Use the post-deadline lull to verify who owns the firm’s EFIN and e-file application, who can step in, and when activity will be reviewed.
Independent accounting and tax firms in Western North Carolina should use the quieter period after the October filing deadline to review ownership of the firm’s electronic filing identification number, or EFIN, and IRS e-file application. This is a business-continuity task as much as an access task. If the only person who understands the application is unavailable, the firm may not know who is listed with the IRS, where to review activity, or how to correct a change before the next busy season.
Current IRS guidance says an authorized e-file provider is responsible for maintaining, monitoring, and protecting its EFIN and e-Services account. The IRS says the e-file application should be reviewed periodically and updated within 30 days when information changes, including the individuals involved, business address, or telephone number. It also calls for the proper principals and responsible officials to be listed, and explains that an EFIN is not transferable and that each office where e-file transmissions occur needs its own application.
The firm owner or office manager should lead today’s checklist with the person responsible for tax technology: identify every active EFIN and the office it belongs to; confirm the legal business name, address, phone number, principals, and responsible officials; name a primary owner for routine review; name a backup who knows the approved IRS support path; record the last review date; and set the next review before filing season. Keep the checklist free of passwords and taxpayer information, and point authorized staff to the protected location for procedures.
Ask a few concrete decision questions. If the primary owner is out for two weeks, who can verify the application and coordinate a correction? Has a partner, responsible official, business address, phone number, or transmitting office changed? Does the tax software list the same EFIN that the firm expects to use? Who compares IRS activity with the firm’s own transmission records, and who handles an exception? A backup should understand the workflow, not merely know that an EFIN exists.
The IRS also tells providers to monitor the return count on the EFIN Status page during filing season. Those statistics are updated weekly and can be compared with the firm’s records; a significantly higher count should be reported to the IRS e-help Desk. That does not require daily alarm. It does require a named reviewer, a reasonable schedule, and a record that the comparison happened. The same checklist can note where staff subscribe to IRS QuickAlerts without placing account credentials in the document.
Today’s action can stay small: open the firm’s e-file application through IRS.gov, verify one EFIN’s contact and personnel information, assign its primary and backup owners, and put the next activity review on the calendar. If something is inaccurate, document who will correct it and by when. A calm, repeatable ownership check now is easier than discovering an outdated application or unclear responsibility when returns are ready to transmit.