Organizer Types

You have 3 options to choose from when producing organizers for your clients:

• Summary Organizers

• Comprehensive Organizers

• New Client/ Blank Organizers

All three of these organizers are available within the Drake Tax program by going to the Last Year Data > Organizers menu. You can run organizers for a single client or set of clients by entering a specific SSN/EIN​ on the Organizer Client Selection window or for all clients by clicking Next without entering an ID number. Starting with Drake Tax 2023, organizers can be created for individual and business returns.

Watch the video Generating Organizers for a demonstration.

Summary Organizers

Summary organizers have fewer pages and less detail than the Comprehensive organizers. These organizers may be better for clients who have less complex returns.

Comprehensive Organizers

Comprehensive organizers have more detail and pages than the Summary organizers. This organizer may be better for clients with a more complex return.

New Client/Blank Organizers

New Client/Blank organizers can be used for new or potential clients or when you just need a blank organizer. While blank organizers are also available through the Tools > Blank Forms menu, running these organizers allows you to include a new or prospective client's ID number, name, and address to the blank organizer.

Important  When using the Organizer for New Clients process under Last Year Data > Organizers, you must enter at least a nine-digit ID number in the Mailing Name and Address Info section, or the organizer will not populate. A string of zeros may be used if you do not have the SSN or do not wish to enter the SSN in this location.

If you omit the name or address, the letters generated in the blank organizer will also omit this information.

Creating a New Client organizer does not create a new client file within the tax software.

Form Order

You can change the form order from the Organizer Options window or when viewing the forms before printing.

To change the form order for all organizers, start the organizer through Last Year Data > Organizers. When the Organizer window opens, select Form Options at the bottom.

From the Form Properties Editor window, the check boxes in the Include in View/Print column will determine if a form will produce when viewing the Organizers. The forms listed in this screen can be reordered by clicking on a form and then drag and drop to the desired location. Changes are saved automatically, if the order needs to be returned to default, click Restore across the top toolbar.

Filters

Use filters to create organizers according to various conditions. You will find this feature on the Organizer Filter Selection screen, the same one you use to select Sorting Options. At the top of the Organizer Filter Selection screen is the Select a filter drop list, which includes Clients with Refund.

You can also:

• modify or create your own filters to limit the clients selected for organizers. If you click the Edit Filters option, the Filter Manager window opens. There you can create new filters or copy existing filters for modification, and define basic search conditions for the selected filter.

• experiment with filter results by using them in Report Manager before you run organizers.

Add Form

When the software has located the records according to your search, the Organizer Options screen allows you to choose the forms you need to print.

Pre-season Letter

To add or remove forms/letters, start the organizer through Last Year Data > Organizers. When the Organizer Options window opens, select Form Optionsat the bottom.

Check the box in the Include in View/Print column for the desired forms or letters. To remove a form or letter, clear the check box in the Include in View/Print column. you can also use the Select All or Unselect All buttons at the top of the screen.

Select Exit to return to the Organizer Options screen. Changes are saved automatically.

Organizer Cover Sheet

On the Optional Documents tab at Setup > Options, under Envelope Sheet, use the drop list to select an

envelope for Taxpayer address. Organizers use 80344/80344PS Nelco envelopes, which are 9” x 11½”. If

the drop list selection is None, then an organizer cover sheet will not print.

Customize

The organizer allows the Engagement Letter, the Privacy Policy Letter, and the Pre-Season Letter to be printed with the organizers, and each of these letters can be customized to include additional information. Letters can be customized under Setup in the Communications Editor. Customized attachments can be merged with the organizer once the organizer has been saved as a PDF to Drake Documents. For more information on merging PDFs using Drake Documents, see Drake Documents - Combine PDFs.

Fillable PDF

You can produce "fillable" PDFs of organizers that can be emailed or uploaded to Drake Portals. With fillable PDFs, your clients can complete the organizers on their computers and send them back to you via email or Drake Portals without having to print out the organizer, fill it out by hand, scan it back into their computer and then send it back to you.

To create a fillable PDF, start by producing the type of organizer that is right for your client. When you get to the Organizers - Print Options window, there is a check box in the Print Options section for Generate fillable PDFs. Once this box is checked, you can select the clients for which you would like the fillable PDFs, and click Print. The return will print to the specified printer (either a physical printer or the Drake PDF Printer) and the fillable PDF can be saved within the client's Drake Documents folder.

