Pull your Drake Tax e-file reports into your own systems

What you can build on Drake

• Get e-filed returns by status

  Build this

  Runs the Returns report under Reports on the Support website for a date range and lists federal and state returns, extensions and their acks.

  Takes

  Date range, status (pending, accepted or rejected), federal or state (optional)

  Returns

  Taxpayer name, return type, status, ack date, submission ID, reject codes, alert

• Look up one client's e-file status

  Build this

  Runs E-file Status Lookup under Reports for a last name, SSN or EIN and reads the e-file status of each of that filer's returns.

  Takes

  Last name, SSN or EIN

  Returns

  Return type, status, status date, refund amount

• Get checks by status

  Build this

  Runs the Checks report under Reports for a date range and lists bank product checks that are printable, pending or cleared.

  Takes

  Date range, check status (printable, pending or cleared)

  Returns

  Taxpayer name, check number, amount, check status, date

• Get the add-on fees for a month

  Build this

  Runs the Add-on Fees report under Reports for one month or the year to date, then opens the breakdown under each EFIN.

  Takes

  Year, month or YTD

  Returns

  EFIN, add-on fee total, each return's taxpayer name and fee

Automate Drake with a workflow

A workflow runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

• Yesterday's rejected returns, before the office opens

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 7:30

  Step 1

  Get the e-filed returns with a rejected status from yesterday's Returns report.

  Step 2

  Keep the returns that were not on the last run's list.

  Step 3

  Email you the list with taxpayer name, return type, submission ID and reject codes.

• Accepted returns with an IRS acceptance alert

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 12:00

  Step 1

  Get today's accepted federal returns from the Returns report.

  Step 2

  Keep the ones that carry an IRS acceptance alert and were not on the last run.

  Step 3

  Post each one, with taxpayer name, submission ID and alert, to your practice system's webhook.

• Monthly add-on fees, handed to accounting

  Build this

  Starts

  Monthly on the 20th at 9:00

  Step 1

  Get last month's Add-on Fees report for each EFIN.

  Step 2

  Post each EFIN's add-on fee total and its returns to your accounting system's webhook.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a method, it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get e-filed returns by status” would look like.

curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "support.drakesoftware.com/get_efiled_returns",
    "input": {
      "from": "2026-02-09",
      "to": "2026-02-10",
      "status": "rejected"
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "returns": [
      {
        "taxpayer_name": "Northwind, Dana",
        "return_type": "Federal 1040",
        "status": "Rejected",
        "ack_date": "2026-02-10",
        "submission_id": "99999920260400000418",
        "reject_codes": [
          "IND-031-04"
        ],
        "alert": null
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

Drake’s own options

Drake's online reports on the Support website show e-file status in real time and export to a spreadsheet or print. Drake Tax itself exports all client files or all e-file data to CSV or text. Drake's knowledge base describes these exports, not an API for the reports.

Read on November 12, 2026: Drake Tax: Online Reports overview, Drake Tax: Export Client/EF Data, Online Reports: configure access or permissions.

Signing in to Drake

The Support website signs you in through the Drake User Manager at user.drakesoftware.com, with your email address and password, then a six-digit passcode sent to your email. With Fous you sign in once through Drake's own sign-in with your own Drake User Account: the login is sealed with AES-256, the emailed passcode is handled, and an expired session is signed back in.

Worth knowing

Report access is set per user

An admin grants each report to each user in the User Manager under Application Access. Without it, the report still shows in the menu but answers "You do not have access to this report."

Accepted can still mean action needed

From Tax Year 2025 the IRS issues acceptance alerts on federal returns more often, for example Dependent Already Claimed. The Returns report shows them when you toggle Alerts.

Online status is not your local EF database

Acks reach your local EF database only after EF > Process Acks in Drake Tax. The online reports show e-file status in real time, so the two can differ until acks are processed.

Add-on fees are paid mid-month

Add-on fees are distributed around the middle of each month for returns accepted and fully funded the month before. The funding date, not the transmission date, decides the month.

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