Activate UltraTax CS (Virtual Office CS or SaaS) 2024 and Prior

Activate UltraTax CS

Log in to your UltraTax CS (Virtual Office CS).
Go to
Setup
,
System Configuration
, then
CS Connect
tab.

Select the
Enable CS Connect Background Services
checkbox if it is not already enabled. Next, select
Any computer on this network
.

Select the
SurePrep API
tab, select the
Enable SurePrep Integration
checkbox if it is not already enabled, then select
Generate API Key
.

Select
Add
to create a new API key for your firm. Once the API key is created, select
Copy
to copy the API key to your clipboard. You will need to paste this API key into SurePrep's
Account Admin
.

Log into SurePrep FileRoom, then go to
Admin > ACCOUNT SETUP > Tax File Activation Web
.

Select
UltraTax CS
, then select
API Authentication
to expand the section.

Enter your UltraTax Firm ID in the
UltraTax CS Firm ID
 field.
note
Locate your UltraTax CS Firm ID in
Help > About UltraTax CS
. Your Firm ID is located on the upper left corner (without the parentheses).
Enter the
API Key
you copied earlier from UltraTax CS (press
Ctrl + V
), then select
Generate
.

Scroll down and select
Alias Configuration
to expand the section if it is not already expanded. You will now see your <default>
ALIAS
 path appear automatically.

If your firm has multiple
ALIAS
paths in UltraTax CS (Virtual Office or SaaS) then you can add additional paths if needed. In UltraTax CS, go to
Setup > System Configurations > Data Locations
(tab), and note down all the aliases for different office locations.

Select
Add New Path
, then enter the
ALIAS
names for each
Data Location
paths associated with the Firm ID.

note
Data Location aliases are in UltraTax Virtual Office CS (
Setup
,
System Configuration
, then
Data Locations
tab). Note that the
Alias
for the paths that you want to use with SurePrep integration.
note
The
ALIAS
(for paths) is case-sensitive, make sure to match the letters as you see them in UltraTax CS.
Your one-time setup is now complete. Use the
SurePrep Integration
feature in UltraTax CS (VO/SaaS) to select clients to create binders and add clients in TaxCaddy. UltraTax CS local and VO/SaaS users can fetch tax returns, tax payments, and e-file authorizations directly from the tax software.

note

Some new firm (first year) or firms switching over to UltraTax CS (Virtual Office CS or SaaS) for the first time may not see UltraTax CS (VO/SaaS) appears as an option when selecting their tax software in TaxCaddy or the

Create New Binder

window. If the previous scenario happens, go to

FileRoom

, 

Admin

, 

Account Setup

, 

Tax File Activation

, then

UltraTax CS

(tab), then add a random placeholder path (for example, Z:/). After a placeholder path is saved, you will be able to see

UltraTax (Virtual Office or SaaS)

as an option. Note that the placeholder path won’t be used to import any clients.

Create clients' tax files in tax software- only UltraTax (Virtual Office or SaaS)

Open UltraTax CS (Virtual Office CS or SaaS).
Go to
Utilities
, then
SurePrep
, then
Integration
.

Select the clients on the left panel, then select
Select
to select the highlighted clients. You can also select
Select All
to bulk select all available clients. Select the checkbox for
Send client data to SurePrep Binder and Document Request List
. Next, select
Continue
to begin creating
SurePrep Integration
tax files.

note
You can also use
SurePrep Integration
to create TaxCaddy clients directly from UltraTax (Local and VO/SaaS).
note
Clients in Red
: Clients that are missing the required information will be highlighted in red (for example, Name, SSN). To create tax files for these clients, open the client’s tax return and update any missing information.

Clients not appearing
: Clients that are currently locked in UltraTax CS Virtual Office won’t appear in the
SurePrep Integration
window. To unlock your client go to
Lock > Repair > File Locks
(tab).

For binders without
Leadsheets
,
SurePrep Integration
has to be repeated each time (in UltraTax VO/SaaS) before adding additional documents to SPbinder. On the
SurePrep Integration
window, you only need to select clients whose binder you want to add additional documents to. Repeating
SurePrep Integration
ensures that the most current information is used to process additional documents.
On the
SurePrep Integration
window, you only need to select new clients. 
The system generates a new token automatically before the current one expires.

What's next?

Create Binders (UltraTax CS Virtual Office or SaaS)
Add a new client in TaxCaddy (UltraTax CS Virtual Office or SaaS)
Create DRL in TaxCaddy (UltraTax CS Virtual Office or SaaS)
Fetch deliverables in Reviewer Dashboard (UltraTax CS local and VO/SaaS)

Video demo

Create binders, DRL - UltraTax CS (Virtual Office or SaaS)
Fetch what you need from the tax software - UltraTax CS (Local and VO/SaaS)