> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.filed.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.filed.com/reference/plugins/integrations/practice-management/karbon.md). # Karbon Connect Karbon to bring the clients, work items, and documents your team uses for tax preparation into Filed. Karbon remains your system of record. Once connected, you can also add a **Filed AI prep** step to a Karbon work item. Filed collects that work item's documents, prepares the return, and keeps the step updated so your team can follow it from Karbon. ## Before you start A Karbon administrator should complete this setup. You need access to **Settings** and **API Applications** in Karbon. If these options are not available, ask a Karbon administrator to complete the Karbon steps or grant you the required permissions. ## Connect Karbon {% stepper %} {% step %} ### Copy the access key from Karbon In Karbon, open the main menu and go to **Settings**. Under **Integrations and Tools**, click **API Applications**, find the Filed application, and click **Manage**. Click **Copy** next to **Access Key**. The exact Filed application name can vary by environment. ![Karbon API Authentication page with masked Application ID and Access Key fields](https://assets.apps.filed.com/walkthroughs/connect-karbon/image2.webp) {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Paste it into Filed Go to **Plugins**, open **Karbon**, and click to connect. Paste the access key and verify the connection. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} > **Important:** The access key grants account-level access to Karbon data. Treat it as a secret. Do not send it by email, paste it into chat, or store it in a shared document. ## Add the Filed AI prep step You can add **Filed AI prep** to one work item, or to a work template so every new work item created from it includes the step. **On a work item:** open the work item, scroll to the bottom of its task list, click **Add Step**, choose **Integration**, and select **Filed AI prep**. **On a work template:** add the step to the template the same way. Work items created from that template afterwards include it automatically. {% hint style="warning" %} **Connect Karbon in Filed before your team relies on the step.** The **Filed AI prep** step shows up in Karbon as soon as the Filed application is connected there, but it does nothing until the connection is verified in Filed. There is no error in Karbon when it is missing. {% endhint %} ## What happens when the step is added 1. Filed copies the documents attached to the work item onto the client in Filed, and reads them. 2. What happens next depends on whether that client is already set up in your tax software in Filed: * **It is:** Filed prepares the return against that tax software. * **It is not:** the step shows **Choose tax software in Filed**. Click **Open in Filed** on the step, choose the tax software and the client in it, and start the run. 3. When the prep finishes, the step is marked complete and links to the run in Filed. Entering the return into your tax software is a separate step you start from there, so nothing is written to your tax software on its own. If Filed has not seen the client before, it creates the client using the name from Karbon. It sets the return type from the Karbon work type when the work type names a single form, such as **Tax: 1040** or **1120S Return**. Otherwise it starts as a 1040. Check the return type on new clients and change it if needed. {% hint style="info" %} **Filed collects the documents that are attached when the step is added.** Documents attached to the work item afterwards are not collected automatically. Add the step once the client's documents are in Karbon. {% endhint %} ### What the step shows | Step status | What it means | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Collecting documents | Filed is copying the work item's documents | | Reading *N* documents | Filed is reading them | | Starting tax prep | The documents are read and the prep is starting | | Tax prep running | The prep has started | | Tax prep already running | Another Filed step on this work item already started one | | Choose tax software in Filed | Filed needs you to start the run in Filed | | Ready for review | The prep is finished; open it in Filed to review and enter it | | Paused — needs you in Filed | The run is waiting on something only you can do | | Needs attention in Filed | The run stopped before it was ready for review | Any status that needs a person leaves the step as **Waiting**. Filed only changes the **Filed AI prep** step. Nothing else in Karbon is changed, moved, or deleted. ## Troubleshooting ### Adding the step does nothing Check that Karbon is connected and verified under **Plugins** in Filed. Connecting the Filed application in Karbon on its own is not enough. ### Karbon did not accept the access key Copy the access key again from **Settings > API Applications > Filed > Manage** in Karbon, and check no spaces were added before or after it. ### The step says "No documents attached yet" Attach the client's documents to the work item, then remove the step and add it again. Each time the step is added, Filed starts over. ### The step says "No client name on this work item" The work item has no client, so Filed cannot tell whose documents they are. Assign a client to the work item in Karbon, then remove the step and add it again. ### The step says "Documents could not be read" None of the documents could be read. Open the client in Filed to see which documents failed, replace them in Karbon, and add the step again. ### The step says "Needs attention in Filed" The run stopped before it was ready for review. Click **Open in Filed** on the step to see why. ### Clients or work are missing after setup Review the work types selected when connecting. Filed only imports work that matches the selected Karbon work types. ### A new client has the wrong return type Karbon work types are named by your firm, so Filed only reads a return type from one that names a single form. Change the return type on the client in Filed. ### The access key was rotated Rotating the access key in Karbon immediately invalidates the old one. Open the Karbon connection in Filed, paste the new access key, and verify the connection again. ## Removing the connection Removing Karbon stops Filed reading from Karbon and responding to the **Filed AI prep** step. Clients and documents already brought into Filed stay where they are. Remove the step from your Karbon work templates too, so your team does not keep adding a step that no longer does anything. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.filed.com/reference/plugins/integrations/practice-management/karbon.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.