Partnership Tax Return Preparation for CPA Firms

Accountably is a staffing and recruiting agency that helps US CPA, EA, and accounting firms hire talent from India across tax, accounting, payroll, and finance. Accountably offers offshore staffing services, placing full-time offshore employees from India who work inside your firm's workflow, on your software and SOPs.

Accountably places partnership tax professionals in India across the whole 1065 cycle, from the trial balance and the book-to-tax reconciliation to capital accounts, K-1 production, and the state filings that follow.

If a partnership tax role can be performed remotely, Accountably can fill it with A-players from India.

Here are some examples of the roles we can fill:

• Partnership returns: business tax preparers, tax preparers
• Review: tax reviewers
• State filings: SALT specialists
• The books behind the return: staff accountants, bookkeepers

Accountably's staffing model is fully managed: we handle the employment contract, payroll, tax compliance, benefits administration, and salary disbursement for every hire, so you get the talent without the administrative overhead.

This matters most for firms that don't have an established entity or employer of record (EOR) infrastructure in India.

You direct the day-to-day work; Accountably handles everything on the back-end.

Our staffing model also includes onboarding support, equipment coordination if needed, and ongoing HR support for as long as the engagement runs.

Dedicated hires and build-operate-transfer teams go through the same vetting and shortlisting process; a white-label team is staffed and run by its assigned manager.

The core difference between dedicated offshore talent and a white-label delivery team is who directs the work. With dedicated offshore talent, your tax preparer works inside your workflow and you direct the work like any member of your team; with a white-label delivery team, Accountably's manager runs the team, with its own reviewers, and you review the finished work.

Recruiting differs between the models. Dedicated hires go through the same recruiting process as build-operate-transfer teams, while a white-label team is staffed and run by its assigned manager.

Dedicated offshore talent is the right fit if you have round-the-year partnership work and want full-time staff inside your workflow.

A white-label delivery team makes more sense if your volume spikes in busy season and you'd rather review finished work. Firms serious about long-term offshore control can also choose build-operate-transfer.

If you're not sure which fits your situation, mention it on the discovery call, and the team will walk you through all three options.

Accountably quotes every partnership tax seat before you commit. Tax seats start from about $14 an hour, which comes to roughly $2,400 to $2,500 a month for a full-time seat. Senior seats, such as a tax reviewer who runs the senior and quality review stages, are quoted on request.

The rate can vary by role and seniority, so you will get the specific figures on your discovery call, where we will walk you through the total cost for the role you need to fill.

But even with Accountably's fee included, a partnership tax hire in India through Accountably can still save your firm up to 46% compared to an equivalent US hire.

For firms that don't have an existing international payroll setup or in-country legal infrastructure, the staffing model removes that work entirely. Accountably handles the employment contract, payroll processing, tax compliance, and benefits administration for your hires.

You direct the work. Accountably owns the employment relationship.

Also, with Accountably you pay nothing until you hire. The search, sourcing, shortlisting, and your interview stages all happen before any fee is due. If Accountably does not place someone, you owe nothing. A dedicated hire has a 60-day minimum commitment.

The 45-day replacement guarantee is included. If a placement does not work out within 45 days, Accountably finds a replacement at no additional charge.

Outsourced partnership tax return preparation is the practice of handing your partnership clients' Form 1065 work to a team outside your firm instead of hiring in-house preparers. That team builds the return from the trial balance, allocates each partner's Schedule K-1 under the partnership agreement, and maintains the capital accounts and partner basis that every later year depends on.

Form 1065 is an information return: the partnership itself pays no federal income tax, and its income, deductions, gains, losses, and credits flow through to the partners, who report their share on their own returns.

For a CPA or accounting firm, the work usually covers:

• Form 1065 and its schedules: B, K, L, M-1, M-2, and M-3 where required
• A Schedule K-1 for every partner, with income, deductions, and credits allocated under the partnership agreement
• Capital accounts maintained on the required bases: tax, GAAP, and Section 704(b)
• Partner basis tracking, including each partner's share of the partnership's liabilities
• Section 754 basis adjustments where an election is in place
• Schedules K-2 and K-3, prepared when they are required
• State, composite, and pass-through entity returns alongside the federal filing

Outsourced means the work is done by a team outside your firm. Offshore means that team is in another country. With Accountably it is both: your preparer sits in India and works inside your workflow like any other member of your team.

