What does it mean if my federal was accepted?

[DoninGA]

Accepted mean the IRS has received your tax return.  Once accepted to has to be Processed which may take days, weeks or months.  Once the return has finished Processing, any tax refund has to be Approved.  Once Approved the tax refund is then Issued and sent to the taxpayer.

[CiCi · Accepted solution]

Accepted means the IRS has received your return from Turbo Tax. Which is not unusual , they will do test batches and accept return before the initial start date . 

The next step is for it to be processed and approved and it is not typical to be held for months as the person stated above .

The average time frame is 21 days if all info is correct .

Hope this helps !