A good tax season checklist for a tax firm runs in three phases. In November, renew PTINs, review your security plan and set fees. In December, size capacity, update organizers and engagement letters for rule changes, and clean the client list. In January, send document requests, test e-file and e-signature, and brief staff before the IRS opens the filing season.
Key takeaways
- Sequence the work: compliance items in November, capacity and client prep in December, launch in January.
- Every paid preparer needs a valid 2027 PTIN before preparing returns; the IRS lists the fee as $18.75.
- Size capacity in hours, not returns, and decide in December which clients you will not take.
- Update organizers for the Schedule 1-A deductions and the $2,000 Form 1099-NEC threshold for 2026 payments.
- Test the whole client path, from document request to e-signature, before the first real return.
Why does a tax season checklist need an order, not just a list?
Most pre-season checklists give you thirty tasks in no particular order. That is how firms end up renewing PTINs in late December while organizers still haven't gone out. The tasks are right; the sequence is what fails.
A better approach is to group the work by when it has to be finished, because some jobs unlock others. You can't send a sensible document request until you've decided which clients you're keeping, and you can't decide that until you know your capacity.
This guide splits the run-up into three phases: November for compliance and pricing, December for capacity and client preparation, and January for launch. The IRS announces the official opening date of the filing season each year, usually in January, so treat that announcement as your final checkpoint rather than your starting gun.
What should a tax firm finish in November?
November is for the items that block everything else. Get these done while the phones are quiet.
Credentials
Anyone who prepares federal returns for pay needs a PTIN. The IRS says preparers must have a valid 2027 PTIN before preparing returns, and its PTIN requirements page lists the renewal fee as $18.75 and shows 2027 renewals are being processed now. Put every preparer's renewal on one list with a done date, including seasonal staff you plan to rehire.
At the same time, confirm your e-Services account and EFIN details are current: responsible officials, addresses and contact numbers. Changes made in January have a way of landing in the worst week.
Security plan
Pull out your written information security plan and read it against what you actually do now. The IRS reminds preparers that the FTC Safeguards Rule requires a data security plan, and Publication 4557 is the practical companion. Check who has access to what, remove accounts for people who left, and confirm multi-factor authentication on email, tax software and file storage. Our guide to a WISP for tax preparers walks through the review in more detail.
Fees
Set this season's fee schedule now, not in February when you're too busy to argue. Decide your minimum fee, your add-on prices for schedules and states, and your policy on late documents.
How do you work out how many returns your firm can take?
Firms usually count capacity in returns, which hides the problem. A simple 1040 and a 1040 with two rental properties and a K-1 are not the same unit of work. Count in hours instead.
A worked example
Take a three-person firm with two preparers and one reviewer. Between the opening of e-file and the April deadline there are roughly 11 working weeks. Each preparer can realistically give 40 productive hours a week to preparation after calls, email and admin. That's 2 × 40 × 11 = 880 preparation hours.
Last season the firm prepared 310 returns: 180 simple ones at about 1.5 hours, 100 moderate ones at 3 hours and 30 complex ones at 6 hours. That's 270 + 300 + 180 = 750 hours, which leaves 130 hours of slack. Fine on paper.
Now add the reality. If 15% of returns stall for missing documents and each restart costs 30 minutes, that's another 23 hours. If ten new complex clients sign up, that's 60 hours. The slack is now 47 hours, about one bad week. These are illustrative figures, so plug in your own.
The point of the sum is the decision it forces. If capacity is tight, decide in December which client types you'll decline or extend by default, rather than discovering it in March.
What changed for the 2027 filing season that your checklist should cover?
Two changes affect what you ask clients for this year. Build them into organizers and engagement letters before anything goes out.
First, the Schedule 1-A deductions. The IRS's Schedule 1-A guidance covers deductions for qualified tips, qualified overtime, car loan interest and the enhanced deduction for seniors, which apply for tax years 2025 through 2028. Each has its own caps and income phase-outs, so your intake questions need to capture tips and overtime figures, the vehicle's VIN and loan details, and dates of birth.
