Form 433-A workpapers earn their keep when a reviewer can trace any figure back to a dated document. The plain Form 433-A is the IRS Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals, and the current revision requests personal and household details, employment, assets, financial history, and income and expense information, including applicable self-employment data (Form 433-A, revised June 2026). Build the workpaper so the reasoning survives someone else reading it.
What the workpaper has to prove
Three things: which version you are working from, where each number came from, and what you could not verify. Record the revision date of the form you downloaded, and confirm it again before filing, because the current version controls. The current form routes Schedule C sole proprietorships into the business sections and points other business entities, including LLCs, partnerships and corporations, toward Form 433-B (IRS). Treat that routing as a checkpoint to confirm against the exact instructions and the taxpayer's actual liability, not a conclusion you can draw from an entity name.
The form also notes that supporting verification may be requested for assets, debt, income and expenses. That single sentence is why a reconciliation sheet beats a summary schedule.
The source-to-field reconciliation sheet
One row per field, six columns, no merged cells. The example rows, periods and documents below are illustrative workpaper choices, not IRS requirements. This provides a compact starting point for review.
| Field | Period / as-of date | Evidence attached | Discrepancy | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wages, employer A | Last 3 pay periods | Pay stubs, bank credits | None | Preparer | Verified |
| Self-employment income | Quarter to date | Business ledger, bank deposits | 2 transactions unmatched | Preparer | Open |
| Residence | Value and date | County record, photos | Value not re-checked | Reviewer | Open |
| Vehicle | Balance, monthly payment | Loan statement | Payment vs. statement differ | Preparer | Open |
| Living expenses | Month, category | Receipts, ledger export | Category mix unclear | Reviewer | Open |
Status values stay deliberately blunt: verified, open, or not applicable. Avoid a "checked" mark on a field where the underlying document has not been read.
A synthetic example
A self-employed taxpayer reports monthly gross receipts that do not tie to the bank. The workpaper shows three deposits in the period, two of which reconcile to invoices and one that does not. Rather than adjusting the total, the preparer logs the gap as an open discrepancy, states the assumption used, and assigns it to the reviewer. The example illustrates record quality and judgment discipline. It is not an IRS eligibility calculation, and a completed form is not an accepted form.
Expense treatment deserves its own pass
Workpapers often fail at the expense section because actual amounts and allowed amounts get written in one column. IRS collection financial standards describe a necessary expense test tied to health and welfare or the production of income, with national allowances for food, clothing and out-of-pocket health care differing from local housing and transportation treatment. Verify the current version of that page, since it changes.
Do not apply a single rule everywhere. Actual cash spending is not automatically allowable, standards are revised over time, and documentation-supported exceptions exist but are not granted automatically. If the amount you wrote on the workpaper is an actual, mark it as such.
Before the file leaves your desk
- [ ] Form revision date recorded and re-checked against the current IRS download
- [ ] Every income, asset and expense figure has a named source document and an as-of date
- [ ] Bank balances are not counted a second time as income
- [ ] Expense columns distinguish actual amounts from allowed amounts
- [ ] Open discrepancies listed with an owner, or explicitly noted as accepted assumptions
What is the difference between Form 433-A and Form 433-A (OIC)?
The plain 433-A reports financial information for wage earners and self-employed individuals. Form 433-A (OIC) is expressly for use with Form 656 Offer in Compromise and adds offer calculations. They are not interchangeable; see Form 433-A (OIC).
Do I need a financial statement for every payment plan?
No. Plan requirements vary by route and current instructions, so check what the request actually asks for rather than assuming. See payment plans and installment agreements.
How should I handle a figure I cannot verify?
Log it as an open discrepancy, state the assumption you used, and leave the field status open. An unexplained estimate is the item a reviewer will send back.
Start by choosing software on a reproducible preparation test rather than a feature count, using the 26T1 workflow review scorecard. Separate offer-specific preparation from the plain form in Form 433-A (OIC) evidence, keep snapshot data consistent with Form 433-F reconciliation, and log allowance sources in the financial standards review workflow. The 26T1 Income & Expense Worksheet page, currently marked “Coming next,” describes its planned scope for collaborative financial detail and evidence collection; treat that as vendor-declared scope and verify behavior in a demo, since workpapers remain your professional product, not an IRS-submitted form.
Discuss your firm’s authorization, transcript and CRM workflow in a 26T1 demo.