Tax Preparation
A Firm Calendar for the AI Pass: Pre-Season, In-Season, Post-Season Tasks
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Key takeaways
- The Firm can split its AI-pass housekeeping into three phases, pre-season, in-season and post-season, and decide when each one opens.
- Each task gets one owner role and one done-when record; under this approach, nobody ticks a row without that record.
- Pre-season covers the policy re-read, the plan's list of accounts in use, instruction versions, the folder standard, drill training and last season's fixes.
- In-season covers the Firm's chosen housekeeping tasks; the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file.
- The Firm can use its post-season send-back review and time log to choose fixes and owners for the next pre-season.
- The Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file; a ticked calendar row never stands in for that signature.
An AI pass on client files comes with housekeeping that isn't part of any one file. Someone re-reads the policy. Someone sets the folder standard. Someone trains new staff, reads the weekly board and sorts the season's send-back notes. Each of those jobs has its own post on this blog. None of them says when in the year it happens.
A firm calendar for the AI pass puts those jobs in order. The Firm can use three phases to choose its housekeeping tasks, owner roles and done-when records. Where a post on this blog covers a task in depth, the task links to it, so this page works as the index to them. The Firm can adapt the housekeeping tasks; the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file.
The calendar doesn't change who does the work on a file. On every file, the plugin drafts, the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off.
Phases, not dates
The calendar uses three phases, and the Firm decides when each one opens.
Pre-season runs from the end of the last post-season until the first client file gets an AI pass. It's setup time for the papers, people and folders the pass depends on.
In-season runs while files are moving. Its tasks repeat, per file or per week.
Post-season opens after the last file of the season is signed off. It looks back at the season's records and feeds the next pre-season.
This page sets no dates and maps nothing to any deadline. A Firm with one long season and a Firm with two short ones can use the same three phases. Here, a phase opens when its condition is true, not when a page on the wall turns.
How to read the tables
Each table has three columns. The task is one line. The owner role is the person who does it, named by role, since the names change from year to year. Done when is the record that shows the task happened: a dated note, a signed log row, a line in the file. The Firm can choose to leave a housekeeping row open until its completion record exists.
A done row shows a housekeeping task happened. It isn't a check of anyone's work. The Firm's preparer prepares each file, the Reviewer signs off on every file, and no calendar row stands in for that signature.
Pre-season: get the Firm ready
The Firm can aim to finish these six tasks before the first file gets an AI pass.
Task | Owner role | Done when |
|---|---|---|
Re-read the AI use policy and note any change | Policy owner | The re-read is dated on the policy, and staff have been told what changed |
Check that the data security plan lists the accounts in use | Plan owner | Each account in use has a line in the plan's systems list |
Version or retire each instruction for the AI pass | Senior Preparer | Every instruction in use carries a current version label, and retired ones are marked retired |
Confirm the client folder standard: naming pattern and file index template | Manager | For the Firm's chosen folder standard, the manager records where staff find the template |
Run drill-file training for new staff | Senior Preparer | Each drill row carries the senior's training sign-off; the Firm's preparer prepares live files, and the Reviewer signs off on every file |
Put last season's fixes in place | Each fix's named owner | Each fix from the post-season review is marked in place |
The Firm can put the policy re-read first and use the linked post for that task. The plan's systems list names the accounts in use. The Firm chooses the order of the remaining housekeeping tasks.
Training runs on synthetic files. For its chosen drill workflow, the Firm uses synthetic Doe documents written from scratch. Under this approach, client documents stay inside the engagement they came from.
The last row closes the loop from the year before. The Firm can list its chosen post-season fixes and their owners in that row.
In-season: keep the loop running
The Firm can choose which housekeeping tasks repeat per file, each week or at a mid-season point. The Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file.
Task | Owner role | Done when |
|---|---|---|
Triage each file into the AI lane or the by-hand lane | Manager | The file carries a triage line |
Set up the folder and file index before the file's first pass | Preparer | A second person has checked the index against the folder |
Read the status board for stuck files | Manager | Each row over the Firm's limit has a note saying what it's waiting on |
Plan and record spot re-checks of drafted rows | Reviewer | The sample plan and one results line per tier are on the file |
Keep the time log and read it at the mid-season point | Manager | A keep, change or stop call is recorded for each file type |
Sign off on every file, with the sign-off packet as its closing page | Reviewer | The Firm's preparer has prepared the file, and the Reviewer has signed off in it |
Folder setup follows the standard confirmed in pre-season, so its row points back to that post. The Firm can keep per-file rows with the file and assign the weekly board read to the manager. The Firm can track the board read separately from the per-file rows.
