DIRECT ANSWER
What records should you gather for a Form 3115 review?
Start with the taxpayer, trade or business, affected item, existing method, proposed method, requested year of change, filing deadline, prior Forms 3115, examination status, and records needed to quantify every year affected. A CPA must first determine whether the issue is an accounting-method change, an error correction, or another return item before selecting a filing procedure.
Who should use this checklist
Use it when a recurring income, deduction, inventory, capitalization, depreciation, research-cost, or other accounting treatment may need to change, or when a prior treatment must be classified before a return is filed.
The checklist is an organizer, not a determination that Form 3115 is required or that a requested change qualifies for automatic consent.
- Businesses considering a cash, accrual, inventory, capitalization, revenue, depreciation, or research-cost method question
- Property owners addressing depreciation, placed-in-service, recovery-period, convention, or cost-segregation implementation
- Taxpayers with prior unamortized research costs or Section 174A method questions
- Entities preparing an original return, extension, amended return, or separately accepted method-change request
Taxpayer, return, and filing-procedure facts
- Legal name, tax identification record, entity type, tax classification, trade or business, and ownership structure
- Requested year of change, return type, federal and state jurisdictions, year-end, original or extended deadline, and filing status
- Whether the taxpayer or a related entity is under IRS or state examination, has a pending notice, or used a prior method-change window
- Prior Forms 3115, method-change statements, elections, revenue-procedure citations, consent letters, and correspondence
- Current method, proposed method, first year the current method was used, and every affected return item
Books, returns, and calculation records
- Prior federal and state returns for the years needed to establish the method history
- Trial balances, general ledgers, accounting policies, workpapers, and book-to-tax reconciliation schedules
- Invoices, contracts, inventory records, revenue schedules, capitalization policies, or other records tied to the affected item
- Detailed computation of the proposed Section 481(a) adjustment with source-to-return reconciliation
- Tax return implementation entries and state conformity or modification questions
Depreciation and placed-in-service checklist
- Fixed-asset ledger and depreciation schedules from acquisition through the requested year of change
- Invoices, closing statements, placed-in-service evidence, asset descriptions, locations, and business-use records
- Recovery periods, methods, conventions, elections, dispositions, repairs, improvements, and prior adjustments
- Any independent cost-segregation or engineering report and the provider's responsibility for its conclusions
- Reconciliation between the study, books, tax schedules, prior returns, and proposed correction
Research-cost and Section 174A checklist
- Domestic and foreign research locations and project inventory
- Employee, contractor, supply, software, indirect-cost, and general-ledger schedules
- Prior Section 174 capitalization and amortization schedules and any current Section 174A elections
- Prior Forms 6765 and separate Section 41 credit calculations
- Method-change, amended-return, transition, and state-treatment questions for each year
Professional-role and scope boundaries
- A CPA reviews the tax method, calculation, Form 3115, return implementation, and supported filing procedure only when accepted in writing
- Legal counsel owns legal opinions, contracts, entity documents, disputes, and other legal work
- Independent engineering or valuation professionals own engineering, cost-segregation, appraisal, or valuation conclusions
- Each entity, year, state, method, return, Form 3115, notice, and representation matter is scoped separately
- No consent, deduction, refund, audit protection, processing time, or agency outcome is guaranteed
PRINTABLE ORGANIZER
Form 3115 scope-review worksheet
Use this worksheet to inventory records. Do not send completed worksheets or sensitive attachments through the public contact form.
Taxpayer and filing facts
- Entity, tax classification, trade or business, year-end, and ownership are identified
- Requested year of change, returns, jurisdictions, deadlines, and examination status are identified
- Prior Forms 3115, elections, notices, and consent records are collected
Method and calculation
- Current method, proposed method, first-use year, and affected items are documented
- Books, returns, schedules, contracts, and supporting records are reconciled
- Section 481(a) adjustment support and state treatment questions are organized
Specialized records
- Depreciation, placed-in-service, cost-segregation, inventory, or capitalization records are collected
- Research-cost locations, projects, ledgers, and prior Section 174 schedules are collected
- Legal, engineering, valuation, notice, and representation dependencies are identified
This organizer does not determine whether Form 3115 is required, select a method-change procedure, or create an engagement.
APPLY THE GUIDE
Related tools and service paths
Section 174A research-cost services
Review domestic and foreign research-cost treatment, prior unamortized amounts, method questions, and return coordination.
Rental-property depreciation guide
Review federal recovery periods, placed-in-service records, land allocation, methods, and depreciation-schedule questions for rental property.
PRIMARY GUIDANCE