I see where you guys and gals are coming from; however, I can see all kinds of problems regarding this. You print it and the file locks, unless you can file the return as printed with no changes, you run the risk of a recalculation of the file prior to filing once you unlock it resulting in the amount changing. What happens if Taxcycle fixes a calculation due to a CRA or provincial mandate between the printing and filing which changes the balance owing?
If your purpose is to ensure nothing has changed from printing to filing, would it also be efficient for Taxcycle to always take an as printed snapshot linked to your final print job for the client. When you open the Eile for filing later on, the program can check say the taxes payable in the snapshot against the current taxes payable alerting the user that something has changed. They could also look at certain total lines in the snapshot like line 150 for changes that do not affect the balance owing.
Taxcycle could also alert you if there is no printed snapshot to compare against and maybe tell you if there are multiple “final print” snapshots.
Personally, I think this is a much better system than locking the file after printing since those files that do not change are always good to go, and those that have differences give you a change to review it and sign off prior to sending. Regardless of the system, I will continue to compare the signed T183 to the online one prior to filing. That brings me to something I would prefer to see, when I confirm the signature to file a T1, I would like the T183 to display prior to transmit so I can check the numbers
And once a file is locked, I should not see error messages when I open the file later on because of changes