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1040SCAN overview1040SCAN featuresOptical Character Recognition (OCR)

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software scans documents for letters, numbers, and other symbols, then converts them into usable data. 1040SCAN is purpose-built to OCR tax returns. It extracts information from tax documents and exports the data directly to your tax software. In the tax and accounting space, this is called “scan-and-populate.”

1040SCAN is the leading scan-and-populate solution on the market. It recognizes more tax documents than any competitor and offers unique verification options. Our OCR tax software is available at three service levels to meet your firm’s evolving needs. With 1040SCAN, your firm can reduce or eliminate data entry.

1040SCAN recognizes 4–7x as many tax documents as competing scan-and-populate solutions. It’s the only software that can OCR data from Federal Organizer Pages, Grantor Letters, and State K-1s. 1040SCAN also recognizes several fields that other OCR tax software ignore, such as Margin Interest, Investment Fees, and Foreign Income. By maximizing document and field recognition, you can OCR tax returns with the least amount of data entry work.

“If I still have to verify the data, what’s the benefit of OCR?”

This is the number one question we hear about OCR tax software. There are three straightforward answers:

  1. OCR is significantly faster than manual data entry, even with verification. Computers work at unimaginable speeds. Humans only need to scan their eyes across the results.
  2. Manually keyed data still requires review! Humans make mistakes, too. OCR mistakes are caught before preparation. Human mistakes aren’t caught until review. In other words, human mistakes are more expensive.
  3. We know firms still worry about verification, which is why SurePrep offers unique ways to streamline, reduce, or even eliminate verification.

 To streamline verification, 1040SCAN includes a verification tool called the Review Wizard. This user-friendly tool guides your staff through a standardized verification workflow.

To reduce verification, 1040SCAN uses patented, AI-powered technology to auto-verify data for 65% of standard documents.

For firms that want to eliminate verification, we offer an optional verification outsource service called 1040SCANverify.

Learn more about our verification options

1040SCAN is available at three service levels. It is possible to mix and match. For example, you might choose to process simpler returns with 1040SCAN PRO and more complex returns with 1040SCANverify.

1040SCAN ORGANIZE automatically bookmarks and organizes source documents into a standardized workpaper index. This service level does not export data to tax software. Learn more about ORGANIZE→

1040SCAN PRO also bookmarks and organizes documents, plus it extracts data from tax documents and exports to your tax software after verification. Learn more about PRO→

1040SCANverify is a combination of software and service. It bookmarks, organizes, and extracts data with OCR. The data routes to a secure facility where SurePrep staff perform the verification before you export to your tax software. Learn more about verify→

To make sure your firm is getting the most out of 1040SCAN’s OCR, we recommend scanning documents in black and white at 300 DPI. We also recommend the following scanners:

  • Canon DR-M260
  • Canon DR-C240
  • Fujitsu fi-7160
  • Fujitsu fi-7260
  • Fujitsu fi-800R

Because these scanners meet our criteria, we often partner with Canon and Fujitsu to offer exclusive discounts. Please contact a SurePrep representative to inquire about current offers.

Success Story: Huth Thompson LLC

Learn how Huth Thompson LLC transformed their practice with 1040SCAN’s OCR technology.

View Success Story