Import Client 1099-Bs into Drake, ProSeries, and Lacerte

It's the middle of the season. A client drops off a brokerage 1099-B that's forty pages long, hundreds of transactions, and it's a PDF — not a data file. Your professional software can import a spreadsheet of trades, but the client didn't bring a spreadsheet. Keying it by hand isn't billable time you'll ever recover. Here's how preparers get PDF 1099-Bs into Drake, ProSeries, and Lacerte without retyping.

The bottleneck is almost never the software — all three import Schedule D / Form 8949 detail from a structured file. The bottleneck is turning a client's PDF into that structured file. Solve that once and the rest is a few clicks.

The General Workflow

Whatever software you run, the pattern is the same:

1. Get the client's 1099-B as a PDF (from the broker's tax documents portal, or the paper copy scanned to a text PDF)
2. Convert the PDF into a structured file — CSV or Excel — with one row per transaction
3. Map the columns to your software's import template and load

Step 2 is where a PDF-to-CSV/Excel converter earns its keep. Upload the client's 1099-B, preview the extracted rows to confirm they match, and download a clean CSV or Excel file with proceeds, cost basis, dates, and wash sale amounts. Then you're just importing.

Drake Tax

Drake supports importing capital gain/loss transactions from a spreadsheet on the Schedule D / 8949 screens:

1. Open the client return and go to the D2 (or Schedule D import) screen
2. Use Drake's import from spreadsheet option for 8949 transactions
3. Point it at your converted CSV/Excel and map the columns (date acquired, date sold, proceeds, basis, code, adjustment)
4. Review the imported rows against the 1099-B totals

Drake's import expects specific column positions, so line up your converted file to its template before loading. Converting the PDF first means you're arranging clean data, not transcribing a scan.

ProSeries (Intuit)

ProSeries offers spreadsheet import for 8949/Schedule D detail:

1. In the client return, open the Schedule D / Capital Gain (Loss) Transaction Worksheet
2. Use the Import option to bring in transactions from a spreadsheet
3. Match your converted file's columns to ProSeries' expected fields
4. Verify short-term vs long-term and covered vs noncovered landed correctly

If a client has multiple brokerage 1099-Bs, convert each PDF separately and import them as separate batches so the source of any discrepancy is easy to trace.

Lacerte (Intuit)

Lacerte handles high-volume capital gains through its spreadsheet/import tools:

1. Go to the Dispositions (Schedule D, 4797, etc.) input
2. Use Lacerte's import to load transactions from a spreadsheet
3. Map columns and import
4. Reconcile the imported proceeds against the client's 1099-B summary

Lacerte is common for high-net-worth and active-trader clients — exactly the returns where a converted file beats manual entry by hours.

Cost-Basis Issues You'll Still Have to Handle

Converting the PDF gets the data in; your professional judgment handles the adjustments:

• Noncovered securities with blank basis — you'll source basis from the client's records — see noncovered securities with missing cost basis.
• RSU/ESPP basis corrections from stock plan supplements — see RSU cost basis wrong and ESPP cost basis double-counted.
• Wash sales that must carry the disallowed amount — see understanding wash sales.
• Large transaction counts where import is the only sane path — see 1099-B with too many transactions.

Verify Before You File the Return

For each client 1099-B:

1. Match imported total proceeds to the 1099-B summary, per brokerage
2. Confirm covered/noncovered and short/long-term classification
3. Check that wash sale and any basis adjustments carried through
4. Spot-check a few rows against the source PDF

If your imported totals reconcile to each 1099-B summary, the batch is clean.

FAQ

Can Drake, ProSeries, and Lacerte import a PDF 1099-B directly?

Not the PDF itself — they import structured spreadsheet data for Schedule D / Form 8949. You convert the client's PDF to CSV or Excel first, then use each program's spreadsheet import.

How do I convert a client's 1099-B PDF to a spreadsheet?

Upload the PDF to a converter, preview the extracted transactions, and download CSV or Excel with one row per trade. Then map those columns to your software's import template.

What if the client has several brokerage 1099-Bs?

Convert and import each 1099-B separately. Keeping them as separate batches makes it easy to reconcile each to its own summary and trace any discrepancy to the right brokerage.

Does the converter handle noncovered securities?

It extracts exactly what's on the 1099-B, including rows where basis is blank because the security is noncovered. You supply the missing basis from the client's records before finalizing.

Is it faster than my software's direct broker download?

When a direct download works, use it. But clients routinely bring PDFs with no download available, or from brokers your software can't pull — that's where converting the PDF is the reliable path.

Can I convert a scanned paper 1099-B a client brought in?

If the scan has a real text layer, yes. A flat image scan with no selectable text extracts poorly — ask the client for the broker's original digital PDF when possible.

Should I use TXF or CSV/Excel for professional software?

For Drake, ProSeries, and Lacerte, use the CSV/Excel spreadsheet import each program provides — that's their native path for 8949 detail. TXF is more of a consumer TurboTax route.

What if the client's brokerage isn't one I recognize?

The converter reads the structure of a 1099-B regardless of brokerage, so an unfamiliar or regional broker's PDF converts the same way as a major one. You still reconcile to that broker's summary.

Does converting preserve the covered/noncovered designation?

Yes. The reporting box (A/B/D/E) and covered status come through the conversion, so you can map each batch to the correct Form 8949 section in your software.

Is converting client PDFs worth it versus keying?

For anything beyond a handful of trades, yes. Converting turns transcription into a mapping step, so your billable time goes to judgment calls — basis, adjustments, wash sales — not typing rows.

Bottom Line

Drake, ProSeries, and Lacerte all import Schedule D detail from a spreadsheet — the hard part is turning a client's PDF 1099-B into that spreadsheet. Convert the PDF to CSV or Excel, map it to your software's import template, and reconcile to the 1099-B summary. That turns a forty-page transcription job into a few minutes per client, and keeps your season moving.

---

Buried in client 1099-Bs? Convert them free — turn each client's brokerage PDF into a clean CSV or Excel you can import straight into Drake, ProSeries, or Lacerte.