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Welcome to SC and ADS Activity Reporting Training. I’m Stan Marshall, Chair of the National
Operations Committee and former ADS for Maine.
I am joined today by Elaine Hentschel, ADS for Georgia and Miho Kikujo, Operations Analyst
at the Tax-Aide National office. I will begin our presentation and then turn it over to Elaine and
she will introduce Miho.
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Activity reporting is the collection of tax return preparation and other services counts delivered by AARP Tax-Aide volunteers.
These counts include the preparation of Federal, State and other Local Returns along with Questions & Answers that do not result in the preparation of a tax return.
AARP Tax-Aide program sponsors require reports of both the number of returns prepared and the number of taxpayers served.
The reports are used by our current sponsors to justify continued funding and to aid in securing additional funding. The collected data also helps all levels of leadership better measure site and program growth, our effectiveness and future needs.
Some of the Activity Reporting counts are provided by the IRS, while other counts can only be obtained through our volunteers at the site level.
There are two changes to the Activity Reporting system in 2012:
This year, all Tax-Aide sites will use the Portal Activity Reporting System, and
A new form has been designed to capture the service provided to taxpayers who visit our sites.
In addition to a new design, the form to report activity has been renamed to Site Activity Log and is ordered using the form number shown, (D19597).
We will look at the new form in detail later in this training.
Now, Elaine Hentschel will describe how the Activity Reporting function works. Elaine . . .
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Thanks, Stan.
For sites that used the Traditional Activity Reporting System in 2011 there will be a change in the data they record and report. There will be no change for sites that used the Portal Activity Reporting system in 2011.
This chart summarizes the reporting differences between the 2011 Traditional Activity Reporting System and the Portal Activity Reporting System which all sites will use.
The key difference between the 2011 Traditional Reporting System and 2012 reporting is that volunteers will no longer manually track any e-filed returns.
In 2012, a site’s designation as either an E-file designated site or a paper designated site determines how a site tracks Quality Review.
All e-file sites are required to track Quality Review in TaxWise. Optionally, an e-file site may record the Quality Reviewer’s initials on the Site Activity Log, however, they NEVER report Quality Reviews.
All Paper Designated Sites will continue to report as they did in 2011. 4
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In 2012, only paper-filed returns must be manually recorded, tabulated and reported by the site volunteers.
This includes all paper-filed returns shown on this slide, regardless of whether the return was prepared using TaxWise or is a pencil & paper prepared return.
Remember, RECORD State or Local Returns only when they are prepared without also preparing a federal return AND ARE PAPER-FILED.
It is no longer necessary to record E-filed returns as the IRS will provide all the E-filed tax return counts.
In addition to recording and reporting paper-filed returns, site volunteers must also record and report assistance that is provided to taxpayers without the completion of a return (We call this Q & A). In Tax-Aide, Q&A includes responding to questions about tax law, tax filing procedures, how to get help, IRS resources and contacts. Q&A may happen other than at the site through phone calls or informal conversations. Taking appointments for tax preparation is not considered Q&A.
Only Paper-Designated Sites must record the Quality Reviewer’s initials on the Site Activity Log. A paper-designated site is a site that has the E-file indicator set to “No” in VMIS and the Site Management System.
E-file designated sites must record the Quality Reviewer’s initials in TaxWise Preparer Use Field #14 on the Preparer Use Form. If a return is prepared manually at an E-file designated site, it is no longer required to record the Quality Reviewer’s initials on the Activity Log.
There are 3 monthly reporting periods during the tax preparation season and a final reporting period that begins on May 1st and ends on August 31st.
A 5-day grace period runs from Day 1 through Day 5, following the close of each reporting period.
This grace period provides the local and district coordinators 5 days from the end of each activity reporting period to add, change, review and approve their activity totals.
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This slide summarizes the actual process and steps that Local Coordinators should use to collect, tabulate and report their sites’ activities. There are three key steps.
First – Collect Data. The collection of data at the site must be captured on a real-time, taxpayer-by-taxpayer served basis using the Site Activity Log (or a modified version thereof).
Then #2 – Tabulate. It is recommended that the Site Activity Logs be collected on a daily basis and tabulated at least weekly, if not daily.
A Site Activity Collection Template is available and can be used to complete the tabulation tasks. The template is an Excel file that is available on the Volunteer ShareNet.
Finally #3 – Report Data. On either a weekly or monthly basis, the cumulative monthly [aka month to date] totals for each type of activity are recorded in the web-based Activity Reporting System.
This system is only available through AARP Tax-Aide’s Volunteer Portal. A secure login is required.
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District Coordinators are able to review, edit and approve all entries made by Local Coordinators by accessing the Activity Reporting System.
The approval process, however, is only functional during the 5-Day Grace period that follows the end of each monthly reporting period.
------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Both the ADS and SC may access Activity Reporting through VMIS. They do NOT have Portal access to activity data.