Second, information returns. The IRS's guide to information returns says the reporting threshold for payments such as nonemployee compensation is $2,000 or more for payments made in 2026, up from $600. Business clients will ask whether they still need Forms 1099-NEC, which are due January 31. Send them a short note in December so you aren't fielding the same call fifty times.
Rules depend on each client's facts. Treat this as a prompt to update your materials, and read the IRS instructions before advising anyone.
What should be done in December?
December is for getting the client side ready. Work through this checklist, assign an owner to each line and set a date.
| Task | Why it matters | Done by |
|---|---|---|
| Clean the client list: active, lapsing, declining | You only send requests to clients you'll serve | Dec 6 |
| Send engagement letters with this year's fees | Scope and price are agreed before work starts | Dec 13 |
| Update the organizer for Schedule 1-A questions | Avoids a second round of questions in March | Dec 13 |
| Build document checklists by client type | A landlord and a W-2 employee need different lists | Dec 20 |
| Write the 1099 reminder for business clients | Forms are due January 31 | Dec 6 |
| Hire and onboard seasonal staff | Training in February costs you peak hours | Dec 20 |
| Agree a late-document cut-off date | Gives you grounds to extend instead of rushing | Dec 13 |
| Test the full client path end to end | Finds broken links and confusing steps early | Dec 20 |
The end-to-end test is the one firms skip. Create a dummy client, send yourself the document request, upload files from a phone, sign the engagement letter and pay a test invoice. If any step confuses you, it will confuse a client.
What should happen in January before the first return?
January is launch month. The aim is to have documents flowing in before the IRS opens e-file, so preparers start the season with full queues.
- Send document requests in waves. Start with simple returns, whose documents arrive first, then business and complex clients whose K-1s and brokerage statements come later.
- Brief the team. Hold a one-hour meeting on fee changes, the cut-off date, the new Schedule 1-A questions and who reviews what.
- Test e-file and e-signature. Make sure Form 8879 signing works remotely and that your identity checks match IRS requirements. Our guide to Form 8879 e-signature covers the details.
- Set your reminder rhythm. Decide when clients get their first, second and final document chaser, and stick to it.
- Watch for the IRS opening announcement. Note the date, then confirm your software vendor's e-file is live.
Keep a running log of every snag that comes up in January. It becomes next November's checklist.
How should you review last season before planning this one?
Before you fill in any of the dates above, spend an hour with last season's data. Memory is a poor guide: the painful weeks feel longer than they were, and the quiet problems never get remembered at all.
Pull four numbers from your records. First, the average days from document request to complete file, split by client type. Second, the share of returns that went on extension and why. Third, days from return ready to client signature. Fourth, days from invoice to payment. Each one points at a different fix.
If files took weeks to complete, the issue is your request process, so shorten organizers and send them earlier. If signatures lagged, make signing possible from a phone. If payment dragged, ask for payment before the return is released, or take a deposit with the engagement letter.
Then ask each team member one question: what was the single most annoying task you repeated last season? The answers are usually small, such as renaming files, re-sending the same reminder or answering the same status question, and they're often the easiest hours to win back.
What mistakes make tax season harder than it needs to be?
A few habits cause most of the pain in a small tax practice, and none of them are about tax law.
- One long organizer for everyone. Clients abandon forms full of questions that don't apply. Tailor by client type.
- Requests by email attachment. Files end up spread across inboxes, often unencrypted. Use one secure place for uploads.
- No owner for each return. When everyone can work on a file, nobody chases it.
- Billing at the end. Invoicing after the return is filed invites slow payment. Agree when payment is due before you release the return.
- No cut-off date. Without one, the last two weeks fill with clients who sent documents in April.
Fixing even two of these frees more hours than hiring another seasonal preparer.
How Zaquil handles tax season preparation
Zaquil is practice-management software built around the parts of this checklist that eat staff time: collecting documents, getting approvals and chasing payment. Here is how the season looks from both sides.
Organizers and document requests. The firm builds organizers and questionnaires once, by client type, and sends them through a branded secure client portal. The client sees a short list of what's needed and uploads files from a phone or laptop. The firm sees what has arrived and what's still missing, without hunting through inboxes.
