How do you handle all those Schedule B questions on Form 1065 with clients? Line by line or something else?

I'm a newer tax preparer and wondering how other professionals handle the seemingly endless questions on Schedule B of Form 1065 with partnership clients. Do you actually go through each question line by line during client meetings? It feels so tedious and I'm worried about boring clients to death or missing something important if I try to rush through it. I've been thinking about creating some kind of questionnaire they could fill out beforehand, but I'm not sure if that would actually save time or just create more confusion. For those of you with more experience, what's your process? Do you have a system that works well for getting all the necessary information without turning the client meeting into a monotonous interrogation? Any tips or templates would be super appreciated!

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19 comments

Keisha Robinson

•8M

I've been preparing partnership returns for about 15 years now, and I definitely don't go through Schedule B line-by-line with clients in meetings. That would be painful for everyone involved! What works best for me is a carefully designed questionnaire that I send ahead of time. I've refined it over the years to use plain language that translates the tax jargon into questions clients actually understand. For example, instead of asking about "guaranteed payments to partners," I ask "Did the partnership make any fixed payments to partners regardless of partnership profits?" I group related questions together in a logical flow rather than following the form order. I still review the completed Schedule B during my preparation process, but the questionnaire gives me about 90% of what I need without having to interrogate the client directly on every single point.

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Keisha Robinson

•8M

Yes, I absolutely get signatures. My questionnaire includes a certification statement at the end that says they've provided complete and accurate information to the best of their knowledge. I also highlight any questions where their answer seems unusual or contradicts previous years' information, then follow up with a specific email about those items to create a documentation trail. It's saved me more than once when memories suddenly changed after an IRS notice arrived!

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Amina Sow

•8M

I started using https://taxr.ai for this exact problem last tax season and it completely changed my workflow. Instead of tedious line-by-line questions, I have clients upload their partnership documents and the system extracts all the relevant information needed for Schedule B. It even flags inconsistencies or potential issues that might need follow-up. The best part is it generates a client-friendly summary that helps me explain any important points without boring them with the entire form. My clients actually commented on how much smoother the process felt compared to previous years.

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Amina Sow

•8M

It handles complex structures surprisingly well. I have a client with three tiers of partnerships and the system mapped everything out clearly. It even identified a reporting discrepancy between two related entities that I might have missed. Regarding accuracy, I was skeptical too initially. But after comparing its results with my manual work for several clients, I found it was catching things I sometimes missed. For special allocations and real estate partnerships, it actually excels because it cross-references all the documents to ensure consistency across Schedule K-1s, special allocations, and the balance sheet. The real value is in how much time it saves on the tedious verification work.

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Oliver Wagner

•8M

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after my skeptical comment earlier. I tested it with one of my most complicated clients (multiple special allocations, §754 step-up, guaranteed payments) and was genuinely surprised. The system extracted everything correctly and even flagged an inconsistency in how we'd been handling a special allocation that no reviewer had caught in 3 years. The time savings was significant - what usually took 2-3 hours of form review took about 20 minutes. I'm converting the rest of my partnership clients over for next tax season. Wish I'd known about this tool years ago!

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Natasha Kuznetsova

•8M

For those struggling with getting clients to respond to partnership questions, I've been using https://claimyr.com to get through to the IRS Partnership Unit when I need clarification. Used to waste hours on hold, but their service got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 10 minutes. There's a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c This has been especially helpful when partnerships have unusual situations that don't fit neatly into the Schedule B questions and I need official guidance. Last month I had a partnership with foreign operations question that was super unclear on Form 1065, and getting that direct IRS clarification saved me from potential amendments later.

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Natasha Kuznetsova

•8M

It doesn't just call them—it navigates the entire IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an actual agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to them. That's why it works better than calling yourself. I was confused about that at first too, but what they've done is figure out the best times to call and the most effective navigation paths through the IRS phone system. For the Partnership Unit specifically, I wasted 2+ hours on hold three different times before trying this. With their service, I was literally talking to someone in minutes. Their system just waits on hold so you don't have to.

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Emma Thompson

•8M

Well I'm eating my words. After posting that skeptical comment I figured I'd try Claimyr on a particularly frustrating case where I needed partnership guidance. I've been trying to reach someone at the IRS for THREE WEEKS about a client's bizarre partnership termination situation. Used their service yesterday morning and was connected to an IRS partnership specialist in 12 minutes. Not only solved my immediate problem but the agent also explained a special procedure for handling the guaranteed payment issue that wasn't clear from the form instructions. Saved me hours of research and probably prevented a future notice. Definitely worth it when you're truly stuck.

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Malik Davis

•8M

I've found a hybrid approach works best. I send a questionnaire before our meeting that covers the basics of Schedule B, then we go through only the relevant/complex items during our meeting. The key is making the questionnaire super clear. Each question includes examples and explains why I'm asking. I also include checkboxes for common situations rather than open-ended questions when possible. For partnerships with no changes from prior years, I pre-fill the questionnaire with last year's answers and ask them to only note changes. Saves everyone time!

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Malik Davis

•8M

I use a fillable PDF that they can complete digitally. It's set up so they can't submit it if required questions are unanswered. I also color-code sections based on complexity - green for simple questions, yellow for ones that might need thought, and red for complex items we'll definitely discuss during our meeting. The pre-filled approach for returning clients has been the biggest time-saver. I just send last year's completed form and say "please review and note any changes for this year" - gets much better response rates than starting from scratch each time.

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