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

> Read your pending, accepted and rejected returns, a client's e-file status, your checks and your add-on fees from Drake's online reports with one API call each. Or have a workflow email you yesterday's rejected returns before the office opens.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/drake-tax
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own Drake Tax account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on Drake

### Get e-filed returns by status

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

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

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

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](/product/workflows) 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

Starts: Every weekday at 7:30

1. Get the e-filed returns with a rejected status from yesterday's Returns report.
2. Keep the returns that were not on the last run's list.
3. Email you the list with taxpayer name, return type, submission ID and reject codes.

### Accepted returns with an IRS acceptance alert

Starts: Every weekday at 12:00

1. Get today's accepted federal returns from the Returns report.
2. Keep the ones that carry an IRS acceptance alert and were not on the last run.
3. Post each one, with taxpayer name, submission ID and alert, to your practice system's webhook.

### Monthly add-on fees, handed to accounting

Starts: Monthly on the 20th at 9:00

1. Get last month's Add-on Fees report for each EFIN.
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](/product/methods), 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.

Example request:

```
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"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "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.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Spreadsheet export of online reports | Returns, Bank Products, Checks, Fees, Add-on Fees and summary reports, filtered and exported in worksheet format for Excel. | A Drake User Account with access to each report granted in the User Manager. |
| Export Client/EF Data in Drake Tax | All client data files or all e-file data files from the desktop program, written to CSV or comma delimited text. | Drake Tax on your computer: Tools > File Maintenance > Export Client/EF Data. Files cannot be chosen one by one. |
| Multi-Office Manager (MOM) | Client Status Manager data for several offices in one online report. | An EFIN hierarchy, and each office set to transmit return data to Drake for multi-office web reports. |
| The Support website by hand | Reports menu: E-file Status Lookup, Returns, Bank Products, Checks, Fees and the rest, with saved filters. | A Drake User Account for each person, signed in through the User Manager. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Drake Tax: Online Reports overview](https://kb.drakesoftware.com/kb/Drake-Tax/10800.htm), [Drake Tax: Export Client/EF Data](https://kb.drakesoftware.com/kb/Drake-Tax/20069.htm), [Online Reports: configure access or permissions](https://kb.drakesoftware.com/kb/Drake-Tax/10385.htm).

## 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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## Frequently asked questions

### Does Drake Tax have an API?

Drake's knowledge base describes no API for Drake Tax's online reports. You can export each report on the Support website in worksheet format, and Drake Tax exports all client files or all e-file data to CSV or text from Tools > File Maintenance.

### How do I see every rejected return at once?

Run the Returns report under Reports on the Support website with the rejected status and a date range. In Drake Tax, Report Manager has 1040, Business and State Returns Rejected (Never Accepted) reports that read your local EF database.

### Why can a user not open a report on the Support website?

Access is granted report by report, for each user, in the Drake User Manager under Application Access, in the Drake Software Support row. Giving the Admin role opens every report.

### When are bank product add-on fees paid?

Around the middle of each month, for returns accepted and fully funded during the month before, to the office bank account on your online bank application. Drake withholds a convenience fee. The Add-on Fees report shows each month or the year to date.

### Is Fous affiliated with Drake Software?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own Drake User Account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of Drake Tax (Drake Software). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.