Next-Year Preparation Checklist

1. Clean Up Current Projects

Review all Active Projects.
Archive Projects that are complete, signed, filed, or delivered.
Archive canceled or inactive clients whose Projects no longer require work.
Keep Projects active if they still require client interaction or follow-up.
Confirm that archived Projects remain accessible through the Archived Project view.

Tips:

Archive rather than delete. Archived Projects stop sending client reminders and can still be used by Add From Last Year’s Projects.

Changing a Project’s status alone does not stop reminders. Reminders can be disabled directly in the Project, from the Active Projects page via the bulk Actions menu, or by archiving the Project.

If a Project is deleted by mistake, it can be restored from the Deleted Projects page.

Projects with open Estimated Payment tasks in To Do can be archived — reminders for those tasks are still sent based on the Payment On reminder schedule.

2. Review and Update Client Information

Confirm that email addresses and phone numbers are accurate.
Make sure each client’s primary email is the address they use to sign in to the client portal.
Correct outdated contact information and remove default or shared phone numbers.
Decide which system will be the primary source for client contact information.
Confirm that contact information will not be unintentionally overwritten during tax-software imports.

📘Tip: If Truss is the primary source, make sure staff update client details there throughout the year.

3. Review Templates

Review engagement letters and other templates before starting the new-year workflow.
Confirm that language, terms, dates, and firm information are current.
- Use Update Template Years to quickly change dates.
Check which templates are automatically added to organizers or projects.
Archive or remove outdated templates that are no longer needed.

4. Prepare Project Names and Return-Type Tags

Consistent naming is essential for Add From Last Year’s Projects to work correctly.

Use a naming convention that ends with the tax year and return type — for example, “Smith, John - 2025 1040” or “ABC Inc - 2025 1120S”.
Or add one return-type tag to each project instead (for example: 1040, 1120-S, 1065, 1120, 990). Use only one return-type tag per project.
Apply the same convention to both last year’s and this year’s projects so they can be paired.
For business returns, keep the rest of the project name consistent from year to year.

⚠️ Projects named without a year and return type at the end (e.g., “Smith, John - 2025 Income Tax Return”) and without a return-type tag are skipped by Add From Last Year’s Projects.

5. Prepare Individual-Return Organizers

Wait for the applicable tax-software release if necessary.
Prepare data files or organizers.
Upload data or organizers into Truss.

6. Create New Individual-Return Projects

Create new projects from the uploaded organizers.
Confirm that each project is assigned to the correct tax year.
Review the new projects before communicating with clients.
Confirm that creating a project does not automatically send a client message.
Keep prior-year projects intact for reference or outstanding work.

7. Roll Over Recurring Business and Corporate Projects

Roll Over Projects builds next season’s projects from this year’s. Add From Last Year’s Projects then brings last year’s notes, tax payment receipts, and tags into the new projects. Use them in this order:

Step 1 – Identify projects to roll over

Identify projects used for recurring document collection or information requests.

📘 Tip: Do not roll over projects that were only used to manage a completed return and won’t need the same collection workflow next year.

Step 2 – Roll Over Projects

On the Projects page, select the applicable partnership, corporate, and other business projects.
Choose Roll Over Projects from the bulk actions menu.
Select the new tax year and due date.
Decide whether to check the option to archive the original projects (when checked, prior-year projects are archived automatically).
Confirm that the rollover creates a new project and resets the tasks or requests.

📘 Tip: Refresh the Projects page between Roll Over runs so earlier selections don’t carry into the next batch.

Step 3 – Review the new draft projects

New projects start as drafts with the same owner and client contacts. Most tasks carry over (document requests, questionnaires, worksheets, forms, and recurring task schedules), with the year updated in task names.

Not copied over: watchers, project notes, payment and invoice tasks (including estimated tax vouchers), e-signature tasks, and engagement letters. Add these back where needed.

Step 4 – Add From Last Year’s Projects

Run Add From Last Year’s Projects on the new-year projects (whether rolled over or created from organizers).
Choose what to bring over: project notes, last year’s tax payment receipts, and project tags (“draft” and “ready” tags are never copied).
Optionally reassign the project owner to last year’s owner.

📝 Note: Run Add From Last Year’s Projects once per project. Running it again adds notes and receipts a second time.

Step 5 – Archive prior-year projects

If you didn’t use the auto-archive option during Roll Over, archive the old projects after new ones have been created.
If auto-archive was on, any projects you didn’t select (such as clients in their final year) will remain active — archive those manually to clear them from your list.

📘 Tip: Archived projects still work as a source for Add From Last Year’s Projects.

8. Review Due Dates and Tasks

Check due dates after creating or rolling over projects.
Confirm that dates reflect the upcoming tax season.
Correct any unexpected or outdated due dates.
Review task assignments and confirm the workflow is appropriate for the new year.

📝 Note: Roll Over applies the one due date you enter to every selected project. Roll over projects with different deadlines in separate batches.

9. Confirm Project Ownership and Watchers

Compare project owners in Truss with the firm’s internal client assignments.
Update ownership when clients move from one staff member to another.
Reassign projects owned by departed staff, then deactivate (rather than delete) their user accounts.
Add the appropriate watchers to projects that require shared visibility — watchers are not copied by Roll Over.
Confirm that the correct staff members will receive client-upload and task notifications.

10. Send the New-Year Client Communication

Filter the project list to the new tax year.
Select the projects that are ready for client outreach.
Choose Schedule Message from the bulk actions menu.
Review the message content.
Schedule a message letting clients know the new tax-year workflow is open and they can begin submitting information.
Confirm the intended send date and recipient list before scheduling.

11. Review Notifications

Review outstanding notifications for missed uploads or follow-up items.
Confirm that important activity has been addressed.
Mark notifications as Read only after reviewing them.
Establish a regular process for monitoring notifications throughout tax season.

📘 Tip: Notifications cover projects you own or watch.

12. Review Billing and Preparation-Support Options

Decide whether to use Truss billing or continue billing through another system.
Review transaction fees and determine whether they will be passed on to clients or absorbed by the firm.
Evaluate whether preparation support is appropriate for simple returns.
Confirm pricing, service levels, deadlines, and tax-software compatibility before sending work for preparation.

13. Schedule a Final Readiness Review

Before the season kicks off, do a final pass as a team:

Review the new-year project list and confirm that names, return-type tags, organizers, templates, owners, watchers, due dates, and messages are all ready.
Verify that client communications are scheduled correctly.
Resolve any outstanding software, billing, or preparation-support questions.
Hold a brief team training or refresher session.
Make sure everyone knows how to get help: use the live chat widget inside Truss, email support@gettruss.io, or search the Truss Knowledge Base