The IRS requires a proper name control in order to file electronic return successfully. The name control is a 4 character code which typically is the first four letters of the company name. By using this four letter code, the IRS can be assured that you are filing the return for the correct company.

For example, Lewis Software Associates, LLC would have a name control of “LEWI”.

If your company name is incorporated, or a partnership it is likely the first four letters in the name.

If the company name is an individual such as Tom Jenkins, then the name control would be the first four letters in the person’s last name which would be “JENK”.

If the name starts with the word “the” such as “The Software Company”, you would drop the word “the” and take the next four letters in the name which would be “SOFT”.

If the company name has a ampersand, or dash, it may be included in the name control. For example, J&D Trucking is going to have a name control of “J&DT” and A-A Distributors would be “A-AD”. Don’t include any other special characters in the name control except for the ampersand and dash.

Spaces are only included in a name control if the name does not have at least 4 characters. For example, if the company name is “Tony Ho”, the name control would be “HO ” since the last name only contains 2 characters.

Many times, the company’s name may have changed over the years, so you have to use the IRS official name registered in order to determine the name control. You can use the updated name in the Employer Name field, but must use the name control that is based on the official IRS name.

Please note: If you leave the Name Control field blank, the software will take the first four letters of the company name and try to determine the correct name control. This works 95% of the time, but if it rejects you may have to come back and correct the return so that we can get it filed.