The main difference is cost. A partnership tax hire in India can save your firm up to 46% compared to a US-based equivalent, due to the lower cost of living in India compared to the US.

With dedicated offshore talent, your firm manages the day-to-day work. Your tax preparer reports to your managers, follows your workflows and processes, and works as part of your team, just like any other remote employee.

Accountably doesn't direct their daily work or assign client files. You have complete control over their responsibilities and schedules. Think of Accountably as the hiring and administrative partner, not a management layer.

If you'd rather review finished work than direct it, a white-label delivery team comes with Accountably's own manager and reviewers.

Yes, tax preparers in India working with US firms work in the same tools your team already relies on: UltraTax CS, CCH Axcess, Lacerte, Drake Tax, and ProConnect Tax for the return, and Karbon, TaxDome, and Suralink for workflow and client documents.

During vetting, Accountably screens explicitly for your stack rather than assuming tool familiarity and runs the assessments you already use.

Onboarding then ramps your preparer on your firm's software and SOPs, from your workpaper standards to your capital account conventions and K-1 procedures.

If there is a specialized system in your firm's environment, we identify transferable skill paths and flag any ramp time upfront so you can make an informed decision.

Accountably puts every candidate through a rigorous screening process before presentation.

Every candidate goes through Accountably's vetting process, which includes:

• Skills assessment: technical evaluation specific to the role requirements
• Experience validation: Accountably verifies work history
• Software experience: we check every candidate's experience in the tax software your firm files from, such as UltraTax CS, CCH Axcess, Lacerte, Drake Tax, or ProConnect Tax
• Cultural fit: Accountably screens for alignment with US business practices, work style, and your specific firm culture
• Motivation check: Accountably rules out candidates who are just looking for short-term contracts or salary bumps
• Background checks: we run background checks, and every hire works under an NDA

You only see candidates who meet all these criteria. Experienced hires start with onboarding on your software and SOPs. Newer hires first complete our 6-week US tax and accounting program.

Form 1065 is due by the 15th day of the third month after the partnership's tax year ends, which is March 15 for a calendar-year partnership. Filing Form 7004 grants an automatic six-month extension, moving a calendar-year deadline to September 15.

Your team prepares the extensions as part of the work, so no return slips past its due date. Partners can't finish their own returns until their K-1s are issued, so a late 1065 stalls every partner behind it.

The late-filing penalty is assessed per partner, for each month or part of a month the return is late, for up to 12 months, and separate penalties apply for failing to furnish a correct Schedule K-1 to each partner.

Yes, on a senior seat. Special allocations, targeted allocations, waterfall provisions, and multi-tier structures are traced back to the partnership agreement during preparation and checked against it at senior review.

Capital accounts are maintained year over year on the required bases (tax, GAAP, and Section 704(b)), with adjustments for contributions, distributions, and allocated income and loss, and each account is reconciled in workpapers the next reviewer can follow.

Where a valid Section 754 election is in place, the team computes the 743(b) adjustment on a transfer of a partnership interest and the 734(b) adjustment on certain distributions, at the asset level, with the related amortization and depreciation schedules.

The final judgment on every allocation and election, a 754 election included, stays with your firm. See business tax preparers for the seat levels.

Every file goes through preparer, senior, quality and final review before it reaches you:

• The preparer builds the 1065, allocates each K-1, ties out the capital accounts, and documents the workpapers to your SOPs.
• A senior reviewer re-checks the allocations against the partnership agreement, partner basis, debt allocation, and any 754 adjustment math.
• A quality reviewer runs the return against a standardized checklist and confirms the K-2, K-3, M-1, and M-2 tie-outs.
• A final review packages the return, the K-1s, and the workpapers for your partner, with every open question flagged in writing.

Your firm keeps the signature, the e-file under its own EFIN, and the final judgment on allocations, elections, and positions.

Yes, partnership files are handled under SOC 2-aligned controls by background-verified staff who work under NDAs.

Access is role-based and runs over a secure VPN, files move by encrypted exchange, audit logs record activity, and nothing is stored on a personal machine.

See data security and compliance for the full set of controls.