Tax Return Preparation Cycle
Tax Return Preparation is a Dance…
Click or Select here to see the entire tax return preparation process.
- Crayon Advisory: provide you with your Engagement Packet, Initial Invoice, and Information Requests. If you’re waiting for this, be certain you (and your spouse if you’re married and file jointly) have completed your Auxiliary Software Consents and that you’ve selected your preferred date to provide Initial Initial Information.
- You: Provide Initial Information. That information will be detailed on your Acounta Dashboard. Checkout your Action Items to see what is open for you to do. Your Action Items may not be fully comprehensive – you may need to review the specifics of your Document Requests, which is an item in your Action Items.
- Crayon Advisory: Review Initial Information. We’ll take a look at what you provide shortly after you’ve told us you’ve provided complete initial information. If we have enough to get started, we’ll schedule preparation. You’ll receive a semi-automated, fairly generic notification of your tax return having been scheduled for preparation. If we know we’ll need more than what we have at the start, we’ll ask for it right away. If the information missing is significant, we will not schedule preparation.
- Crayon Advisory: Initial Preparation. We’ll get as close to a completed tax return as we’re able. If we can get to a completed tax return, all the better!
- Crayon Advisory: Extension Delivery – if your tax return is being extended, we’ll provide that extension information. You’ll receive a secure message in Acounta with relevant attachments and details.
- Crayon Advisory: Request Additional Information – if we need more information to complete your tax return, we’ll ask for it here. Yes, we do end up needing more information for most clients, especially for/from clients with whom we don’t/haven’t worked during the year together.
- You: Provide Additional Information. We can’t work with what we don’t have – you’ll need to send it our way.
- Crayon Advisory: Continued Preparation – This is where we work toward a completed tax return. Steps 6 – 8 may need to be repeated depending on your specific situation.
- Crayon Advisory: Review – before we finalize a tax return and start assembling it to deliver to you, we review everything on the return. This ensures we’re delivering you a quality, complete, and accurate tax return.
- Crayon Advisory: Assembly – this is where some magic happens and we put all the parts together for you. This includes your summaries and comparisons, delivery letters, filing and payment instructions, and the tax returns themselves.
- You: Client Return Review – this is your opportunity to take a look at your tax return and other related documents. It’s also where you’ll tell us if you’d prefer to have a meeting to review your tax return together or if you’d rather keep to the review videos that are included with the cost of your return.
- You: EFile Authorization Signatures – these vary a little bit depending on your tax return type. Your Delivery Letter will provide you with details on where to find your eFile Authorization to sign.
- Crayon Advisory: EFiling – this is where we actually efile the tax returns on your behalf.
- You: Paperfiling – yes, even in 2026 there are still some returns that need to be paper filed. We’ll provide instructions on this with your tax return delivery.
- You: Tax Payments – if there are any taxes to pay, you’ll have that information with your actual tax return.
- You: Estimated Tax Payments – we’ll provide you with these, too! We’ll also remind you about upcoming estimated tax payments, usually between 10 and 5 days before they’re due.
You can also skim through the FAQs below that are focused on the tax return preparation process.
Entities (S-Corps & Partnerships)
The Too Long, Didn't Read
Love me a TLDR. We’ll hit the highlights of the rest of the FAQ and other information in this post right here. You should always defer to your Engagement Letter for specifics on your tax return.
- The 2026 tax season is bringing about a significant change: you’ll select the last day you want to provide your tax return information. If your initial information is provided after your self-selected Initial Information Due Date, your tax return will enter a queue based on the date initial information is received. Tax returns that have met their self-selected deadline will be prioritized in the queue over ones that miss their self-selected deadline. Tax returns are completed on a prioritized, first in, first out basis. To maintain your priority, you will need to adhere to due dates that will be given to you during tax return preparation.
- The last available Initial Information is due date is no later than February 10, 2026.
- Automated extensions will be filed for clients who have signed their engagement letter and paid their initial payment by March 12, 2026 but have not provided sufficient information to calculate an extension and/or provided information Late.
- Complete Initial Information is due no later than May 1, 2026 if you do not need or want an extension calculation for your Entity Tax Return.
