Send a test return

For US CPA and EA firms — only

Your returns and books, prepared. Your signature on every one.

We prepare 1040s, business returns and monthly books inside your workflow, and take the busy-season admin off your desk. You review, sign and file under your own EFIN. Prices are published and SSNs stay masked.

Send one paid test return See pricing
  • One paid test return first
  • Published prices
  • Month-to-month bookkeeping

Example file. Illustrative only.

  • A PTIN for every preparerEveryone who prepares or helps prepare a return holds their own
  • SSN-masked by defaultThe full number stays in your software
  • Written non-solicit clauseIn the engagement letter, before the first file
  • Your EFIN, your signatureYou review, sign and e-file every return
  • WISP on requestBuilt on IRS Publication 5708 once written

What we take off your desk

The work that fills your team's March

Every return comes back to you for review. You sign it, you file it, and every client conversation stays with you.

FORM 1040

Individual returns

Schedules A, B, C, D and E, rentals, multi-state and expat returns (2555, 1116, FBAR).

1065 · 1120-S · 1120

Business returns

Partnerships, S corporations and C corporations, with workpapers tied to the books.

BUSY SEASON

Busy-season desk

Organizers sent and chased, missing-document lists, 8879 signatures tracked — inside your own practice software.

MONTHLY

Bookkeeping, AP and AR

Monthly close, bank and card reconciliation, bills and invoices processed, in the client's own ledger.

FIXED SCOPE

Catch-up and clean-up

Months or years of unreconciled books brought current before the return can be prepared.

FIXED SCOPE

Software migration

QuickBooks to Xero or back, with the chart of accounts rebuilt and opening balances tied out.

All services, including sales tax, 1099s and second review See pricing

What you receive with every return

The return, and everything behind it

Each file comes back as one bound pack: an index of workpapers, a tie-out to the trial balance, the open questions for you, and a note of every judgement call.

Workpaper pack1120-S · Tax year 2026 · Prepared for your review
FILE #A-0412

Index of workpapers

Index of workpapers in the example pack
RefWorkpaperStatus
A-1Trial balance and tie-outTied ✓
A-2Bank and card reconciliations3 of 3 ✓
B-1Fixed assets and depreciationAttached
C-1Shareholder basisAttached
D-1Book-to-tax reconciliationTied ✓

Tie-out to the trial balance

Trial balance — net income$184,220.00
Return — income per books$184,220.00
Difference$0.00 ✓

Open questions for you

  • Q1Vehicle: business-use percentage for 2026 — please confirm with the client.
  • Q2Shareholder loan of $12,000 — repaid in 2026, or still outstanding?

Judgement calls

  • J1Equipment bought in 2026 ($8,400): prepared with standard depreciation and flagged for your decision before you sign.
Example. Illustrative only.

  1. An index of every workpaper

    Every schedule behind the return, referenced, so your review starts from the index.

  2. A tie-out to the trial balance

    The return agrees to the books, and the difference is shown — zero, or explained line by line.

  3. Open questions, batched

    Everything we need from you or your client, in one list per file.

  4. Judgement calls, flagged

    Any choice that calls for a preparer's judgement is noted for you to decide.

How a file moves from intake to your signature

Monthly bookkeeping

A clean close every month, in your client's own ledger

Transactions coded, every account reconciled, payables and receivables current — and the month comes back to you with its open questions listed.

  • Bank and card accounts reconciled to the statement
  • Bills and invoices processed, aged lists updated
  • Month-end reports ready for your review

White label bookkeeping services

Example month. Illustrative only.

Outsource or hire for the season

Run your own numbers

Enter your figures — including the per-return price you are comparing — and see both costs side by side. Every field starts empty, and the arithmetic is shown line by line.

Your figures
How many returns you would hand over.
Average preparation time, before your review.
Wage plus payroll tax, benefits, software seat and recruiting, per hour.
The per-return price you are comparing, from any provider's rate card.

Season cost, side by sideYour figures

Seasonal hire

—returns × hours per return × hourly cost

Outsourced preparation

—returns × price per return

Difference

—Enter all four figures to compare.

Your review and signature time applies either way, so it sits outside both lines.

Simple arithmetic on the figures you enter, for your own planning. Our per-return prices are on the pricing page. Open the calculator on its own page →

The division of labour

Prepared here. Signed by you.

Ruled & Bound
  • Prepares the return in your software
  • Ties it to the books
  • Lists the open questions
Your firm
  • Reviews the file
  • Signs and e-files under your EFIN
  • Keeps every client conversation

How it works

Start with one file. Decide on the output.

STEP 01

Scoping call

Twenty minutes: your software, your return mix, your deadlines.

STEP 02

One paid test return

Send a real file — ideally a messy one — and judge the work itself.

STEP 03

Secure intake

Engagement letter, client consent, SSNs masked, access in your systems.

STEP 04

Prepare and check

Prepared in your software, workpapers attached, open questions listed.

STEP 05

You review and sign

You review, sign and e-file under your own EFIN.

The full process

The question you will ask first

Will you go after my clients?

Your clients stay yours — in writing. It is a clause in the engagement letter you sign with us, before the first file. We work for accounting firms only, and every client conversation runs through you.

Read the full commitment

ENGAGEMENT LETTER · CLAUSE 9 — NON-SOLICITATION
  1. Ruled & Bound will not solicit, accept or perform work directly for any client of the Firm whose information it receives, during the engagement and for [N] months after it ends.
  2. Ruled & Bound will not contact the Firm's clients. All communication runs through the Firm.
  3. Ruled & Bound markets its services to accounting firms only.
Wording subject to counsel reviewDraft

Capacity

A small team, so we cap intake

We take a fixed number of firms each season, so every file gets the same attention. When the season is full, we say so.

Firms this season
[N]

January–April 2027.

Software we work in
[D3 — Saad to list]

We name only what we use today.

How to start
1 file

One paid test return, before any commitment.

Answers for firms that outsource

The rules, with their sources

SECURITY

Does an accounting firm need a WISP?

What the FTC Safeguards Rule requires, and how it covers an outsourcing partner.

 §7216

Client consent for an offshore preparer

The required wording, the Form 1040 SSN rule and the penalties.

 PTIN

Can an offshore preparer prepare US returns?

PTINs, Form 8946 and what stays with your firm.
All answers

Questions firms ask

Before the first call

Short answers here. The rules behind them, with sources, are in Answers.

Book a scoping call

How do you protect my client relationships?

We work for accounting firms only, every communication runs through you, and the engagement letter you sign with us carries a non-solicitation clause.

Can a preparer outside the US prepare US returns?

Yes, with a PTIN — every person who prepares or helps prepare a return for pay needs one. You remain the reviewer and signer and file under your own EFIN. Your client's consent is required before their information is shared with us.

What happens in March if you are full?

We cap the number of firms we take each season and reserve capacity for the firms that commit early. We take on only the firms we can serve through the whole season.

How do you handle Social Security numbers?

We work SSN-masked by default. The full number stays in your own software.

Send one real return. Judge us on that.

Book a 20-minute scoping call