You sign it. You see all of it first.
A finished return reads the same whether the work behind it holds up or not, and your name is on the review either way. So the trail is open to you before you sign: every entry beside the page it came from, every corrected value with the one it replaced, and a readback against the tax software on every row.
Two bad options, and a third
Review usually comes down to two choices, and neither one is good.
You can accept the input screens because you know the preparer and the deadline is real. Or you can pull the source documents and key the hard ones again yourself, which is the only way to be certain and is time nobody is paying for. The first puts your name behind work you did not inspect. The second turns review into preparation.
There is a third, and it is the only thing this page is arguing for: inspect the trail without rebuilding it.
- Accept it
- You rely on the preparer's keying because the return looks finished. Nothing about a finished input screen tells you which K-1 box a code came from, or whether the value matches the page.
- Rebuild it
- You key enough of the return again to be satisfied. It works, and you do it again every season, on every file.
- Inspect it
- You open each entry beside its source page, read the rows that were corrected or keyed by hand, then decide. That is the design. The assembly is done for you. The conclusion is not.
TracePrep supports your judgment. The conclusion is yours, the signature is yours, and the record shows both were.
What is in front of you before you sign
Every entry, with the page it came from
Each entry names the one fact or identity field behind it, and each fact names its document and page, or the Preparer's written reason where no document stands behind it. You reach the page in at most two clicks, and you read the entry against it instead of taking the return on faith.Every change, with the value it replaced
A corrected fact keeps its prior value, who changed it, and when. One filter shows you every row that was corrected or keyed by hand.A readback on every row
Each row is marked entered and read back against the tax software by the Preparer, as the Preparer's own attestation. A mismatch carries the value the software showed. A return cannot come to you for review while any row is unread, mismatched, or stale.A record of who did what, and when
Every material step records the person who took it: who confirmed each document, who keyed each value, who marked each row, who sent the return back and why. It accumulates during the work, so what you read is the sequence of the work rather than an account written afterwards.
A review pass, in the order you’d actually do it
Open the rows that need a second look
Start with the filter: values corrected or keyed by hand. Each one shows its source page and, for a correction, the value it replaced. Nothing asks you to take the assembly on trust, because the page is right there.
Read the entries against their pages
Rows are grouped by form and by payer, each beside its page. You are checking the value keyed into the tax software against the document it came from, with the readback already recorded.
Raise an exception, in your own words
You cannot change a value yourself. You raise a written exception on the row, or send the return back with a reason. The Preparer fixes it and reads it back again. Only the current Reviewer of record closes an exception.
Sign off
Sign-off is blocked while any exception is open or any row is not read back. When you sign off, the return's content freezes. Sign-off is a workpaper review, not a signature on the return. The return is still signed and filed in your tax software.
Where the line is
The platform assembles and records. You conclude. Saying plainly which is which is the only version of this that is any use to you.
| Step | Preparer | Reviewer | Firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Assembling | Splits and names documents, confirms and keys facts, and keys the tax software from the entry list. | No action at this step | Records the client and its primary person. |
| 2. Concluding | Fixes what you send back and reads it back again. | Checks entries against their pages and signs. Nothing is signed until every row is read back. | Carries the engagement the signature is given under. |
| 3. After sign-off | No action at this step | Exports the workpaper. The record carries the sign-off in your name, with the time it happened. | Owns the workpaper, and files the return through its own tax software and its own people. |
Questions a Reviewer actually asks
What am I actually signing?
Does this make the review faster?
What if I disagree with an entry?
Can I sign off on a return I prepared?
Can a return be signed off without me?
Signing a Reasonable Compensation Study
Each material figure carries its source: the wage dataset, the occupation, the geography, the period, and the transformation applied to get to the number on the page.
A Preparer cannot record an adjustment without a rationale.
Until you sign off, the Study is not final and not deliverable.
Finalized Studies and their evidence belong to the Firm permanently.
Open one and read the evidence
The honest test is a file you were already going to review this season. Walk the workflow first, or start a Study and read the derivation yourself. Either way you are reading how the figure was built, not a summary of it.
Read the trail before you sign
Join the waitlist for the TracePrep app and the TracePrep plugin. One list, and you choose which.