Jobs and deadlines. Each return is a job created from a template with its own checklist, owner and deadline, shown on a kanban board. Recurring jobs mean next year's returns set themselves up.
Automated chasers. Automations follow simple rules, such as sending a reminder if documents haven't arrived in seven days, or moving the job to review when the last file lands.
Approvals, e-signatures and payment. Clients approve and e-sign engagement letters and returns in the portal, with a signed PDF certificate on file. Invoices can be paid online, and documents can be locked until the invoice is paid.
See how it fits a tax practice on our accounting and tax solution page, or check Zaquil pricing: plans start at $19 a month, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card needed to start.
Frequently asked questions
When should a tax firm start preparing for tax season?
Start in early November. That gives you time to renew PTINs, review your security plan and set fees while the workload is light. December is then free for client preparation, such as engagement letters and organizers, and January can focus on sending document requests and testing your systems before the IRS opens the filing season.
Do tax preparers need to renew their PTIN every year?
Yes. Anyone who prepares federal tax returns for compensation needs a valid PTIN, and the IRS says preparers must have a valid 2027 PTIN before preparing returns in the 2027 season. Its PTIN page lists the renewal fee as $18.75. Renewal is done online and usually takes a few minutes, so add it to your November list.
When does the IRS open the 2027 filing season?
The IRS announces the official start date each year, usually in January. Rather than guessing a date, plan to have documents flowing in before that announcement, then confirm with your tax software provider when its e-file service goes live. Check IRS.gov newsroom releases in January for the confirmed date.
How many returns can one preparer handle in a season?
It depends on the mix, which is why counting returns is misleading. Estimate hours per return type from last season, multiply by the number of returns you expect, and compare with productive hours available. A preparer with 40 productive hours a week over 11 weeks has about 440 hours, which could be 290 simple returns or 70 complex ones.
What new deductions should tax organizers ask about this year?
Add questions for the Schedule 1-A deductions: qualified tips, qualified overtime, interest on a qualifying car loan and the enhanced deduction for seniors. The IRS says these apply for tax years 2025 through 2028, with caps and income phase-outs. You'll need tip and overtime figures, the vehicle's VIN, loan details and dates of birth.
Has the Form 1099-NEC threshold changed?
Yes. The IRS's guide to information returns says the threshold for reporting payments such as nonemployee compensation is $2,000 or more for payments made in 2026, compared with $600 for earlier payments. Forms 1099-NEC remain due January 31. Business clients should check the IRS instructions for their own payments.
Does a small tax firm need a written information security plan?
Yes. The IRS explains that the FTC Safeguards Rule requires tax and accounting professionals to have a data security plan. IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, is the practical guide, and the Security Summit has published a sample plan. Review yours before each season and update it when staff or systems change.
What should a pre-season engagement letter include?
At minimum: the returns you'll prepare, what the client must provide and by when, your fees and payment terms, what happens if documents arrive late, and who is responsible for the accuracy of the information. Send engagement letters before document requests, so scope and price are agreed before any work begins.
How do you stop clients sending documents in April?
Set a cut-off date in December and put it in the engagement letter. Send requests early, follow up on a fixed schedule and make uploading easy from a phone. Clients who miss the cut-off go on extension by default. Being clear about this early is kinder than rushing returns in the last week.
Should tax firms hire seasonal staff before January?
Ideally, yes. Hiring and training in December means new staff are productive when returns start arriving. Training in February takes hours from experienced preparers at the busiest point. Remember that any seasonal preparer who signs returns needs their own valid PTIN before preparing them.
What is the most overlooked tax season preparation task?
Testing the full client journey. Create a dummy client and go through every step: receive the request, upload documents from a phone, sign the engagement letter, approve a return and pay an invoice. Broken links, confusing instructions and login problems show up immediately, and they're far cheaper to fix in December.
Run this part of your business in one place
Zaquil puts every email, document, approval, invoice, call and automation for your accounting and tax solution page in a single workspace — set up for US practices on day one.
- Client portal with document requests, organisers, e-signatures and online payment
- Jobs with templates, checklists and recurring work; invoices and unbilled time
- One inbox for email, chat, SMS, WhatsApp and calls across every brand