- You will receive customized due dates for additional information as preparation moves forward.
- If you are not concerned about retaining your place in the queue, any additional information needs to be received no later than June 19th, 2026.
When are things due?
The Action Items on your SuperDocs Portal will all have a due date. Yes, these due dates matter. Yes, we need the information we’ve requested by the date shown to keep your return on track. Yes, we build these due dates with buffers. No, a dragon isn’t going fly down and eat all of your popcorn if you miss a deadline. Missing a deadline or providing incomplete information can have consequences from your return being de-prioritized to your return become completed and/or filed late.
When do I need to provide Initial Information?
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to select the last date you would like to provide initial information. You can do so here. Because these dates are customized to you, the client, we can’t provide the date here.
If you do not need or want an extension calculation for your Partnership or S-Corporation Tax Return, we will need all initial information no later than 5/1/2025.
Wait a minute! I thought I had until the deadline!? I don't want an extension.
In nearly 25 years of practice, Megan has only seen a small handful of returns that are able to be prepared based solely on the initial information provided. The later a drop-off date you select, the more likely an extension will be necessary.
What if you need additional information?
We’ll ask for additional information as soon as we know what we need. When we ask for that information, we’ll also provide you with two due dates:
- The first date will be the date we need information by in order for your return to retain its current priority in the queue.
- The second due date will the the final due date we need you to provide additional information. For entities, that date is June 19, 2026.
We will give you as much time as we reasonably can while still maintaining a reasonable workflow and priority queue for our other clients (our other dance partners).
We will also send you reminders regarding outstanding information. These reminders are automated.
How will I be able to keep all these dates in my head?
Your Open Action Items in SuperDocs will show due dates to take each action by. We also send automated and semi-automated reminders.
How do I know the status of my tax return?
We’ll send you bookended updates as your return moves through the process. Most of these updates are semi-automated, though they are customized. You’ll receive a, “here’s what’s coming,” as your return completes the most recent step. As your return is ready for you to take an action, you’ll receive a more specific, “here’s what you need to do,” email.
Emails aren’t secure and won’t contain attachments or certain details that cannot and should not be sent over email. Your emails may include a link to Superhuman Docs and/or your specific SuperDocs Portal. You’ll need to visit your SuperDocs Portal to review all the details.
Can I get an update on the status of my return?
Maybe. But, in all honesty, it’s not likely.
We provide updates when we have them in/through email.
We know it may have been a minute. We know it may feel impersonal, detached, and like you’re uncared for. You’re not. It’s actually quite the opposite. Without these policies in place, Megan is likely to spend at least a half an hour and usually closer to 90 minutes or more looking at the status of your tax return, the project they’re working on currently, the next project(s) in the queue, considering if your return or other project can be moved up in the queue reasonably, and typing out a response.
Yes, Megan is admitting here they do enter into the ADHD guilt/shame spiral vortex.
That time is better spent working on tax returns and preparing resources and tools for you and every other client.
Individuals
The Too Long, Didn't Read
Love me a TLDR. We’ll hit the highlights of the rest of the FAQ and other information in this post right here.
- The 2026 tax season is bringing about a significant change: you’ll select the last day you want to provide your tax return information. If your initial information is provided after your self-selected Initial Information Due Date, your tax return will enter a queue based on the date initial information is received. Tax returns that have met their self-selected deadline will be prioritized in the queue over ones that miss their self-selected deadline. Tax returns are completed on a prioritized, first in, first out basis. To maintain your priority, you will need to adhere to due dates that will be given to you during tax return preparation.
- The last available Initial Information is due date is no later than March 13, 2026.
- Zero dollar extensions will be filed for clients who have signed their engagement letter and paid their initial payment by April 12, 2026 but have not provided sufficient information to calculate an extension payment and/or provided information late.
- You will receive customized due dates for additional information as preparation moves forward. This date will be provided to you in an email.
- If you are not concerned about retaining your place in the queue, any additional information needs to be received no later than June 17th, 2026.
When are things due?
