Efile file, how to open it?

[Pacun]

So far this has not happened to me, but it is just a matter of time.

When I get a new client, I interview him/her and  I look for another client in the same state or county with the same situation, which has been already efiled. I delete w2 forms and all income forms, then I add the income info for the new person and give then an estimate on the fly. I tell them their situation and  I close the file and I don't save.  I know that if I save, I will destroy my copy of my previous client and I will have to recreate if needed. I know that the efile file that I transmitted to the IRS is intact and still shows the correct amounts for my client (not the potential client).  How do I put my hands on that efile file since it seems to not be a real file but a pointer.

 

[Margaret CPA in OH]

I'm not completely clear on the question.  Under the E-File Manager tab are all your e-filed client submissions incomplete even if accepted unless you mark them complete and have chosen not to show the completed files.  To see the hidden ones, if you chose to hide, click on Complete and they are all there.

I'm wondering why you don't just duplicate a given return and change the name to test or something and delete after you put in your test data.  If you do use the Complete check box, any time you change anything and try to close it, you get a warning about saving changes so it shouldn't happen accidentally.

[Abby Normal]

47 minutes ago, Pacun said:

How do I put my hands on that efile file since it seems to not be a real file but a pointer.

If you mean at the windows file structure level, you can't because ATX is a database. What are you trying to accomplish?

[Pacun]

49 minutes ago, Abby Normal said:

If you mean at the windows file structure level, you can't because ATX is a database. What are you trying to accomplish?

If I save the file by mistake when giving an estimate, my old information will be gone. I was just wondering how to use the efile file to recover the data for the original client. 

[Abby Normal]

Oh, if you accidentally mess up any return, or just have a problem with a return, just use the Restore a backup function, and make sure you use the one from before it messed up.

ATX creates a backup every time you close a return. This is why I will close and reopen large returns every 20-30 minutes or so I have a clean backup in case the return has an error.