The last row isn't optional, and it isn't a scheduling choice. The Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file. The calendar row only marks that the signature exists; the signature itself lives in the file.
The Firm can record a lane change on the triage line and board row, then decide whether other housekeeping rows need updating.
Post-season: look back, then hand forward
The Firm can choose from the following post-season housekeeping tasks when planning its next pre-season.
Task | Owner role | Done when |
|---|---|---|
Run the season-end send-back review and sort cleared notes by cause | Manager and one Reviewer | Each cause has a count, one fix and one named owner |
Turn the mid-season time-log calls into a plan for next season | Manager | Each file type has a keep, change or stop line for next pre-season |
List the policy changes the season raised and the accounts in use for the security plan's systems list | Policy owner | A dated change list sits with the policy for the next re-read |
Re-version or retire instructions tied to a send-back cause | Senior Preparer | Each affected instruction has a new version label or a retired mark |
Add new seeded errors to the drill set | Senior Preparer | New drill files, written from scratch on Doe documents, carry a version label |
Copy every assigned fix into next pre-season's last row | Manager | The next pre-season table lists each fix with its owner |
The send-back review anchors this phase. The Firm decides whether a cause calls for an instruction change, a drill update or another housekeeping task. Under this approach, a new drill error is written from scratch on a made-up Doe document. It isn't copied from a client file, even with the names taken out.
The last row is the handoff. The Firm can choose to close its post-season housekeeping phase after recording each chosen fix and its owner on the next pre-season table. Under this approach, a cause with no fix and no owner is still open, and it stays on the manager's list.
Keep the calendar on one page
The Firm can keep all three tables on one page, open to everyone who owns a row. The Firm can choose to mark a housekeeping row with the date and owner's initials once its done-when record exists. Under this approach, nobody ticks a row on a promise.
At the end of each phase, the Firm can have the manager read open housekeeping rows and choose an owner, a new target or removal with a recorded reason. This choice excludes sign-off: the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file.
For housekeeping tasks, the Firm can record a new owner role and keep the same done-when record. The Firm's preparer prepares, and the Reviewer signs off on every file; sign-off stays with the Reviewer.
The calendar points to the work; it doesn't hold it. The Firm can keep the policy with its policy records and the drill log with the training files. The Firm's preparer prepares each file, and the Reviewer signs off in that client file.
A Doe example
The counts below are made up for illustration.
Morgan Doe, the manager at Doe & Co. CPA, owns the calendar. When pre-season ends, 5 of the 6 pre-season rows are ticked. The open row is Sam Doe's drill training. Sam's log shows 7 drills signed by the senior, Riley Doe, and 1 still open. Morgan keeps Sam on drill work until Riley signs the last one, and Sam starts checking live drafts two days later. Sam Doe, the Firm's new preparer, prepares the live files assigned to him, and Pat Doe, the Firm's Reviewer, signs off on every file.
In-season, the Doe Holdings file enters the AI lane and gets its triage line. Jane Doe is the Firm's preparer on that file, and Pat Doe is its Reviewer. The plugin drafts, Jane prepares, and Pat signs off in the file. The file's rows on the in-season table get ticked one by one.
Post-season, Morgan and Pat sort the season's cleared send-back notes into 3 causes. One traces to an instruction, so Riley re-versions it. Another becomes a new seeded error in the drill set, written on a made-up Doe statement. The third goes on the change list for the next policy re-read. Morgan copies all 3 fixes into the next pre-season's last row, each with its owner.
Where TracePrep fits
We've built a TracePrep plugin that drafts these steps in your Firm's workflow, while your preparer decides and your Reviewer signs off. Join the waitlist and we'll tell you when plugin access opens.
Get on the list for plugin access
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. In TracePrep's workflow, the plugin drafts, the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Firm's Reviewer signs off. Access to the plugin is by waitlist. Keep client data inside the systems your Firm has approved.
Frequently asked questions
Why phases instead of dates?
Who owns the calendar?
Does a ticked row mean the work was checked?
What if a pre-season task isn't done when files start arriving?
Can drill files reuse documents from past client engagements?
Bobby Huang · founder of TracePrep Inc.
Bobby Huang is the founder of TracePrep Inc. TracePrep is a tax-prep platform for CPA, EA, and accounting firms, and it also produces the Reasonable Compensation Study.
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