The Action Items on your SuperDocs Portal will all have a due date. Yes, these due dates matter. Yes, we need the information we’ve requested by the date shown to keep your return on track. Yes, we build these due dates with buffers. No, a dragon isn’t going fly down and eat all of your popcorn if you miss a deadline. Missing a deadline or providing incomplete information can have consequences from your return being de-prioritized to your return become completed and/or filed late.
When do I need to provide Initial Information?
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to select the last date you would like to provide initial information. You can do so here. Because these dates are customized to you, the client, we can’t provide the date here.
The last available date is 3/10/2026. We are unlikely to be able to file returns prior to 4/15/2026 if initial information is received after 3/5/2026.
Your SuperDocs Portal will have specifics about the information we need to get started on your tax return.
If you are a partner in a partnership or an owner in an S-Corporation and we prepare your Partnership or S-Corporation tax return, your initial information is inclusive of the information necessary to prepare your Partnership or S-Corporation tax return. The information for that pass-through entity’s tax return is necessary to prepare your tax return and/or calculate your extension.
Wait a minute! I thought I had until the deadline!? I don't want an extension.
In nearly 25 years of practice, Megan has only seen a small handful of returns that are able to be prepared based solely on the initial information provided. The later a drop-off date you select, the more likely an extension will be necessary.
What if you need additional information?
We’ll ask for additional information as soon as we know what we need. When we ask for that information, we’ll also provide you with two due dates:
- The first date will be the date we need information by in order for your return to retain its current priority in the queue.
- The second due date will the the final due date we need you to provide additional information. For individuals, that date is July 17, 2026.
We will give you as much time as we reasonably can while still maintaining a reasonable workflow and priority queue for our other clients (our other dance partners).
We will also send you reminders regarding outstanding information. These reminders are automated.
How will I be able to keep all these dates in my head?
Your Open Action Items in SuperDocs will show due dates to take each action by. We also send automated and semi-automated reminders.
How do I know the status of my tax return?
We’ll send you bookended updates as your return moves through the process. Most of these updates are semi-automated, though they are customized. You’ll receive a, “here’s what’s coming,” as your return completes the most recent step. As your return is ready for you to take an action, you’ll receive a more specific, “here’s what you need to do,” email.
Emails aren’t secure and won’t contain attachments or certain details that cannot and should not be sent over email. Your emails may include a link to Superhuman Docs and/or your specific SuperDocs Portal. You’ll need to visit your SuperDocs Portal to review all the details.
Can I get an update on the status of my return?
Maybe. But, in all honesty, it’s not likely.
We provide updates when we have them in/through email.
We know it may have been a minute. We know it may feel impersonal, detached, and like you’re uncared for. You’re not. It’s actually quite the opposite. Without these policies in place, Megan is likely to spend at least a half an hour and usually closer to 90 minutes or more looking at the status of your tax return, the project they’re working on currently, the next project(s) in the queue, considering if your return or other project can be moved up in the queue reasonably, and typing out a response.
Yes, Megan is admitting here they do enter into the ADHD guilt/shame spiral vortex.
That time is better spent working on tax returns and preparing resources and tools for you and every other client.
We know we can’t summarize every possible question here.
Don’t resist the questions!
Gathering information we’ve requested can be difficult for many reasons. I encourage everyone to approach anything new, different, and/or scary with a sense of wonder, excitement, and curiosity. Instead of, “I don’t understand,” think, “I was asked to do this, and I’d like to understand how it fits in the bigger picture. I’ll do this and trust Crayon Advisory will show how this goes into the bigger picture.”
Much of taxes and accounting is incredibly specific and counter-intuitive. Sometimes, we (Crayon Advisory) need to ask for the information and can later show you how it fits in the bigger picture after we have it. We invite you to trust the process. We’ll get to the end together.
This post has been developed as an explanation for our tax return preparation process. This information is written to be informative and is not tax advice. You should consult with your tax advisor as to how this information applies to your situation. Your specific needs may vary and may cause specific attention to need to be given to your processes. You should speak with your tax professional regarding the applicability of these issues to you and your business (and, yes, that includes Crayon Advisory if you are a current or onboarding client).