Marking Hand Edits on an AI-Drafted Entry List

An AI tool drafts an entry list from a client folder. Then a Preparer works it: fixes a figure here, relabels a row there, adds an item the draft left out. If those changes are typed straight over the drafted values, the finished list looks the same everywhere. Nobody can tell which values the tool drafted and which a person set, or why.

That matters when the file reaches the Reviewer. A changed row carries a person's judgment about the source, and the Reviewer can't check that judgment without seeing it. Marking hand edits on an AI-drafted entry list keeps it visible. The tool drafts the rows. A person edits them, marks each change, and the Reviewer decides whether the change holds.

Three origin marks

The Firm can give every row on the entry list one origin mark, in its own column:

Drafted. The tool drafted the row and nobody changed it.

Drafted then edited. The tool drafted the row and a person changed something on it.

Keyed by hand. No drafted row existed. A person read the item on the page and typed the row in.

Keeping hand-keyed rows apart from edited ones helps the Reviewer. An edited row has a drafted value to compare against. A hand-keyed row has only the page and the person who read it, so its check starts from the page alone.

The Firm picks the labels and keeps them the same on every file, so a Reviewer reads them the same way each time. A row has one mark at a time. If someone edits a hand-keyed row, it stays keyed by hand, and the edit gets its own note.

The Firm can use the Preparer's self-review of the drafted file to check page references. The origin mark answers a separate question: who set the value on that row.

Keep the drafted value beside the edit

The Firm's rule can be that nobody overwrites a drafted value. When the Preparer changes a row, the drafted value stays on the row beside the edited value, and the row gains four short fields: the edited value, the Preparer's initials, the date, and the reason.

Every edit carries the Preparer's initials, the date and a reason. The Firm can keep the reasons to a short fixed list so they read the same across files:

• figure misread from the page
• wrong page or wrong document
• sign changed to match the page
• label changed to match the page
• one row split into two
• cleared to blank because the page shows nothing there

A short list keeps the trail readable. A reason that doesn't fit the list gets a plain sentence instead, and the Firm can decide later whether that reason earns a place on the list.

Keeping both values side by side lets anyone check an edit without hunting for the old version. The Reviewer can compare the drafted and edited values, then decide whether the page supports the edit and its reason. The edit trail stays with the entry list in the Firm's file, so a later reader sees the same history.

What counts as an edit

The Firm decides where the line sits. One workable line: any change to a row's amount, sign, label or page reference counts as an edit, and so does splitting one drafted row into two. Both new rows carry the "drafted then edited" mark, and each points back to the original drafted value.

Some changes don't need a mark. Reformatting a date or a number without changing its value leaves the mark alone. The test the Firm can use: if the change alters what the row says about the source page, it's an edit.

A drafted row that shouldn't be on the list at all isn't deleted. Under the Firm's rule, the Preparer strikes it through, keeps it visible, and gives the reason, such as a duplicate of another row. A row that vanishes leaves nothing to review.

The Firm also sets what happens if the Preparer runs the drafting pass again after editing. One choice is to keep the edited list and compare the new draft against it, marking any row where the two differ. Another is to start fresh and carry the earlier edits across by hand. Either way, the Firm's rule says which list is current, and no edit drops off the list unrecorded.

The Reviewer reads changed rows first

At the top of the entry list, the Firm can keep one count line: rows drafted, rows drafted then edited, rows keyed by hand, and rows struck. It tells the Reviewer the size of the human work on the file before reading a row.

The Reviewer reads edited and hand-keyed rows first. Under the Firm's chosen review order, the Reviewer can compare each edited row's drafted value, edited value and reason against the page, and check each hand-keyed row against its source page. The edit holds when the page shows the edited value and the reason fits. When it doesn't, the row goes back to the Preparer with a note. Struck rows get the same read: does the reason hold on the page?

The Firm can put edited and hand-keyed rows first while keeping its chosen readback of the entries. After those rows, the Reviewer reads the drafted rows in whatever order and depth the Firm sets.

A Doe example

The figures below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe, a Preparer at Doe & Co. CPA, works an entry list drafted from the Doe Holdings folder. After her edits and hand-keyed additions, the list has 24 rows. When she finishes, the count line reads: 19 drafted, 3 drafted then edited, 2 keyed by hand, none struck.

One edited row shows a drafted value of 1,580.00. The page shows 1,850.00. Jane keeps 1,580.00 in the drafted column, enters 1,850.00 as the edited value, records the difference of 270.00, adds her initials and the date, and writes "digits swapped" as the reason. The other two edits are a label change and a sign change. The sign change is a refund the page prints in brackets, which the draft showed as a positive amount, so Jane flipped the sign and picked "sign changed to match the page". The two hand-keyed rows are items she found on a page with no drafted row and typed in during her tie-out.

Pat Doe, the Reviewer, reads the five changed rows first. Four hold against their pages. On the label change, the page doesn't support the new label, so Pat sends that row back with a note. Jane corrects the label, updates the reason, and returns it. Pat reads it again, then reads the 19 drafted rows in the order the Firm sets and signs off.

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.

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This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Your licensed professional and your Firm's Reviewer are responsible for every return and every conclusion. Keep client data inside the systems your Firm has approved. As general guidance only, not advice: if you use an AI tool with client data, firms generally look for a business or commercial plan whose terms cover how that data is handled; read the vendor's current terms before you do.