What does SpyglassBeacon give me for a client's residency file?

A per-state day count with a day-by-day appendix, exported as a PDF, built from the client's own device automatically over the year. It uses the 'any part of a day' standard that New York and Puerto Rico presence tests turn on.

Is the record audit-defensible?

Its strength is that it is contemporaneous and timestamped, recorded day by day as it happened rather than reconstructed from memory at tax time. Auditors weight contemporaneous records more heavily than after-the-fact logs. It is documentation to support your position, not a guarantee of any outcome, and it does not replace your professional judgment.

Where does the client's location data go?

It stays on the client's phone. There is no account, no cloud copy, and nothing is uploaded. The client chooses to export a report and share it with you. That privacy posture is what makes clients willing to keep it running all year, which is what makes the record contemporaneous.

Can I recommend it to clients?

Yes. Point clients to the App Store listing. If you work with a book of relocating or dual-state clients and want to discuss volume, get in touch through the contact page.

FOR CPAS & TAX PROFESSIONALS

The residency documentation your clients never keep

A statutory-residency position is only as strong as the day record behind it. Most clients reconstruct their year from memory at tax time, which is exactly the evidence that fails a New York or California audit. SpyglassBeacon gives them a contemporaneous, timestamped day count for every state, all year, exported as a report you can put in the file.

Days by state · 2026 Recording

New York 176

7 days from the 183-day line

Florida 158

25 days from the 183-day line

New Jersey 15

168 days to spare

California 12

171 days to spare

Texas 4

179 days to spare

365 days recorded · 4,912 location records · contemporaneous, on your device

A client's standing, tracked all year — the app flags New York before the 183-day line, not at filing time.

Why reconstructed logs lose

When a residency position is questioned, the burden of proof is on the taxpayer, and the auditor decides how much weight the evidence carries. A travel log rebuilt at filing time from memory, calendar entries, and a few credit-card statements is incomplete and after-the-fact, the two things auditors discount most. New York, which runs the most aggressive residency audits in the country, counts any part of a day as a full day: arrive at 11 p.m. and leave at 1 a.m. and that is two New York days. Nobody reconstructs that from memory. A record built day by day, as it happened, is what settles it.

What your client hands you

A per-state day count and a day-by-day appendix, as a PDF, using the same "any part of a day" standard the audits turn on. Each day is timestamped and attributed to a state from the client's own device, so the record is contemporaneous rather than assembled after the fact. It goes straight into the residency workpapers.

Sample

SpyglassBeacon

Residency day count — 2026

Generated Jul 27, 2026, 9:41 PM · 365 days recorded

Days by state

State	Days present	Threshold	Days remaining
New York	176	183	7
Florida	158	183	25
New Jersey	15	183	168
California	12	183	171
Texas	4	183	179

Day-by-day record

Date	State(s)	Location records	First–last record
2026-07-21	New York	9	07:58–22:14
2026-07-22	New York	11	08:04–21:47
2026-07-23	New York, New Jersey	12	06:31–23:02
2026-07-24	New Jersey	7	09:12–20:41
2026-07-25	Florida	8	06:12–22:33
2026-07-26	Florida	10	07:40–21:05
247 earlier days in the full record

A day is attributed to every state with at least one location record that calendar day (device-local time) — the “any part of a day” standard used in New York residency audits. Threshold shown is the common 183-day statutory-residency test; state rules vary. Location history is recorded on-device by SpyglassBeacon.

The exported report: a per-state summary and a day-by-day record. Note July 23 in two states — the travel-day precision an audit turns on.

Where the data lives, and why clients say yes

Everything stays on the client's phone: no account, no cloud copy, nothing uploaded or sold. The client owns the record and chooses to export and share it with you. That matters commercially, not just for privacy, because a client will only keep an always-on tracker running for a full year if they trust where the data goes. Trust is what makes the record complete, and completeness is what makes it useful to you.

It is documentation, not tax advice

SpyglassBeacon does not take residency positions, interpret a statute, or replace your judgment. It produces the evidence layer your clients were missing and leaves the conclusion to you. Think of it as the contemporaneous mileage log of residency: the tool records the facts, you make the call.

Recommending it to clients

It is free to point any client to the app, and the ones who benefit most are dual-state residents, recent movers to a no-tax state, and anyone with a New York or California nexus. If you advise a book of relocating clients and want to talk about doing this at scale, get in touch.

Not tax or legal advice. Residency rules, day definitions, and audit practice vary by jurisdiction and are fact-specific. SpyglassBeacon is a documentation tool; it does not provide tax advice or guarantee any audit outcome.

Sources: NY Dept. of Taxation & Finance, residency definitions.

Give your clients a record that holds up

SpyglassBeacon counts every state your client is in, all year, and exports the contemporaneous report a residency file needs.

Get the app