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Tax Template Library: Save, Apply, and Roll Forward Tax Mappings

Save a tax mapping once to your firm's library, then apply it to any binder in-app — including rolling forward a client's prior-year mapping. Inspect what a template maps, see who added or changed it, and rename or delete.

The Tax Template Library keeps your firm's tax mappings inside Tallyfor. Save a mapping once, then pick and apply it to any binder — no downloading a Tax Template report and re-uploading it on the next engagement.

In this article

  • What the library does

  • Availability and where to find it

  • Opening the library from a binder

  • Getting templates into your library

  • Applying a template to a binder

  • Rolling forward from a client's prior binder

  • Managing the library in Settings

  • Seeing what a template maps

  • Who added it, and who changed it

  • Renaming and deleting a template

  • Limits and things to know

  • Troubleshooting

What the library does

Every binder's tax mapping is already a tax template — the Tax Template report is simply a view of it. Previously, reusing that mapping meant downloading the report to your desktop and uploading the file into the next binder.

The Tax Template Library removes that round trip. A template is parsed once when it enters the library and stored under your firm, so applying it later is a two-click, in-app action. Templates saved to the library are visible to your whole firm.

Because a library apply reads the stored mapping rather than a file on your machine, it also avoids the stall that could happen when a template file lived in a cloud-only OneDrive or iCloud folder that hadn't been downloaded locally.

Opening the library from a binder

  1. Open the binder you want to map.

  2. On the Trial Balance screen, click Template.

  3. The modal opens with your firm's template library at the top, followed by Recent, This client's prior binders, and any vendor import tabs.

Getting templates into your library

There are three ways a template can end up in the library.

1. Save the current binder's mapping

Once a binder is mapped the way you want, save that mapping to the firm library and give it a name. It becomes available on every other binder in your firm.

2. Import a template file straight into the library

Use Import template file to upload an Excel tax template directly into the library. The file is parsed on upload and stored as a mapping, so you only ever have to upload it once — every future use is an in-app apply.

The file format is unchanged. See Tallyfor Tax Templates for the required columns, the tax line code glossary, and best practices for building a template file.

3. Recent

Whenever you apply a template, Tallyfor captures it under Recent automatically. Recent is a convenience list, not durable storage — if you want to keep one, promote it into the firm library so it survives and becomes available firm-wide.

Applying a template to a binder

  1. Open the binder and click Template.

  2. Pick a template from the firm library, from Recent, or from This client's prior binders.

  3. Click Apply.

  4. The tax categories land on the binder's accounts.

If the template was built for a different tax form than the binder you're applying it to, Tallyfor warns you before proceeding.

📌 NOTE: As with file-based templates, apply a template as the first step on a new trial balance. Applying a template over a binder that has already been categorized will overwrite existing work.

Managing the library in Settings

Go to Settings → Tax Automation (BETA) → Tax template → Manage templates → to review what your firm has saved and clean it up.

The Tax Automation (BETA) settings page lists the ways a binder can get categorized, from most deterministic to least:

  • Rollforward — reuse a prior binder's mapping.

  • Source codes — map from your accounting system's codes.

  • Tax template — the firm library described in this article.

  • AI Auto-Tax — the AI tier, which runs on whatever is still unclassified. This tier requires the AI add-on.

  • Manual — categorize by hand.

Seeing what a template maps

A library entry used to show only the form, an account count and a date — which is not enough to decide whether to apply it to a client. Click the chevron on an entry to expand it and read the mapping itself:

  • Account #

  • Account name

  • Tax category

Rows are sorted by account number. Use this to confirm a template does what you think it does before applying it — especially one a colleague saved.

The mapping view is read-only. To change a mapping, apply the template to a binder, correct the categories there, and save a new template.

📌 NOTE: Templates imported from a CCH Engagement export hold vendor records rather than an account-to-category map, so there are no rows to display. Expanding one tells you how many records it holds. It can still be applied and renamed like any other template.

Who added it, and who changed it

Each entry shows a provenance line — for example "Added by Dana · edited by Sam on 14 Aug 2026" — using teammate display names. A firm template rewrites tax categories across binders, so it matters who put it there and who touched it last.

Saving, renaming and deleting a template are also recorded in your firm's Audit Trail alongside every other action. See Audit Trail.

📌 NOTE: Templates saved before this was added show the date only. There is no way to backfill who created them.

Renaming and deleting a template

To rename — click the pencil next to the template's name, type the new name, and save. The rename is recorded in the audit trail.

To delete — click the red bin icon on the entry and confirm.

⚠️ Deleting is unrecoverable, and the template is shared — anyone in your firm who was applying it will no longer find it. Binders you have already applied it to are not affected; their mappings stay exactly as they are.

Limits and things to know

  • Firm library templates are shared across your firm. Anyone in the firm can apply them.

  • The mapping view is read-only. Editing a single row's tax category, or removing a row, is not available yet — correct it on a binder and save a new template instead.

  • There is no version history, restore, bulk edit, approval workflow, or sharing between firms.

  • Deleting a template is unrecoverable, and it is shared firm-wide.

  • This client's prior binders is a live view, not stored data. Nothing new is saved when the list is built, and you can't rename or delete those rows — they simply reflect the binders that exist.

  • Prior binders are scoped to one client and one form on purpose. Every binder in your firm has a mapping, so a firm-wide list would be unusably long.

  • Recent is a convenience list. Promote anything you want to keep into the firm library.

  • Applying a template overwrites existing categories. Apply first, then adjust.

Troubleshooting

The prior-binders section is empty. The client may have no other binders on the same tax form, or those binders may not be mapped yet. Binders with an empty mapping are hidden.

A template applied but nothing changed. Check that the template and the binder are on the same tax form — Tallyfor warns on a mismatch, and a mismatched template will match few or no accounts.

Expanding a template shows no rows. If it says it holds vendor records, that's expected — vendor templates have no account-to-category map to show. Otherwise the template may genuinely have no mappings, and applying it will do nothing.

The provenance line shows only a date. The template predates provenance tracking. Who created it wasn't recorded and can't be recovered.

I don't see the Template button. The button appears on all binders. If it's missing, hard-refresh your browser and try again, then contact [email protected].

Uploading a template file used to hang. If your template file lives in OneDrive or iCloud and is cloud-only, the upload could stall waiting for the file to download. Importing the template into the firm library once resolves this permanently — library applies never touch a local file.

Related articles

  • Tallyfor Tax Templates — template file format, tax line code glossary, and best practices.

  • Audit Trail — where template saves, renames and deletes are recorded.

  • How to Use CCH Engagement Tax Grouping Worksheet as a Template

  • How to create a Tax Mapping Template (Based on CCH Financial Prep)

  • Tax Code Terminology

Questions? Email [email protected].

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