Typed once, checked against the paper
Checking a K-1 you already typed
Tax software accepts whatever is typed into it. The only defence against a transposed digit is reading the paper a second time, and the second reading needs something to compare against.
Five ways entry goes wrong
What a second reading has to catch
K-1 entry errors are quiet. A transposed digit produces a legal figure, and software validates syntax, not the paper. The five below account for most of what a reviewer finds, and each one has a different tell.
| Kind | Looks like | Why software does not stop it |
|---|---|---|
| Transposition | 1,240 becomes 1,420 | Both numbers are legal K-1 amounts, so nothing on screen looks odd. Only a second reading of the paper catches it. |
| Wrong box | A code entered in 13 instead of 20 | The amount is right and the deduction is wrong. Software may not object, because both boxes accept amounts. |
| Lost sign | A loss of (4,800) entered as 4,800 | Income appears where a loss was reported. It moves the partner's return in the opposite direction from the paper. |
| Split figure | 1,234,567 entered as 1,234.567 | A comma read as a decimal point shrinks the figure by three orders of magnitude without any warning. |
| Dropped code | Code W entered with no letter | The amount exists in the software but is not attributed to an item, so it may land on no line at all. |
The routine
Compare in box order, and compare all three copies
- Put the paper K-1 on the left and the reference sheet on the right. The sheet lists one row per box, in box order, with the printed text beside the value.
- Walk the boxes that carry money first, and inside each box check coded lines by letter before amount. A letter in the wrong place is the failure mode that survives a total.
- Check the sign of every figure on the way. A loss printed in parentheses and entered as a positive number is the single most expensive quiet error on this form.
- Only then open the software screen and compare it with the sheet. Screen against paper is the comparison that matters; sheet against screen only proves the typing was consistent with itself.
- Mark what you have compared. A box nobody opened should not look like a box that was checked.
The CSV is meant for exactly this: a fixed order, code letters in their own column, statement lines kept as their own rows so they are not silently dropped, and each value carrying the place in the scan it came from.
Scope
What it does not do
It does not talk to tax software, does not produce an import file, does not file anything and does not decide whether a figure is right. It reads the K-1 and hands you a fixed sheet; the entry and the judgement remain yours.
Plain answers
Questions from preparers
I already type K-1s into TurboTax or UltraTax. Why add a conversion?
Because the typing is still yours and the comparison is still yours. The conversion gives you a fixed sheet to compare against: one row per box, codes in their own column, and the printed text kept beside each value. Whether that is faster than typing from the paper depends on the return; it is not a claim this page makes.
Does it enter anything into my tax software?
No. There is no integration with any tax package and no import file for one. It produces a CSV and a checklist; the entry is done by you, in your software.
What should I compare, exactly?
Three things per box: the figure on the paper, the figure in the reference sheet, and the figure on the software screen. A disagreement between any two of them is the finding. Comparing only the screen with the sheet tells you the software matches the conversion, not that either matches the paper.
Can it check a K-1 that is already entered?
Only as a second reference. Upload the same K-1 and compare the resulting sheet with the screen; the sheet is a reading of the paper, so a difference points at one of the two entries rather than at a person's memory.
What does it cost, and what happens to the file?
Free: no account needed, up to 10 pages per K-1. A plan converts whole returns. The uploaded file is destroyed after conversion; the result stays in your own account scope for 24 hours so re-opening the same K-1 does not re-run it, then it is deleted.
Make a reference sheet from one K-1
Free: no account needed, up to 10 pages per K-1. Nothing is filed and nothing is entered into tax software for you.