported input, identify why the date matters, obtain the fact, and document the treatment.

Scenario 8: The forced form

A preparer uses a force field to generate a desired result without understanding the normal calculation. The learner must identify the ordinary input path, review product guidance and authority, assess related forms and states, and obtain approval.

Scenario 9: The trial-balance mapping error

A business-return import maps shareholder health insurance and loan activity to the wrong tax categories. The preparer must reconcile the trial balance, correct the mapping, inspect the return effect, and identify whether other clients are affected.

Scenario 10: The final K-1 replaces an estimate

An estimated K-1 was entered early. A final K-1 arrives with different income, state data, and ownership information. The preparer must replace and revalidate the work rather than layering the new data on top.

Scenario 11: The plausible AI research answer

An AI-generated summary supports the desired treatment but cites an outdated or nonexistent source and ignores a material exception. The preparer must open primary authority, correct the analysis, and explain the uncertainty to the reviewer.

Scenario 12: The e-file reject near the deadline

A dependent identification reject occurs after transmission. The preparer must identify the reject type, verify the taxpayer’s records, coordinate the correction or alternative filing path, retransmit when appropriate, and confirm acceptance.

Scenario 13: The federal return is right but the state is wrong

The federal K-1 is entered correctly, but state-source income and withholding are incomplete. The preparer must use the state schedule and current facts, reconcile federal-to-state differences, and escalate a new-jurisdiction issue.

Scenario 14: The reviewer cannot trace the number

A material deduction agrees to UltraTax input, but the workpaper contains no source or calculation. The preparer must rebuild the evidence trail from source to workpaper to input to form.

Use Scenario-Based Training for Accountants to build issue recognition and judgment before equivalent live-client risk appears.

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Completed Example: From Input Training to a Review-Ready Return

The preparer did not become ready because every field was filled.

The preparer became ready because the return became traceable, explainable, professionally reviewed, and complete through acceptance.

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What Should the Firm Measure?

Preparation quality

• Missing items discovered before review
• Source-to-return traceability
• Input and transcription errors
• Import and data-sharing differences
• Unsupported estimates or manual interventions
• Diagnostics unresolved at submission
• Current-to-prior changes explained

Review performance

• First-pass acceptance
• Review notes by completeness, input, tax, state, evidence, diagnostic, or workflow cause
• Repeated review-note rate
• Reviewer time by return type and preparer
• Returns returned more than once
• Manager or partner rescue time

Workflow and e-file

• Time from complete documents to first submission
• Time from first submission to accepted completion
• Age of client and reviewer open items
• Authorization turnaround
• E-file rejects and resolution time
• Returns transmitted without timely acknowledgement
• Post-filing corrections

Development

• Baseline-to-final assessment improvement
• Scenario performance
• Feedback applied to later returns
• Return types and complexity independently prepared
• Research and escalation quality
• Time to controlled and routine responsibility

Measure accepted completion rather than first submission alone.

Use Accounting Onboarding KPIs to connect training evidence with productivity, quality, and manager capacity.

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Common UltraTax Training Mistakes

Teaching input screens without the source-document workflow

Staff must learn what information should exist before learning where to enter it.

Using live client returns as the first complete practice

Use realistic sample returns, planted errors, review, correction, and transfer first.

Assuming proforma data is correct

Validate carryforwards, elections, states, ownership, basis, depreciation, and open issues every year.

Trusting imports and data sharing without control totals

Reconcile document, account, form, income, withholding, and state totals.

Clearing diagnostics instead of resolving issues

Teach what caused the message and why the selected response is valid.

Allowing new preparers to use overrides or force fields without approval

Document the normal result, authority, reason, related effects, and reviewer authorization.

Reviewing only the federal return

Train residency, sourcing, apportionment, credits, withholding, and federal-to-state differences.

Ignoring workpaper traceability

A correct form amount without visible support still creates reviewer reconstruction.

Measuring speed without rework

Track time to accepted completion, reviewer notes, repeated errors, and manager rescue together.

Calling the return complete before e-file acceptance

Authorization, transmission, acknowledgements, rejects, payments, delivery, and follow-up are part of the workflow.

Teaching software help as tax authority

Use product documentation for software behavior and primary authority for tax conclusions.

Hiding uncertainty to look independent

Review-ready work exposes the issue and asks a precise question.

Correcting returns silently

Return appropriate corrections and verify that feedback changes the next return.

Training only routine 1040 input

Include businesses, rentals, K-1s, states, research, trial balances, basis, and related-return coordination according to role.

Stopping at preparation

Progress strong staff toward first review, tax research, client explanation, workflow ownership, and advisory readiness.

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How SkillAbility Builds UltraTax Workflow Fluency

SkillAbility helps CPA firms separate exposure to tax software from demonstrated tax-preparation capability.

The firm gains evidence for the questions that matter:

• Can this preparer identify missing facts before review?
• Can the person trace the return to source support?
• Can the employee validate imports and data sharing?
• Can the preparer resolve diagnostics for the right reason?
• Can the person recognize when research or approval is required?
• Can the employee submit a complete reviewer handoff?
• Can the preparer carry the return through authorization and acceptance?
• Can the person progress into first review and client responsibility?

For the firmwide development system, read Accounting Workforce Development.

For the path from preparation to review leadership, read Tax Manager Development Program.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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External Research and Authority Sources

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The Bottom Line

Do not teach UltraTax as a sequence of screens.

Teach the return as an evidence chain.

Begin with taxpayer facts and expected sources.

Validate prior-year information.

Index workpapers so the reviewer can trace material amounts.

Teach input and form relationships.

Reconcile imports and shared data.

Develop federal, state, related-return, basis, and ownership facts.

Use diagnostics as questions, not boxes to eliminate.

Research unfamiliar issues.

Restrict overrides and force fields.

Require preparer self-review.

Make open items and reviewer decisions visible.

Carry the workflow through authorization, transmission, acceptance, and follow-up.

Then measure accepted completion, learning, review quality, and manager capacity—not only the number of returns initially prepared.

Protect Knowledge. Develop People. Scale the Firm.

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To returns your reviewers can actually review,

Vincent Howard, CPA
Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges
SkillAbility for Accounting Firms

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© 2026 SkillAbility for Accounting Firms. This article provides general educational information and does not replace tax, accounting, legal, employment, human-resources, cybersecurity, software, professional-standards, or regulatory advice.