When you purchase e-form RS, you will receive an e-mail message with your account number and password. As the system administrator, you should be the first person to sign on so you can set up accounts, create user logins, import client information, and so forth. Following are the system requirements for running e-form RS:.NET Framework 4.0 (or higher) Acrobat Reader I.E.9 and above Note: If not already installed,.net Framework 4.0 will be installed on the user s computer automatically during the installation process. Following are the recommended hardware requirements for e-form RS: Intel Pentium Class System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate SP1 (1.5 GB RAM or higher) Microsoft Windows 8 (32 or 64-bit with 2 GB RAM or higher) Microsoft Windows 10 Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0, 10 or 11 Hard drive 100MB available SVGA Monitor with Screen resolution of 1024 X 768 or higher 2016 Thomson Reuters/Tax & Accounting. All Rights Reserved.
1. Open your Internet browser and type the Internet address https://eformrs.com in the Address field. 2. Click Enter to display the e-form RS login screen: 3. Type your account number, login ID, and password in the fields provided. (If you do not have this information, contact your system administrator.) Important: Login IDs are not case sensitive, but passwords are case sensitive. 4. Click Login. Note: Alternatively, you can access the setup file directly from http://eformrs.com/eform/eformrs3.5/setup.exe. 2
5. Click Install at the bottom of the Welcome screen. 6. Click Run on the File dialog box. 3
7. Click Actions on the Internet Explorer pop-up message, then click Run Anyway on the SmartsScreen Filter dialog. 8. Click Install to complete the installation process. The e-form RS Login page opens. 9. Enter your login information and click Login to open e-form RS. 4
In addition to accessing e-form RS from the Internet, you can also log in from Checkpoint: Select the e-form RS link under Go to in the left frame of the Research tab. To access the e-form RS login screen from Speedlink, click e-form RS. 5
Before you use e-form RS, you can set several options that will affect your program functionality and forms. We recommend that you set the options first so they will apply to newly created forms. These options are work-station specific. From the Home page, click Program Options to define your user preferences for various data field options. 6
The Program Options screen opens: 7
The menus and their respective options perform the functions described in the tables below: Currency Fields Display Commas Display commas in numbers that are greater than 999. ( ) as Negative indicator Use parentheses instead of a negative (minus) sign in currency fields to indicate negative dollar amounts. (This does not apply to separate dollar and cents fields.) Round to Whole Dollar Add Decimal Point Round dollar amounts to the nearest whole dollar. Show decimal points in dollar amounts that appear in all currency fields. Startup Page Home Page Open Form List My Clients List Open last client form visited Open Quick Launch Form List Open Form Display Select one of five views as the first page that will open whenever you access e-form RS. Note: For My Clients List, you can specify the maximum number of clients that will appear on the list. Program Options Always auto display first form listed Always show wizards on saved forms Always display search row with large text Highlight the form field with the cursor Never auto-shrink form text when typing Auto display newly added forms Select to display the first form listed in the tree view list. Select to show wizards on previously saved forms. Select to show large text inside the top row of all list screens. Select to change the color of the currently selected field when a form is displayed. Do not auto-shrink form text when typing. Select to turn off adjustment of font to next smallest size to fit entered data into the field. Select to keep text the same font size when entering data. If deselected text will shrink to fit the field, as needed. Select to automatically open a form(s) when displayed 8
Compute Options Display Zero in Computed Fields Skip over Computed fields Auto Calculation Display zeros in all computed fields that currently do not contain a numeric value. Use the Tab key to move from one high-lighted data entry field to the next and to skip over the calculated fields (yellow fields). Trigger computations whenever an entry is made. Date and Time Stamp Display e-form account number on forms Add Date Stamp on Forms Add Time Stamp on Forms Show Time Stamp in 24hr Format Time Adjust Add the e-form RS account number. Add a date stamp. Add a time stamp. Whenever you select Add a Time Stamp on Forms, this option becomes available so you can switch to the 24-hours format, such as 0930hours and 2400 hours (instead of 9:30 A.M. and 12:00 A.M., for example). Adjust time forward or backward of current computer time for the time stamp. Remember Last Selections On Form List Type and Selection On Form Instruction List On Client List Prompt to Divide the Client List into pages Remember the last selection of the Form List Type and Selection. Remember the last form instruction on the Client List. Remember the last selection on the Client List. This option is for accounts with 10,000 or more clients. Divide the Client List into pages Prompt for Client when displaying blank forms Select to be asked automatically if a selected form should be added to a client before displaying the form. Font Your four choices are: Size 8 Size 10 Size 12 Bold 9
Toolbars Your three choices are: Image Only Image & Text Large Font Note: After you finish selecting options, remember to click Save Settings at the top of the screen. To navigate within e-form RS, use the options in the left navigation panel. As an e-form RS administrator, you will use the options in the Administration pane to perform several administrative tasks: The Administrator in each account must create the user list and assign passwords. Login to e-form RS and use the account number and password from your e-mail or fax. Your user name is ADMINISTRATOR. Note: This is the only login name and password that will work for the initial account setup. Click My Users to see a list of the users for whom you have administrative responsibility. 10
Check here for the total number of user licenses purchased, your account number, and the maximum number of user logins you are allowed to create. (The user ADMINISTRATOR is not included in this count.) 11
