"Outsourcing" sounds like throwing a file over a wall and hoping. The way it works on TaxSQR is the opposite: the desk works inside the same system you do, so a co-sourced return looks and feels like one your own team prepared — because it moves through the same stages, on the same ledger, in front of you the whole time.
Intake stays yours
You add the client to your pipeline and send the engagement letter under your firm. The taxpayer fills out the organizer in their own language, uploads documents to the vault, and e-signs — all on a portal that carries your brand. Nothing about the front of the relationship changes. The first time the desk touches the file is after the deal closes and the documents are in.
Prep and review, watched live
Once a return is routed to the desk, an enrolled agent picks it up and prepares it in the case workspace. The AI prior-year extract has already pre-filled last year's figures; the preparer fills the gaps. You see the stage move from Docs in to In prep to Review in real time on your dashboard — the same board you'd watch if your own staff were on it.
- Every assignment, transfer, and stage change is timestamped on the immutable audit log.
- A second EA reviews before anything reaches the taxpayer.
- Questions come back to you in-thread, not by email you have to file.
The difference between a vendor and a desk is whether you can see the work. Here, you can.
Signature and e-file
When the return is ready, the taxpayer (and spouse, on an MFJ return) signs Form 8879 in the portal under the federal E-SIGN Act. The return e-files, the ledger closes, and next year's extract is already primed from this year's data. Your invoice goes out under your firm. The desk's name appears nowhere the client looks.
The rhythm of a season
In January you decide which categories go to the desk — usually the expat book and the overflow you know is coming. Through February and March the desk absorbs volume while your team handles the relationships and the judgment calls. By April you're not triaging a backlog; you're watching a board where most of the work is already in Review or Filed. That's the whole point: capacity that flexes with the calendar, without a hiring decision you'll regret in May.