Can depreciation schedules be imported from a scanned PDF?

[TaxCA]

Is there a way to import a depreciation schedule from a scanned PDF?

More specifically, it's a 'landscape form' depreciation schedule from a different tax software, and I'd like to import it into an 1120-S file, Screen 16 - Depreciation (4562).

The current Lacerte Tax Scan and Import page lists PDF forms that can be imported, but depreciation schedules are not one of them. https://proconnect.intuit.com/lacerte/integrations/tax-import/

P.S. I only found one [not too positive] review from an Intuit user. If anyone has any recent feedback, please feel free to chime in.

Previous user review of Lacerte Tax Scan and Import: https://proconnect.intuit.com/community/lacerte-tax-discussions/discussion/what-is-tax-scan-import/0...

[PhoebeRoberts]

There's not a way to send off a PDF depreciation schedule and get back an importable file with the details.

Assuming it's a reasonably clean scan, I can sometimes OCR the PDF and copy-paste into Excel, and Lacerte has a depreciation import tool that will work with an Excel file. If the PDF isn't good enough to OCR, and most of the assets are fully depreciated, I'll keep the PDF for future reference and enter "Fully-depreciated assets" as one line-item.

If it's any consolation, depreciation is just the worst. Even if you had the other preparer's original software file and converted it, you'd still need to carefully check all the depreciation pieces to make sure the conversion was done right. It looks like it took me a solid hour last week to export, clean up, import, and proof about 60 assets out of a 2020 1065 and into a 2021 1040, all in Lacerte. It's just really time-consuming to get all the little pieces right.

[TaxCA]

Thank you, Phoebe. That's what I was worried about.

I've definitely tried multiple routes, including the one you mentioned:

• Scanned PDF -> OCR in Acrobat -> copy/paste into Excel for importing. --- time consuming to fix all the small mistakes, like data transposed in the wrong columns, etc.

• Original PDF from tax software (no need to OCR) -> copy/paste into Excel. --- same as above.

• PDF -> Adobe to convert the PDF into an Excel file --- This gives the worst results by far. Weird things happen, like 30 columns merged to make 1 column.

I pray to the accounting gods that Intuit reads this and creates some new tools to solve this!

"If it's any consolation, depreciation is just the worst" <--- I agree 100%!

[PhoebeRoberts]

I have the best luck when I hold down the Alt key while making my selection in Acrobat, and copy-pasting one column at a time. Acrobat and I have very different opinions as to what constitutes a column!

Because there's no standard depreciation schedule format (even with Lacerte, you need to combine the regular tax and AMT numbers from separate schedules for each property), I don't think even a pretty good Lacerte tool would save much time.

[TaxCA]

Thank you for that tip!

I just tried the Alt+column select and it's much better than selecting several rows.

Fewer adjustments needed for the transpositions in rows and virtually no 'delimited' mistakes like in the Text-to-Columns function.

Also agreed on the AMT.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

I wrote a long reply that got deleted. Crap.

In sum

a. The Adobe PDF Conversion to Excel to Lacerte Import took 3 hours.  

b. Those who know the Excel function Replace can shorten this process. (And those who do this regularly, not once a blue moon like me, will save even more time with the knowledge they gain each time it is done.)

c. I would choose this process over the mind-numbing and tedious process of inputting 185 assets.

@IntuitGabi Would you make this discussion a permanent post in the Tax Help or Resources Section? Phoebe and TaxCA offered useful and helpful comments for those in need of guidance for using FA import.  

Here is the guidance I was able to get from tech support:

https://proconnect.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/partnership/common-questions-fixed-asset-im...