Every Number Knows Where It Came From.
04 · Leadsheet
The leadsheet builds itself from the first upload and recalculates as documents arrive. Click any figure and the document that produced it opens beside the return.
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The Problem
A Return Nobody Can See Until Review.
Most firms build the leadsheet by hand at the end. Until then a partner has no view of where a return stands, and when a client asks why a figure moved, someone reopens the file to find out.
A single 1040 line
5
source documents feeding line 1a alone, each with its own approval state
3
of them still under review when the preparer opens the file
How It Works
Four Things Happen On Their Own.
Step 1 of 4
It Starts Before Anything Is Approved.
The first document a client uploads creates the leadsheet. Figures land as provisional and carry their review state with them, so the return exists as a working draft from day one rather than appearing at the end.
Step 2 of 4
Figures Roll Up By Return Line.
Five W-2s become one figure on line 1a, and the five stay visible underneath it. Nothing is summed into a number whose parts you cannot see.
Step 3 of 4
Click a Figure. Read the Source.
Every number opens the page it was read from, with the box highlighted. A preparer checking a figure never leaves the return, and a partner on a client call can answer where a number came from without going to look.
Step 4 of 4
The Return Goes to Filing, Already Reviewed.
Sign-off on the leadsheet is what releases a return to the filing agent. Because every line carries its approval state, a partner can see the whole book at once instead of asking for status.
Next: how Filing works →
Capabilities
What the Leadsheet Gives You.
Line-item drill-down
Every figure opens the source document with the box highlighted, or the questionnaire answer that produced it.
Inline review state
Approved, under review and rejected are visible on the line itself, not in a separate tracker.
Recalculates on arrival
Documents that turn up weeks apart update the affected lines without anyone rebuilding the sheet.
Firm-wide status
Partners see where all returns stand in real time rather than at final review.
Ask Elan from any line
Question a figure in place and get an answer citing the binder and primary authority.
Export the leadsheet
A reviewable sheet for the file, in return order, with sources attached.
What Preparers Ask First
What if a figure is wrong?
Override it on the line. The original extraction stays visible underneath, so the change is a documented decision rather than a silent edit.
What about a figure with no document?
Enter it manually and it is marked as such. Lines without a source are flagged before the return is released to filing.
Does it replace our review process?
No. It gives reviewers a populated sheet instead of a blank one. Sign-off is still a person, and nothing reaches filing without it.
In the chain
03 Extraction → 04 Leadsheet → 05 Filing
In: structured figures with their source documents. Out: a reviewed return, cleared for filing.
See the leadsheet build on your own return.
Bring a real client file, ideally one with five W-2s and a K-1. You will see the leadsheet populate from your own documents.
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