Tracking Client Status & Revisions

Facts

Add a sample client and enter the following information for the sample client:

After entering the information above, click the Clients tab.

Create a new status called "Tutorial" and change the sample client's status to the new status. Change the sample client's filing status to Head of Household. View the Client Log.

Program Considerations

The Individual Tax program comes with five existing default statuses, as well as fifteen empty statuses. All twenty can all be modified to suit your individual needs and preferences. The five default statuses are:

• Proforma'd
• Info Pending
• Under Review
• On Extension
• Final

The Lacerte program assigns two statuses automatically: one for new clients and one for clients aged through Proforma. You control all other statuses.

You can display each client's status at the Clients tab.

As returns progress through your firm's preparation process, you can change their status to reflect their current stage. You can do this from anywhere in the program.

The Client Log records revisions made to each client's file. Any time a change is made, the program records the following information:

• Date
• Time
• User
• Action
• Description

This allows you to view the types of changes made to each client, who made them, and when they were made.

How?

To add a status:

1. On the Settings menu, click Options.
   
   
2. Click the Status tab.
   
   
3. Click a number that does not have a status assigned to it, then click Modify.
   
   
4. Type "Tutorial" for the new status name.
   
   
5. Click OK.
6. Click OK at the bottom of the Options window to close and save changes.

To change a client's status:

1. Highlight client number STATUS1 at the Clients tab by clicking it once.
2. On the Client menu, click Status.
   
   
3. Select Tutorial from the drop-down list or click it in the Status History list.
   
   
4. Click OK.

To view the Client Log:

1. Open client STATUS1 and change the filing status in Screen 1, Client Information to Head of Household.
2. Exit the client by clicking the Clients tab.
3. On the Client menu, click Status.
   
   
4. Click the Client Log tab.
   
   
5. Click OK.

Tips & Shortcuts

You can click the Client Status icon on the toolbar or press [F4] to modify a client's status.

Review

You should have been able to modify a Status, change the sample client's status, and view the Client Log.

Troubleshooting

Problem: I don't see the new status in the drop-down list when I try to change the client's status.

Solution: Click OK after setting up the new status in the Options.

Problem: The client display does not reflect the change I made to the client's status.

Solution: Make sure you click OK after changing the client's status instead of clicking the close button to exit the window.

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