How to resolve a Prep file not found error with the Lacerte Tax Planner

This article will help you resolve the following error when opening Lacerte Tax Planner, both in standard installations (Standalone/Network) as well for those using Intuit Hosting:

Prep file not found (PREP.YY). Please refer to the 20YY Users Guide.

This article uses YY to reference the tax year in 20YY format.

To resolve this error on standalone/network installations:

Since the H:\ drive is unique for each Intuit Hosting user, these steps would need to be repeated by each person experiencing the error.

This error occurs when the Lacerte Tax Planner prep file isn't installed in the correct directory. You can resolve it by copying the year-appropriate prep file into:

• C:\Lacerte\YYtaxpln\Data (standalone)
• X:\Lacerte\YYtaxpln\Data (network)

Repeating this for each affected user.

1. Download the prep file from your Intuit My Account dashboard, or copy it from where it's saved for the Lacerte tax program at:
   • C:\Lacerte\YYtax\OptionYY (standalone)
   • X:\Lacerte\YYtax\OptionYY (network)
     • You can use Ctrl+C (keyboard shortcuts work by default in the hosted environment when it's maximized) or select the Home tab in File Explorer and use the Copy button.
2. Open File Explorer.
3. Select This PC from the left column, then browse to:
   • C:\Lacerte\YYtaxpln\Data (standalone)
   • X:\Lacerte\YYtaxpln\Data (network)
     • If you can't see the Settings folder, select the View tab and check the box for Hidden items.
       
4. Paste the prep.YY file inside the Data folder.
   • You can use Ctrl+V or select the Home tab in File Explorer and use the Paste button.