PaperCut Overview
Desktop · Written guide Content date 5 min read
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Tax Processors Plus Desktop Premium customers have access to PaperCut, our paperless office solution. PaperCut has the following features:
- Storage for PDF copies of tax returns for both individual and business clients, as well as source documents in any format.
- The ability to securely e-mail PDF copies of saved documents/tax returns.
- The Customer Portal, where individual taxpayers can share documents and where you can send their tax return for digital signature.
- Storage for PDF copies of the Master Report and Client Reports, as well as e-file acknowledgements and transmission confirmation reports.
If the PaperCut icon is not visible in your desktop toolbar, contact Tax Processors Plus support to confirm the document-management options enabled for your office.
PaperCut Options
The left side menu in PaperCut includes menus to navigate to its features:
Tax Returns
Every individual and business tax return is listed in the tax returns menu. When a client is selected in the list, two additional windows open:
- A window showing the tax documents associated with the return, including copies of source documents as well as PDF copies of tax returns you printed and saved there.
- A window allowing you to add new documents to the taxpayer's folder in PaperCut. Three controls are provided, allowing you to add a document by dragging and dropping it into the window, by browsing to and selecting it in Windows File Explorer, or by directly scanning it to PaperCut using your own scanner.
Reports
The Reports menu is an archive divided into two parts:
- Master Reports - When you print the Master Report or the Client Report, a copy is saved here.
- E-File - When you view the Transmission Confirmation Report or an acknowledgement report, a copy is saved here.
E-Mail
Select the E-Mail menu to e-mail a client an copy of their tax return. For privacy, files e-mailed in PaperCut are encrypted with a password. After sending the e-mail you can then communicate the password to the client by another means.
The list of clients you can e-mail includes all individual tax returns as well as business returns that have an e-mail address entered in the return's heading information.
Note that if you need to send a copy of the return to the taxpayer for their signature, that's done via the Customer Portal or, if they used it, the TaxesToGo app.
Customer Portal
In the Customer Portal menu you send invitations to your individual clients to create a portal. They can send you copies of their tax documents, and once you've completed their tax return you can send it them for their signature. Their signature is applied to Form 8879, if the return is being electronically filed, and if the taxpayer is utilizing a bank product to facilitate their refund the signature is applied to the bank application as well as the Consent to Use and Consent to Disclose documents.
Also in this menu you can view the documents the taxpayer has sent.
How are PDF copies of returns saved to PaperCut?
There are three different places you can choose to be prompted to print a copy of the return to be saved in PaperCut:
- When printing under the View Results menu - The View Results menu is within a tax return as well as in the Quick Menu under View Returns, and after selecting the menu choose either "Print Return" or "Print Selected Forms/States", and then specify what you'd like to print. You'll be asked the PaperCut print question, "Do You Wish to Print the Return to PDF?". Select Yes, and the document you print will open in the program you use for PDFs and will also be saved to this client's folder in PaperCut. (If you select No, the PDF will still open but won't be saved to Paper Cut.)
- When exiting the return - Upon exiting a return that's been marked complete, you'll be asked the PaperCut print question, "Do You Wish to Save the Return to PaperCut?" Select Yes, then select what you'd like to print, and the document will open in the program you use for PDFs and will also be saved to this client's folder in PaperCut. (If you select No, nothing prints and the return exits.)
- When marking the return complete - Upon exiting a return that isn't marked complete, you're asked if you do want to mark it complete. Once you answer Yes, you will then be asked the PaperCut print question, "Do You Wish to Save the Return to PaperCut?" Select Yes, then select what you'd like to print, and the document will open in the program you use for PDFs and will also be saved to this client's folder in PaperCut. (If you select No, nothing prints and the return exits.)
Whether or not you are asked in any of these three places to save a copy of the return to PaperCut is controlled by the settings you make in Premium Configuration. Thus, you can choose to be asked the PaperCut question at any or all of these places.
Scanning documents to PaperCut
You can use your flatbed or multifunction scanner to scan a client's documents directly to PaperCut, either as images or as PDFs, with our without an automatic document feeder (ADF).
To keep the document size small, saving space on your hard drive and also making it more easily accessible, we recommend scanning in black and white or grayscale, rather than color, and at no more than 300 dpi.
While most scanners are TWAIN or WIA compliant and should work with Tax Processors Plus Desktop without issue, over the years we have discovered several scanners that are incompatible with Tax Processors Plus Desktop:
- Neat - Neat is TWAIN compliant but only intended to function with Neat software.
- Ricoh ScanSnap - The ScanSnap series uses a proprietary driver and document management software.
- Lexmark - Depending on the scanner model, not all TWAIN and WIA features are supported.
If you're having trouble scanning directly to PaperCut, an alternative is to scan and save documents using the scanner's own software, then manually add them to PaperCut.
Additional Information:
PaperCut E-Mail Configuration Menu