Method and apparatus for return processing, including tax returns. A return calculation mechanism may partition out return preparation jobs to a plurality of return calculation nodes. A job scheduler may receive returns and distribute the returns among the calculation nodes according to a load-balancing scheme. The job scheduler may decompose a return into two or more calculation jobs. A job may be an individual return or portion of a return. In one embodiment, the calculation jobs may be prioritized according to dependency. If one job depends on results of another job, the job may be scheduled to execute after the job on which it depends. The calculation nodes may cache calculated data from jobs, and a job that depends on another job may be assigned to a node that caches data from the job on which it depends.