generating-cpa-handoff-summary

name	generating-cpa-handoff-summary
description	Generate a structured CPA handoff summary for a Canadian IT contractor after income, expenses, and supporting facts have been organized by earlier skills. Use when the user wants to hand their file to a CPA for review and filing, needs a practitioner-facing summary of organized facts and open issues, or wants a clear list of what is ready, what is uncertain, and what requires professional judgment. Reads prior skill outputs and produces a fact-organized handoff package with flags, questions, and reviewer guidance.
metadata	{"author":"Teplov CPA","version":1,"updated":"2026-04-18T00:00:00.000Z"}

Generate CPA Handoff Summary

Generate a structured CPA handoff summary after the file has been organized by earlier skills.

Core Rules

• Work only from organized prior results, not from raw guesswork.
• Organize facts, documents, and open issues for a practitioner audience.
• Preserve all uncertainty, flags, and unresolved questions from prior skills.
• Do not resolve open questions on behalf of the CPA.
• Do not determine final filing positions.
• Do not verify completeness or accuracy.
• Do not hide flags, missing items, or review concerns.
• Do not produce a document that implies the return is ready to file.
• Do not tell the user what the CPA will or should conclude.
• Use this phrase where relevant: "That is outside what this workflow covers. It is a question for a CPA before you file."

Inputs

Do not ask the user to share SIN, business number, account numbers, or client names. Use general descriptions and rounded amounts.

Accept any of:

• outputs from earlier skills in the repository
• a partially aggregated case output object
• organized income mappings
• organized expense mappings
• GST/HST review output if relevant
• foreign income review output if relevant
• instalment review output if relevant
• PSB risk review output if relevant
• reasonableness review output if relevant

Minimum useful input:

• at least one organized result from a prior skill
• at least one status or mapping that can be structured for CPA review

Read from the shared input schema where available: case_id, tax_year, engagement_mode, user_profile, form_context, review_state, output_preferences.

Read from prior skill outputs where available, especially: collecting-tax-documents, identifying-income-sources, identifying-expense-categories, organizing-t2125-gross-business-income, organizing-t2125-routine-operating-expenses, organizing-t2125-8523-meals-and-entertainment, organizing-t2125-business-use-of-home, organizing-t2125-capital-assets-and-cca, organizing-t2125-other-expenses, checking-gst-hst, reviewing-foreign-platform-and-us-income, reviewing-instalments-and-tax-payments, reviewing-psb-risk-facts, checking-shareholder-or-corporate-leakage, reviewing-reasonableness-of-net-income.

Workflow

1. Confirm CPA handoff mode is appropriate

Use this skill when the user is preparing to hand their file to a CPA. If the user wants a self-entry summary for tax software instead, route to generating-self-entry-summary.

2. Gather prior organized results

Collect relevant prior outputs and organize them for a practitioner audience.

Typical areas: income, expenses by category, GST/HST, foreign income, instalments, PSB risk, corporate leakage, reasonableness review.

Use prior facts_accepted, mappings_proposed, flags, open_questions, decisions_deferred, and status values.

Do not invent facts or mappings not supported by earlier skills.

3. Organize by review area

Build the handoff package organized by review area:

• Income: gross business income, T4 and T4A income, other income sources, foreign income
• Expenses: routine operating expenses, meals and entertainment, business-use-of-home, capital assets and CCA, other expenses
• GST/HST: registration status, collection summary, ITC candidates
• Tax payments: instalments, prior-year balance
• Risk areas: PSB risk facts, corporate leakage if applicable
• Reasonableness: overall income and expense picture
• Documents: what has been provided, what is missing

For each area, note: facts organized, amounts if known, open questions, flags, and CPA judgment required.

4. Aggregate flags and open questions

Compile all unresolved flags and open questions from prior skills.

Separate into:

• questions for the client to answer before CPA review
• questions for the CPA to resolve during review
• decisions deferred to the CPA

Do not attempt to answer CPA-level questions.

5. Organize missing documents

List all document gaps identified by prior skills.

Group by: missing income documents, missing expense support, missing GST/HST records, missing payment records, other missing items.

6. Assess handoff readiness

Determine:

• whether the file is sufficiently organized to hand off
• whether material client questions remain that should be answered first
• whether any area is too incomplete to include meaningfully

Do not assess filing readiness. This skill only assesses handoff readiness.

7. Write the handoff package

Produce a practitioner-facing summary that:

• organizes facts by review area
• highlights gaps and unresolved items
• preserves uncertainty without resolving it
• gives the CPA a clear picture of what has been organized and what remains open

Resource Map

• references/cpa-handoff-template.md: use for the visible output structure
• ../../references/cpa-handoff-template.md: use as the master template
• ../../references/shared-input-schema.md: read to populate input fields
• ../../references/shared-output-schema.md: read to format output fields

Output

Return using the shared output schema. Include:

• facts_accepted: organized facts from all prior skills that were usable
• mappings_proposed: aggregated prior mappings, preserved at the level of confidence produced by each skill
• flags: all flags from prior skills that remain unresolved at handoff time
• open_questions: all questions still open, separated by audience (client vs CPA)
• decisions_deferred: all decisions intentionally left for the CPA
• status: one of ready_for_entry, clarification_required, incomplete, cpa_review_recommended
• client_safe_summary: plain language, short and practical, confirming what has been organized and what still needs attention

Also produce a visible CPA handoff package using the template, including:

• File Overview (client profile, tax year, engagement mode, overall handoff status)
• Income Summary (organized by source, with amounts, documents, flags)
• Expense Summary (organized by T2125 category, with amounts, support strength, flags)
• GST/HST Summary (registration, collection, ITC candidates, open issues)
• Tax Payments (instalment facts, prior-year balance, open issues)
• Risk Areas (PSB risk, corporate leakage, open issues)
• Reasonableness Notes
• Missing Documents
• Open Questions for Client
• Open Questions for CPA
• Decisions Deferred to CPA
• Next Steps

Status Guidance

• ready_for_entry: handoff package can be generated and the file is sufficiently organized for CPA intake
• clarification_required: handoff package can be generated but material client questions remain open
• cpa_review_recommended: file contains significant complexity or risk areas warranting thorough CPA review
• incomplete: too little organized information to generate a useful handoff package

Do not use ready_for_entry to imply that the return is ready to file or that no CPA judgment is needed.

Validation

• All prior skill outputs are represented or explicitly noted as not available.
• Every open flag from a prior skill is preserved in the handoff package.
• Missing documents section is present even if empty.
• Open questions are separated by audience.
• Decisions deferred to CPA section is present and non-empty.
• Overall handoff status is one of the four standard values.
• client_safe_summary is present and contains no tax advice.
• No CPA-level judgment is made or implied in the summary.