Organizers, explained: pre-fill, copy, create & more

To start working on your forms, your tax preparer will need some basic essential information from you. Organizers are questionnaires custom-tailored to your specific tax situation and used to gather that info. 

Organizers help streamline your tax preparation by collecting all necessary information in one place. Whether you're completing a new questionnaire or updating an existing one, here's everything you need to know to efficiently submit your details to your accountant.

Covered here:

View all your organizers

To view all your organizers, go to  Organizers in the main menu. Here, you will see all the ones that need to be completed, as well as the ones that have been started but not completed. Click on any organizer to open it, then fill in the data.

Copy sections

When completing an organizer, you may need to replicate sections to include all of your information. For instance, you may want to add the details for a second or even third bank account. In this case, you would reproduce the bank section as many times as you need to. And you can delete sections if you add too many.

Note: If you don’t see Repeat section at the bottom of a section, it is because your accountant didn’t include it.

Upload files

While completing an organizer, you might need to upload documents (for example, a W2, 1099-MISC, 1099-K, Canadian T-1, or 1099-SA).

You’ll have the option to upload files from your computer or your TaxDome account.

To upload files from your computer:

1. Click  Add document, then From my computer, and locate the files on your desktop. You can select several files from one folder. If you upload more than five files, you will see the Show more button with the number of the remaining documents.

To add files from another folder, click on Add more.

2. Select the folder where the file will be saved, then click Upload.

You will see the progress bar of the file upload. If there is an error (e.g., due to unstable internet), you will see a warning and can retry.

To upload files from TaxDome, click Add document, then From TaxDome. Select the folder and click on the file’s name. All files in folders with Client can view and edit access are available.

All documents uploaded to an organizer can be found by clicking the Attached docs link on the top right.

Pre-populate and copy previous organizers

Note: we recommend using prefill carefully since it overrides any information you’ve entered in the current form. If you prefill answers, review them before submitting the organizer. 

In many situations, information doesn't change year to year. So, when you fill the same organizer every month or year, you may want to roll your information forward from the previous organizer to save time.

When you have at least one similar organizer submitted, click the Pre-fill answers link at the top of your screen to automatically fill answers with your prior responses. If you have two or more organizers, click Change source to select the specific one.

After this, upload the necessary documents, as they won't be prefilled automatically and submit the organizer.

You can also compare your current organizer with previous ones and copy answers or download files from them. To do so, click Compare answers at the top right and select any previous organizer from the dropdown with the organizer names.

You'll see your current organizer on the left and the previous one on the right. You can:

  • Click on any section to view it.
  • Copy an answer by clicking the button to the right of it.
  • Download and preview files by clicking the buttons to the right of the file name.

Click X at the top right to close the previous organizer.

Create organizers

Organizers usually created and sent by your accountant. However, in some cases your firm can allow you to create an organizer by yourself based on the predefined template. 

To create an organizer based on one of the templates provided by your accounting firm, go to the Organizers page, click New organizer, select a template from the list and click Create. Then, begin answering the questions.

Print organizers

You can print the organizer if you want to store your information on paper. To print the organizer, whether pending or completed, click the Print icon at the right in the list or open one, then click the three-dots menu and select Print organizer.

Your browser will prompt you to print the organizer.

Note: The unanswered questions won’t print.

You can find the number of questions on the left of the organizer name. Note, that only question blocks are counted, the text blocks are not.

What “Archived” means

Once the organizer is no longer needed, your accountant archives it, but you can still make changes to it. These organizers are moved to the Archived tab.

I can’t edit my answer or the whole organizer

Your accountant can mark some of your answers as reviewed. Once your questions are marked as reviewed, you can no longer edit them. If you want to update something, ask your accountant to make such questions back available to you.

If you can't edit the whole organizer, then your accountant has sealed the organizer. Once it is sealed, you can no longer edit it. You’ll see a Sealed tag letting you know that no more changes can be made.

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