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Client communication is an essential part of any tax preparer’s role during tax season. As a tax preparer, you need to gather documents required for tax filing, get approvals, and finalize returns. The way you handle client communication during the hectic season also affects client experience, which in turn affects retention.
Traditional methods like back-and-forth emails, manual follow-ups, and paper-based signature processes often create unnecessary delays and administrative burden. Firms today need a tax solution that simplifies communication, improves document exchange, and keeps client interactions efficient throughout the filing cycle.
Intuit’s Lacerte is one such tax application preferred by tax professionals worldwide for streamlining client interactions. Whether you already use Lacerte or are planning to adopt it, these client communication features make it a strong choice for your firm this tax season, and some may be features you have not fully explored yet.
Top Lacerte Features Your Firm Needs to Simplify Client Communication This Tax Season
1. Intuit Link Client Portal
During tax season, a significant amount of time is wasted on gathering client documents, reviewing them, and obtaining approvals. Lacerter makes it convenient to collaborate with clients with the Intuit Link Online portal.
Intuit Link offers a centralized platform for firms to send digital organizers, request documents, and track client progress. It enables tax preparers to send document requests to clients through email with an online link. Clients can log in to the link and upload the requested documents, right from their offices.
Tax preparers can see the status of their request on the portal and send reminders. You can send questionnaires to clients and create custom email and document request templates.
2. eSignature Plus Payments
Lacerte’s eSignature enables tax preparers to collect client signatures online. You can request client signatures in the software while sharing the documents with the client. It offers a dashboard, where tax preparers can see the pending and completed requests.
You can also set automated notifications to remind clients to sign the documents. Moreover, this feature enables you to send payment requests with custom messages and set automated reminders. You can use this feature by opening the dashboard and clicking the Request option next to the client details.
The eSignature feature implements a Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) to prevent unauthorized access. This feature comes as an add-on, and users have to pay per envelope. eSignature helps preparers streamline the tax workflow during the busy tax season.
3. E-Organizer
Lacerte’s E-organizer is an efficient tool to collect the required client documents online, ensuring a paperless and hassle-free process. These organizers can include engagement letters, questionnaires, and checklists, ensuring clients know exactly what information is needed.
You can send the E-organizer through email to save it to an external drive. Every E-organizer is password-protected with a password expiry of 90 days after being sent. However, you must use last year’s Lacerte program to send an E-organizer for the current year. Lacerte enables tax preparers to select the email address where documents will be sent once they come back from the client.
The password for the e-organizer is a combination of the Social Security Number and the ZIP code. E-organizer minimizes the need for repeated follow-ups and creates a smoother, more professional communication workflow.
4. Financial Institution Download
The financial institution download feature fast-tracks the tax filing process by letting you import W-2 and 1099 data directly from the client’s W-2 providers, banks, and brokerage institutions. However, you need authorization from the client to import this data.
Tax preparers need to send a request email to the client with a link to the Intuit Tax Form Dropoff portal. Clients can then download the W-2 or 1099 data from their financial institution, which gets populated to the client’s list dashboard in Lacerte. It reduces the need for clients to manually gather and submit documents, saving them time and effort.
5. Built-in Time Tracking
Time management is crucial when filing returns during the tax season. It ensures accurate billing and high efficiency. Lacerte’s built-in time tracking feature enables tax preparers to track time when filing returns. The timer automatically tracks the time between opening and closing a file from the client’s list.
You can activate this feature by adding the Time Spent column to the client list. This column is a sub-option of the client invoice section. However, only the user with admin rights can enable this feature. To add the column, you can go to Settings and select Options. From there, you can open the Display Tab to add the Time Spent column.
6. Proforma Wizard
The Proforma Wizard enables tax preparers to transfer client files from the previous year to the current one, saving their time and reducing errors. Moreover, it enhances the client experience as they do not need to provide the same data repeatedly.
You can proforma the previous year’s update data by opening the previous year’s version. From there, select Transfer all my clients for all my modules at once in the Proforma wizard. You can open the Proforma wizard by selecting Transfer Clients on the Tools menu.
You can perform a full transfer or partial transfer of the client’s file. Lacerte does not allow you to proforma some items, such as individual returns with deceased taxpayers and a final K-1 form.
7. PDF Bookmarks
PDF bookmarks streamline navigation through a file, especially tax returns, at the time of reviews. Bookmarks are available when you print a PDF.
It enables tax preparers to quickly navigate to the relevant section or field, eliminating the hassle of scrolling through the entire file.
8. Password Protection for PDF Files
All tax firms need to ensure the protection of critical data from unauthorized access when sending confidential files to clients. Lacerte enables tax preparers to protect critical PDF files with a password. This feature was included in Lacerte’s 2019 version.
You can password-protect the PDF file during printing by choosing the client return file and clicking on the Print option. From there, you can choose the file type (PDF) and check the Password Protect PDF option.
Lacerte also gives you multiple options to generate the PFD password – Identification Number (Last 4 digits of SSN or EIN) and Zip Code. You can choose either or both of these options. With this feature, tax preparers can securely download the PDF files on their desktops or email them to clients.
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Ensure Client Satisfaction This Tax Season with Lacerte
Lacerte helps speed up tax preparation while creating a smoother experience for clients. Its built-in features support a more organized workflow and cut down time spent on repetitive tasks such as document collection, approval requests, and e-signatures.
For firms that want even easier collaboration, Lacerte cloud hosting adds another layer of convenience. With Lacerte hosted on the cloud, tax preparers and clients can work from a shared environment to exchange documents, review forms, and keep the process moving without delays.
Ace Cloud Hosting provides Lacerte-optimized cloud hosting on high-performance servers, giving your firm reliable access to the application with 99.99% uptime, 24/7/365 support, 45-day backups, and enterprise-grade security.
Want to see how Lacerte works in the cloud? Start your 7-day free trial.
