Drake Document Intake Checklist for a Reviewable Tax Workflow

A packet is not complete merely because the client uploaded files. Define the expected evidence from the organizer, prior-year return, engagement scope, and current-year life events. The intake team can confirm presence and legibility without deciding tax treatment.

Create statuses for received, readable, matched, duplicate, superseded, missing, and needs professional review. That vocabulary prevents every irregular document from becoming an unstructured email.

Standardized filenames and folders help the preparer, but the process should retain the original filename, upload timestamp, uploader, and any conversion performed. If images are converted to PDFs or combined, record that transformation.

Route password-protected, truncated, and multi-client documents to a secure exception queue. Do not move taxpayer information into consumer tools simply to make a file readable.

A prior-year return can suggest expected issuers and schedules, but it is not proof that an item recurs. Turn differences into questions: an absent K-1, a new mortgage statement, a closed brokerage account, or a changed dependent situation.

The final intake summary should show what arrived, what remains open, and which items require a preparer's judgment before data entry begins.

Give the preparer one index with direct links to source files, unresolved questions, and the reason each exception remains open. The goal is a deliberate handoff, not a folder dump.

When automation is used, test whether the same index and exception states remain visible after data moves into Drake or a connected workpaper system.