The article covers using the vault and importing tax documents using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Basically, import a W2 or 1099-MISC, and our system will read it and enter the information on the return for you!
The online software includes Vault, a tool that allows you to take pictures of taxpayer documents and store them with the return. For example, you can snap a picture of your taxpayer’s Form W-2, upload this image into the software and view it while inside the return.
This feature also allows you to add and store other electronic file types, such as .PDF, .docx, .jpeg, .txt and .xlsx.
To do this:
1. Inside a return, click the Vault icon in the Loaded Forms list
2. In the Vault window, click Photo or Import to Vault.
▪ Photo allows you to capture a new image using your camera.
▪ Import to Vault allows you to attach a photo or document already on your computer.
3. If you click Import to Vault, Windows Explorer displays the Open dialog box. Select the file you want to upload and click Open.
4. The software displays a message confirming the file was successfully imported. Click OK.
5. Then displays the Vault dialog box, where we now see the document(s) you imported.
▪If the taxpayer submitted their return information via the mobile app, the tax preparer can share
documents back to the taxpayer via Vault, by selecting the Share with Taxpayer icon next to the
document.
6. If you click Photo, you must choose your camera from the Set Camera Preference list.
7. Once the document displays in the window, click Photo.
8. The software displays the Image taken by the camera on the right-hand side of the screen. In the Save As box, type the name you want to change the name to. To save that image, click Save to Vault.
9. Regardless of which method you choose, you can view the image by selecting the hyperlink in the Vault dialog box, or by clicking the link now listed in the Loaded Forms section, under Documents.
Vault with W-2 Import.
Additionally, you can import certain formatted Form W-2s and 1099M directly into the return from Vault using OCR technology.
If the document is in a certain format, then you can process the document. The supported formats are: JPG, PNG, and PDF.
To import the W-2 data to the return:
1. Documents that are not in the correct file format, will display a message in the OCR column, letting you
know that the supported files are JPEG, PNG, and PDF. Any documents in the correct file format will
display, Scan Document in the OCR Column. On the Vault dialog box, click Scan Document to process the file.
2. The software displays the Scan Document using OCR dialog box. For this year, W2s and 1099 Misc are the only forms you can scan and import. Select the Form Type from the drop-down menu. For the purpose of this lesson, select 1099M option.
3. Select Overwrite Existing Form or Add a New Form. For this lesson, select Add a New Form.
4. When importing a 1099M, you are then asked to choose a parent form. Select an existing parent form or Add a new parent form. For the purpose of this lesson, select to Add a new parent form.
5. The window then displays a Select parent form drop-down. For this lesson, select the Sch C as the parent form, and click Scan Document.
6. The software displays the OCR Import dialog box. You will see the information being imported listed.
7. Select the skip column next to any line item(s) you need to skip.
8. The confidence percentage gives you an indicator of how confident we are in the data in the Extracted Value field. If you can tell the information is incorrect, click in the field and edit the information.
9. Once you’re ready to process the information, click Import button.
10. The software displays a confirmation message stating that the import was successful. Click Back to Vault or Close. For the purpose of this lesson. Click Close to exit Vault and get back to the return.
11. The software displays the imported form. In the Loaded Forms section, you will see the Parent Form you selected as well as the 1099 Miscellaneous you imported.