Troubleshooting missing e-file acknowledgements

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If your firm uses multiple application installations of UltraTax CS and/or multiple data locations, you should consider issues that can occur during the creation, transmission, and acknowledgement phases of the electronic filing process when you configure UltraTax CS and use CS Connect to transmit returns and retrieve acknowledgements.

Every return that is transmitted via CS Connect is sent to the receiving agency (such as the IRS). The receiving agency then sends the transmitter an acknowledgement (ACK) file. The Acknowledgement file is a record of whether the transmitted returns have been accepted or rejected, along with any errors discovered by the receiving agency. This acknowledgement (ACK) file is then retrieved via CS Connect by the transmitter generally within two days of transmitting the returns.

Addressing acknowledgements missing from the Electronic Filing Status dialog

Missing acknowledgements can occur under the following circumstances. 

  • If you move or restore client data from another location: If the electronic filing status is missing after moving client data, you can choose Help > Repair to rebuild the ELF status for one client or all clients. Rebuilding for all clients requires all users to exit UltraTax CS and may take a considerable amount of time, during which you will be unable to leave the rebuilding progress window. To rebuild for all clients, click the Rebuild ELF Status button in the All clients section. To rebuild for one client, select the client in the list and click the Rebuild ELF Status button in the client-specific section. 
  • If UltraTax CS is installed on multiple computers that use data locations other than the primary office/data location: When you call CS Connect and have the Retrieve acknowledgements switch set to Yes, CS Connect will download and apply all pending electronic filing acknowledgments for the data location currently set in Setup > User Preferences > Data Location tab. 
  • If you have a network license of UltraTax CS installed and multiple data locations are present: When you call CS Connect and have the Retrieve acknowledgements switch set to Yes, CS Connect will download and apply all pending electronic filing acknowledgments for the data location currently set in Setup > User Preferences > My Settings tab.
  • If you are licensed for a branch or office share configuration: The office being used is determined by the preparer that is assigned to the client you are in or from the Setup > User Preferences > My Settings tab. To change the active office/firm, open a client that has a preparer associated with the other office or change the office from the Setup > User Preferences > My Settings tab and retrieve acknowledgements from CS Connect.
  • If you use multiple data locations to process clients and transmit and retrieve acknowledgements: When you retrieve acknowledgements from CS Connect, you will only receive acknowledgements for the returns that are present in the current UltraTax CS data location. To change the office location, choose Setup > User Preferences > My Settings tab and select the office from the Office field. 

Notes

  • If UltraTax CS is not pointing to the correct data location during the CS Connect call and if the same clients reside in multiple data locations, this could result in acknowledgements being downloaded and applied to the wrong data location by mistake.
  • E-file acknowledgments are only downloaded and applied once per client. If an acknowledgement is downloaded to the wrong data location by mistake, call CS Support at (800) 968-0600 to request a rehang of the client acknowledgment so it can be re-retrieved to the right data location.
  • To open the CS Connect dialog, choose CS Connect from the Utilities menu, or click the CS Connect CS Connect button button in the UltraTax CS toolbar.
  • To open the Electronic Filing Status dialog, choose Electronic Filing Status from the Utilities menu, or click the Electronic Filing Status Electronic Filing Status button button in the UltraTax CS toolbar.

Precautions

  • We recommend setting up UltraTax CS to download acknowledgements automatically. To do so, choose Setup > System Configuration > CS Connect tab, and then mark the Download electronic filing acknowledgements checkbox.

    Marking this checkbox will also enable UltraTax CS to automatically re-post acknowledgments that were downloaded to the wrong data location.

  • We recommend that you designate the ongoing task of retrieving and tracking acknowledgements to one staff member in your firm.
    • Set the Retrieve acknowledgements switch to No in the CS Connect dialog for all workstations in which you do not want retrieve acknowledgements. We recommend that you do this when setting up UltraTax CS on a computer in a home office or other secondary transmitting location.
    • Set the Retrieve acknowledgements switch to No in the CS Connect dialog when the transmitting computer is pointing to a secondary data location.

Notes

  • To transmit or retrieve electronic filing information for a different set of clients, change the current data location.
  • To view a list of electronic files for all clients, choose Utilities > CS Connect, and click the Electronic Filing tab, or choose Utilities > Electronic Filing Status. If you are using multiple data locations, the Electronic Filing Status dialog lists only those returns for the current UltraTax CS data location.

Related topic: Configuring UltraTax CS for electronic returns overview

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