Now Miho will take over to discuss the VMIS Activity Reporting screen that will be used by the ADS and available VMIS reports.
Miho
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Thank you ElaineWe will now review ADS view in VMIS.
Should the ADS need to enter or change activity counts for a site, they can access the Site Activity Edit screen in VMIS throughMenu: Sites Activity Reporting
Enter DC ID or Name to edit/review activity data for the sites within the district.
You will be asked to select a reporting period from the list.
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Here is the Site Activity Edit screen.
The columns, surrounded in blue, on the left and right display data that is reported to the National Office by the IRS. The ADS cannot change this data.
The columns, surrounded in red, contain data that was reported by the site volunteers. The ADS may change this data as needed. Remember that in 2012, sites only report PAPER-FILED returns.
The column, surrounded in green, and titled “Total Federal Filed Returns” is a calculated number. It is the total of the IRS reported Current Year E–filed returns plus the volunteer reported Current Year Paper-filed returns.
Not displayed in this view, a Paper-Designated site using the Portal system will be able to enter Quality Reviews and the ADS may change the entered data as required.
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In 2012, National Office will continue with monthly Flash Report distribution as it was in 2011.
Flash reports will be e-mailed to ADSs and SCs in both Excel and PDF format after closing each reporting period. The data is reported by Sites and summarized at the District level.
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Here is a sample Flash Report. You will see a detailed breakdown of activity reported by the Volunteers and IRS for each site and in groups by DC.
The data is reported by Sites and summarized at the District level.
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The site Activity Dump Report will remain accessible through VMIS.
This report will be used as source data for the Flash Reports and will contain all the data related to the sites and their activity as reported by Volunteers and the IRS.
In 2012, IRS data will be upload to VMIS only once a month after reporting period. Report will not contain the previous month’s Efile activity until Flash Report is distributed. Volunteer reported data will always be visible through this report. ADS may use the report to monitor site activity reporting.
To obtain this report in VMIS, go to the menu Reports->Site Activity->Site Activity Dump Report. The report can be run by DC, Split State and year.
Please note that the sample report on this slide has been modified to show only a portion of the fields available.
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The ADS should be aware of the following.
All sites in a district are marked in VMIS as Portal sites by the National Office on 1/26. The ADS cannot make this designation but they can see the designation when viewing a record in VMIS or looking at a Site Activity Dump.
A site designation of “Yes” means the site is using the Portal reporting system. All sites added after 1/26 will be defaulted to “Yes”.
National Office takes snapshot of all active sites and their DC/LC assignment on 2/1, 3/6, 4/6 & 5/6. It is this snapshot that determines the sites DC/LC sees in Portal and ADS sees in VMIS under a specific reporting period.
Changes to DC/LC assignments in the site record at any time during the tax season will prevent the new DC/LC from reporting site activity for the current open period. If at all possible, make changes to LC and DC assignments on learning of a change.
Now we will return to Stan to wrap up this training program.
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Thanks, Miho. We are almost finished.
The ADS plays a key role in ensuring that their districts can accurately report activity.
The Activity Reporting system depends upon the site records containing accurate data.
Key items the ADS can assist with are ensuring that
• All sites are correctly coded as active or inactive in VMIS,
• The correct DC and LC assignments are reflected in the VMIS site records - this impacts which volunteers can enter activity data for a site as all data entry is restricted to an LC or DC and the sites they supervise,
• An LC only reports to one DC – i.e. not multiple DCs,
• In addition, as a member of the SMT, the ADS should assist as needed in training the DCs/LCs on the new Portal system (Refer LCs and DCs to the training provided for them on the Volunteer ShareNet and on the Extranet,
• Encourage reporting from all our active sites (Provide additional guidance as may be requested after the close of the grace period to get complete and accurate reporting from the site managers.),
• I must admit I may be seen as the ADS nag as I always considered a key part of my job to be to get complete activity reporting from each of our DCs,
• Distribute reports to the districts as requested or as determined by the split-state’ s procedures
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Reference and training materials have been posted on the Volunteer ShareNet and on the Extranet.
These materials include a DC/LC level training presentation, new Site Log sheets for volunteers to record their activities, a set of examples for each reporting system to aid in showing how activities should be recorded and a frequently asked questions document.
Please note that the FAQ document will be updated as national operations receives inquires from volunteers.
As a reminder the address to reach the Volunteer Portal is shown.
Volunteers who need assistance and/or have questions or issues related to Activity Reporting or using the Volunteer Portal should send an email to [email protected] for assistance.
This brings us to the conclusion of the presentation.
Thank you to Elaine and thank you to Miho for being part of the team that prepared this presentation.
Volunteers, please know that we appreciate your interest in helping us to create complete and accurate activity reports which are critical to convincing our sponsors to continue their funding so our program can continue.
And finally . . . Thank you to you for being a Tax-Aide volunteer. I join you in looking forward to another successful tax preparation season.
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