TXF format reference
TXF (Tax Exchange Format) carries year-end totals from accounting software into U.S. tax-preparation software such as TurboTax, ProSeries, Drake, Lacerte, ATX, and TaxAct. Solid Accounting exports TXF; it doesn't import it.
For most hand-offs to an accountant, the Year-End Package (File → Export → Year-End Package…, or the Year-End Package button in Reports) is the more complete choice. It's covered in Accountant's Copy. For a business return (Form 1120-S, 1065, 1120 or Schedule C), use the export on the Tax Trial Balance instead.
Export a TXF file
- Open Reports and set the report's end date to any day in the tax year you want.
- Choose Export → TXF. Solid Accounting builds totals for the company's tax year that contains that date — the year end set in Settings → Tax profile, which follows your fiscal year if you haven't set one — and asks where to save
tax_<year>.txf. The save window shows the dates it covers. - Give the file to your accountant, or import it into your tax software (for example, TurboTax: File → Import → From accounting software).
What's in the file
- One total per mapped account for the tax year, from posted entries, attached to a TXF tax-line reference number (for example, Schedule C Gross receipts).
- Only accounts that have a tax-line mapping. Accounts with no mapping, and mapped accounts with a zero total, are left out.
- No transaction detail, and no customer, vendor, or item names.
The tax-line catalog built into Solid Accounting follows the TXF v042 specification and covers Form 1040 and Schedules A, C, D, E, and F, plus W-2, 1099, K-1, and related forms — the individual-return (sole proprietor) lines, not partnership or corporate returns.
Current limit: there's no screen yet for assigning TXF tax lines to accounts. (Reports → Tax Line Mapping maps accounts to business return lines for the Tax Trial Balance; it doesn't feed TXF.) Until there is, most company files export a TXF file with few or no lines. If you need TXF today, email support@solidaccounting.com; otherwise use the Tax Trial Balance export, or send your accountant the Year-End Package.
Format structure
TXF is line-based text. A header, then one record per tax line:
V042
ASolidAccounting
D 2026/12/31
TD
N293
C1
L1
XService Income - Gross receipts
$45000.00
^
| Line | Meaning |
|---|---|
V042 | TXF version 4.2 |
A… | The program that wrote the file |
D … | The end of the tax year |
TD | Start of a detail record |
N… | TXF tax-line reference number |
C1 / L1 | Copy and line number |
X… | Description (account name and tax line), when the tax line calls for one |
$… | Amount in dollars — income positive, expenses negative |
^ | End of record |
Things to know
- Book vs. tax depreciation. The totals are your book figures. Tax depreciation (MACRS, section 179, bonus) and other book-to-tax differences are on the Tax Trial Balance.
- Pennies. Amounts include cents. Tax software does the rounding to whole dollars — don't round in Solid Accounting first.
- Tax year, not always the calendar year. A company whose tax year ends in June exports July to June. Set the year end in Settings → Tax profile.
Related: Reports · Accountant's Copy · Import & Export overview