Hire a Remote Tax Prep Assistant for Your Accounting Firm
A dedicated, full-time remote tax prep assistant for CPA firms and accounting practices across the US and Canada. Trained on Drake, UltraTax, Lacerte, ProSeries, and CCH Axcess. All work performed under CPA or EA supervision. Starting at $1,400/month, fully managed.
What a Remote Tax Prep Assistant Does for Your Accounting Firm
A remote tax prep assistant for accounting firms is the production layer that turns a stack of client source documents into a review-ready draft return. They organize 1040 and 1120/1120-S/1065 client organizers, enter W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, and Schedule C data into Drake, UltraTax, or Lacerte, prepare depreciation and fixed asset entries, reconcile prior-year carryforwards, and route the return to the signing CPA or EA for review. All substantive tax positions, planning, and signature stay with the licensed professional, consistent with IRS Circular 230.
Teckas places full-time dedicated tax prep assistants trained on US individual and business returns. During busy season, many firms double or triple their effective production capacity by pairing each US CPA with 1 to 3 remote preparers. That is the difference between declining new clients in February and absorbing them.
Key Responsibilities of a Remote Tax Prep Assistant
- Organize and index client documents in SmartVault, TaxDome, or Canopy
- Chase missing documents via secure portal messages
- Prepare draft 1040s including Schedule A, B, C, D, E, and SE
- Prepare draft 1065, 1120, 1120-S, and 990 returns for CPA review
- Data entry for W-2, 1099, K-1, 1098, 5498, and brokerage 1099-B
- Fixed asset and depreciation schedules in the tax software
- Prior-year rollover review and carryforward reconciliation
- State return preparation for multi-state filers
- Sales and use tax return prep support for business clients
- E-file package assembly for CPA review and signature
- Post-season: extensions, amended returns, IRS notice response drafting
Tools and Software Your Tax Prep Assistant Knows
We recruit from a specialized pipeline of Indian CA inter, B.Com, and M.Com graduates with US tax exposure. Hands-on with:
- Tax software - Drake Tax, Thomson Reuters UltraTax CS, Intuit Lacerte, ProSeries, CCH Axcess, ProConnect
- Practice management - Canopy, TaxDome, Karbon, Pixie, Jetpack Workflow
- Document management - SmartVault, ShareFile, eFileCabinet, Box, Dropbox
- Bookkeeping - QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, Sage
- Depreciation - Fixed Assets CS, BNA, built-in software modules
- Research - Checkpoint, CCH IntelliConnect (for clerical lookup, not advisory)
- Portals - IRS e-Services, state DOR portals (read and upload only)
Why Accounting Firms Outsource Tax Prep
Tax season capacity is the central problem of every accounting firm. The AICPA PCPS pipeline report has shown a shrinking supply of US CPAs for a decade, and junior-level tax preparers are in short supply across every metro. Seasonal preparers cost $40 to $75 per hour during Q1. Hiring full-time staff for a 14-week peak destroys margin for the other 38 weeks.
A dedicated offshore tax prep assistant solves both sides. You get year-round capacity at roughly a quarter of the loaded cost of US staff, so busy season is covered and the rest of the year gets used for cleanup, write-ups, planning, and advisory work. Outsourcing the preparation layer under CPA review is expressly contemplated by IRS Circular 230 and AICPA Statement on Standards for Tax Services, provided the licensed preparer remains responsible for the return.
Cost: Local Tax Prep vs Teckas Remote
| Local US Tax Prep Staff | Teckas Remote | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost (full-time) | $5,500 - $8,500+ | From $1,400 |
| Seasonal hourly | $40 - $75 per hour | Flat monthly |
| Year-round coverage | Expensive in off-season | Full year included |
| Software training | You pay | Included |
| Data security and NDA | You draft | Standard in contract |
| Contract | 12+ months | Month-to-month |
How to Hire a Tax Prep Assistant Through Teckas
- Book a discovery call. We learn your return mix (1040 volume, business entity mix), software, document portal, and review workflow.
- Interview shortlisted candidates. Within 7 days you review 2 to 4 assistants with US tax software exposure.
- Onboard and go live. NDA, IRS Pub 4557-aligned security setup, software access, and supervised training on sample returns. Production returns begin by week 2 to 3.
Add Busy-Season Capacity Without Hiring Seasonal
Lock in year-round tax prep support before January and go into the season with headroom.
Talk to Teckas →Why CPA Firms Choose Teckas for Tax Staffing
Teckas is a managed remote staffing partner built for accounting and tax firms. Every remote tax prep assistant we place is a dedicated full-time employee who works only for your firm, under CPA supervision, on your software.
- Accounting-first pipeline. We hire from a pool of Indian accounting graduates with US tax exposure.
- Data security. NDA, MDM, full-disk encryption, VPN, and IRS Pub 4557-aligned controls.
- Supervision-ready. We set up workflows so every return routes cleanly to a licensed reviewer.
- No long-term lock-in. See transparent pricing with month-to-month terms.
- Replacement guarantee. Free replacement if the fit is wrong.