​The fillable PDF can be uploaded directly to Drake Portals (if one exists) by checking the Upload document(s) to SecureFilePro and notify client(s) via email check box.

To open the fillable PDF organizer document, the taxpayer must have the PDF Reader App (mobile device) or Adobe PDF Reader (or higher) if using a desktop computer. Once the taxpayer(s) have completed the organizer they can simply email the saved document back to the return preparer through their regularly used email.

Schedule C, E, or F Info Missing

Check to see if the Schedule C, E, or F data entry screen was marked as disposed of in last year's program. If so, that information for the schedule will not pull forward into the Organizer for the current year. You can choose to print a Schedule C, E, or F by checking the applicable box Always include Schedule... on the Organizer Options screen when running organizers.

Envelope Size

Mail your organizers in 9” x 11½” mailing envelopes, available through the Nelco Solutions website.

In the Drake Software Compatible Supplies brochure and on the web site, see item #80344 or #80344PS, 9” by 11½” ORGANIZER mailing envelope. This envelope has “IMPORTANT INFORMATION ENCLOSED” printed on the front and requires a landscape oriented cover sheet.

Envelopes of this size are also available at most office supply stores.

To print a matching landscape oriented coversheet for the this envelope, in Drake Software, go to the Setup > Options > Optional Documents tab and in the Envelope Sheet section, select the stock number 80344/80344PS from the drop list for the Taxpayer address field.

Select Clients

You can exclude clients from an organizer print job before you print. The clients you initially select, whether all or a list that you specifically enter, are listed just prior to printing on the Print Organizers dialog box. The list displays names and SSNs. Clearing the selection box in the SSN column removes that client from the print job.

Password Protect

Select the option Password protect PDF Documents using default PDF password settings in Setup > Options on the Print Options window.

Stapling

When you print multiple organizers, they are sent in a batch as one print job and the printer will staple the entire batch. It is not possible to set the printer to staple organizers separately in batch printing.

Checklist

You can print a Checklist with the organizers for your clients. The Checklist is printed by default with the organizer. See Form Options on the Organizer Options dialog box if not generating.

Printing Fails

If you try to print multiple organizers, but the program kicks me back to the home window of the software, you need to mark the box Print even if printed before. The software is recognizing that they have been printed before and is excluding them.

Duplex Issues

In order to keep letters, envelope sheets, cover sheets, and referral coupons from printing double sided when using duplex, do the following:

On your computer:

• Open Printers & Devices.

• Select your printer.

• Go to Manage.

• Select Printer Preferences.

• Locate and turn off the option Double Sided or Duplex.

In Drake Tax:

• Run the organizers.

• On the final screen, click Print.

• Check the box for duplex.

This will allow everything else to duplex except for the letters, cover sheets, envelope sheets, and coupons, which will print single-sided.

Date of Birth

The date of birth is not printed on the organizers to help protect the taxpayer's Personally identifiable information (PII).

Password Issues

8-character limit

• Password length for a client file is limited to 8 characters. If you enter more than eight characters at the prompt when printing an organizer for a password-protected client file, the entry is rejected even if the first eight characters match the password. Count the number of characters in the password you entered.

Case sensitive

• The password is case-sensitive. For example, if you created the password as "THISTEST," but enter it as "thistest," the password is rejected.

If the problem persists, contact Drake Support at (828) 524-8020.

Client does not exist

Make sure the client exists in the prior-year Drake Tax program. If the client is in the prior-year program, try the following steps:

• Run the organizer again and double-check your data entry of the SSN or EIN.

• Check the prior-year data path at Setup > Data Locations.

  • The data path must point to the location at which the client file exists. Compare the location to which the data path points with the location at which you find the client file. They must be the same for the software to run an organizer for the client.

For steps on creating blank, fillable PDF organizers for a new client, see Drake Tax - Organizers: Client Blank Fillable Organizers.

Proformas

Proformas are not available after Drake Tax 2023. The decision to discontinue Proformas for Tax Year 2024 was not taken lightly and was a difficult decision to make. The discontinuation of Proformas allows Drake Software to focus resources on modern solutions that align with evolving technology, tax industry, and customer needs. Client tax organizers, questionnaires, and checklists are an excellent way to gather client data to help you complete the client’s tax return. We encourage you to use the organizers provided in Last Year Data > Organizers.