Your EFIN is the thing your whole practice sits on. Lose it and you are done for the season. Most preparers set it up once and never look at it again, which is exactly the problem. 1. It is free. If somebody offers to sell you one, walk away. You cannot buy an EFIN, you cannot sell one, you cannot rent one, and you cannot share one. People lose their careers over this. 2. Apply early, and I mean months early. The IRS says to allow about 45 days to process the application. Every year somebody applies in December and spends January watching other people work. 3. They check you before they approve you. The suitability review looks at your own tax compliance, your credit, and your record. If your personal returns are behind, fix that first. It is the most common reason a good application gets stopped. 4. Fingerprints take scheduling. Anyone on the application who is not already an attorney, a CPA, an enrolled agent, or in one of the other exempt groups has to be fingerprinted through the IRS authorized vendor. It is an appointment, not a same day thing. 5. Here is the one nobody does. Check your EFIN activity every week during the season. Your e-Services account shows how many returns have been transmitted under your EFIN. Compare it to what you actually filed. If the IRS number is higher than yours, somebody is filing on your number and you need to know that in week two, not in May. This takes about ninety seconds and almost nobody does it. 6. Update the application within 30 days of any change. New address, new phone, new owner, new responsible official. A stale application is its own compliance problem and it is a stupid way to get in trouble. 7. Keep your e-file application summary handy. Every software company is going to ask for it before they let you transmit anything. Have the PDF saved where you can find it in two minutes. 8. A second office needs to be on the application. If you open another location that actually originates returns, that belongs on the paperwork before the first return goes out of it.

My name is Ricot Excellent