Estimated Tax Payments and Applied Refund Amounts Flagged in Subsequent Years

[RoryStar]

It would be helpful if ProSeries rolled in estimated tax payments from prior years, or, at least, flagged that estimated payment vouchers had been prepared for a client in prior years. The same holds for applied refund amounts.

Of course, we prepare estimated payment vouchers for lots of clients who don’t use them. However, for the clients who do use them, this would be a really helpful feature. We would need to verify the payments and dates with the client, but this would save some time and add to accuracy.

[IRonMaN]

"Of course, we prepare estimated payment vouchers for lots of clients who don’t use them."

So you would save time for those that do use them and eat up time deleting them for those that didn't pay the estimates.  Or eat up even more time dealing with IRS notices because we forgot to check to see if they were actually paid and the return went out the door showing estimates that were never paid.

It only takes me a few seconds to load in estimates paid so in the long run, the current system seems to be more of a time saver.

[RoryStar]

Hence, why I said the estimates can simply be flagged as having been prepared. That might be a good balance.

[Accountant-Man]

I always Look At Last Year's file when I am preparing this year's return, so I can easily look at the estimates I prepared with last year's return. Then the client MUST tell me which ones they paid and when.

I also USUALLY input the payment of this year's estimates on last year's file when LY's return was extended. I use the LY's 1040ES form.

ALSO, my employees get tired of hearing LALY.

[PATAX]

Are you related to Greta 😉? How hard is it to manually enter the estimates paid? smh.🤓

[Skylane]

Estimated payments seem to confuse more clients than not…. Though the question is in my organizer, they rarely get it right…. I put some on ACH ES and frequently verify the ‘when and how much’ clients tell me with the taxing authorities….. 

But, I make mistakes too, and it sux when a client calls and says ‘I got a check from the IRS….’ or ‘why do I owe…’

So, yeah, a notification or flag that transfers from the prior year would be nice…

[Accountant-Man]

My (now) former client just got a notice from IRS that they owe money, just a bit more than the 2021 credit amount. Pro Series automatically transfers it from 2021 to 2022 onto the estimate input for 2022, but I guess nobody in the new firm asked the client, who wouldn't have known anyway.

I prepare 2021 and the new firm prepared 2022.

So my question to the client: did you get the refund instead of the credit?

ALWAYS ASK. Always LALY.