Composing and Assigning Greeting Letters

The cover page for your Tax Information Letters and beneficiary K-1s is referred to as a greeting letter. The greeting letter is a plain-text message, and there is no page limit. Greeting letters for information returns are available for the Premium service level only.
Greeting letters for information returns are identified as
Form 1099 Div, Int, OID, B, Misc, Nec
,
Tax Deferred
, or
Form 1098
in the
Letter Type
column on the greeting letter pages. Each type of greeting letter has a basic greeting letter. The default basic greeting letter is named
Trust Tax Template
. Greeting letters identified as
Form 1099 Div, Int, OID, B, Misc, Nec
have two greeting letters: the basic greeting letter and a greeting letter for addressing cost basis reporting. The default basic greeting letter is used if you do not compose and assign your own greeting letters. The default greeting letter for cost basis reporting is
Template for Cost Basis Reporting
.
You can compose as many greeting letters as you want. At the PAN level, you can assign only one default greeting letter for each letter type to your PAN. If your account is a SuperBank association, you can assign one default greeting letter to the SuperBank association and have that greeting letter apply to all of the PANs in the SuperBank association. You can also change the greeting letter assigned to an individual PAN, if necessary.
After you assign a greeting letter to a PAN, you can override the greeting letter assignment for each account in the PAN. When overriding the greeting letter assignment for an account, you can choose from all of the greeting letters you composed. This allows you to compose a specific greeting letter then assign it to one or more accounts.

Composing a Greeting Letter for a PAN

You can compose a greeting letter by adding a greeting letter or by updating an existing greeting letter. As part of the composition process, you can rename the greeting letter, save the greeting letter you are composing as a different greeting letter, or delete greeting letters.
To compose a greeting letter:
  1. Select
    SETUP
    ,
    Customize
    then
    Greeting Letters
    .
  2. Under the
    Greeting Letters
    collapsible section, complete the following to add a greeting letter:
    1. In the row that includes the text, "Please select here to add new row," select
      Form 1099 Div, Int, OID, B, Misc, Nec
      ,
      Tax Deferred
      or
      Form 1098
      from the
      Letter Type
      drop-down list.
    2. Enter the name of the greeting letter in the
      Letter Name
      field.
    3. Press TAB to move off of the row and add the letter to the
      Greeting Letters
      grid.
    4. Select
      Save
      .
  3. Select the
    Letter Name
    link for the greeting letter you added or the greeting letter you want to update. The Greeting Letters page displays.
  4. If you want to change the name of the greeting letter, highlight the text in the
    Greeting Letter Name
    field then type the name you want to use.
  5. In the
    Letter Body
    text box, enter or change the text of the greeting letter. As you type, the text of each line wraps to the next line when no more characters can fit on a line. You cannot change the font size, make the characters bold or underlined, or set tab stops.
  6. Select
    Save
    or
    Save As
    .

Assigning a Greeting Letter to a PAN

You can assign only one default greeting letter for each letter type to your PAN. While you are assigning a greeting letter to a PAN, you can indicate that you want to suppress the greeting letter for the PAN and carry forward the greeting letter assignment or suppression to the next tax year. If a PAN is a SuperBank association, you can assign one greeting letter to each PAN included in the SuperBank association.
To assign a greeting letter to a PAN:
  1. Select
    SETUP
    ,
    Customize
    then
    Greeting Letters
    .
  2. Under the
    PAN Defaults
    collapsible section, select the
    Default Greeting Letter
    field in the row that contains the letter type and PAN you want to assign the greeting letter to. Select the greeting letter you want to assign to the PAN. If you want to suppress the greeting letter, select
    Suppress Letter
    . If your PAN is a SuperBank association, you only need to assign a greeting letter for the
    Superbank default
    row. After you select outside the
    Superbank default
    row, the greeting letter you selected is applied to all of the PANs in the SuperBank association.
  3. Select the
    Carry Forward
    check box in the row for the PAN if you want the greeting letter assignment automatically carried forward to the next tax year.
  4. Select
    Save
    .

Overriding the Greeting Letter Assignment

After you assign a greeting letter to a PAN, you can override the greeting letter assigned to each account in the PAN. The greeting letters you can assign include all of the greeting letters you composed. This means that you can compose specific greeting letters then assign one of those specific greeting letters to a group of accounts or an individual account.
Overriding the Greeting Letter Assignment for a Group of Accounts
To override the greeting letter assignment for a group of accounts:
  1. From the Register Listing page, select Run for the register that includes the group of accounts you want to override the greeting letter assignment for.
  2. Select the check box in the first column for each account you want to override the greeting letter assignment for. If you want to select all of the accounts in the register, do not select any check boxes.
  3. Select the
    Greeting Letters
    subtopic.
  4. Under the
    Greeting Letters Selections
    collapsible section, select Run for the greeting letter type. The accounts selected from the register are displayed under the
    Greeting Letter for Selected Accounts
    collapsible section. You can override the greeting letter assignment on an account-by-account basis using the fields of the grid under the
    Greeting Letter for Selected Accounts
    collapsible section.
  5. Select the check boxes for the accounts you want to override the greeting letter assignment for.
  6. Open the
    Set or Clear Override
    collapsible section. The number of accounts you selected is shown below the
    Greeting Letter
    drop-down list.
  7. Select the new greeting letter template from the
    Greeting Letter
    drop-down list.
  8. Select the
    Carry Forward
    check box if you want the new greeting letter assignment automatically carried forward to the next tax year.
  9. Select
    Set Greeting Letter
    . If you want to clear the greeting letter assignment, select
    Clear Override
    .
  10. Select OK when the message informing you that the changes you are about to make cannot be undone displays. A batch request starts and assigns the newly selected greeting letter to the accounts.
  11. Select
    Save
    .
Overriding the Greeting Letter Assignment for an Account
To override the greeting letter assignment for an account:
  1. Open the account you want to override the greeting letter assignment for.
  2. Select the
    Greeting Letters
    subtopic.
  3. Select the
    Default Greeting Letter
    field in the row that contains the letter type you want to override. Select the greeting letter you want to assign to the account. If you want to suppress the greeting letter for the account, select
    Suppress Letter
    .
  4. Select the
    Carry Forward
    check box for the letter type if you want the greeting letter assignment automatically carried forward to the next tax year.
  5. Select
    Save
    .