To add a new user, perform the following steps: 1. Click Add New User at the top of the user list. 2. Complete the fields in the blank form that opens on the right side of the screen, especially the required fields (designated by a red asterisk). 3. Specify the type of user. From top to bottom, the user types are listed in order from those having the most rights (administrators) to those having the fewest rights (locked-out users). As you will see later, by selecting Set User Rights in the Administration pane, you determine the rights for each of these user types. Administrator Administrators can assign or deny access rights to various e-form features (such as edit, add, delete, and rollover rights) for each group of user types, they have all rights by default. Power User Regular User Limited Rights User Locked Out? Select the Lock Out check box to temporarily block a user s access. (To block multiple users, the Lock Out option must be activated independently within each user profile.) 4. Click Save. Note: Click Edit to complete these functions for an existing user. 12
You can add, modify, or delete Paid Preparers for your account. Click My Preparers. To add a new preparer, perform the following steps: 1. Complete the fields in the blank Preparer form on the My Preparers tab, especially the required fields (designated by a red asterisk). Note: Click Edit or Delete to complete these functions for a preparer. 2. Click Save. 13
You can use Upload Clients to select an input database file and to import your client data. You can import existing client information into e-form RS. Your original client database will be unchanged. Depending on the connection speed and the size of your client database, the process can take several minutes. When complete, you can import information from another client database. Important: Select either Clients and Forms or Clients only. Duplicate client names will be duplicated in the RS database. Importing multiple-year CD databases will result in duplicate client entries for each year. 1. Click Upload Clients. 2. Select the Inport File type: either Database [.mdb] or Spreadsheet[.xls]. 3. Select the pathname of the file containing the client data to transfer. (Click Browse.) 4. Select the tax form year. 5. Click Next to read the client data from the import file. 14
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6. Follow the on screen instructions and click Close when finished. 16
You can use Upload Users to select an input database file and to import your user data. 1. Click Upload Users. 2. Select the pathname of the MDB or XLS file containing the user data to transfer. (Click Browse.) 3. Click Next to read the user data from the file. 17
4. Click Next to open the list of users in the selected database. 18
Click Rollover Text Data to roll over a client s previous year tax form information and use it for the current tax year. Note: The Rollover Text Data feature applies to text fields only. Currency fields and profile fields do not roll over. Also, after the rollover from one year to the next, any form names in red text are currently not available (but will become available as the forms are released). 1. Click Rollover Text Data. 2. On the Rollover Text Data tab, select a client. 3. Click Run Data Rollover. 4. Click OK when the e-form dialog box is displayed. 19
To set user rights, an administrator can customize the rights given to user types. 1. Click Set User Rights. 2. Select or clear the rights you want for each user type. Then click Save. These are the rights your users will get when you assign them a user type on the My Users screen. 20
For pass-through accounts into e-form RS, all user types are designated by one of these three options. Note: Pass-thru users have e-form RS assigned to them by their administrator. When they try to access e- Form RS from Checkpoint because they are a recognized user they will bypass the e-form login screen and go directly to the e-form Home page. 21
The Set User Options tab provides three additional options you can set for all of your users. 1. Click Set User Options. 2. If you have made any changes to user options, click Save Settings. Note: From the Change Passwords drop-down menu, you can force users to change their password at specified intervals, such as every 60 days or once per year, and so forth. 22
The Admin Log tab logs information such as deleted or purged clients, new users, uploaded users or clients, changes to account level user rights, changes to system wide user options, etc. 1. Click Admin Log. 2. Enter the number of entries that you would like to see. The default is 1000. 3. Click Refresh the list to update the entries displayed. 23
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Having trouble locating a specific form? Enter keyword search criteria to find forms updated by a specific person or containing specific text 1. Click Search Client Forms. 2. Select client forms by Year, Current Forms, Deleted Forms or Both. Enter Keywords to narrow th search, then click Search. 3. Select the row(s) from the list of results and click Export to Spreadsheet. 25
The Export Clients to Database tab exports one or more clients and client forms to an access database for uploading into another e-form RS account. 1. Click Export Clients to Database. 2. Follow the steps mentioned in the window. 26
The Import Clients to Database imports one or more clients and client forms from an exported access database. This allows you to transfer forms from one account to another. 1. Click Import Clients to Database. 2. Follow the instructions on screen and click Import Clients. 27
Access the Customer Help Center from: http://support.checkpoint.thomsonreuters.com The Help Center includes links to Documentation (quick reference cards, user guides, etc.), FAQs, Installations and Updates, News and Alerts and system Requirements. The Support page includes links to Documentation (quick reference cards, user guides, etc.), FAQs, Installations and Updates, News and Alerts and system Requirements. Type keywords or a question to search selected support sources and filter your search to particular Product and Categories. From the Customer Help Center Home page, link directly to Billing and Account Management information, News and Updates, Contact information and Other Support Select Jump to Product/Category to view content for a specific product. Each product has a support page that contains links to articles, documentation and frequently asked questions (FAQs). Use the Search and Filter Articles field to find content by keyword(s). For phone support, call 800-431-9025. 28
Find a range of training options in the Tax & Accounting Learning Center. Formats include Live Webinar, Recorded Webinar, and Web-based e-learning (self-study). Use the Learning Path option to receive recommended courses on a specific product or topic. Access the Checkpoint Learning enter from: http://find.support.checkpoint.thomsonreuters.com 29