The Office to Office module in the Keystone Tax Solutions Pro program gives you the ability to securely transfer encrypted returns over the internet from one office to another. This method of transferring returns obviates the need to use removable media such as a thumb drive and is useful for several common scenarios:
- A company with one computer transmitting returns but more than one office preparing returns;
- An office that has multiple preparers but doesn’t have a network established within their office;
- A preparer who prepares returns remotely with their laptop. (Note that the laptop will need an internet connection in order to send returns.)
Returns that have been sent may not be immediately available for retrieval; expect a delay of a few minutes at least.
Note: Sending and retrieving should only be done on the computer designated as the File Server in each location. This means that the Network Configuration setting “Are You Using a Network” is either set to NO or, if set to YES, the setting “File Server” is also set to YES.
To send one or more business returns from one office to another office, from the main menu of Keystone Tax Solutions Pro on the File Server select:
- Business
- Electronic Filing Menu
- Utilities
- Office to Office Transfer
- Send Returns to Another Office
- Select each return that needs to be sent to the other office. (Note: if a return has been marked private, you will also need to enter the return’s password.)
- After choosing the returns to send, select OK. You will be prompted to enter a password used to secure the transmission to the other office. This is a one-time password created for this transmission.
- When the transmission is complete, you will see the message “Returns successfully uploaded to Keystone Tax Solutions Pro”, indicating that the transmission was successful. Select OK.
- Communicate the password you created to the other office.
To retrieve the tax returns(s) sent from another office, from the Main Menu of Keystone Tax Solutions Pro on the File Server select:
- Business
- Electronic Filing Menu
- Utilities
- Office to Office Transfer
- Retrieve Returns from Another Office
- Enter the EFIN of the sending office and the transmission file’s password.
- A window will appear listing the returns that were sent. Select each return to be retrieved, then select OK.
- You will see the message, “Returns successfully recalled”. Select OK.
The recalled return(s) will show in the client list appropriate for the type of entity.