Drake Documents - Functions, Setup, and Technical Requirements (2024)

What is Drake Documents?

Summary of Drake Documents Functions:

Use Drake Documents to store and organize electronic documents such as PDF copies of tax returns, scanned Forms 8879 and 1099-B, and scanned copies of driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and other forms of ID. Think of Drake Documents' file structure as a virtual filing cabinet where files are saved within folders.

You can use Drake Documents to do the following:

• Store your clients’ documents - Drake Documents stores scanned documents and copies of your clients’ returns in electronic “folders." When you create a new return in Drake, a corresponding folder is created in the Drake Documents. Click theDocumentsbutton in return data entry to open Drake Documents directly to the client’s folder. Files saved in the Drake Documents can easily be attached to email messages through the Drake email program or e-filed with a return as a PDF attachment.
• Copy files to CD - Copy Drake Documents files directly to a CD.
• Password protect - Protect your clients’ documents with passwords.
• Assemble documents and send them to GruntWorx - GruntWorx is accessed from the home window in Drake Tax and uses Drake Documents. For more information on this product, see Related Linksbelow.
• Access Drake Portals- For more information on this product, seeRelated Linksbelow.
• Email documents - The Working and Archive Cabinets both can use either MAPI-compliant Windows default email program such as Outlook, or a third-party email provider that you have set up in Drake Tax.

Drake Documents Structure:

Drake Documents has two different cabinets -- the Working Cabinet and the Archive Cabinet. Both are integrated into Drake Software, so documents can be saved to Drake Documents from within client files themselves, and the software for both cabinets is updated when the tax software is updated. Both cabinets function essentially the same way, but do differ in how they store documents on your computer or network.

Beginning with Drake15, setting the Working or the Archive cabinet to open in Drakealso sets the Drake Documents desktop icon to open the same cabinet. In prior years, the desktop icon always opened the Archive Cabinet.

You can select either cabinet for use in Drake Tax by going toSetup > Printing > Drake Documentsor go to Setup > Options inside of the Drake Documents.Generally, you should avoid switching between use of the Working Cabinet and Archive Cabinet inside Drake after you install the software, especially after you begin saving documents in Drake Documents. You risk having a client's tax documents saved in different locations. If it is necessary to change your choice after documents are saved within Drake Documents, contact Drake Support for assistance.

Working Cabinet -In a default Drake installation, the Working Cabinet is selected for use in Drake. If you do not change the selection, you see the Working Cabinet when you open Drake Documents from inside Drake or from the desktop icon.

• The Working Cabinet stores documents only from the tax year of the software. For example, in Drake17, it stores only TY 2017 documents.
• Working Cabinet documents are backed up or restored when Drake client files are backed up or restored.
• The Working Cabinet does not require a separate setup for network installation. Documents are kept wherever the tax returns are stored (Setup > Data Locations).
• Working Cabinet client files can be copied to the Archive Cabinet so you can easily see multi-year files for clients in a single location.
• Client folders cannot be deleted, as they pull from the client list within the Drake Tax program.

Archive Cabinet -If you select to use the Archive Cabinet, you see the Archive Cabinet when you open Drake Documents from inside Drake or from the desktop icon.

• The Archive Cabinet stores documents from multiple tax years.
• Archive Cabinet documents are backed up and restored from within the cabinet.
• Network installation may require additional steps (the location where Archive Cabinet documents are saved must be set for each workstation).

Technical Requirements:

SeeRelated Links below for technical requirements needed to run Drake Documents. They are the same as for the corresponding (working cabinet only) or latest version of Drake Tax.

When entering Drake Documents through the desktop icon, the username and password is the same as your preparer log in for the current year of Drake Tax.

For more information on: backing up Drake Documents; moving documents from the Working Cabinet to the Archive Cabinet; Drake Documents compatible scanners; using email functions in Drake Documents; and using GruntWorx with Drake Documents, see the belowRelated Links.

Drake Account Number

If you plan to email documents through Drake Documents, or you use plan to use Drake Portals to either back up your data or send documents through the portal to your clients, you must enter your Drake account number in the Account # field of theDrake Documents - Optionswindow. Note that if your Drake Portals subscription has a different account number than your tax software, it must be entered here in order to facilitate the login to Drake Portals.

Common Documents List
The Common Documents list has changed in appearance in Drake16, but functions much the same as it has in the past.

To utilize the Common Documents list:

1. Click the Show/Hide button.
2. In the Document Name column, type the name of a document that is commonly scanned into Drake Documents by your office.
3. Click the Type column and select the default document format from the drop list.
4. (Optional) Click in the Duplex column to turn on your scanner's duplex function, if available.
5. Click Save.
   

The Type and Duplex settings you choose for each type of document in the Common Documents list will become the default setting for that document type.